Hello, I am new here and am very excited about this site. I have a question about my very old Dracena. She is about 8' tall and has always been very thin. She had only one trunk until 7 years ago, when she grew another branch at the top, she was about 13 years old at that time, she is about 20 years old now. Lately she has started to look frail, and sheds a lot of leafs, so she is very sparse. I have always had her in good light/sun from an east window and we live in the sierra's in Northern Ca. Is there anything I can do for her? I repotted her about two years ago into a very large pot that I believe is still ample for her. At one point about a year ago almost all her leaves turned yellow and fell off. Any help I can get with her would be wonderful. I do have pictures and will try and figure that out asap. thanks much Helaine
Foliage looks as though it may be infested with mites, can't enlarge your picture enough to be sure. You might inspect it closely for those. Now I know where Cleopatra ended up.
thanks for replying to my post, you are the only one. I can get on a ladder and try and get a good shot of her leaves. I will also inspect for mites although I am wondering if they may be in the soil. I thought of taking her out of the pot and checking the roots even tho this is not a good time of year. I read somewhere about being able to lop off the top..... YIKES
Yes, you could cut it down low, to start over. Mites of possible concern in this case suck the leaves. These are tiny but when there are numbers of them infested plants develop a stippled appearance. Fine webbing may also be visible.
Thank you Ron, I got a ladder out and inspected the top. Indeed there were some webs, not many, but still some webs up there. I took a solution of Neem oil and soapy dish water in a spayer and blasted them, then wiped them off. Thank you again, lets see if this helps..H
Spider webbing would be of no consequence, indeed you would not want to kill any spiders that might have been present. Plant-sucking mites produce a much finer, tent-like covering than would usually be made by spiders - especially when these may have been just passing through, left behind only individual strands used for safety.
