Concerned about my Dracaena

I've been working to better my Dracaena, as the leave have had browning tips. From my research, I found that this could have something to do with chemicals in the water I was giving it, so I started to let the water site for a day or so, before using it to water my plant.

A few days ago, I noticed that one of the three stems appears to be dying, and almost all of the leaves had fallen off. This stem is much darker than the others in this pot (almost black) and is very soft to the touch. I can't tell if this was caused by root rot, or if it's at all possible to revive this stem. If it can't be revived, can I cut the stem at it's base, or will I need to repot and separate from the other stems to avoid spreading the issue? Please help!


Thanks!

 

I would give up on that stem and cut it down to the soil line.

I don't think you need to do anything more if the other three stems continue to look good, as they seem to now. It's hard to know if there is some bug in the soil that would have eaten the roots. You could lift the plant out and try to determine if that could be the case and make sure the other roots look ok. Maybe try watering it a bit less. I should not say anything about that - mine always had brown tips, and sometimes I thought they were caused by its not getting enough water.

 

Does the pot have drainage holes at the bottom? Those without can be problematic.

 

So I cut off the stalk which may have been rotting, and realized another one of the trunks was on its last limbs so ended up pruning that as well. I went from 4 trunks to 2, and theres a mighty height difference between the two that are left. I've been reading about propogating this plant, and it seems like you can place cuttings in water and they'll begin to grow new roots. I'm wondering if that applies to a whole trunk as well. If I were to clip it a few inches from the base so the full trunk is a bit shorter, will the top 3/4 of the trunk be able to grow it's own roots without killing all the stalks coming off of it?

 

I think that would be too much for a plant without roots to support. You should have more success taking a few cuttings from the top, maybe about 6 inches, and push them directly into soil (new pot, new soil) covering one or two nodes. The roots you would get by putting them in water first are not the same as what they need in soil. You could use some rooting hormone if you want; I have never done that. You can still keep what you have left of the original plant to see if it will survive.

 

Giving advice about watering cycles is difficult because there are so many factors which vary wildly from place-to-place. It's a fool's errand, but I'm up to it. Brown tips are almost always a sign of too much water. Often, you can see a drop of water at the tip or growing edge of the leaf which means too much water. The leaf is so turgid it has at least one drop more than 100% of what it can hold. Water is supposed to transpire from the leaf, not leak. Plant type matters: we like desert plants and jungle plants. Sunlight, temperature, humidity, air circulation, pot size verses plant size (too generous and the plant can't use all the moisture within a normal cycle of wet-dry-wet-dry wet-dry; too small and the plant runs out of water too quickly. Again, preventing the plant from having a normal wet-dry cycle.) soil composition bears heavily on wet-dry cycles, too. Even rain-forests have have a season which is drier than the other season, but most places have semi-regular rain, so constantly wet is almost always un-natural for plants. If you enjoy misting, fine. It doesn't really serve any purpose. 100% humidity for 5 minutes is only good for a laugh.

The second most common cause of houseplant death is over-watering. Most plants are a lot more tolerant of occasional under-watering than over-watering, especially over-watering regularly. Almost all plants will wilt just a little when they are dry. Wilting is a mechanism by which the plant reduces leaf surface exposure to sunlight, and hence water loss. You need a tape measure that you can press a stop button (almost all have that feature: you need a wide blade, not a floppy, girly blade) so that it stays sticking out at some exact distance, ~21" or 34" or some measurement of one leaf height from some flat surface, let's say the highest point of a bend in a leaf, or the tip of a leaf from the floor or tabletop. Watch the relationship over a few days and you'll get used to what full of water verses wilting looks like. You will be surprised! Your plant will tell you, "Barkeep, gimme a tall one..."

Once you get used to this appearance, it will be easy to water on command, or you can take it to a higher plane: anticipating a specific amount on a regular schedule. While the variations between environments are wildly different, whatever you have doesn't change, except maybe light and humidity in winter. Guess at what your pot volume is and find a vessel that is about 15% of that volume. When your plant is wilting at its most obvious extreme (as defined by you), give it that volume in the center of the pot/crown of the plant. Count the days it takes the plant to return to the used-up condition. Do this enough times to establish an average number of days in your cycle and you're in control! As the plant grows and evolves, you'll notice and adjust your volume and interval accordingly. Most often it will be 3 or 5 or 7 or whatever, and you will adjust it so that if it is 5 days, you will water every calendar day divisible by 5. Once you correlate the cycle to the calendar you never have to remember nada. You just look at the calendar!

The most common cause of houseplant death is buying a plant that needs conditions you can't provide. Never replace a dead plant with the same kind of plant unless you personally need confirmation. Relax! This is almost a science...

 

My first thought, looking at the photos of your dracaena, is that it has been overwatered and is suffering from root rot.

After checking a couple of websites, I read that fluoride can cause problems and that letting the water sit is not the answer since fluoride does not evaporate quickly as chlorine does. If you know there is fluoride added to your water, you would be well advised to use purified water instead.

Here is what https://www.**********.com/blog/dracaena-care has to say:
Water: Dracaena require less water than most indoor plants. Keep them hydrated by misting the leaves with water and keeping the soil lightly misted (never soggy) as well with good drainage. Always allow the top soil to dry out before watering. Do not overwater, as it may cause root rot.

Drooping or yellowing leaves could indicate over-watering or poor drainage, but don’t worry if you notice the bottom leaves beginning to turn yellow and fall. It is normal for dracaena to shed leaves in order to grow new ones.

These plants are sensitive to fluoride, which can be found in tap water, so it’s essential to use purified water when caring for this plant. Leaves with dark brown and dead areas with yellow edges may indicate fluoride toxicity.

If this were my plant, I would not water it again until the soil had completely dried out and then (if you know you have fluoride in your water supply), use purified water. I doubt that fluoride toxicity is the problem however since your beautiful plant shows no signs of "Leaves with dark brown and dead areas with yellow edges." Whatever water you use, I think you should water less often.