Dracaena-not sure which one, few questions with pics

Hi thanks for taking the time to read/respond if you do. I'm still learning about plant care. I recently moved to Salt Lake (from Oregon and can't wait to get back there)... I noticed that there's hard to see white dots roaming around the soil of my Dracaena plant.

There's also a new green possibly root? growing.

I don't seem to get much help from home depot or lowe's, so I'm hoping to find a helpful garden around here, not sure yet where to take it.

Thanks for any advice I really want to save this plant and help it grow.

OH yeah i put some rose insecticide stuff that someone recommended but I really want to keep it organic, however that wasn't working so I'm worried I have to keep trying this toxic stuff to save my plant! HELP!

 

it looks like draceana 'janet craig' and the green bit at the bottom looks like it's going to be an offshoot (not a root). once it gets large enough, you can cut it off and plant it or you can just leave it where it is and let it grow. hmm, i didn't know jc's did that (unless they've been topped off, that is)!

as for white stuff in the soil...perlite most probalby and that's there to help provide drainage to the soil. if the white things are moving, they're bugs and they would either be scale or mealy bugs.

double check on if they are mobile or not and let us know.

 

Yeah they definitely move around. they're only in the soil, i'll look up scale and see if that's what I'm seeing.

thanks :)

 

ok, should have checked before posting that last one, they don't look anything i'm looking up. I think I'll take into this garden I found and see what they say about it.

 

there are mealy bugs that tend to stay in the soil (called root-mealies). they're not fast moving though, so if you can watch/see the movements, then mealies wouldn't be it. nor scale - which doesn't stay on the soil anyway.

they could be the larval stage of fungus gnats.

do they jump when you try to touch them (you can use a pencil if you don't want to use your finger).

 

I do see the gnat flies around, but these larvae things are only in this one pot, maybe that's what there's so many in there? because that's where they're leaving them? My other potted plants don't have this problem, however I do see the gnat soil. I bet its just a gnat problem,,,,hmmmm.... so i need special stuff for this problem...

man, they're annoying! they ate that little sprout that started too.


thank you so much for the advice :)

 

if you've got gnats, you're keeping the soil too moist. let it dry out a bit.

actually, for drac's, they like it when the soil dries out a bit before you water again, so you won't be doing any damage.

give it at least ten days; then, stick your finger down into the soil a couple inches, it should be just barely moist. if so, water thoroughly and then let it dry out again down a couple inches. if it's stil wettish (rather than just a bit moist) let it go a couple more days and check again.

for that size container, you should only need to water every 10-14 days. it's best to water thoroughly and let the soil dry out rather than not watering enough and doing it more frequently. you get better growth and you help to avoid bugs like the gnats.

 

Ok. I'll let it dry out, i haven't watered it for close to two weeks now. It's been kind of humid around here though.

Maybe I need to put this in a smaller container?
I took off some of the leaves that were so badly yellowed and browned from the last treatment i did on it (for the critters).

I'm so bad at this, but I'm so glad to be learning how to safe my plant i love it !

Thanks again so so much

 

i would leave it in the current container for the moment. just make sure to water thoroughly and then let it dry out before the next watering.

normally i'd say if it's been about two weeks, you should water. with the bug issue, i'd wait another 5 days or so...it won't be long enough to hurt the plant and you do want to get rid of the bugs.

if you scoop up any of the bugs (use a spoon or trowel) you can drop them in a container of water/dish soap and that'll kill them - then you won't have to worry about them maturing and creating more of themselves...