Hello All, I have a marginata that is maybe 15 years old. It has gotten unwieldy. The time or two I tried to cut it, the stalk just died where it was cut. I was told to look for a 'bud' and to cut just above it. I have never seen a 'bud' on it. I saw one pic where the plant was cut in the foilage area. Where and how do i do this? And when I did cut it and tried to root the cut part it died. What am I doing wrong? Thanks. Terry
The thread Cutting Dracaena Marginata | UBC Botanical Garden Forums may have the information you're looking for.
This is helpful, but if I cut at the foilage it still leaves the stalk about 5 ft. tall and spindly. How do i shorten it? As I said I tried cutting the stalk about midway down and it killed it. I did it twice and both stalks died.
I wonder if the problem with the remaining stem dying is from dessication as seen in the referenced thread. Perhaps a little wax for the top of each cut would help. You could cut the long stem to a more desirable height then try to root pieces of the cut portion. This way you increase your chance of getting new plants. I'm not sure if it helps with Dracaena but perhaps the bottom of the stem needs to dry and callous over before placing into the soil similar to that done with a pineapple top; it's to reduce the chance of rotting. An alternative method of propagation is air-layering. This way both the top and bottom sections continue to be nourished while roots are developing. I think it's a safer method since the process can be repeated if the attempt is unsuccessful. You might want to use the forum's search function to locate past posts. The question of cutting and propagating Dracaena is frequently raised.
