A friend of mine gave me, what I have now discovered to be, a Dracaena Fragrans Compacta. I've had the plant for about two years now and it's been doing great until about a month ago. I think I have overwatered it and have replanted it into a dryer mix for now and will back off on watering it. My problem is that it has completely lost all of it's leaves and the trunk is very tiny! The trunk still feels solid-no mushiness, and the roots seem to be a light reddish color with some newer, white, extremely firm roots sprouting. I have read in several posts about cutting off some of it and repotting the cut, but I am unsure of where to cut??? Also, how far into the soil do I need to plant the trunk? Right now I have the roots just below the soil so that the trunk is mostly exposed. I don't have much to work with by way of size...the trunk is only about an inch long. The plant used to have several beautiful leaves. I actually thought the trunk would have been bigger than it is, but it's pretty sad looking. Can anyone help me revive my plant? I've loved it and want to see it thrive again. Based on the roots, I don't think it's dead, but I need to know how to encourage new growth. I think I've learned enough now to keep it going once I can get some new leaves to sprout! Thank you all SO much. Sara (sebsis3)
I was able to get a couple of photos of the trunk so advice will be easier to give! I have it planted in a mix of potting soil and perlite for drainage. I also have several rocks in the very bottom of the pot to aid with drainage. There is a drain hole in the bottom of the pot, as well. Sara (sebsis3)
If there are new roots growing, I'd say leave it alone and see what it does. You may want to take off the rocks on the top: though decorative, they also slow down the evaporation of water from the soil, which isn't good for rot-prone plants that are stressed. I also wonder if maybe you haven't overpotted it (overpotted = placed in a pot that's too large for the plant's needs). If the plant still had living, firm roots that were sufficient to spread throughout the pot, that's good, but if there were only a couple roots, and they're surrounded by a layer of soil a couple inches thick, that's probably too much.
Thank you Mrsubjunctive...I'll try replanting it into a smaller pot and remove the rocks to see if that helps. I had it in the bigger pot because it used to be a bigger looking plant! :( It used to look like it filled that pot out perfectly, but this is all that is left. I literally had to pull the last three leaves off a couple of days ago because they also started yellowing and turned brown very quickly. thank you for your advice. I'll keep you posted on it's progress, good or bad. Sara (sebsis3)
