I am losing my Dracaena's inner leaves.

Discussion in 'Indoor and Greenhouse Plants' started by Emoke Klara, Oct 26, 2021.

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  1. Emoke Klara

    Emoke Klara New Member

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    Hi there from Hungary. :)

    Last spring I've got these beautiful Dracaenas, but unfortunately they are slowly loosing all their leaves, and I don't know what I am doing wrong.
    I already lost one Dracaena due to Root-rot by overwatering it... so I was extremely cautious not to do the same mistake with this one. However I still managed to not taking care of it properly :( so I desperately need some advice.
    By the end of summer I realized some of the leave tips turning brown, so I thought I didn't give enough water to the plant so I started to include some mist for the leaves about every 3 days. I sprayed around 150 ml of water on them in every 3 days, and I watered with 200 ml of water around every 7 days. I obviously checked if the soil is dry before I watered it, and if I felt that is a bit damp, I gave only half of the water.
    The plant is near the window which is on the north, so there is no direct sunlight, and the inside temperature is in-between 18 and 24 degrees. The room is more dry then it should be so I placed a container with water near the plant to evaporate some water.
    However all my efforts it looses many leaves every week, sometimes even completely healthy ones as well, and last week I also found some inner leaves fallen out or turning completely yellow. :(
    Please help me to save my beautiful plant.

    Thanks a million,

    EK.
     

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  2. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    I would suggest that until you figure out how to water this, you remove it from the outer pot, so that you can be sure that it is not sitting in water. Put a dish under it to protect the table, but you want to see if there is water in the dish. If you see water in the dish, remove that water.

    If you have watered it recently, feel how heavy it is and wait to water it again until it is much lighter, even until leaves look a little droopy. I wrote this sentence last, so what comes next repeats it a bit, but I don't feel like re-organizing this.
    Water it in the sink; after watering it, let the water run through until no more water comes out. Feel how heavy that is. When you water it again, it should not feel that heavy. It shouldn't be entirely dry, but it should feel dry a little below the top and it should feel lighter. Look at the leaves - until you know when it needs water, you can the first time or two wait until it looks a little wilted. Never mind how many days - just water it completely when you water it, and then do not give it any water until the next complete watering. No half-watering. If a little damp, that means it wants no water.

    It might take some time to recover, which could mean until it gets new roots. So don't panic for a while.

    I can't answer about brown leaf tips. As far as I know, that's what dracaenas do. Some sites suggest using filtered water or water that has been sitting around so that the chemicals evaporate. As I type this, it doesn't make sense, but my neighbour does that all the time for her plants. I don't do that, but all my dracaenas have had brown tips. The ones at the bottom will turn brown from the tips and eventually fall off - that's normal - for sure old leaves drop off - you just want about the same number of new leaves at the top, not an ever-diminishing number.
     
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  3. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    I agree with everything Wendy says about watering Dracaenas.

    Here is an article that explains reasons why leaf tips may go brown.
     

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