Hello, hope everyone is well. I'm glad I found this site and wondered whether anyone could help me. My partner has had this plant for about two and a half years and has taken care of it beautifully. Firstly, I'm not quite sure exactly what it is. I know it must be a Dracaena but I can't seem to find any pictures on the net that matches it. we have another plant in our flat which I'm pretty sure is a Dracaena fragatissima so I'm not convinced it is one of those, as this one has longer leaves and is growing wide instead of tall. Only in the last month, some of the leaves started to turn yellow/brown and our plant started to look incredibly poorly. We've re-potted it and I've removed most of the dying leaves so we think it's looking better now, but I wondered what could have caused this as it's been fine up until now? There's a couple of the brown leaves left on the plant, as you will be able to see. I'm not sure how to take care of it from now on and what to do if anymore of the leaves start to die! Many thanks :)
Looks like Dracaena fragrans 'Massangeana', Corn Plant. This plant is frequently discussed in these forums. I'm sure someone will be able to offer advice.
Hi there I am new here too but heres a site. It looks realated to the Dracaena fragrans but yet it looks different maby a hybred? click on the Google Plant Images butten and see. That might give you a hint on how to grow it.... http://www.backyardgardener.com/plantname/pda_8a26.html
The plant actually looks fairly healthy. I don't have a whole lot of experience with dracaenas, but it seems that the lower leaves do tend to dry and drop off. One thing I wonder, Is that a heater right next to the plant? That could be a problem.
Never over water these canes, keep them on a frugal watering schedule, having at least 4 inches bone dry (depending on depth of your pot) before any watering, and never transplant these in the dead of winter, give moderate light and away from forced air heating ducts. Looks fine though!
Thank you so much for your replies. Eric - yes, it is next to a radiator; it's been there for only a week though. When a lot of the leaves started to go brown/yellow we were worried that we had over-watered it so moved it so it was closer to the window, hence why it was there (probably a bad mistake - we've just moved it back though after reading the replies!). It had started to look quite poorly and the leaves had started to droop but we do think re-potting has helped. I'm glad you think it looks quite healthy. Thank you to Junglekeeper, Blake & K too! I'll continue to keep an eye on it! :)
I'm sure the heater was a bad idea, it's probably much happier back where it was. As they grow, Dracaenas have a tenancy to lose their lower leaves. Notice there are scars on the trunk? That's where proceeding leaves have dried up and fallen off, it's a normal growth cycle for these plants. Dracaenas prefer bright light but never direct sunlight, direct sunlight will burn the leaftips. They do like high humidity, you might try daily misting the foliage.
Yes the heater was the prab. It will get over it (like when you get a cold). (or a hot to the plant :)
