Any help would be appreciated in identifying. I rescued it from a neighbor's garbage about 3 years ago and brought it back to life and it is now about 3.5 feet tall! However, now there is quite a bit of yellowing at the base and many of the leaves have yellowed, so I cut them. Knowing what variety it is would help greatly in maintaining health. Thank you in advance, AP.
Dracaena marginata, love to stay on the dry side, water only when very dry and ensuring that the pot is not soaking wet or the roots will rot.
Thank you for the quick responses. I looked up some pics of Dracaena marginata and saw all had trunks and red edges on the leaves; mine has neither. Are there similar varieties? Is it possible the yellowing at the base is normal, since the growth above that point looks healthy? Thank you again, AP.
More light will get you the red edges. It's normal for the bottom leaves to yellow and drop as it grows, providing it's not because of it's care.
It looks like Cordyline australis to me, the common garden spike. The also make excelent house plants, they do require a bit of diret sunlight to stay healthy indoors. I have had one for about 5 years or so and it goes outside during the summer and grows quite a lot.
Taking a closer look at the photos, I believe your absolutely right on the id James. Funny thing is, I also have this same "spike" for a few years now. Ok, forget the red edges.
Thanks again for the replies. I did some further investigating, based on your thoughts. Check out this site: http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Agavaceae/Cordyline_australis.html It looks as though you were both correct. I changed the soil yesterday, as it wasn't well-drained and was too wet. Seems to be doing okay so far, but will know in couple days, I suppose. Thank you again, and I appreciate any further thoughts and insight. AP.
yeah mine just keeps getting taller and wider. Not sure how many more years i can make room for it. also We have the variety "pink stripe" at work and it is quite tempting.
