I think it's high time I've figured out what's wrong with my Dracaenca Godseffiana, as it's been suffering for a while... As you can see on the attached pictures, the leaves start drying off from the end. They either become yellow, or develop unconnected brown spots, or both. I thought repotting it would help, but it didn't. Then I discovered fertilizers and added the recommended amount in May. The plant is really liking it. It's in an excellent condition and sprouting all kinds of fresh new shoots, but the old leaves still keep suffering from this drying thing, slowly but steadily. There are no obvious insects. I water just a couple of times a week. The pot is well-drained. (And I don't think I'm under-watering, either, since I used to water much more often and it still was drying off like this.) My all-purpose plant book suggests "irregular yellow blotches" are characteristic of a virus, and an infected plant should be discarded. But it really is a healthy looking plant otherwise... Any suggestions? I would greatly appreciate it!
it could be overwatering, underwatering, too much fertilizer or you use water right from the tap which could be too cold and/or has too much chlorine in it. watering twice weekly shouldn't be necessary for this plant. give it a good; thorough watering and then let the soil dry down an inch or two and then give another thorough watering. that size container shouldn't need that more than every 7-10 days. let your water sit overnight in a container so the excess chlorine dissipates and the water gets to room temp. i always keep a few gallon jugs of water ready to use. fertilizer - i use an all-purpose fertilizer (peter's) and i mix it half-strength (and keep it stored in a container) and then thin it out even more for watering. some plants get a heavier concentration and others less - for the drac's i usually mix the half strength stuff in with just a little more water (3 to 1, just about). and i give it every 2nd watering during active growth and every 3rd or 4th during the low-growth period. if you use water straight from the tap, the tips of the plants can turn brown like that. that's my first instinct with what's going on with your plant. the other thing is, when was the last time you repotted? could also be a bit root-bound and may just need a slightly larger container. you might want to mist it, too. this one likes some humidity. generally, it looks pretty healthy. it's a pretty plant!
Thanks a lot! Water directly from the tap sounds like my kind of thing... I think that's where I'll start.
The correct name is actually Dracaena surculosa. The atmosphere is probably too dry. Try misting the leaves a few times a week.
Joclyn has good advice. But to be honest, thats a pretty healthy looking plant there. The browning of the tips could be a number of things... If I worried about every brown tip in my yard, I'd probably have a heart attack lol : ) All in all, plant looks OK to me.. Ed
You are right, I may be having a little bit of an obsessive-compulsive thing here :). But then again if you spent as much time dealing with houseplant creatures as I have in the last two years, you might be, too :) I have had scale on large scale, and caterpillars of several kinds, and centipedes, and gnats (we vacuum twice a day, soak soil with insecticidal soap once a week, and months of this, and still going strong - I'd be dead by now, but they are still here!). Now I have teeny white bugs crawling on the surface in a few pots, and they are so small I can't hope to photograph them to identify here... So maybe I can be forgiven for being a little paranoid... :)
