Dracaena Revival
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 12:58 pm
Hi all,
I've looked through a couple other house plant threads and didn't find quite what I was looking for, but I am hoping to get some advice on how to best revive or better grow my first house plant...a dracaena (of some variety). I am a relative gardening amateur. I kick butt at growing tomatoes out on my deck, but I'm a total novice in all other aspects.
In this picture, there is a sliding door off to the right. The door faces west and I am on a hill, so a lot of sun comes in. However, the plant never has sun directly beaming onto it. The vent behind the plant is a duct which does not have heat or cool coming directly from it; however, there is a vent on the ceiling above the plant.
Ive had the plant probably about nine months. For two or three it was perfectly healthy, but then it started to lose leaves in the middle of the plant. They would turn completely black/dark brown, and either drop off or beg me to cut them off. Since then, I haven't changed my care of the plant at all (or its location), but it has gotten no better or worse. While I am certainly happy it has not gotten worse, I'd like to know what I can do to help it improve.
Currently, I water it when it gets dry with filtered water. I have 'fed it' a couple times with house plant fertaizer, but do not do so regularly.
Is it possible for leaves to grow back and the plant to fill in again? Is there anything I should be pruning (from leaves or stems)? And what can I do to prevent the dead/burned areas on the current leaves from spreading? Would those be occurring because of fluoride in my water?
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated! I'd like to get a couple more house plants, as well, so this initial foray is kind of an experience builder. Any knowledge I can soak-up would be great.
I've looked through a couple other house plant threads and didn't find quite what I was looking for, but I am hoping to get some advice on how to best revive or better grow my first house plant...a dracaena (of some variety). I am a relative gardening amateur. I kick butt at growing tomatoes out on my deck, but I'm a total novice in all other aspects.
In this picture, there is a sliding door off to the right. The door faces west and I am on a hill, so a lot of sun comes in. However, the plant never has sun directly beaming onto it. The vent behind the plant is a duct which does not have heat or cool coming directly from it; however, there is a vent on the ceiling above the plant.
Ive had the plant probably about nine months. For two or three it was perfectly healthy, but then it started to lose leaves in the middle of the plant. They would turn completely black/dark brown, and either drop off or beg me to cut them off. Since then, I haven't changed my care of the plant at all (or its location), but it has gotten no better or worse. While I am certainly happy it has not gotten worse, I'd like to know what I can do to help it improve.
Currently, I water it when it gets dry with filtered water. I have 'fed it' a couple times with house plant fertaizer, but do not do so regularly.
Is it possible for leaves to grow back and the plant to fill in again? Is there anything I should be pruning (from leaves or stems)? And what can I do to prevent the dead/burned areas on the current leaves from spreading? Would those be occurring because of fluoride in my water?
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated! I'd like to get a couple more house plants, as well, so this initial foray is kind of an experience builder. Any knowledge I can soak-up would be great.