These growth advice are here to help if you’re unsure how to take care of dracaena. Care for dracaenas is typically not too difficult.
Light: A spot with filtered inside light is good (for example, through a sheer curtain in front of a sunny window). A dracaena plant should never be placed in direct sunlight as the rays will scorch the leaf.
Dracaenas demand less water than the majority of houseplants. By lightly sprinkling the soil (never saturated) and the leaves with water, you can keep the plants hydrated and ensure proper drainage. Before watering, the top soil should always be allowed to dry off. Avoid overwatering to prevent root rot.
Overwatering or poor drainage may be the cause of drooping or yellowing leaves, but if you observe that the bottom leaves are starting to fall and turn yellow, you shouldn’t be alarmed. It is typical for dracaena to lose leaves so that new ones can grow.
It is crucial to use purified water when caring for these plants because they are sensitive to fluoride, which can be found in tap water. Fluoride toxicity may be indicated by leaves that are dark brown and by dead patches that have yellow borders.
Dracaena loves daytime temperatures between 65 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit. Even if nighttime lows can drop by approximately ten degrees, the plant will suffer from chilly drafts and temperatures below 55 degrees. Make sure to keep any heaters or air conditioners away from where you display your dracaena. Although the dracaena is a hardy indoor plant, it does prefer the higher humidity of its native rainforest home. Natural room humidity is fine. A commercial humidifier can increase humidity, as can setting the plant on a tray of pebbles with water just below the tops of the pebbles.
Toxicity: If consumed, toxic to cats and dogs. Dogs and cats can both exhibit symptoms including vomiting, excessive salivation, and lack of appetite. Cats may also have dilated pupils. Being aware of the plants that are poisonous to our furry friends can help you choose your indoor plants carefully as a pet owner.
Pests and issues: Serious insect or disease issues rarely affect dracaena plants. Scale, spider mites, and mealybugs are things to be cautious of. Scale and mealybugs are both treatable with pyrethrin-containing insecticides.
If you reside in a subtropical location, dracaena is a flexible, low-maintenance house plant that thrives both indoors and outside in partial shade. If you’re ready to grow a dracaena plant in your own house now that you know how simple it is to take care of one, check out our variety here.
Should I trim my dracaena’s brown tips?
You have complete discretion over whether to remove the brown tips from your dracaena plant. The worthless tips of these hideous Dracaena leaves are equally as ugly. With a clean, sharp pair of scissors, you may remove brown tips, which are dead plant debris. Take care because doing so could result in uneven and visually unpleasant leaf ends on your Dracaena.
When cutting out brown tips, be careful not to cut into healthy leaf tissue. To prevent overcutting the leaf, which can cause further browning of the leaf, it is better to leave a tiny margin of the brown leaf next to the healthy leaf tissue.
Why are the leaves on my dracaena turning brown?
On sometimes, houseplants will develop new leaves. There are numerous potential causes for browning Dracaena leaves. These tropical plants require temperatures between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit (21 and 26 degrees Celsius) to grow, while lower temperatures might cause leaf browning. The sort of water you use is the main reason why Dracaena leaves become brown.
Dracaenas are highly vulnerable to excessive fluoride. Fluoride levels that are added to drinking water in some localities may be too high for dracaena. This can build up in soil from irrigation water and cause leaf tips and margins to yellow, eventually turning brown as the toxicity increases.
Perlite-containing potting soils and superphosphate fertilizers are further sources of fluoride poisoning. Use a balanced liquid fertilizer and non-fluoridated water instead of potting soils that include those little white pellets (perlite). Additionally, flushing the soil to get rid of surplus fertilizer salts will assist stop leaf deterioration.
How often should a dracaena be watered?
PRO TIP: If you’re unsure, let it rain! Overwatering is the most frequent error with these plants.
Always evaluate your plant’s watering requirements as soon as you get one. It is important to check the soil’s moisture content first to make sure it isn’t wet directly under the surface before giving your plant a drink. Additionally, think about aerating your plant’s soil before to the first watering. Aerating can help the soil breathe and enable rainwater to escape since we compact the soil to prevent it from shifting while being transported.
Dracaena trees prefer the soil to be moist but not fully dry between waterings. Usually, watering once every 10 to 14 days will keep the soil’s moisture content good and even. The soil should never be wet as this plant is susceptible to root rot; yet, if the earth becomes completely dry, the plant’s leaves will have brown tips. The Dracaena Lisa Cane will respond favorably to routine waterings after you establish a routine. The Dracaena also enjoys moisture, so a humidifier, pebble tray, or routine misting will be appreciated.
To maintain balanced growth on all sides, rotate your plant occasionally, and dust the leaves frequently to help the plant photosynthesize well. Take the chance to check the undersides of the leaves when dusting them and keep an eye out for bugs.
Keep in mind that every plant is a distinct living creature with different demands depending on where it is. You can have a long and fulfilling relationship with your dracaena lisa cane if you pay attention to its health and watering requirements.
How much light is required for dracaenas?
The smooth, gray stems of the Dracaena marginata eventually reach a height of 20 feet. Crowns of slender, leathery leaves up to 2 feet long and 1/2 inch wide form the ends of stems. Deep glossy green leaves with a reddish crimson border. Dracaena is a fantastic houseplant for rooms with low lighting, and it looks particularly good when planted in pairs to flank doorways.
Dracaena prefers bright, indirect light for growing; it may survive lower light levels, but development will be slowed. With typical indoor potting soil, typical house temperatures, and ordinary humidity levels, the plant thrives nicely. Maintain a wet but not soggy soil by fertilizing frequently with a complete fertilizer in the spring and summer (like a squeezed-out sponge). Reduce your watering frequency and discontinue fertilizing during the fall and winter. Regularly clean leaves with a wet cloth or relocate your plant so it can receive a moderate shower to keep Dracaena healthy and looking its best. Avoid using commercial leaf shine. Simply use a pair of scissors to remove any brown tips that appear on your plant, being careful to preserve the natural form of the trimmed leaves. Dracaena is rarely troubled by pests or diseases and can endure a pot-bound environment for extended periods of time.
What does a dracaena that is overwatered look like?
- The dracaena’s leaves become pallid and lose its green hue.
- They start to feel soft and limp and lose their clear, rather stiff bearing.
- They drop down and droop towards the floor instead of rising for the sky.
- At the center and borders of leaves that wither and dry out, yellow-brown patches appear.
- Compared to older, lower leaves, the highest, younger dracaena leaves are less impacted.
- The roots are swollen, transparent, and mushy or squishy to the touch when you remove the plant out of its pot. This is the beginning of root rot.
- Even the stems of the dracaenas begin to become floppy and pliable if nothing is done.
These alarming symptoms typically appear over the course of a few weeks to a month.
Be aware that plant necrosis caused by fluoride and salts in water is another issue unrelated to overwatering that may be causing the browning of the tips of dracaena leaves.
How can I tell whether or not my dracaena needs water?
While it can survive low light, your dracaena will thrive in medium to bright indirect sunlight.
The primary cause of Dracaena plant death is overwatering, which results in root rot. Before you water your Dracaena again, let the top 50 to 75 percent of the soil dry off. Overwatering can result in brown leaf tips, while a lot of yellow leaves suggest the plant needs more water.
Your dracaena will thrive in surroundings with average humidity levels, but it will benefit from routine misting.
Dracaena plants grow slowly and don’t require a lot of fertilizer. In the spring and summer, feed once a month with an all-purpose plant food diluted to half the recommended strength. During the fall and winter, when plant development naturally slows, fertilizer is not required.
Both humans and pets should avoid dracaena. Usually, eating will make you feel sick to your stomach and mouth, and you might even vomit.
When the leaf tips dry out and turn brown, this is a typical issue known as “tipping.” The most frequent culprit is tap water, which has salts, chlorine, fluoride, and other potentially dangerous substances in excess. You can use distilled water or rainwater to stop this.
Are leaves with brown stains ones I should remove?
After the plant has begun to recuperate, you can use clean, precise scissors to cut off only the browned tips. You might wish to remove the entire leaf if any are more than 2/3 brown.
Pests
Your plant may have spider mites if its leaves have little brown specks, a typical houseplant problem. The presence of spider mites is also indicated by mottled leaves and thin webbing on the underside of the leaves.
Washing off spider mites with room temperature water is the simplest and least expensive method of mite control. Once a week, wash affected plants, making sure to rub off any visible webbing.
In between washings, keep the humidity high around your plant to prevent the proliferation of spider mites. Read my post on getting rid of spider mites for further alternatives if routinely washing the plant isn’t enough to keep the spider mites under control.
Brown stains on houseplant leaves might be brought on by other sap-sucking bugs. Scale, thrips, aphids, and mealybugs are some of the other typical offenders. All of these insects feed by sucking the sap from your indoor plants’ leaves and stems, causing damage to a small area surrounding their feeding sites and leaving brown or yellow spots on the foliage.
It’s best to frequently inspect your indoor plants for insect signs and to quarantine them right once if you suspect an infestation. To learn everything you need to know about recognizing, managing, and preventing these bugs, see my article on common houseplant pests.
Rust
Rust typically manifests as numerous brown spots on the leaves of your plant and brown rings under the leaves. The brown dots on the leaves are actually spore clusters; it is a fungus that grows best in moist conditions. Since the spots can be partially removed with a towel, diagnosis is simple. To determine whether you have a rust issue, simply wipe a place and check to see if the color transfers to the material.
To start treating rust, remove the infected leaves, tie them up in a plastic bag, and discard them. Apply a fungicide containing sulfur to the plant next. Find out how to cure and prevent rust on your indoor plants by reading more here.
Bacterial Leaf Spot
Your plant may have bacterial leaf spot if you notice sunken, moist-appearing brown spots on its leaves. Plants kept in overly humid, inadequately ventilated, or overwatered environments frequently develop bacterial leaf spots.
Leaf stains caused by bacteria can be a major issue. A slight infection may be treated by removing the damaged leaves and stems, but a more serious condition frequently results in the death of the plant. To stop the disease from spreading to your other houseplants, be sure to isolate your plant.
Anthracnose
On leaves and stems, a group of fungi diseases known as anthracnose produce black, sunken sores. Look for several small, erratic yellow or brown spots on the leaves that gradually become larger over time to spot it.
Although it usually does not kill houseplants, it can spread quickly and harm your plants’ beauty. The remedy is placing any impacted plants under quarantine, removing all impacted leaves, and treating the plant with a fungicide based on copper.
Root And Stem Rot
You may have a problem with root rot and stem rot if your plant’s stem and roots turn dark or black and feel mushy and soft. Rot is often brought on by soil that is overwatered and has poor drainage. Replant the afflicted plant in new soil after removing the damaged roots. Always empty the catch tray after watering your plant, and check that your pot has good drainage holes. These actions may be able to rescue the plant.
Fungal Leaf Spots
A problem with fungal leaf spots may be indicated by small brown patches with yellow edges. Neem oil should be applied to the plant as directed on the bottle after removing and destroying the affected leaves. You might need to completely destroy the plant if the neem oil is unable to stop the spread of infection.
For additional information, read my post on typical indoor plant diseases. I go over how to spot, treat, and avoid the most prevalent ailments that might harm your houseplants.
Watering Problems
If your plant is also drooping, brown leaf tips or brown decaying leaves may indicate underwatering. Verify the soil’s level of dryness. If it is, you might have a problem with underwatering.
Give your plant a long, thorough drink of water to start. To prevent your plant from sitting in moist soil, be sure to empty the drip tray once the pot has completely drained. Within a few hours, your plant should begin to grow.
Make sure you comprehend your plant’s watering requirements to avoid the issue recurring. While some plants require slightly moist but not soggy soil, other plants want the soil to totally dry out in between waterings.
Even indoor houseplants will go dormant in the winter, much like outside plants, and will consume less water as a result. Your plants will require more water as the weather warms up and the amount of sunshine hours increases in the spring. Seasonal changes in water requirements can occasionally cause problems with watering.
Fertilizer Problems
If the tips of your plants’ leaves start to turn brown, a buildup of excess fertilizer salts may be to blame. If so, the first thing you should do is scrape off any crusty buildup that occurs on the soil’s surface. The soil must then be properly flushed to remove the excess salts. To stop water from splashing around, you might want to do this at the sink.
Give the soil time to absorb water for several minutes. After thoroughly rinsing the soil, let the extra water drain out entirely. Wait until the soil’s top has dried before watering again. You may need to totally repot the plant into new soil if the salt buildup is excessive. To avoid a buildup of salts in the soil, you might wish to flush the soil around your plant once a month.
When fertilizing your indoor plants, err on the side of caution to avoid fertilizer issues. Contrary to popular belief, most houseplants require less fertilizer. Find out what kind of fertilizer your plant need, and use it sparingly. To understand more, read my article on fertilizing houseplants.