About 40 adaptable, simple-to-grow plants belonging to the genus Dracaena have strappy, unique leaves. The dracaena is most frequently grown as a houseplant, even though it can be grown outdoors in USDA plant hardiness zones 10 and 11.
Depending on the cultivar, dracaena can grow as tall as 10 feet (3 meters) or even more, therefore regular dracaena trimming is likely required. The good news is that dracaena plant pruning is not challenging. You can trim dracaenas to any desired height with little to no complaint from these hardy plants.
Potential Cause 1: Inconsistent Watering
If you see brown tips and blotches on your dracaena, erratic watering is likely to blame. The tops of the leaves will develop dark tips and patches if the soil dries out too much.
How to fix it:
When seventy-five percent of the soil volume is dry, water your Dracaena. Every seven to ten days, check on your plants, and keep in mind that plants may require more frequent watering during the winter months when our houses are frequently hot and dry.
Potential Cause 2: Water Sensitivity
Brown stains on the tops and margins of leaves may indicate that the soil has accumulated salts or that the tap water contains fluoride, chlorine, or both.
Your tap water should be poured into a container and left out for at least 24 hours to allow some of the contaminants to dissipate. Use of distilled water or rainfall is an alternative.
Additionally, an accumulation of white deposits on the exterior of the pot, particularly close to the drainage holes, is an indication of too much salt. To wash away extra salt, use distilled water or rainwater.
Potential Cause 3: Leaf Spot Disease
Your plant may have leaf spot disease if you notice little brown dots with yellow borders. Where the attacking fungus or bacterium is eating on the leaves, it leaves behind tiny brown dots with yellow borders. The size, color, and shape of these dots can vary.
Remove the impacted leaves right away, and for the time being, keep your Dracaena separate from your other plants. Try this natural cure for Leaf Spot Disease: mix a tablespoon or two of baking soda and a teaspoon or two of mineral oil in a spray bottle filled with water. Spray the solution evenly over the plant’s infected brown regions after thoroughly shaking it.
Grow-HowTM Note:
We advise always removing the damaged portion of a leaf or, if it is completely brown, the entire leaf. The plant recovers and looks its best with the help of removal of the dead leaf or damaged parts. Pruning shears or extremely sharp scissors are required.
Instructions for proper removal of damaged or dead leaves:
1. Use clean shears to remove any brown leaf tips or patches. To prevent harming the plant’s remaining good foliage, merely remove the damaged tips or areas, leaving a very small margin of brown. 2. Remove individual leaves at their bases if the entire leaf has turned brown. Gently tug the leaf; it might fall off on its own. Gently lifting the leaf should cause it to detach; if not, use clean shears to cut through the stem.
Do you have a query or concern regarding a plant? The Grow-HowTM Team is here to assist, so don’t worry! We are here to provide you with the information you need to be the greatest plant parent you can be, regardless of the question you have or the type of plant you have. We would like to impart to you our love and understanding of plants.
When a dracaena grows too tall, what do you do?
Indoor plants must “fit the space” in order to appear attractive in any interior environment. A healthy dracaena will eventually surpass the typical 8-foot ceiling.
Ask yourself first whether there is any other spot that you could shift this plant to before you rush in and start cutting excess two to three foot tall houseplant trees away inside your house garden. Your answer will be NO if your luck is anything like mine.
How Much Cane And Foliage Do We Remove?
Keep in mind that when you prune Dracaena at the top, your new developing point or tips will emerge from the top of the cane.
Make sure to trim your indoor plants’ stems and excess so that there is room for new growth—or should we say regrowth?—in the future.
Consider removing at least two feet, or 24 to 30 inches, if your plant is touching the top of a typical ceiling.
A Dracaena fragrans or massengaena’s new growth can range in size from 8 to 12 inches. With your sound growing practices, it won’t be long before you’re corn plant pruning your indoor plants again.
These indoor plants can grow taller than you might ever dream, even under indirect light.
Don’t assume you’ll cut a dracaneas cane with your kitchen scissors because some of them can be quite thick. The #2 clippers made by Felco are my favorite. They are strong, resilient, and long-lasting.
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.
I have a dracaena plant. Can I remove the top and replant it?
My plant (I don’t know the name, but I believe it belongs to the palm tree family) is bending and very weak despite growing as high as my ten-foot vaulted ceiling. I nailed it to the wall with twine and thumbtacks to help stabilize it. Should I remove the top? Is it acceptable to chop if it is top heavy? If you will, or trunks, have thin bark. Is there a technique to assist in making them thicker? As you look at the photographs, please let me know if you have any recommendations on this plant.
Expert response from Hailey Plant:
You possess a sizable Dracaena. To keep it healthy within your home, it does indeed need to be trimmed.
I went ahead and changed your photo to demonstrate how to top your plant. A red box outlining a portion of the Dracaena stem may be seen in the image to the right. You can chop off the plant’s top anywhere along this stalk. Make sure the stem is cut at a 45-degree angle. By doing this, the plant will be certain to mend well with little to no dieback. For a few days after the cut, I prefer to mist the area to help the cut heal more slowly. Once daily, mist it with lukewarm water.
You can start a new plant with the bit you cut off. You’ll need some rooting hormone for this. Once the top has been removed, place the cut end in the rooting hormone and plant it in a pot with damp soil. The portion you cut off will develop roots in a few weeks, giving you a new plant.
On the side of the stem where you made the cut, the old plant is likely to develop new growth. Please let me know how it goes and good luck.
Why are the tips of my dracaena leaves browning?
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 old are Dracaena plants?
- The Dracaena Marginata is one of the most well-liked houseplants since it requires very little maintenance and its tropical appearance fits in well with contemporary settings.
- It can survive for up to ten years in a pot with adequate care and has an even longer life expectancy outside.
- Greek term dracaena has been romanized as dracaena. In general, it means a she-dragon. Its name is derived from the enormous size of a wild Dragon Tree.
- Diseases are not a problem for the Madagascar Dragon Tree, however scale, thrips, mealybugs, and spider mites can occasionally be an issue. It is advisable to regularly inspect the plant and spot pests before they do damage.
- The ability of this plant to filter the air is excellent. It not only combats indoor pollution, but it also offers excellent allergy protection. For filtering benzene, lead, carbon dioxide, cigarette smoke, and various VOCs, it is especially helpful.
- The plant’s leaves are loaded in antioxidants, and traditional medicine occasionally uses them to treat headaches and eye soreness.
- Although this plant is not poisonous to people, it can be extremely harmful to animals, especially cats and dogs. When pets nibble on the leaves, the poisonous alkyds they contain can make them sick. Vomiting and excessive salivation are examples of poisoning symptoms.
How may a Dracaena trunk be made thicker?
How Do You Handle a Weak Dracaena?
- A dracaena’s top can be removed, and it can be rooted. Continue to water the bottom, and new growth will appear there as well.
- Give your dracaena a quarter turn every so often to maintain the stems neatly erect.
- This dracaena marginata is getting enough light, as seen by its thick stems and large leaves.
Step 6
Put each of the stem portions in a tiny pot once they have developed strong roots. Regularly feed and drink. Put multiple plants in a huge container that are all different heights when the roots are confined.
Other houseplants including rubber plants, tradescantia, pothos, and yucca can all have their stems chopped off.
How should a dracaena marginata be shaped?
Broadleaf evergreen shrub Dracaena marginata, often known as the Madagascar dragon tree, has many trunks and resembles a tiny tree. If planted in a container, it can reach a height of 6 feet, and if planted in the ground, it can reach a height of 20 feet. In zones 10 through 11 of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s plant hardiness map, the dragon tree flourishes. Long, slender stems are covered in sword-shaped green leaves that can grow up to 3 feet long. The only way to design the tree is to measure the height of the stems and promote branching by trimming because each stalk is capped by a single tuft of leaves. The shrub should be pruned ideally in the spring while it is actively growing.
To make the cut, choose a place on the stem of the dragon tree. Depending on whether you want a low-growing set of branches or only want to remove a little portion of the top of the shrub, you can cut the stem anywhere between 10 inches and 5 feet above the ground.
Use a pair of clean, razor-sharp pruning shears to cut the stem across at the desired height. Cut at a slight slant to prevent water from collecting on the cut surface. A place on the stem just beneath where you made the cut will sprout one to three fresh shoots. If you are pruning to make the plant shorter, keep in mind to account for the height of the new branching growth.
Allow the section of plant you cut to dry for a day or two before planting the cutting 3 to 4 inches deep in the soil at the parent dragon tree’s base to begin a new plant. Alternately, start a Madagascar dragon tree by planting the cutting somewhere else.