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Hi! I would love some feedback on my Dracaena/Corn Plant. I’m very… | Pests, diseases and problems | Planta community

Jamie

Hi! I would love some feedback on my Dracaena/Corn Plant. I’m very new to plants and I don’t want him to die. I got him (his name is Fred) 5 months ago and he was doing really great in his original pot in my bedroom right next to a window that I would leave open for him while i was at work during the day. I watered him lightly every 3-4 days and there were zero issues. - I now know that corn plants do NOT like that much water or sunlight but he did great! Until I moved him to my living room nearly 2 months ago. I moved him to the center of the room where there are more windows but he wasn’t next to one like before. I noticed his soil was pretty wet so I held off on watering for longer than usual and then I noticed his leaves starting to darken. That’s when I got Planta and used the AI feature and tried researching as much as I could. I decided to repot him and his soil was WET at the bottom and I got a slightly bigger pot because I noticed his stalk was pushing the edge on his other one. I put him in a new pot with fresh dry soil and lots of drainage at the bottom and I gave him a week of no watering - only misting his leaves. I tried leaving him out on my balcony at night for some humidity but only at night to avoid too much sun. I switched to watering him once every other week and making sure his soil was dry before I did. I turned all the AC vents off in the nook of my apartment where he is and I crack the blinds during the day unless it’s rainy and then I leave them slightly open for him. NOTHING WORKS. He is getting worse every day and his leaves are turning dark brown and I want to save him. I attached some photos of him - his soil looks a little wet not because I just watered him yesterday and it’s brighter than usual because I wanted you guys to be able to see him lol Someone please help us!

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7 comments

  1. Melody

    It most likely is being very over watered. I think you mentioned moving up the water and corn plants can be very difficult about their watering so it’s not really your fault. You also said you repotted so I think there would be no root rot but you can also check. I would also pack the soil in a bit more because there is a tear into the soil between the two plants. You can also help them by getting a support beam or use plant tape to put the two together. I think the reason you have the lean is because of the light. I’d try to turn the plant once a week so all the plant gets the same amount of light. To fix the watering problem, try not watering on a week by week basis. Instead stick your finger into the soil and try to feel if it is wet, damp, or dry. If you can’t really tell when you pull your finger out see if the soil sticks to your finger daily and won’t really come off, if so it is still wet. I’m not sure if this will help you much but I’ll make a chart on how you cna n better water them: Drenched- Never Wet- After warnings Damp- 1-2 days after watering Moist 2-5 days after watering Slightly wet but mostly dry- 5-10 days after watering (don’t water now, key them dry out) Once it’s fully dried out you can plan when you will watered. (You now it’s fully dry when the top 2 inches of soil are dry) I would also maybe take the amount you water down and try bottom watering, also make sure your pot has a lot of drainage. I’m so sorry for the long reply I hope this helped. :)

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    • Nunyabzwx

      I hope i didn't over step my boundaries! 🙂🙂!

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    • Jamie

      Thank you so much for this!! I can’t tell you how excited I was to finally receive advice based on my situation. I’m going to repot him with some tropical soil and add perlite and check his roots when the soil gets here (few days) and then keep checking his soil before watering. I think the plant tape or a beam will be better I don’t know if the twine is irritating him but I get the feeing he’s particular. What do you think about light? I do rotate him every now then to get the smaller stalk in the light because I thought he was getting overshadowed (literally) But should I keep the whole plant out of direct light near windows? I’ve read that that’s one reason why the leaves die like this (although I know it was my overwatering - just want to make sure I’m giving him the best fresh start possible)

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    • Melody

      Right now maybe keep him where he is to make sure it isn’t too much stress. You could move him maybe a foot away though. I would be do 90° rotations every week or half a week. I think the fresh start is a great idea too!

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  2. Nunyabzwx

    Melody i just want to clarify one thing that you said: you said "you know when its fully dry when the top 2 inches are dry" that's not true bcz way down at the bottom of the soil it still could be wet. So a chop stick or a moisture meter is a much more reliable. If i read you text wrong then I'm so sorry. But i just want to make sure this person understands it correctly. Thank you.

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    • Jamie

      I read this online for bigger corn plants or corn plants in bigger pots and am going to monitor his soil like this from now on! I appreciate the advice - the drainage I added was mainly gravel at the bottom to make sure the water had somewhere to escape to the drainage holes but I think the soil is still a little dense for him and the chopstick method will help me see if ALL of the soil is dry

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    • Melody

      No you’re totally right, using a stick would totally help get a more consistent read on the watering. Thanks for clarifying I wasn’t exact in my wording.

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