The soil in bone dry but it is still droopy and has been for weeks that why I watered it once a week. Any what is your suggestion she I let it alone for awhile or put it in new potting soil?

I would say its proabably too much sun.

Well, if you're sure the soil is drying well enough (overwatering is the most common problem people have with marginatas) the next thing to consider is that it may be getting TOO dry - there does needs to be a little moisture in the soil between waterings. How long have you had this plant, do you know how long it's been in this small pot? Is the soil mass filled with roots? If so, it may well need to be up-potted; that could also be the cause of drooping foliage, in that too many roots in the pot make it difficult for the plant to absorb water. Another thing to consider is that marginata foliage tends to grow and droop as it gets older, so that could also be why she's droopy. Sometimes dealing with plants is not clear cut. You try one thing, you try another, you see what works and what doesn't.

Does the water run right out or soak in? If it is in a peat based potting mix, it's possible the mix has become too dry and the water is just running off .

JoJo

If the roots have filled the pot like the pic below, it's probably time for repotting.

I'm not sure it's getting enough light. The spikes at the top should be more upright. Can you say more about the "sunny spot" it's been in? With FW, I'm curious how long you've had it.

I had it for three or four months. I keep it in a window that gets afternoon sun. I thought about unpotting it and put it in some moisture control potting soil and see if that helps unless anyone have any other suggestions.

Can you pull it out of the pot and take a pic of the roots, that's the best way to know if it's pot-bound.

The worst thing you could do is add moisture control potting soil. The soil should dry out more quickly for plants to be healthy. Sounds counter-intuitive, but most people firmly believe this. The moisture crystals also cause extensive expansion/contraction, which is not something roots are prepared to handle. Although it is laying on its' side and unpotted, you can see the angles at which a healthy plants' leaves should be in the pic I posted above.

Drooping is a sign that moisture isn't reaching the foliage (if it's not from simply not having enough light for foliage to grow properly.) There are 2 reasons moisture does not reach foliage. The first is that there is none in the pot. That's easy to determine. Either it's bone dry or there is moisture present. If it is moist, there's plenty of light (which it sounds like there is with afternoon rays,) then the roots have become damaged and are unable to obtain/deliver moisture to the foliage. Roots become damaged by sitting in soggy soil. Dracaenas are particularly sensitive to additives in water like fluoride and chlorine, so the effect on their health can be dramatic. Roots need air pockets as well as moisture or they will rot.

I've never had a Dracaena NOT take off with a growth spurt after repotting (with the most crucial part of that process being trimming the roots.) To give you an idea of how fast the roots can grow on these plants, those pictured below except the much taller one (shown above) were started as stem cuttings this past summer and needed to be repotted before coming inside for winter, the pots were full of roots already. Pic taken a couple weeks ago (and shows the naked-root tree from above also.)

Here are the roots.

Aha, yes, that plant needs repotting. The roots I can see look healthy, but they have run out of room to grow, and have begun to circle the pot. If left unchecked, the roots can continue spiraling until the plant strangles itself. The link I posted yesterday, "repotting," has pics & instructions but feel free to ask questions on anything. The first step would be to have new "dirt" ready to refill the pot.

Here's another repotting tutorial with a great pic of Mike's soil mix.

This link about good growing practices might be helpful to read.

Whatever ingredients you have at your disposal, your goal is to have a chunky, porous soil in which the plants can get some air as well as moisture, that doesn't hold excess water and dries out within a reasonably short amount of time.

Ditto to all that Purple has said, especially that bit about the "moisture control potting soil" Doesn't help anybody but the manufacturers. Undoubtedly there are people who grow plants successfully in it, but that's because they've learned to allow for its deficiencies. Better not to have those in the first place.

Howdy,

GP. When you removed D. Marginata from its pot, did you happen to notice the amount of room between roots and inner container?
None, 1" or more??

Roots are healthy enough.

Although Dracaena maginata is a tropical plant, during winter I treat my marginata as a succulent.
The brightest light, 'for IL,' soil dries thoroughly before watering, no fertilizer and kept in a cool room.
Too much heat can invite Spider Mites or Mealy.

The only difference in care is leaves are misted during dry, winter months.

Purple, I love your plant window.
Which plant is sitting in marginata? Toni

Thanks, Toni! The one on the left has a pot of Tradescantia spathacea riding piggy-back. The middle tree has a T'giving cactus along for the ride and the tall one on the right has D. sanderiana "in" it. Too good of an east window to waste any space there. ...these are just the Dracs in this room...

Hi my dragon tree growing bended, how can I train it to grow straight.

The simplest thing would be to stake it - get a plant stake of the correct size (depending on the height and weight of your plant,) push it into the soil near the trunk of your plant, and tie the plant to it. However, the natural inclination of a marginata is to grow long, bendy limbs, especially growing in the lower light of indoors; so, if you take the stake off, the plant will still bend.

Another option would be to cut the main trunk back significantly, and let a new leader grow up straight from the cut. The cut-off part can be rerooted in soil, and thus can also grow with a straight stem - won't be real tall though.

Sounds like its too dry. Give it a drink or repot.

I used to keep mine right next to a south facing window and after a couple years of that I realized it really didn't like that too much. I moved it 8-10-ft off that window and it seemed to really like that spot. I water once a week and seems to like that. It never drooped but burned out a little. Try less sun

Mine has a similar situation. Not sure what could ve the issue. I had it right on a northeast facing window and just recently moved more into my interior space. I see growth but I get lots of brown leaves every other day. I tend to water it, once at week and make sure that the interior temperature doesn’t drop below 70 or rise above 73. Need help!!!

From the picture you sent, it seems your plant looks pretty good. If you recently moved it to an area with lower light, it's naturally going to drop some of its leaves, because it doesn't have the light to make the energy to support them all. The droopy leaves? Perfectly natural. Some varieties have droopier leaves than others. However, most likely it's because yours (as well as the one in the original picture) are older plants, or cuttings made from an older stem so that the leaves are already drooping. You don't need to be concerned with temperature - or humidity, for that matter. As long as it doesn't go below freezing, plant will be fine with whatever makes. you comfy. The biggest thing is water. First, understand that if you moved the plant to lower light, but are watering it the same as before, it may be too wet - the less light a plant has, the less water it uses. Really, with marginatas, the most important care routine should be testing soil moisture before you water. The soil should be dry all the way to the bottom of the pot, especially in lower light. I stress testing all the way through the pot because often the soil at the top, even 2 or 3" down, can be dry, but at the bottom it's staying wet. This will eventually kill a marginata - it may take a couple of years, but it will happen. To test soil moisture, you can get an inexpensive moisture meter from most plant stores, or you can use a wooden dowel or bamboo kebob skewer - just stick it into the pot as far as it will go, pull it up, and feel it between your fingers - it should feel dry. If it's damp near the bottom, don't water again until it's dry. Check out my YouTube channel for more complete info on watering.

Norberto - The reason for leaf abscission when a plant is moved from bright to dark isn't because the plant doesn't have enough energy to support the leaves, it occurs because lower light levels reduce the flow of a growth regulator (auxin) flowing across what is called the 'abscission zone'. As auxin is depleted in the abscission zone the area becomes sensitive to ethylene, another growth regulator, which works synergistically with auxin to promote formation of a corky layer (the abscission layer) which protects the plant from water loss and entry of pathogens after the leaf is shed. Case in point: if someone was to hang their hoodie on a large plant growing at peak vitality, such that a portion of the leaves are shaded strictly shaded, the shaded leaves only would be shed, even though the tree is making much more food (during photosynthesis) than the plant needs to keep its systems orderly.

Keeping your plant's soil too wet is a serious and limiting issue; allowing it to get too dry is a stress-producing and limiting issue, though not as stress producing as when the soil is too wet. Still, it would make sense to avoid either issue by watering just before the soil becomes completely dry. Why choose one or the other horn of a dilemma when the dilemma can be avoided entirely?

Inexpensive moisture meters do not measure moisture levels - they measure electrical conductivity. To see this in action, fill a clean cup part way with distilled or otherwise deionized water, clean the meter's probe, then stick it in the water and see it read 'DRY'. Sprinkle a little table salt in the water and you'll see the needle move all the way over to 'WET'. Use the wooden dowel as a 'tell' to 'tell' you when it's time to water. Water dracaena when the probe comes out barely moist after having been inserted to the very bottom to avoid drought stress. More about using a 'tell':

Using a 'tell'

Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support good root health, which is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to a build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor.

In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water.

Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'.

One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue.

Al

@tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a) Thank you very much indeed, that was the most informative instruction and knowledge of dracaena marginata care I have ever read.

I have had a beautiful dracaena for over eight years, it adorns my office and the leaves have only ever drooped when I was away on vacation.

I use a wooden kebab skewer to test the soil is near-dry before I water again and I also put spent dried-out tea-leaves into the soil (I haven’t needed to feed it with anything else). It is beautiful with wide leaves and a lush green colour.

Thank you aisha. I appreciate the kind words.

Al

My Dracaena is super sad looking. I just added the smaller one to the pot and disrupted the roots of the big guy. I could hear them ripping as I shifted him around. This was in the last week. Anything I can do to help with recovery? - misting every couple days/ bright light, partial sun, watered in after repotting, and I haven't fertilized. Thanks all.

My Dracaena is super sad looking. I just added the smaller one to the pot and disrupted the roots of the big guy. I could hear them ripping as I shifted him around. This was in the last week. Anything I can do to help with recovery? - misting every couple days/ bright light, partial sun, watered in after repotting, and I haven't fertilized. Thanks all.

Stop the misting - marginatas don't require added humidity, and it might even encourage fungal growths. The light sounds okay, also forget about fertilizing for a. year, and most important, test soil moisture before watering again - soil should be only the tiniest bit damp before you water again.

Bright light " less water "I water my tree once a month after testing moisture levels

"I water my tree once a month after testing moisture levels" Unfortunately then, you're leaving a lot of the plant's potential for growth, vitality, and likely eye appeal, lying on the table. Any grow medium capable of retaining moisture for intervals measured in months is inherently too water-retentive. Media that are capable of holding water enough to keep plants happy and hydrated for 2-5 days offer superior opportunity for your plants to realize as much of their genetic potential as possible.

Al