I just put in a corner where it got decent light and watered it when needed and that's about it.

Draceana is actually a small tree. We only buy the babies for our pots. If they are pretty big now they would be huge by the end of next summer.

There's no way I know of to divide them. You can make them a bit smaller by peeling off a few of the outer leaves. You can let them go dormant in a root cellar or bring them in and do like beegood says. You can grow them from seed but it takes a long time.

I don't have room or inclination to try, so I just pitch them and buy new the next year.

Aren't they like 45 cents new?

I just brought in the pots last year and kept them in the West window, lots of light. Had some leaves brown on the tips and on the outside but in the spring I brought them out and they started growing. Stan

OK, so I paid $2 a spike this summer. Taking them in is an option, however I think they would be huge by next summer. Can I cut them right down and will they grow again? Or split them? Or ????????
Maybe I just suck it up and throw them out.

No you can't cut them down--they will not grow again.
No you can't split them as far as I know and there are no other options except overwintering them indoors or pitching them

I guess it depends on how much trouble you want to go to in order to save $20-25.00.

Personally, I think by the time you pot them up to put in the house, risk spreading some type of bug to any houseplants you may have.........

I'd just compost or pitch them and buy new in the spring.

Sometimes it's just the challenge of seeing if you could do it. If you have the room for them, go for it. :)

Hi Fillagirl,

I was thinking the exact same thing this fall... I bought a half dozen or so 'spikes' from Extra Foods last spring and they were very large... now they are a very nice size and was thinking of trying to save a few of them, though it does take alot of room... I have to make up my mind soon, as the forecast is calling for Minus 6 in a few days.. seems alittle too cold though, hope that's not going to happen...

Rob

I'm thinking that I will bring one in for the winter and see what happens. The rest are going into the compost, but not until after Halloween.

I am going to try and incorporate the rest into some sort of Halloween decoration...got to think about how I will do that....any ideas???

I love the newer types with the reddish leaves. They would probably make a decent houseplant. They are actually a type of cordyline/dracaena and are similar to the 'Madagascar dragon tree' houseplant, though with thicker stiffer leaves. I am like you, I can't save everything but feel a bit sorry to just let frost get them. I have a few plants in the shed (get a bit of light through the windows) that I'm debating on bringing in.

I am going to try what Garry 1968 did....cut the tops off, plant them close to the house, and cover them with mulch. Nothing ventured, nothing gained...

Gary1968 gives good advice about utilizing the warm zone next to the foundation. Previous to having a coldroom or attached garage, I would often bury tender plants against the foundation for the winter.

My sig. other takes a similar plant in the basement and keeps them alive under a grow light.

The basement looks like a jungle over the winter.

I have a large bronze draceana.The top has died off but I now have 3 "babies" coming from the base of the stalk. I cut the dead stalk back. Should I just let it be or can I split the stalk & divide them this summer?

The dracaenas I've grown produced basal shoots that were still dependent on the trunk, and definitely shared roots. It could work but my first thought would be no.

Hello all I live in eastern Washington zone 8b?. Early this spring I purchased ($70.00) a spike (dracaena) that stood about 6ft it's now closer to 8ft. With help from my husband we moved it into the garage a couple of weeks ago. It's in a large pot and faces a window that gets terrific light. I've wrapped the base of the plant up about 2 feet in a medium weight burlap. It looks great. I've become quite fond of the thing and just can't bring myself to pitch it in the compost pile :/ Hope for the best :D.
This is just a wonderful blog so glad I found it, green thumbs up to all.
Joan

I live in Milwaukee and have brought my spikes and geraniums for the winter and found that the spikes if put into a smaller pot than what you should use they will start new plants from the over crowded root system. However, on the other side of the coin my geranium s get spindly and it takes to mid July before the bloom.

I live West of Milwaukee and have been over-wintering my potted geranium plants for at least 5 years, in an extra upstairs bedroom with three South-facing skylights and vinyl title floor. I simply close the heat duct as well as the bedroom door. I water as needed, usually only every two or three weeks or so, when the soil dries out or the leaves start to show signs of wilting. They will continue to bloom for a couple of months, then slow down and begin again when the days when the days get longer. I find that I need to cut them back in March, when they start to get spindly. This year I will start new plants with the stalks I cut off by planting them in smaller pots with fresh potting soil and keeping them moist. They are very easy to root that way, and I have plenty of room. I have full-spectrum fluorescent ceiling lights in the room, but have never used them for the geraniums, since I think it is better for them to have some down-time in the winter during the darker months anyway. I may, however, use a full-spectrum grow light over the newly rooted ones. We'll see.

I am also going to see if I can over-winter my green & yellow vinca vines from my window boxes & whiskey barrel planters by trimming them way back and repotting them in recycled pots I saved for that purpose. I will keep them watered only as needed. Last winter I buried them in the garden, and while it did keep some of them alive, by the time I could let them out in the sun it took way too long for them to be of any use for my containers in the Spring. I had to put them in pots and just save them to bring in this year!

This will be the 2nd year for me bringing my spikes to the indoors , they are growing great , water when needed.that's about it.

I'm curious as to the transition of bringing them in so late, last year i brought them in in Oct, it's now the end of Nov. and cold, any advise?

If they're still alive, it shouldn't matter.

We brought 2 spikes inside for the winter they are getting some light but I noticed the bottom spikes are very brown look dead. Should I pull them off, or fertilize not sure, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I bought 4 large purple spikes last year and they grew into a tropical tree look. During the winter months I bought 2 inside the house which took up some room. Today I repotted them with fresh soil and plant food...dust off the leaves and they look great, I just hope they continue to grow. The cost of each was $22 and I refuse to pay that amount every year and I love the look they give my planters...wish me luck !

I kept a spike for 5 years, It turned out to be like a small palm that I put out in the screened porch in summer. Took it back in for the winter, peeled the lower leaves off when they looked wretched, rotated the pot in front of the window a quarter turn every time I watered (once every 2 weeks or so) so it would not lean into the light. Repotted the whole thing maybe 3 times in 5 years. In spring I would sometimes add a few golden creeping jenny plants and let them drip over the edge of the black square pot

I brought one of the purple leafed ones in for the winter. I kept it in a heated shed. Temperature was around 10 C. It had light and I watered it a few times. It looks great. If I remember correctly, I dug it out of a large tub and pruned the roots so it would fit into a smaller pot.

Love these frugal gardeners. I have learned so much by experimentation. All it costs is a little gardening effort in winter

Someone must have been looking at this old thread because they liked one or my replies. Since this thread started, i have overwintered one spike for several years. It's in with a few other things that come inside for the winter so it hasn't grown too much larger. I have been noticing some town container plantings that still have the spikes in them and they look fine. They probably won't survive in those conditions but a person could probably use them in a winter arrangement.

I put my pots in my garage over the winter (Michigan) hoping to save my geranium. The geraniums died but I was surprised to see the spike looked Ok so I just planted new annuals and it continued to grow! I’m on my 4th year now. Last year and now again this year they are flowering and they are VERY fragrant! I Love this plant!

Kelenbaas....how often did you water it in the garage?

I have overwintered these “spikes” successfully for many years in a dark garden shed. An oil filled heater keeps the temperature a few degrees above freezing, just right for the dahlia tubers and canna tubers which share the same storage area. I am careful, in the spring, not to reexpose the spikes too rapidly. In a covered area, outdoors, for a few weeks, for example. I have also left the spikes in an unsheathed greenhouse till Christmas and exposed them to rather frigid temperatures before moving them inside. I also know that these spikes survive as outdoor plants in mild winter places such as Vancouver, where frost never goes deep into the ground.

I’m in zone 7 and the winter before last the survived in the ground-they’re all along a fence as a backdrop and close to my blacktop driveway facing south-I know that helped-this past winter we had a big snowfall-one snapped but the rest seem okey-I’m hoping they’ll be okay-usually zone 7 they are considered an annual-hopefully they’ll be ok again

I live in northern Wisconsin. I just took them out of the garage. All of them started at 15" in pots. They are very easy to care for and add annuals for color in spring.

For what it's worth, after so many years, mine died last summer. :)

Mine made it through one winter but this past winter not so good

Qio

Yes I saved mine i brought inside. I put mine on standa in front of my windows .All I did was water them every couple of weeks...they got so tall, I think I will have to trim them

My 2 year old spike. I just bought it in for the winter. It's about 5 feet tall.

Last fall I brought my flower boxes in to my well-lit garage for the winter. This spring the spikes look great but are a little taller than I would like. Is there any way to cut them back a couple inches?

I always bring my spikes in over the winter. I have a sun porch that I heat to stay above 40°. I love that the spike plants get huge! By the 3rd year, they're too big for a window box, but they're an awesome large accent plant in a BIG planter, garden or landscape. Easy to keep in the house too with a little sunlight. Inside, I water with rain water/melted snow to keep tips from yellowing from the city water.

I have been bringing mine in for a half a dozen years or so…I have a large family room…lots of light. Keep this room in the low fifties in the winter time…water about once every 3 weeks. When I take them out in the early spring…I trim off all the dead lower leaves…places them in full sunlight…it makes for a kind of tropical look. They will withstand a moderate frost! Enjoy!

We put them in pots and put them in the basement. water once a week. they are huge, lose some bottom leaves but the are beautiful. saves me so much money. sometimes i just plant the whole pot in a larger pot so it is easier to move in the fall.

I bring my spikes indoors before autumn night temps fall below 40°, and then keep them near a sunny window all winter. I bring them back outside in the spring in a shady place as soon as night temps are above 45°. Slowly move them into bright sun.

I keep them for 3-4 years, after that they're just too huge for my indoor space. They do lose more lower leaves as the years go by, making them look more like a tree.

I have a large one that I overwinter in the garage, it's in an enormous pot. It's about 5' tall including the pot. We live in the Rochester NY area so it can get very cold. I don't bother to bring it in until it looks like it will be 20 or below. 15 years ago, I left one outside in the ground and it came back with a couple of new shoots the following year.