Hi, Alex, welcome to House Plants.

It is important to provide more information about what zone you live in, what conditions the plant is growing, light, temps, etc?

Looking at your photos, your soil looks very dry. Is that true or is it just the photo? If the soil is bone dry, you need to water the plant. Maybe put it in a bucket and let the pot soak so the mix can absorb water.

I never recommend 'Moisture Control' for indoor growing. You do want your mix to drain quickly and not stay wet too long.

Since you just repotted, you need to work with the potting mix you have. In most places this is not the time of year to repot.

If the soil is dry, soak the pot in a bucket of water for about an hour or so until the soil feels moist.

Let it drain and put it in a bright window. My guess it will respond and be okay.

Please post back with more information about your growing conditions.

Jane

Hello, Jane. I was trying to provide as much information as possible, but I suppose I forgot about zones! I'm located in NY. I watered my plant about 2 weeks ago, going on 3 by the end of the week. As I mentioned above, the window is facing the west with the curtains completely open at all times. I'm not getting like direct sunlight in here, but I think it's decently lit?

The soil isn't completely dry, but I suppose it could stand to be a bit more moist. Should I up watering this plant to about every 2 weeks or simply use the finger in soil method. I've been sticking to the watering every 3 weeks mostly rule, though, so maybe I need to treat it on a plant-by-plant basis more, huh?

You mentioned that you wouldn't recommend Moisture Control for indoor growing. What soil do you recommend, then? I typically buy my soil from Home Depot. This seemed to be the most non-specific kind they had as the others appeared to be more specific to other plant types.

Thank you for your input!

Thank you so much, Grace! I really appreciate all the information. I will absolutely check out that soil. You are right in that I also created the ZZ thread. Wish I had read this first before asking about it in that other thread!

As for the pot, I had no idea the size was an issue! It was actually in a smaller pot before this. The pot it came with was a 1.8 QT pot. I still have that pot with me, along with a smaller 1.3 QT pot I can use. I have attached photos. Which do you suggest? The darker-colored one is the original, 1.8 QT pot. The smaller green one is the 1.3 QT.

Hi Alex,

I'm only making an issue about the pot size became (1) it's a Dracaena, which typically don't make impressive roots, (2) it's ailing and (3) you have it planted in notoriously subpar soil, though nobody would expect anyone to know that walking through any garden center. I used MG for many years, so I was just as fooled as most.

There isn't a huge difference between the two sizes so either one should be fine. It depends more on how much healthy roots you find. When you unpot it, if you find discolored roots, make sure to trim those off. They won't serve you much purpose now or later except to continue rotting. Then, is just nearly place the plant into the new pot with new soil and water in with plain water. If you have drinking or distilled water, it might be prudent to water with that for the next 3-4 times or so just to rule out water issue, though if you're in NYC, your water rocks. lol

I kept my Dracaena in ProMix for a few years and just recently uprooted it to put into gritty mix with a dash of ProMix in it. It's basically all 90% perlite, lava rocks and gravel rocks with maybe 10% peat and indoors, even with a completely loose mix, I have watered once in about three weeks. If you have a hole big enough on the pot that you can feel from the bottom, it's a good indicator of when it's dry. Just putting your finger against the bottom, you should be able to tell when it's still moist. Also, if you feel your pot once you've planted it and then again when you've watered it, you can note the dry weight. When it gets that light again, water. How quickly it dries will depend on your plant's roots and indoor temps only. Obviously, in NY, you guys are cooling down rapidly from here on versus us in California.

If you have some fish emulsion on hand, you can mix in a little at about 1/4-1/2 strength (it's weak stuff anyway) per gallon to water it in. Some people believe it helps the plant adjust, and I've tried it...I am not certain it helped but it absolutely didn't hurt. But I wouldn't do full strength fertilizing until it's growing again.

That said, unless you're trying a new soil, I would not bother repotting it and as Jane said, let it dry. The only reason to repot anything right now would be to provide something significantly better in exchange for stressing out the plant further. It's sort of liking remodeling a kitchen when your foundation is sinking...no point. Either build a new foundation immediately on which to build or bide your time and walk very lightly. ;-)

Just my thoughts. Hope it helps you!

Alex, Jane gave you great advice, since you are in NY, now is NOT the time to re-pot your plant, let it be over the winter and watch your watering, the best time to re-pot is mid spring, just when the plants are starting to wake up .... The soil looks extremely dry to me also.

Never met a corn plant I didn't kill, sigh...

Thanks, all. This information has been extremely helpful. When I repotted my dracaena, the roots were long and yellow, if I recall correctly. I don't think they were discolored, but if/when I end up repotting again (only when I get new/better soil, of course), I will see if any are discolored.

That's quite a mix you mentioned! Are there any pre-mixed bags like that, or do you kind of just add a bit of this, a bit of that, depending on the information you find out? Where would you even find out that a mix of perlite, lava rocks and gravel work best? Do you have any good websites for this, or is it just knowledge you've picked up. I am lacking in the knowledge of soil department. Pardon my ignorance, I'm fairly new to the whole more advanced gardening methods.

It's normal for Dracaena roots to be orangish/yellowish.

The info in these discussions might help you in the "soil department," and you might spot other areas of possible improvement in your techniques:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1490818/good-growing-practices-an-overview-for

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1497307/ukeeping-u-them-looking-good

Thanks for the info :) I'll definitely check it out

Alex, haha, weird mix, isn't it?

It all started with Al's gritty mix, totally learned from Al's posts on this forum and often discussed on this forum. (Search for it in the Container Gardening forum.)

I used it for a year plus and loved it, but then over time I changed what I used depending on what is available nearby and appropriate for my plants and watering habits as well as weather, etc.

This is one of the latest pictures I happen to have on my iPad right now that shows the soil; it gives you some idea on just how little water is required for many plants. The ingredients I'm using are much larger than the original recipe but the concept is all Al's and works wonderfully because I REALLY like watering, LOL.

But like I said, for my indoor Dracaena, I used a little bit of peat as this mix really holds very, very little water and indoor plants, I do not water often at all.

Good luck, Alex!

Grace, you've been more than helpful. Thank you for all your advice and your time :)