Location looks dim to me. Does the pot drain?

Is there a window nearby?

Two litres a fortnight is a lot for one of these in winter.

Thank you all. The pot doesn't drain but the soil has these lava rocks in it to absorb the water. But the person who potted it placed them throughout the soil, whereas i think they're just supposed to go in the bottom, right? And the soil is currently wet still after at least 2 weeks, so thinking maybe I should change for dryer and place rocks at the bottom?

Here is a video link: https://youtube.com/shorts/eVoSdAixjRY to show positioning in case it's a lighting issue, but my guess is it's probably indeed overwatering. Thank you for your thoughts...

It's certain that 'no drainage' is a serious issue, and it's a pretty good bet that at this point in time it's the most seriously limiting issue the plant is struggling to deal with. You'll find the soil saturated at the bottom of the pot, and the fact that the pot has no drainage hole means all salts from tapwater and fertilizer solutions stay in the soil where they eventually build up to a concentration that severely limits or even stops water uptake.

It would be a very good idea to fix/ alter the pot so it drains, then flush the soil thoroughly, then start monitoring moisture levels deep in the pot where moisture levels count.

The best feature about lava rock is it has the potential to increase aeration, but it cannot increase aeration when all its pores are full of water. Air, oxygen, is as important to root function as water, and when the ratio is skewed badly in either directions, problems arise, the worst of which is the limiting and potentially deadly effects that arise from over-watering.

The plant is getting only a small fraction of the light it needs. How quickly light diminishes can be calculated by applying the "inverse square rule" which essentially says that light diminishes inversely by the square of the distance from the light's source; so, light 12 feet from a window is only 1/144 as bright as light one foot from the window, at 8 ft it is 1/64 what it is at 1 ft, and at 2 ft light is only 1/4 as bright as it is at 1 ft.

Ask if you have questions or want a step by step list of how to resolve the issue, if only because what you're dealing with won't end well w/o immediate attention.

Al

Just noticed your Pothos - it looks amazing!

Haha thank you, and well-noticed! @Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL

@tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a) Thank you for the very thorough reply. Is your opinion about lava rock a general one? Since I've been advised by quite a few people now that it's a great solution for house plants such as the ones I own in order to not require drainage. Are you saying it's specifically bad for a dragon plant or just that it's not a good solution for no drainage overall.

Thank you for your other tips. The lighting I can't really change, but I'm going to replace the soil today and at least ensure there is enough lava rock at the bottom until I can figure out whether I really need to add drainage or not.

Ask yourself how mush aeration lava stone adds to a gallon water, or how much 500 pieces of lava stone adds to a gallon of water. The answer is 'none', because all potential air pores will be full of water. I hate to say so, but you've been seriously misled. I'm saying, for the reasons I already listed, that long term care of any terrestrial plant in a pot w/o drainage is a recipe for disappointment. Even highly skilled gardeners will run into issues growing in pots w/o drainage unless they have a plan in place to counteract the limiting effects.

Whatever you decide to do is up to you, but you'd be better served if you did a bit more investigating and had a well-reasoned plan you can stick too. What you're suggesting is the equivalent of jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. You know the saying about doing the same thing over and over .....

The Myth (PDF) ~ Linda Chalker-Scott, PhD

You'll find all the info about soils you could ever want Just Click Me.

Best luck, no matter what you decide to do.

Al

I love a good Pothos : )

If you can't install a skylight, as so few of us can, are you able to move this plant closer to a window? It's tricky but possible to not kill it with/without water in regard to the pot not having a hole, but without enough light, your tree can't be healthy. A more pressing issue, IMVHO. Each plant has a range of conditions it can tolerate, but from these pics, that's not enough light for your tree to live indefinitely, as a healthy dragon tree can. My oldest one is around 75 yrs old, a hand-me-down from grandma.

A 3rd option could be additional artificial lighting. It's a beautiful spot for that tree if you can work it out.

The way you can tell if this tree isn't getting enough light is if the 8-15 newest leaves are not pointing up. Can also happen from thirst, but if your plant isn't thirsty and you don't see perky top leaves anymore, it's from low light.

Just to be clear, HUmanynumbers, by ’drainage’ we don't mean rocks in the pot. We mean holes in the bottom of the pot.

Thank you all, so grateful for all the comments and suggestions! Apologies for the slightly late response. I obviously have a lot to think about. I think I will try an artificial light bulb in relation to the light issue, and possibly see if I can get some holes made in in relation to the drainage issue. I must say it is confusing as there are successful indoor plant pot companies whose pots do not have drainage but use lava rocks who insist that they are enough. Maybe there is a horde of unhappy customer whom we don't know about, but I would have thought I would notice them on social media! Either way, what happens to excess water is definitely something I need to give more thought to.

Thanks again for helping to save my plant!