Question
I was given a corn plant from my employer in October 2010. It has done great in my home until just recently. It consists of 4 canes; 3', 4', 5' & 6 feet. The leaves started getting brown on the tips, so I used scissors & trimmed the brown off making the leaves resemble the same pointy shape. A few weeks ago, some of the shoots turned black with brown leaves, so I cut the shoots completely off. I have no clue what I'm doing really. In reading some of the posts today, I got curious about the water in the pot. I had my son help me take it out on our porch & pulled the 14" container the plant is in out of the large pot it was down inside of & there was 2 inches of water! Apparently the corn plant had been sitting in water. So, the 6' cane has 3 of the 4 original shoots with healthy-looking leaves on them. The 4th shoot was brown so I cut it off. The 3' & 4' canes each have 2 of the original 4 shoots with healthy-looking leaves. The 5' cane had to have all 4 shoots cut off because they were all brown/black. Can I cut off that cane below those 4 dead shoots? If so, what do I cut it off with? A saw? The canes are 4-5" in diameter. I thought I'd leave the plant on my front porch awhile since the smaller pot has drain holes. I'm hoping it will get alright once it dries out some. I love this plant so any advice you can give me will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Answer
Hi Audrey,

The degree of damage to your Corn Plant depends on how long it has been sitting in water. Soil that stays constantly wet causes roots to gradually rot and die. Certainly some of the roots have already rotted and that has caused the damage to the foliage you have observed. You should expect additional deterioration at least until the soil dries out. If there are enough remaining roots that have not yet rotted, then further deterioration should gradually stop, although already damaged stems will not recover.

Any stems that have shriveled or lost all their leaves should be pruned off and discarded. Any canes that have lost all their stems and foliage will not recover and should be removed entirely. Sawing through the canes is difficult and cumbersome. It is best to wait a few weeks until you are able to twist the cane in place until it is free to be pulled straight up and out without disturbing the roots and soil of the other canes.

For a 14" diameter pot, allow the top 4 inches of soil to dry out before adding any water. If you keep it outside, be sure it doesn't get toppled over by the wind and protect it from any direct sunlight during the day. Inside, it can stay in front of a north or east window.

Only time will reveal how much of your Corn Plant can be salvaged.

I have written an article on Corn Plant care that I will email for free to you (or anyone else) who sends a request to me at [email protected].

Please let me know if any of this is unclear or if you have any additional questions.

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Will Creed, Interior Landscaper
Horticultural Help, NYC

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