Question
My daughter just moved to California. The moving company would not take any plants on the truck and of course she couldn't carry one on the plane. She gave me her massangeana cane plant and asked me to please not let it die, she had had it since he first year in college about 10 years. So I took it and now it looks pitiful, it has brown spots, like the leaves are drying out and dying from the tip up. I don't know when the last time she repotted it or any thing. All I know is I promised and I need your help to save it. And that's not all I was so afraid it would completely die that I went out and bought another one just like hers, minus all the brown spots and yellowing leaves, and now it looks almost as bad. I thought if hers died I might could pass this one off as hers, now the jokes on me. Can you help me save them. I'm going to California the end of May and I know she is going to ask about her plant. I don't have it in direct sunlight and I water it when the soil gets dry about an inch down. I don't know what else to do.
Sincerely,
Worried Mom

Answer
Hi Faye,

The first thing you should do is be honest with your daughter rather than trying to fool her. Plants are used to a stable environment and do not respond well to change. That means you need to duplicate as much as possible the environment that your daughter had for the plant for 10 years. It is especially important to duplicate the light by placing the plant in a window that faces the same direction and is the same distance from that window. Then you should ask your daughter to explain just how often and how much water she provided.

I can provide general guidelines for you, but it would be better if you could get guidelines from your daughter that are specific to this particular plant.

Massangeana canes (Corn Plants) do best in bright indirect light within a couple of feet of a north or east facing window that is uncovered throughout the day. They prefer to remain potbound and almost never need repotting and certainly not in this case. Allow the top quarter of the soil to dry out between waterings, then water thoroughly until a bit of water trickles through the drainage holes. Fertilizer is intended for healthy plants that are growing vigorously, so it will not help your plant.

In the interim, prune off any leaves that are all or mostly discolored as they will not recover. Leaves that have discolored tips or edges can be trimmed so that the original contour of the leaf is maintained.

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.

If this information has been helpful, please click the Rate Volunteer bar below and enter a rating and nomination for me. I am a volunteer on this site so Ratings are the only compensation I receive for answering plant questions.

Need more information? Visit my website at www.HorticulturalHelp.com
or email me at [email protected] or call me at 917-887-8601 (EST)
 
Regards,
Will Creed, Interior Landscaper
Horticultural Help, NYC

Visit my website at  www.HorticulturalHelp.com