Question
mass cane
i have a mass cane, ibought almost months ago. now suddenly leaves have started to burning, they r turning yellow and then brown. i don't water it a lot. it's in a well lighted room first it was beside the window but now i have moved it to another wall but still room is well lighted. i don't know what to do.and i don't water it a lot.PLEASE HELP
AnswerAnna,
Are you watering this plant with tap water that has chlorine or flouride in it? Dracanas which includes mass canes hate flouride. It causes burn spots on the leaves like what you have on your plant. You need to water your plant with distilled water that you can purchase in gallon jugs at the grocery or you can allow tap water to sit in an OPEN bucket for 48 hours before using it to water your plants and the chlorine and flouride will dissipate into the air leaving plain harmless water for your plant.
If you do not have water with flouride or chlorine then you are either under or over watering it. When you water it you need to give it enough water that all the soil in the pot gets moist. An hour after watering you should empty excess water out of the drain tray so your plant is not sitting with a tray full of water for several days. You can use a turkey baster for that. If there is not excess water you should also make sure there are not large dry spots in the soil. That can also cause leaf yellowing.
You can insert a large bamboo skewer into the soil and just leave it sticking up enough to be able to pull it out. When you think the plant is dry and needs watered pull out the skewer and see if it is dry at least 2/3rds of the way down. If it is still moist half way up it is not time to water.
The plant must be in a pot with a drain hole and a drain tray under it. If it is in a pot with no drain hole it will never dry out in that lower portion of the pot and the roots will rot. That will also cause problems like you are having.
Also if your plant is going 2-3 weeks at a time between waterings you can have damage likee you are seeing. I have listed the problems in the order that I think they are most likely to be the cause of your problem. If it is not the first problem it is most likely the second and so on. If you have more questions feel free to write again. Good luck.
Darlene
