Question
My wife has made a beautiful tropical bed room,, we just bought two kane trees about 7' tall, they smell musty and the room smells musty, what can we do,, we ask the people where we purchased the plants and they siad the plants must have been over watered, that we should not water them for tree months and the smell will be gone,, (i wonder if the plants would be dead)

Answer
The "Kane Tree" (aka Corn Plant) is an easy, low-light houseplant that does help those of us up North to get that I-live-on-Fiji look.  I agree, it's so nice to walk into a room like that on a cold gray January afternoon with snow on the ground outside and turn on the lights.

Of course, you also want it to smell like Fiji.

If you keep taking good care of this plant, it will continue to grow and it will even bloom.  And what a treat that would be.  Does it look more or less like this?:

http://www.evergrowing.com/tips/cornplant.htm

Just want to make sure we're on the same page here.

You'll know if you are NOT watering this plant enough the stems will wrinkle up at the joints.  Leaves will crinkle up and shrivel.  Believe me, you'll be able to tell.

If you OVER-water, you'll see weird dots on the new leaves and light yellow blotches at the leaf tips.  If you are not seeing that, you are not overwatering.

Contrary to those well meaning People who sold you this plant, "musty" is not a symptom of plant disease or problems.  It is however a sign of Mold and poor air circulation.

Here's what I think you should do:

1.  Install a ceiling fan.  That will help your air circulation in an enclosed area.  This is important; you don't want mold spores to settle and get too comfortable.

2.  Get one of those HEPA filter air cleaners from the Sharper Image or other high quality superduper cleaner.  It will get mold out of the air and out of your lungs.

3.  Vacuum vacuum vacuum and Dust dust dust with a damp paper towel to get mold spores off the surfaces.  I hate to say this, but a TINY splash of bleach in that water will annihilate mold and fungus on contact on walls and floors.  If you see any black specks on your walls or textiles, it's mildew -- a mold that needs moisture darkness to grow.  You should only have to do this once and it should be such a small amount you can't notice it when you enter the room.

My guess is that this tropical room is humid (good for the plants) and therefore moisture is collecting in places making a perfect home for raising a family of mold and fungus.

Plant leaves do collect dust and these ones should be cleaned -- wiped carefully of course so that they do not tear, and not with bleach.  NASA's Clean Air Research Center (http://www.zone10.com/tech/NASA/Fyh.htm) lists this plant on its "Top 10 Plants Most Effective in Removing Formaldehyde, Benzene and Carbon Monoxide From the Air."  But it won't remove mold.

If you ever get this plant to bloom, that will be the gold seal of approval from God that you are doing a GREAT job with your Kane Tree.  After all, this is called "Dracaena fragrans" by Botanists because the flowers are so VERY fragrant.

Good luck and keep me posted.