Question
Hi

after spending days trawling websites i can still not find anything relating to my plant problem, hopefully you can help.  I rescued a dracanea plant from my local hairdressers who were throwing it out,my plant is about 5ft,3 stems with 3 branches to each stem, the lowest stem seems to be fine , the other two are leaveless although shoots are appearing on the tallest ones. The middle stem branches are shrivelling quite drastically please advise me on what to do,when i rescued it had been standing in water for a while which i did get rid of but the soil is still very moist.please help i really want to help this plant.thankyou

Answer
Hi Su,

If I understand your description correctly, I suspect there is nothing that you can do to save your Dracaena. The fact that is was standing in water for a while, that the soil is not drying out, the stems are shriveling, and that it was being discarded tells me that the roots have probably rotted out. Once that happens the plant slowly dies from the bottom up. Without healthy roots, a plant simply cannot survive.

There is a slim chance that some healthy roots survive. All you can do is patiently wait for the soil to dry out about halfway down into the pot before watering; move it close to a window; and resist any temptation to replace the soil or disturb the already fragile roots.

You may want to take cuttings from any healthy remaining stems before they also die. The cuttings can be rooted in moist soil or water, depending on which species of Dracaena you have.

If you would like to e-mail me some photos, I may be able to provide some additional insights.

Please let me know if any of this is unclear or if you have any additional questions.
   
Regards,
Will Creed, Interior Landscaper
Horticultural Help, NYC

You can E-mail me directly at: [email protected]

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