Question
Hi Nick -

Congrats on your great reputation!

I am replacing a 10'diseased dracaena marginata I had for 10 yrs. in my sun room. I finally found a 7' replacement at a price I could afford and it's been in my LR for 2 weeks while I treated the scale on the old plant (washed w/Murphy's Oil soap) and cleaned the area with ammonia water. The plant was brought to Pennsylvania from your home, Florida, the day before I bought it. There's been a modest amount of leaf drop in the 2 weeks I've had it, but it looks good and now I'm ready to move the plant to it's permanent location in the sun room. But it occurred to me I should transplant it into a pretty pot first. It's currently in a 14" diameter, 12" high, black plastic industrial container. Should I transplant it to a same size pot or to a larger pot? And if you suggest a larger pot, do I add potting soil, Watersorb, or anything? Do you use Watersorb in your large tropical plants?

Also, the old 10' dracaena marginata that I cut down, was given to me in a nice pot 10 years ago and I never transplanted. I don't know what it's living on, since it seems to be one hard mass of root, but I'd like to keep it alive. Should I transplant it also?

I hope you can fit me in and help me get my beautiful new plant settled.

Thanks,
Marcy

Answer
Hi Marcy, ok Dracaena's are pretty resilient so I wouldn't be too concerned about the leaf drop, its just stressing from its trip and new locale; The new container should be a little larger then the nursery pot its in now, and you will need to line the bottom with some peastone or similar medium for better drainage and to keep the roots from sitting in any residual water. Light good grade potting soil will be fine, when you take the plant out of the old pot, be sure to free up the roots and break them out of the bound position they are sure to be in; the new container should have some type of decorative stones on the top inch or so to prevent splatter when you water. Keep the foliage misted each day to prevent spider mite infestation, which will happen if you don't. Now, the older fella, it is surely, solidly,rootbound and will need to be remove and again, broken up (the roots) so as to free the roots to expand into the new medium and container. Plant it the same as the new one and in the future use a commercial horticultural oil (ultra-fine is a my preffered) to eradicate any scale, aphids, or spider mites that may afflict it (the same for outside plants when afflicted with these small insect pests)...there you go, good luck and follow up if need be, Nick