There are a few members of the Dracaena family and they have long been popular house plants. Dracaena Fragrans is sometimes called Corn Plant as it somewhat resembles corn. Dracaena is grown in a variety of forms including the tip, bush, staggered, character and standard. This versatile plant can be anywhere from one foot tall to twenty feet tall. You will not often find Dracaena plants much larger than 6-7 feet tall except in interior landscapes, botanical gardens, or in nature.
The most common Dracaena house plants you are likely to find offered for sale at your local garden center or home improvement store are the Dracaena Marginata, Dracaena Warneckii, Massangeana and the Dracaena Janet Craig. These Dracaena plants are also the ones most often used in the interior landscape. Their tolerance of lower light makes them well suited for use under the artificial light available in many offices and the limited light you have in many homes.
These are some of the best house plants and make great additions to any home while requiring minimal care. Bright indirect light is best and they will take some morning sun. Most Dracaena will tolerate lower light levels for some time with reduced watering frequency. If placed in very low light, your Dracaena plant will eventually become thin and leggy.
Dracaena house plant care questions? You can send a houseplant care question but before you do, please read this information on watering your indoor house plants, how to help keep your houseplant's root system healthy, lighting for your house plants, and basic house plant care. These are most important for your houseplant's health and this is some of the information I will refer you to if you send an email.
Working in the interior landscape industry, I get a lot of questions from customers about their personal houseplants. It is nice to be able to help them keep their indoor house plants growing and healthy. That is why I started this website, to help others with their house plant care so please read on, Plant Lover!
Hi Plant and Flower People!
I started this website in 2012 while helping my younger brother through a fight with terminal cancer. Between shopping, cleaning, cooking, laundry, doctor/hospital visits, and other tasks to help him, I taught myself HTML/CSS and other skills used in creating a website. My brother had a very successful stock photography website himself and his advice to me was to make a website about something you know.
I had left a job in the interior landscape industry in 2012 (I have worked in the interior landscape industry since 1986) to go across the country to help him out. So that became the subject of this website, indoor house plant and flower care.
It costs money for hosting service, domain fees, etc. to keep websites running. That is why I have third party ads/Amazon products and other affiliate links on webpages. Please use them if they are helpful to you as I earn commissions/ad revenue through them and they help pay costs for hosting, domain name, etc.
If you need some help with the general care of your indoor plants and flowers, read about basic houseplant care. You can also email houseplant care questions or requests for help identifying your mysterious indoor plant!
Please also consider supporting this website with a donation, if you can. Any help is appreciated. Hope you find some helpful information here. Thank you and read on Plant People!
Watering Dracaena - In lower to medium light, you should water Dracaena when potting media has dried down 1/3 to 3/4 the depth of the pot. If your Dracaena is in very bright light, allow the soil to dry down about 1/2 the depth of the soil depth before watering thoroughly. Please read the sections on watering indoor house plants and lighting for indoor house plants for information on two things that will most impact your plants health.
For the most part, dracaena is a beautiful easy care houseplant. If you have a Dracaena plant in a fairly large pot, it is a good idea to check the soil with a moisture meter or soil probe before you water.
You will need to be careful watering Dracaena fragrans and most Dracaenas. New plants with minimal roots should be watered around the cane only. Established plants with a good root system can be watered thoroughly. They are very prone to rot if kept too wet.
Some signs of over watering may be yellowing leaf tips, root rot and pale new growth with dark tips. More to the dry side is better but don't be extreme either. The first sign of under watering will be a slight drooping of the leaves and leaf margins or edges may start to curl.
In high light areas be sure you do not let the soil dry out completely as your dracaena will wilt and once this happens it will take a long time to recover.
Dracaena does best in a bright, indirect light situation. With good care, it can be maintained in somewhat lower lighting. Do not place in hot, direct sun. It is prone to root rot if over-watered, especially in lower light. Spider mites will often be a problem as will leaf scorch if your Dracaena house plant is placed in an overly hot, sunny location.
Leave your Dracaena plant in a nursery grow pot with drainage holes at the bottom and set that into the pretty container you purchased for your home. Having no way to remove excess water from the roots and soil makes it more likely that you will have a problem with over watering. Make sure you size properly as there should be an inch or two of room between the decorative container and the nursery pot. This will provide adequate air circulation. If you must direct pot, use a clay pot as this is porous and will allow the root system of your plant to breathe.
Amazon Affiliate Links - May Earn Commission - Thanks!
Remove lower leaves as they yellow and trim brown tips to the natural leaf shape, as needed. It is normal for a new plant to shed some of its old foliage when it is moved to a new environment. Expect new additions to your home to do this. Given the proper care, it should acclimate and become a beautiful, trouble free plant.
It is a good idea to quarantine any new additions to your indoor house plant family for a few weeks just to be sure there are not any insects that were not noticed at first. Wash down your new indoor house plant with a mixture of water and mild dish detergent. I like to add a few drops of Eucalyptus essential oil or Orange essential oil to my house plant cleaning solution.
Apply to top and lower leaf and stem surfaces of your house plants, being careful not to saturate the soil. You can clean by hand or use a spray bottle to apply your house plant cleaning solution. I use a sponge moistened with my cleaning solution to gently wipe the top and lower leaf surfaces. Cleaning of your houseplants should be a regular part of your houseplant care.
Never apply anything to the foliage of your plant while it is in the sun or when the soil is dry. Water first and move to a shady location. Hope this has been helpful to you as you care for your indoor plants and flowers! More houseplant care information below...
Questions about your indoor house plants or plant care problems? You can send a house plant question, free of charge, no sign ups, registration or log in required!
Before you send a houseplant care question, please be sure to read this information on watering your indoor house plants, how to help keep your your indoor house plants root system healthy and lighting for your indoor house plants and flowers. These are most important for the health of your house plants and this is some of the information I will refer you to if you send an indoor house plant or flower care question.
You can post comments, find answers to plant care questions, or share some of your own plant wisdom on our plant care Facebook Page, Twitter page or visit my plant care blog. You can also find plant pictures, gardening ideas, and more at our plant and flower Pinterest page.
Thanks for visiting and come back soon as houseplant care information, pictures and more are being added all of the time. I hope that your indoor tropical house plants and all of your plants and flowers are happy, green and growing because that is why I started this indoor house plant and flower care website, PlantAndFlowerInfo.com.
Indoor Plants Pictures Names ⚘ Best Indoor Plants ⚘ Adiantum Fern Care ⚘ Aechmea Bromeliad Plant ⚘ Aglaonema Plant Care ⚘ Aglaonema Maria Plant Care ⚘ Aglaonema Silver Queen Plant Care ⚘ Aglaonema Silver Bay Plant Care ⚘ Anthurium Plants ⚘ Aphelandra Plant ⚘ Arboricola Plant Care ⚘ Aspidistra Plant Care ⚘ Asplenium Nidus Plant Care ⚘ Basic Houseplant Care ⚘ Birds Nest Ferns Plant Care ⚘ Boston Ferns Plant Care ⚘ Botanical Calendars ⚘ Bromeliad Plants ⚘ Build A Greenhouse ⚘ Buy Greenhouse ⚘ Buy House Plants ⚘ Cast Iron Plant ⚘ Chinese Evergreen Plant Care ⚘ Chlorophytum Plant Care ⚘ Codiaeum Houseplant Care ⚘ Corn Plant Care ⚘ Croton Plant Care ⚘ Devil's Ivy Plants & Care ⚘ Dieffenbachia Plant Care ⚘ Dracaena House Plant Care ⚘ Dracaena Janet Craig Plant Care ⚘ Dracaena Marginata Plant Care ⚘ Dracaena Warneckii Plant Care ⚘ Dumb Cane Plant ⚘ English Ivy Hedera ⚘ Ferns Plant Care ⚘ Ficus Trees Plants ⚘ Fittonia Plant Care ⚘ Flower Calendars ⚘ Heart Leaf Philodendron ⚘ Hedera English Ivy ⚘ How to Care for Marble Queen Pothos ⚘ Hoya House Plants ⚘ Lady Palm Plant ⚘ Lucky Bamboo House Plant Care ⚘ Maidenhair Ferns ⚘ Marble Queen Pothos ⚘ Marginata ⚘ Money Tree Plant Care ⚘ Mother In Law Tongue Plant Care ⚘ Names Pictures of Plants ⚘ Nephthytis ⚘ Norfolk Island Pine ⚘ Orchid Flowers ⚘ Palm Plants ⚘ Peace Lily Care ⚘ Philodendron "Brasil" Plant Care ⚘ Philodendron Cordatum ⚘ Philodendron Silver Care ⚘ Plant Calendars ⚘ Poinsettia Plant Flower Care ⚘ Pothos Plant Care ⚘ Rhapis Palm Plant Care ⚘ Sansevieria Plant Care ⚘ Schefflera Plant Care ⚘ Self-Watering Planters ⚘ Care of Silver Bay Plant ⚘ Snake Plant Care ⚘ Spathiphyllum Care ⚘ Spider Plant Care ⚘ Care of Syngonium Plant ⚘ Succulent Plant Care ⚘ Warneckii Plant Care ⚘ Weeping Fig Tree ⚘ Zebra Plant ⚘ ZZ Plant House Plant Care ⚘ Plant Links
Best Indoor Plants ⚘ Indoor House Plants Pictures Names ⚘ Water Indoor Plants ⚘ Lighting Indoor Plants ⚘ Bonsai Plants ⚘ Common House Plants ⚘ Indoor Palm Plant Care ⚘ Orchids ⚘ Pets & Plants ⚘ Buy Tropical Orchids Orchid Care ⚘ Plant Flower Gifts ⚘ Buy Plants Flowers ⚘ House Plant Guide ⚘ How To Books ⚘ Flowers Plants Poster Prints ⚘ Orchid Art & Posters ⚘ Gardening Calendars ⚘ Greenhouse Books-Gardening