What’s going on with my dumb cane? I’ve had it three years and I don’t know why it’s suddenly dying (it was perfectly healthy until the past month.)
Previously, it was sitting in a room with both a south and east facing window, but the leaves began to yellow at the tips, I thought it was too little light so I moved it outside and it started to do this.
Due to the fact it was getting worse, I moved it back indoors.
Now, it’s sitting just to the right of a north facing window, and about 7 feet away from a west facing window.
I’m unsure how much light it needs and how much it’s getting, I can set up a light for it is we don’t think it’s getting enough light
My general rule of thumb for watering is letting the soil dry out at least two inches deep then watering it.
by CobbledForest
4 Comments
I’m currently thinking it’s a fungus gnat problem because I’ve always had issues with these, I just treated all my plants for it just incase
What kind of soil are you using and do you fertilize her?
I’m guessing you didn’t harden off your plant before moving it outside… It’s gone into shock. It will probably look sad and ugly for a while and can lose the majority of it’s leaves, but it *should* survive and jump back, just be careful not to stress it anymore (don’t over water, don’t keep it too dry, don’t put it back outside) until it recovers and gets new growth.
You have to be very careful moving indoor plants outdoors keeping a very close eye on them as they can start wilting and going into shock *very* quickly.
You have to **gradually** harden off the plant by putting it in a shaded area then moving it inside as soon as the leaf tips start getting soft and wilting (aka the leaves start losing turgidy). This process scan take up to 2 weeks to do. The first day you’ll be lucky if it can stay outside for a half an hour (don’t bring it back out for the rest of the day once it’s brought back inside), but every subsequent day it can stay out for longer and longer. I always suggest that you bring it back inside for the night the first day it can stay out all day, but after that your plant will be hardened off and can stay outside until the end of the season.
Get real wet first, then remove from pot and remove all dirt, wash roots with insecticidal soap, repot immediately in better quality soil mix with good drainage (I found adding some sand to mix helps drainage), then place in good light location, and water frequently. You can grow dumbcane (dracaena) in straight water. Don’t worry about overwatering, worry about not good drainage. Good luck!