Help me help this plant!
July 29, 2017 12:24 PM Subscribe
My tall houseplant is going to fall over soon. Is there something I can do besides giving it more support?
here she is. In case it's not obvious, I'm referring to the tall plant. I am not sure if this comes across in this picture (I don't like to move the plant), but it is extremely top heavy and leaning precariously against a chopstick I stuck in the soil for support. I repotted this plant maybe a year or two ago, it grows like crazy but sheds leaves as it goes.
I don't know what kind of plant this is, I bought it from Loews years ago. It likes to soak water from the tray it sits in. It's eventually going to fall over. What would you do? Can I like, cut it off, get it to root in water and replant? That's my instinct, but I'm sentimental and would be super bummed if that experiment failed.
here she is. In case it's not obvious, I'm referring to the tall plant. I am not sure if this comes across in this picture (I don't like to move the plant), but it is extremely top heavy and leaning precariously against a chopstick I stuck in the soil for support. I repotted this plant maybe a year or two ago, it grows like crazy but sheds leaves as it goes.
I don't know what kind of plant this is, I bought it from Loews years ago. It likes to soak water from the tray it sits in. It's eventually going to fall over. What would you do? Can I like, cut it off, get it to root in water and replant? That's my instinct, but I'm sentimental and would be super bummed if that experiment failed.
The plant is a Dracaena fragrans[1] 'Janet Craig Compacta,' sometimes referred to as a "pineapple dracaena" because of the appearance of shorter plants.
I've had fairly good luck rooting related plants in water and think that it should work in this case too. If you have a brighter, warmer spot for the original plant, it might well sprout new foliage heads which could also be propagated, or would at least serve as a backup copy for the original plant. (The more tropical you can get, the better your chances, but you may get a new head of foliage without making any changes at all.) The plant will use water at a much slower rate after decapitation, so adjust your watering habits accordingly, or the stump can rot.
A more time-consuming propagation method, which I've never attempted on any plant, is air-layering; it would make the top-heaviness worse in the short term and probably isn't necessary but might technically be less risky.
Watering from the bottom will eventually lead to mineral buildup in the soil, which can cause burnt tips on the lowest leaves like in your photo,[2] so if you decide to try to resprout the stump, it might be a good idea to take the plant outside, or to a bathtub, and give the soil a good flushing-out, or do a partial soil-change.
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[1] (apparently D. deremensis is no longer a separate species)
[2] Mineral buildup isn't the only thing that can cause burnt tips on Dracaena, but it's one of the more common.
posted by Spathe Cadet at 12:40 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
I've had fairly good luck rooting related plants in water and think that it should work in this case too. If you have a brighter, warmer spot for the original plant, it might well sprout new foliage heads which could also be propagated, or would at least serve as a backup copy for the original plant. (The more tropical you can get, the better your chances, but you may get a new head of foliage without making any changes at all.) The plant will use water at a much slower rate after decapitation, so adjust your watering habits accordingly, or the stump can rot.
A more time-consuming propagation method, which I've never attempted on any plant, is air-layering; it would make the top-heaviness worse in the short term and probably isn't necessary but might technically be less risky.
Watering from the bottom will eventually lead to mineral buildup in the soil, which can cause burnt tips on the lowest leaves like in your photo,[2] so if you decide to try to resprout the stump, it might be a good idea to take the plant outside, or to a bathtub, and give the soil a good flushing-out, or do a partial soil-change.
-
[1] (apparently D. deremensis is no longer a separate species)
[2] Mineral buildup isn't the only thing that can cause burnt tips on Dracaena, but it's one of the more common.
posted by Spathe Cadet at 12:40 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yep I would cut that sucker in half, either now or soon. For rooting in water, only take the top 20% of the pant off. But for air layering, you can take much more, and leave just a few rings green leaves (5-6 total) at the top of the stump, or even zero (that will create urgent demand for new leaves). Air layering mentioned by Spathe Cadet is actually quite easy, and for that species I agree is will be slightly more reliable than rooting in water, even though it does look like it worked great in the example above. Also perhaps faster than simple water is to root in very wet perlite with water at the very bottom, sprayed with water daily. This way you can coat the stump in rooting hormone powder, available for a few bucks at any garden center. If you happen to have access to pencil-sized willow twigs, you can put fresh cuttings in water, and then use that water to root other plants, the willow will exude a bunch of rooting hormone in to the water.
I'm pretty sure it will sprout from the stump, just be patient. You can also make the air layer rather high, so that the bottom has lots of leaves, and then the stump is super safe to sprout two new leaders. If you do the air layering approach, your overall odds for both clones pulling through are good, and the chances of at least one thriving for many more years is rather high.
Finally, there's nothing particularly wrong with letting it get spindly and leggy. That plant is perfectly healthy, this is mostly a matter of aesthetics and maybe wanting a backup copy. But if you like the look, you can prop it with a stake, or train it into a loop. You can shake it several times a day, and that should slowly toughen up the main stem or all kinds of weird stuff. But if you want dense bushy Dracena, split it in half, possibly eventually but both parts in the same pot.
posted by SaltySalticid at 1:39 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm pretty sure it will sprout from the stump, just be patient. You can also make the air layer rather high, so that the bottom has lots of leaves, and then the stump is super safe to sprout two new leaders. If you do the air layering approach, your overall odds for both clones pulling through are good, and the chances of at least one thriving for many more years is rather high.
Finally, there's nothing particularly wrong with letting it get spindly and leggy. That plant is perfectly healthy, this is mostly a matter of aesthetics and maybe wanting a backup copy. But if you like the look, you can prop it with a stake, or train it into a loop. You can shake it several times a day, and that should slowly toughen up the main stem or all kinds of weird stuff. But if you want dense bushy Dracena, split it in half, possibly eventually but both parts in the same pot.
posted by SaltySalticid at 1:39 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
This plant will absolutely thrive if you cut it and re-root it.
posted by Amy93 at 2:15 PM on July 29, 2017
posted by Amy93 at 2:15 PM on July 29, 2017
An alternative, since having really tall plants is actually nice: you could buy a really lovely, big pot, put this in there with additional soil, and add smaller plants around the base. Then you'd have an indoor "planter" instead of individual plants, and the collection of different textures and heights can look truly wonderful. Also, in my experience, plants benefit from being in groups; the additional soil mass keeps them from drying out (or getting overly wet) - the little microclimate you create can be very comfortable for them.
Anyway, the additional mass of the planter will add enough weight that falling over shouldn't be an issue.
posted by amtho at 6:31 PM on July 29, 2017
Anyway, the additional mass of the planter will add enough weight that falling over shouldn't be an issue.
posted by amtho at 6:31 PM on July 29, 2017
I cut a dracaena in half about six months ago. The stem half has gone bananas and leafed up much more lushly than ever before. The top half died, but I tried to root it in soil instead of water and I wasn't great about keeping it damp.
posted by lollusc at 7:36 PM on July 29, 2017
posted by lollusc at 7:36 PM on July 29, 2017
Response by poster: Every answer was super helpful, thanks! Never heard of air layering before!
posted by cakelite at 9:18 AM on July 30, 2017
posted by cakelite at 9:18 AM on July 30, 2017
In addition to the others' suggestions, dracaena needs to go dry periodically to shrink+stiffen the stem.
posted by dlwr300 at 5:21 AM on July 31, 2017
posted by dlwr300 at 5:21 AM on July 31, 2017
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posted by limeonaire at 12:30 PM on July 29, 2017