Dracena Marginata - will it ever grow again?

HELP!
I bought a smallish plant about two weeks ago...I have purchased a lot of house plants in the past couple of months - they are almost getting to be an addiction with me! HA!

It had two established plants and a tiny baby shoot coming up as well...it's so cute and getting bigger every single day!

HOWEVER, I noticed one of the two established ones has had the middle of it pulled out. You know how they grow - well, there is no inside!!! It's a bunch of leaves...I would say there are about 20...but it's empty inside. There is no new growth or anything and of course, that is where the new growth comes from.

Will it eventually start to grow again or is this plant "done"???

I hope I have explained this right so that you experts can help me out!

THANKS!
Brenda

Can you post a picture?

If you had a plant that was 6" tall with all kinds of leaves growing up the stem, and you cut the very top 1" off, you would say you pinched it ..... and new branches would soon occur along the stem. Now imagine you keep cutting it back an inch at a time, or why not cut it back to the ground. There are still leaves growing on your plant, right? They must be attached to something (a branch or stem). So there are still active nodes & dormant buds from which new life will spring. The only difference is I initially described a soft pinch & you described a hard pinch. Physiologically, the plant will react the same to either.

Two things are necessary to insure new growth: You need to make sure the plant remains viable (alive) and have a little patience. ;o)

Al

HI THERE!

THANKS TO BOTH OF YOU!

Well...I got impatient! HA! Doesn't bode well for me with the last comment from Al, does it? hehehe!!

I did infact do exactly what you told me to do Al...I cut it back to the dirt line.

YES, it was still alive - the leaves were green and in really nice shape. However, there were no "insides". So the leaves that were there was all it was ever going to have. I only know that NOW because when I cut it off and pulled the cut part apart, the inside was completely black and hard.

It almost appeared to be BURNED?!?!?!?! Is that possible? Or is that what happens with a "hard pinch"???

The reason I decided to go ahead and cut it and not wait for the replies that I should have done was because I had read that if you do this, it will regrow a top!

The stem was TOTALLY HEALTHY! Nice and crisp and white inside - so this should bode well for it, right?

So unfortunately, I can't supply a picture. Well, I guess I could - of the pulled apart part! LOL!!

Now that I have infact cut it to the dirt line, do I cover the stem with dirt? I did, cause I figured if it dries out it will die...am I wrong?

Or am I wrong about anything else? I am totally laughing at myself at my total lack of patience when I was told specifically that is what I needed...but I have no problem waiting to see if it regrows another top. I just felt that it was taking away a bit from the totally healthy one and the baby one that is just so darn cute :-)

Let me see if I can get some pics that can show you the inside.

OH MY GOODNESS, ECRANE!

I didn't take a look at your name...the only reason I recognised Al's name was because I have been reading a Rubber Plant thread on "another forum" - not sure if we are allowed to mention other websites here so I won't - and was so impressed with his knowledge.

I was also very impressed with the MASSIVE Rubber Tree that someone posted a picture of on that thread...it was an outside plant that had I think 4 limbs that were taller than the house - and they were absolutely PERFECT LEAVES from the dirt line to the top! I don't know that I have ever seen any plant so magnificent! I mean, it's not the type of plant but that any plant could become that massive - and I have tiny specimens on a shelf - and have the leaves all be so fabulous! I have to break some off sometimes when they break, etc. How on earth that person accomplished that, I have no idea!

BUT, that wasn't the point - sorry about that!

The point of addressing you is cause I saw where you lived!

I was born and raised in Pleasanton until about 7 years ago, leaving at 32 years old and now living in Texas! I am just betting it has become even more of a "Concrete City"...thank goodness - at least at the point when I left - that they had left the Foothills relatively untouched...just building at the bottom. I went to Foothill and graduated in '87, so I saw the changes happen right before my eyes. Considering Hopyard was a 2 lane road with cows grazing on either side when I was growing up and those fields are now a massive Business Park, I can only imagine it is getting worse. So sad :-(

Anyway, sorry about that...just saw Dublin and made me think of so many things!

This message was edited Nov 19, 2008 4:09 PM

OK - here are some pics...of the plant with the original sized plant that there were once two of...one with the missing "insides" and this one and the baby sprout :-) You can see (hopefully) the trunk that was cut at the dirt line of the cut one.

And then there are two shots of the pulled apart missing "insides" pieces.

So - was I too impatient or was this plant never coming back? It looked nothing like the one in the photo - there were just about 5 layers of mature leavs and no new growth which is what makes this plant so awesome to me! I love the "starburst" effect it has...and the one I cut didn't have that.

Anyway, let me know what you think...

Guess I can only do one at a time

Inside 1

Inside 2

Nooooo! I was using an imaginary plant to illustrate there was little difference between a hard pinch & a soft pinch as long as there was foliage left on the plant. I'm soo sorry if I wasn't clear enough, but I thought the word 'imagine' was enough. ;o( I would never have suggested you cut back so hard.

Hopefully, the plant has sufficient energy reserves to push a new flush of leaves. The leaves you removed were the only source of food for the plant. It's sort of like you unplugged the plant and it switched to battery power when you removed the leaves.

Al

HAHAHA!!!!!

No need to be sorry Al...again, I had done this before you even responded. But to tell you the truth, if I had read it before doing it I would have done the exact same thing...cause I did think that is what you meant.

But, it's not a big deal...I am totally fine if it doesn't come back. I like it with the one big one and the pup :-) (I called it a sprout and know that is the wrong terminology...LOL!!)

SOOOOOOO...let's say it's not coming back. Will the stem reabsorb eventually or is it going to cause problems (rot, etc?) If that is the case, what if anything can I do?

Also, not sure if you are an expert on landscaping as well as houseplants...but will you take a look at another thread I posted, about the grass I just started two weeks ago from seed and looks now like the most lush, thick, amazing green grass now - but is flat? LOL!! It's on the Beginner Landscape area, but of course you can find it by clicking on my name.

I would so very much appreciate it, Al...and anyone else who reads this as well :-)

THANKS SO MUCH AGAIN...and again, please don't worry at all - I have had house plants before but I bought them the size they were, grew them until I got tired of them and then gave them away (or the horror of horrors, stopped caring for them and let them die) but I have become very fascinated with them since moving to this new place. I have different sun patterns - basically no direct sun in my house so it's a good thing. I have all low light plants but it is bright in here so hopefully they will thrive!

My newest passion (new favorite) is a Philo Micans - Velvet Philo. I bought about 12 of the Exotic Angels from different Home Depots in the area. A brand new store opened with the most glorious garden area I have ever seen...I was there opening day I don't think there was a "hole" anywhere in the department! And every single plant was perfect!

I got 3 and put them all in a larger pot. Then I drove all over Austin to all of the Home Depots and bought whatever they had...in bad shape but I just cut off the broken or dead stuff and they are coming back so nicely!

I had NO plants 3 months ago...I have 17 now! LOL!!

It is a small world! I'm not sure Pleasanton has changed much in the 7 yrs since you left--I've been out in CA for almost 7 yrs now and while I lived up in Martinez until two years ago I've been working in Pleasanton the whole time. There's been a little new construction on the east side heading toward Livermore, but other than that it hasn't become too much more overdeveloped than it was when I moved out here. Dublin and San Ramon are a different story, lots of overdevelopment on the east side there.

Hopefully your plant will come back for you--I have heard of people cutting off the tops and they come back from that, but I think a lot of the time there are probably still some leaves lower down on the plant. I definitely wouldn't cover up the stem with soil, for most plants that would make it rot.

That's odd!

I've seen dracaena stalks kind of 'dry up', but not with a healthy flush of leaves on top like that.

Did you cut off the offset, too? If not, it should continue to grow, and I think the remaining stalk will re-grow, as well.

Greetings All,

Its Christmas time and I would like to have a non-traditional tree.
I live in a town house with west and east facing windows but there are trees
outside that block light from coming in brightly.
I was wondering if anyone had an idea for a tree that is easy going and inexpensive (and of course, whose leaves will hold Christmas Lights:)
Peace,
Marlene

I've used: Norfolk Island Pine
Fiddle Leaf Fig
Pencil Cactus
Parlor Palm
and even a 12 foot corn plant........:-)
Your best bet is just to browse around the stores and look for possibilities.

Have Fun,
Nan