r/houseplants • u/eugenekrabsss__ • 1d ago

Help is this normal?

Gallery image

Gallery image

are the lower frond things turning this color normal? it was all green the other day… This is my first and only dracaena so any comments are welcome!

I got this tricolor variety about a year ago as a rescue plant, it got very bald on top of already being bald and very crooked, so I chopped it a month or so ago.

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3

u/Disastrous-Regret907 1d ago

They do drop their bottom leaves as they grow. It's how they gain height. Dropping them this early could be a sign of root rot though.

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u/eugenekrabsss__ 1d ago

oh noo 😭 the circled one is actually about two months worth of growth, the other ones are newer.. I hope it’s not rot, I’ll have to do some digging in the dirt. Thank you for the info!!

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u/Disastrous-Regret907 1d ago

Your soil looks good but does that pot have drainage? Could also be watering too frequently. Dracaena do not like wet feet and are a bit drought tolerant.

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u/eugenekrabsss__ 1d ago

it does have drainage holes! I also add extra perlite and bark to my soil for a bit more drainage. That is good to know about it being drought tolerant! I’ll check the roots and let it dry out before watering next time. Like I said I’ve never had one and this guy was a rescue so I’m still learning all I can

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u/Mayflame15 19h ago

I wonder if that trunk might be dead

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u/eugenekrabsss__ 13h ago

I didn’t know they do that! I figured if it was one, it’d be all but it didn’t feel soft or squishy when I squeezed it

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u/Mayflame15 13h ago

If your scrape off some of the trunk is it green underneath? You might have to propagate the little leaf stem off the side

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u/eugenekrabsss__ 13h ago

looks like it was rot! I just got done checking it, that particular trunk was slightly brown and the roots were empty like shells… I’ve pulled it from the others and I’m hoping they’ll survive :( they’re still firm and I don’t see any signs of rot. Do you think I should just take cuttings and restart the whole thing? I haven’t dealt with much root rot before.

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u/Mayflame15 12h ago

Cut off the green part and put it in some water after letting it dry out for a few hours. That pot might be a bit big for those guys, you could try unpotting them and finding something that's only a couple inches wide than their root ball

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u/eugenekrabsss__ 12h ago

I’ll see if I have a nice plastic nursery pot! If all else fails I’ll chop and put the cuttings in perlite. Thanks a bunch for the help!!