Knowledgebase
Corn plant struggles #890606
Asked December 07, 2024, 4:51 PM EST
Mesa County Colorado
Expert Response
You have several options to try to improve things for your corn plant (also known as dracaena). There are a lot of things that could be going on - fluoride in water, salt in soil, low humidity, too much sun, needing a new pot.
Dracaenas can be sensitive to fluoride in water. This could be contributing to the yellowing or brown patches if you're on municipal water. You could try using non-fluoridated water to water the plant. I can't see the soil surface, but you could also try flushing salts through the plant with non-fluoridated water. Salts can build up in houseplant soil. Dracaenas like to be a little dry between watering, so good for you for doing that.
Brown tips and edges could be related to low humidity. See below for a link to more discussion on humidity and some actions you can take.
Houseplants: Temperature and Humidity: https://planttalk.colostate.edu/topics/houseplants/1317-houseplants-temperature-humidity/
If it hasn't been repotted, it could be due for that --repotting it in a pot 1-2 inches larger. See below for details.
Houseplants: Repotting: https://planttalk.colostate.edu/topics/houseplants/1316-houseplants-repotting/
Dracaenas also root easily, so if you wanted to, you could propagate your plant with a stem cutting or air layering. (And of course, you could do that while also trying to address what is causing problems for the main plant.)
How to Propagate Houseplants by Stem Section (Cane) Cuttings: https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/how-to/how-propagate-houseplants-stem-section-cane-cuttings
How to Propagate by Air Layering and Simple Layering: https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/how-to/how-propagate-houseplants-air-layering-and-simple-layering
Lastly, you could try moving it to a location with less sun, but I would think that the indirect light it is receiving would be okay.
There is some helpful information about this kind of plant here: https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/dracaena-fragrans/