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Corn plant (Dracaena fragrans)

Posted by newbie1234 none (My Page) on
Fri, Nov 2, 12 at 1:15

My in-law recently gave me two corn plants that look pretty nice and I was told they are easy to be taken care of. Prior to this I never had gardening experience, so after following through the methods I learnt from gardening shop & internet. my plants are still dying.

The conditions they grow:
1. I'm in Malaysia, when the day is hot, the outdoor temperature can be up to 40'C. It's been rainy recently for about 2 weeks but the plants are placed in covered balcony.
2. My balcony is facing east-north, they get strong morning sun daily, sometimes can be quite hot.
3. I water them with tap water every 5 days by flooding the soil.
4. I spray a bit fertilizer mixed with water on the leaves every night.
5. Sometimes I pour unfinished soup into the soil and hoping that it will fertilize better

My in-law just leave them outdoor and they were good, now with routine care they're dying, are they infected by diseases?
I really doubt my talent in gardening now.

Thanks in advance for all advices!!


Follow-Up Postings:

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RE: Corn plant (Dracaena fragrans)

here's the picture


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RE: Corn plant (Dracaena fragrans)

Hi & welcome to Gardenweb! I would encourage you to visit the house plant forum, which is much more busy.

My balcony is facing east-north, they get strong morning sun daily, sometimes can be quite hot.
This may be too much sun. The leaves look sunburned, but am also concerned about what sounds like overuse of fertilizer.

I water them with tap water every 5 days by flooding the soil.
This may be too much, or too little. It looks like the pots do not have drain holes in the bottom. Either way, it's not possible to tell if 5 days is a good amount of time. Plants do not always use water at the same rate, so a set schedule can be more hurtful than helpful. Water should be added just before the soil gets completely dry and no longer moist. Flooding the soil is good if the excess water has a hole to get out of the pot. Would you be able to trap some rain water for your plants? It's much more healthy than tap.

I spray a bit fertilizer mixed with water on the leaves every night. This sounds like WAY too much. The label should have instructions. Using about half of what it says is usually the safest thing to do. Plants die extremely rarely (like never) from lack of fertlizer, but too much can definitely be detrimental or even fatal.

Sometimes I pour unfinished soup into the soil and hoping that it will fertilize better. Your pot is not a compost pile. This could also attract pests to your soil.

My in-law just leave them outdoor and they were good, now with routine care they're dying, are they infected by diseases? The plants in the ground have roots that are not constrained by a pot and the adverse conditions discussed above.

I really doubt my talent in gardening now. Having a wrong idea or two doesn't mean you have no talent. Just means there's some things to learn. Glad you're here trying to do just that. Have you asked your relatives about these things? Hope that helps a bit!


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RE: Corn plant (Dracaena fragrans)

Also re: the soup-- you're probably salting the soil and burning the plant's roots. :(


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