I had this problem with mine (I have 3) and I think I was overwatering them. Once I let them dry out more, the leaf tips stopped turning brown and droopy and started to stick up and out again.

I finally found out there are a number of reasons that would cause brown leaf tips - cold drafts, overwatering, and cool temps. So, I decided not to water the plant until it drys out a bit longer. Thanks for the reply to my post.

I let the plant dry out, then I watered it ---- the brown leaf tips continue to show up on all of the leaves. Now what do I do ?????

I disagree that cold temps or drafts will cause brown tips in Draceana. Mine is often outside in near freezing temperatures and has never had brown tips. Several are planted around my apartment complex and haven't gotten brown tips in temperatures as low as 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

Too much fertilizer will do it very quickly with no other symptoms first. I suppose over watering could, but you'll likely see yellowing leaves long before you get any brown tips. Under-watering will also do it, but the plant will wilt before it turns brown. Since these trees grow well in everything from deserts to office spaces, dry air seems unlikely to cause it.

I'd leach the soil for salt/fertilizer accumulation first, and check the leaves very closely with a magnifying glass and good light since sucking insects can often be very tiny. If leaves continue to brown, I'd de-pot it and check for healthy, white root tips on all roots. If there is an unpleasant odor, sogginess, soft roots, or any mush, it's chronically overwatered and you'll need to cut off all dead tissue and repot in good soil. It still might not make it though,so if it is rot, you might be better off cutting off any healthy tops and rooting them as new plants.

Seriously? Marginata won't get cold damage?

Well, ok, it's worse if the plant is shocked but for sure Margis get cold damage. Brown tips and that grid-pattern cellular damage on the leaves are dead giveaways.

When plants form a pancake of roots at the bottom of the pot, yellow/brown leaf tips usually happen.

Jon, I didn't say they don't get cold damage, I said mine is in near-freezing weather and hasn't gotten any brown tips, and outdoor plants around my apartment still don't have brown tips after being in 20 degrees. Such a hardy plant isn't likely to suffer from cold in the average household temperature, my money would be on salt damage/fertilizer damage.

From a production guide: "At soil or air temperatures less than 65°F, very little growth will occur. Plants will be damaged at 35°F air temperature if exposed for short periods, 1-2 days, or if exposed to 55°F for 1 week. To simply protect the plants from cold damage, a minimum of 50°F should be held and plants should be sheltered from wind. Temperatures below 50°F, but above freezing, have been observed to cause chilling damage when plants are exposed to wind."

Necrotic leaf tips are almost always associated with a high level of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil solution and/or over-watering/ poor root function, but fluoride and boron toxicities can also cause the problem.

Using a soil that allows you to flush accumulating salts regularly goes a very long way toward the ability to grow this plant well. It loves good drainage, and every time you flush the soil, it's like hitting the fertilizer 'reset' button. This allows you to keep the level of dissolved solids as low as possible w/o experiencing deficiencies. Fertilizers with 3:1:2 RATIOS (different than NPK %s) also allow you to keep the level of dissolved solids as low as possible w/o deficiencies.

If you have a friend with a reverse osmosis water filtering system, it would be very helpful if you used that water (it should have 0 ppm dissolved solids), or rain water, snow melt, water from dehumidifier, or distilled water, because these types of water are free from dissolved solids (or very near so).

Al

I bought the plant at Home Depot. It looked lovely in the store. I brought it home, did not water it, and saw it was developing brown leaf tips. I trimmed them all off all of the leaves, and watered the plant. Now the plant is still developing brown leaf tips. If I continue to trim off the brown leaf tips, I will end up with no leaves at all. So I am totally baffled as to what this plant really requires! It is in my living room in normal house temperatures and light.
It has not been over-watered, so I'm not to optimistic that this plant will survive in my home !

I won't argue that it HAS been over-watered, but I will note that a plant's take on what constitutes over-watering is often different than the grower's perception.

Plants can suffer setbacks due to cultural conditions they don't like very quickly. Unfortunately, their recovery often depends in large part on their state of vitality - how healthy they are. Your job is to identify what's making your plant sick and eliminate those limiting factors, often much easier said than done, especially if you're fairly new to growing things in containers.

If you can't identify what's limiting your plant on your own or with the help of others, it won't turn itself around; so your choices short of fixing it are: let Mother Nature do what she will, or dig into learning how to cover the basics.

The plant wants very bright light but not full sun, a soil that allows you to water w/o worrying about long periods of soggy soil wrecking your good intents (soil is a KEY issue), a controllable and effective nutrition program (depends a lot on the soil), and not too much or too little water (the better the soil, the less concern there is for over-watering and impaired root function/health.

Al

I won't argue that it HAS been over-watered, but I will note that a plant's take on what constitutes over-watering is often different than the grower's perception.

Plants can suffer setbacks due to cultural conditions they don't like very quickly. Unfortunately, their recovery often depends in large part on their state of vitality - how healthy they are. Your job is to identify what's making your plant sick and eliminate those limiting factors, often much easier said than done, especially if you're fairly new to growing things in containers.

If you can't identify what's limiting your plant on your own or with the help of others, it won't turn itself around; so your choices short of fixing it are: let Mother Nature do what she will, or dig into learning how to cover the basics.

The plant wants very bright light but not full sun, a soil that allows you to water w/o worrying about long periods of soggy soil wrecking your good intents (soil is a KEY issue), a controllable and effective nutrition program (depends a lot on the soil), and not too much or too little water (the better the soil, the less concern there is for over-watering and impaired root function/health.

Al

Well, the Draceana is doing no better. The brown tips continue on all leaves. The soil remains damp - despite the fact that I haven't watered the plant in weeks. I was hoping the soil would have dried out a bit, but it has not.

It is not in HIGH LIGHT. It is in a bright living room but certainly not any better than that.

I'm baffled as to what to do - trash the plant and replace it, or let it do what it has to do and that is die an unsightly death.

Have you checked the roots? Did you flush it to remove salt/fertilizer buildup? Did you de-pot it or repot it? You have had a number of suggestions here already. Have you done anything except water it and trim brown tips?

If the soil is still wet after weeks without watering, you've likely found at least part of the problem. It shouldn't retain that much water. De-pot it; check the roots for crowding, rotting, etc. If the roots are healthy and white, the soil smells good, and it isn't overcrowded, as a temporary fix, replace an inch or two of the soil in the bottom with fresh, unwatered soil right out of the bag, and replace any soggy soil. Try not to disturb the roots much. Move it to a warmer, drier, or sunnier spot so the soil dries more quickly. In spring, replant it in a better soil with good drainage so it doesn't retain so much water.

Photos of the plant, the soil, and the place the pot sits would be very helpful in identifying the problem(s).