Hi there folks,

I recently bought a bunch of healthy-looking plants on craigslist from a couple that was moving out of state. There is a Dracaena Magenta, two philodendrons (one split leaf and a heart shape), a Raphis Palm and a Dracaena Warneckii.

The Magenta, split leaf philo and Palm are in medium to bright rooms and are doing pretty good. The heart shape philo and Dracaena Warneckii are in the darker living room which has a large window but doesn't get much light.

The heart shaped philo and Warneckii were both in darker rooms at the previous owner's house so I thought they would do fine in mine. The one I am most worried about is the Dracaena Warneckii because it was/is such a beautiful plant. Three branches and about 6' plus tall. It does sit in the darkest corner in the living room but gets a very faint shadow in the day time (so SOME but not a lot of natural light). I have pendant lamp hung nearby that offers some light but I don't know if that helps.

I have been careful not to overwater or underwater and treat it like the owners told me to. But since I got it (a few weeks) the medium to lower leaves have started browning at the edges, near the stem, and falling off eventually! They do not feel too crispy even when turned complete dark brown. I have been trimming those off and now my plant looks increasingly bare :( There are some new leaves coming up but it will be a long while before they become bushy.

I have attached some pics of how it's looking (also see end of message for a clickable link called Pictures of Plants):

http://picasaweb.google.com/amytanwl/Plants#

There are a couple of brown tips too but the worst problem is the browning at the sides near the stem. I can't cut these off because I would lose the whole leaf. Eventually they brown completely and droop and I am forced to snip it.

I water about once weekly and check with a moisture meter or my fingers. I use Oxygen plus in my filtered water , as recommended by previous owners. I also mist it occasionally to get some humidity around it.

What is going on and how can I remedy this?

Would really really appreciate some guidance, I really want to learn to take care of them. Thanks ever so much.

cheers,

Amy

Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures of Plant