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ethena

Can a dracaena stay in water or must it be planted?

ethena
15 years ago

This is my plant: {{gwi:117453}}

I've had my dracaena for a little over a year. This spring it started losing leaves so I replanted it as two plants in separate pots. They stopped dropping leaves and even developped new foliage.

Now that its winter we typically keep the apartment at 80 degrees and its quite dry. Both plants receive indirect light and were losing several leaves a day. I tried placing a dish with stones and water nearby to no avail.

Yesterday I removed them from the soil and pots and sat them in a vase full of water. Can they survive like this? I am finding information on propagation and changing the water but nothing on letting it stay in water permanently.

Also - this plant has been repotted twice (the first time was the day it came home just to get rid of the cheesy plastic container the store sold it in) and the roots have always been rather red and hard. Is this normal for this type of plant?

Thank you for any advice!

Comments (13)

  • bihai
    15 years ago

    Well, I say yes because that has been my own experience. I bought 4 of the same basic types of dracaena that you have (there are variations in color and variegation, nothing more) for 99 cents at Petco. They were the very small 6-8" rooted divisions that they sell for use in terrariums and reptile habitats.

    I brought them home and took them out of that florist's block stuff that they always keep them in and I plunked them, bare root, into the stream in my greenhouse.

    They have been in there for over a year now and have grown to about a foot and a half. They are quite happy.

    When I first did this and posted about it on another forum once (pond forum) some smartypants naysayed me and said that there was no way, they wouldn't live that way because they aren't aquatic plants. (Well duh, I knew they weren't aquatics, but for 99 cents I thought I'd try it) But they did and they have thrived.

    The water in my stream never actually gets 'changed'. It gets 'replenished' as it evaporates, and it flows by means of a circulating pump that pumps it 20 feet from a 35-40 gallon still pool to a small bubbling waterfall.

    I have put a number of things in there that have taken off and done fabulously bareroot.

  • mr_subjunctive
    15 years ago

    Dracaena roots are normally red to orange and hard, yes.

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    15 years ago

    I can't get past the fact that they keep their apartment at 80 degrees! Yikes, I'd wither away to nothing in that kind of heat, lol.

  • ethena
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thank you for the advice - I'll keep it in the vase for now and watch the leaves. You can tell from the picture that a few are ready to fall before the transplant.

    And yeah 75 at night, 80 during the day is typical in our apartment. We're both from the carribean and change into shorts as soon as we get home! We have about fifteen other plants and they're all in great shape in spite of the humidity issue.

    There's always the poor exception though!

  • bihai
    15 years ago

    I am basically uncomfortable in less than 75 degrees myself, and we keep the house warm instead of wearing more clothes to keep warm. I run around the house in shorts too! Sweaters are bulky and scratchy and I don't like them!

  • jspeachyn5
    15 years ago

    I'm going to chime in here an add that you will do better if you put water into a gallon jug and let it sit 24-48 hours before you change you water in they container.
    I have been doing this for some time now and it helps to get rid of the fluoride etc.
    Those things will cause your plant to drop leaves and droop and change leaf color.
    But that is just my 2 cents.
    Bonnie

  • ronalawn82
    15 years ago

    ethena, I myself was born about 5 degrees north of the equator so I start to shiver when it gets below 75.
    An open-air Xmas eve night, friends, punch de creme and Byron Lee's 'Christmas Party in the Tropics' is my idea of a great combination.
    As you can see I have no relevant information to offer on your question; my apologies.

  • ethena
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who prefers a warm apartment and shorts to a chilly home and sweaters :D

    I normally boil filtered water and let it sit out for a day or so before watering. I plan to do the same when changing this water. The draecana has been in the vase for a couple of days and I'm excited to report that none of the leaves have fallen off - even the half brown ones you see in the picture. Before moving into the vase leaves would turn brown overnight and fall off by nightfall :(

  • Mentha
    15 years ago

    I second the charcoal tip, you could also use a bubble wand and aquaruim pump. Or if the bowl/jar/vase/whatever is large enough put a guppy or beta in the water to circulate the surface. Even an aquatic snail would work.

    I don't heat my house unless I can see my breath, but I still can't stand sweaters, socks, or pants. I prefer my house to be around 65-70. This year DH has insisted on heating the house to unbearable! This is also the first year ever that I have put on shoes in December. I usually wear flip flops or fuzzy slippers (even to the store) I hate shoes!
    It snowed here once when I was a teenager, I was barefoot and in a skirt playing in the snow. (never wear heals in the snow) Anyway, I'm always in shorts and t-shirt, even in public in December, I find stores way too hot this time of year, so much so that I get light headed, sick to my stomach, and feel faint. As long as my back is warm I can pretty much wear anything antwhere.

  • cacye
    15 years ago

    I had one in water for about 3 years. I did nothing special for it. Just tap water, changed every week. It didn't get any bigger, which is what I wanted due to lack of space. I gave it away a few weeks back, and no, I didn't plant it. It lived in a Denver basement all the time I had it; found it in someone's trash. It was fine with the life I gave it.

  • dilly_dally
    15 years ago

    Use rain water. No chlorine. No flouride. No minerals. No junk. Nothing better than rainwater for plants.

  • Ivory Spalek
    2 years ago

    Sometimes there sold as aquarium plants and mine has live underwater for almost a year. Some leaves may rot but it can