How to make my happy plant happy?

[100712]

Hi everyone, please help me resurrect my happy plant! What does he need??? I've tried water, repotting, alkaline... what else?? 

 

[EricL]

Hello @100712 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's wonderful to have you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about rescuing your happy plant.

It sounds like you've attempted several remedies to try and save your plant. The brown leaves and the way its wilting makes me think that it is suffering from water stress. But there might be other reasons for it be in distress. Can you please tell us a bit of history regarding your plant? When was the last time you applied fertilizer? How long has it been in the pot before you re-potted it? Is it in direct sunlight? Was it exposed to extreme cold? Did you move it from its original position?

Any other information you can share will allow us to better diagnose your plant.

Eric

[100712]

Thank you! So I repotted it in May, and moved it then from my office to lounge but tbh it was moved a year prior when I moved house. So thought the second position wasn't helping (no direct light) but it's far far worse now. It's not in direct light now, nor exposed to direct cold. It was happy for the first 1.5 years - so lush. But hates the new house

[EricL]

Hi @100712 

Thank you for that extra information about your happy plant. Is the room its currently in get very hot? Do the leaves have a dusty or powdery feel to it? How often do you water the plant during the week?

The only other thing that comes to mind is your soil might need more nutrients to support the plant. I propose having a look at Scotts Osmocote 1kg All Purpose Controlled Release Fertiliser. Please make sure to read the application instructions at the back of the can.
 

Let me call on our experienced members @Noelle, @mich1972 and @Adam_W for their recommendations.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[mich1972]

Hi there @100712  Your poor happy plant doesn’t look too good. 
If it was mine, I would cut it right back. Dracaenas respond well to pruning. They will produce new growth from where it was cut off. 
I would take it outside and keep it under cover in a shaded area or under the patio. Take it out of the pot, knock out most of the soil and replant into fresh potting mix and possibly a slightly smaller pot. 
Liquid feed it. It would take awhile to regrow but worth it as it looks like it is not going to recover the way it is now. Just my opinion. Wait and see what Noelle and Adam recommend 😃🌿

[100712]

Thank you Eric and Mich! I'll definitely wait to hear what the others say but I'm happy to do that as it's important to me to try everything I can, and like you say it's not looking promising right now! 

[Noelle]

Hi @100712 

The advice given by @mich1972 is the best course of action. At this stage you've nothing to lose, so cut the main stem back hard, put the plant outside in a sheltered position where it gets good indirect light, water regularly and use a liquid fertiliser for indoor plants.

Then, wait and watch!

[100712]

Thank you all! Because I've never trimmed back before, are we talking this is enough? Seems where I've trimmed it is also starting to look dead!

[MitchellMc]

Hi @100712,

It appears the advice was to cut the main stem back as per below, but let me tag @Noelle and @mich1972 just to be sure.

Mitchell

 

[mich1972]

@100712 @That looks heaps better 😊 now wait and see if it will reshoot, you have nothing to lose. Keep us updated 😊