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I found this plant on the street a few weeks ago and I took it home. Initially, I placed it on the balcony, but I noticed after a few days that the leaves were losing color. I replanted it in a bigger pot and put it in the shade inside the room.

The plant is slowly dying every day by getting brown leaves and eventually drying off. It was very green and full of leaves when I first got it, so I do not know what I am doing wrong :)

I think the plant is from Dracaena family, so I was reading how to care for these plants and apply a few tips. For ex. I try to spray the leaves every day with water, because I read that maybe the humidity is not right - but my plant continues to die.

Any tips or advices are welcomed! ^^ Thank you in advance!

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  • It's Dracaena alright. What is the state of the roots? Did you look at the roots when repotting it? Hanging leaves on this plant means 9 out of 10 times overwatering.
    – benn
    Aug 17, 2021 at 14:15
  • @benn the roots were fine when I repotted the plant. Oh , so I am actually killing it with all the water spray. Should I let the soil dry for the next 7 days or so before adding any water again?
    – Ana Daniela
    Aug 17, 2021 at 14:49
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    @AnaDaniela overwatering problems generally means that the soil is too damp. How is your air humidity? If it's constantly at, say, 70%, the water will evaporate very slowly, and the plant probably can't draw in all the water.
    – PixelMaster
    Aug 17, 2021 at 15:04
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    @AnaDaniela, yes I would stop the spraying. Furthermore, let the soil dry indeed for a week (or even two), and then feel half finger deep if the soil is dry there too. Normally these plants are fine with watering it every 2 weeks or so.
    – benn
    Aug 17, 2021 at 15:36
  • In TX, dracaena like water . I have a 3 ft cutting rooting very well in water. I don't check the soil moisture in my outside potted dreamed , I just water them every few days ( 100 % shade). Mine are decedents of a cutting started almost 60 years ago.
    – blacksmith37
    Jul 1, 2022 at 15:54

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Clearly a Dracaena, maybe D. fragrans but there are an infinity of hybrids.

Honestly I don't think that plant had many chances of surviving in the first place, don't blame yourself.

It looks like it was growing with insufficient light for too long and now it is too tall and too thin to support itself. Look at the distance between nodes on the top of the large plant, and compare it with the smaller one. Also, by now it probably doesn't have enough healthy roots to keep up with so many and so large leaves.

If it were mine, I would do the following:

  1. Cut the top of the large plant, a bit below the height of the supporting pole.
  2. Remove the leaves from the bottom half of the cutting.
  3. Try to root the cutting in water.
  4. Throw away the remainder of the large plant. If you feel like it, you could keep taking care of the smaller one, but it won't look pretty for a couple years at least.

Whatever you choose to do, Dracaenas (and many other houseplants) like:

  • As much light as possible but never direct full sun (winter/early morning/late evening sun is usually OK depending on your location).
  • A well-draining, non-compacted substrate. Dirt from your own soil is usually too clumpy for houseplants.
  • Better underwatering than overwatering. Underwatering will kill it by thirst, overwatering will drown it. Much quicker, much harder to recover from.
  • High-ish air humidity, which usually means frequent spraying and/or having trays of water around, not in touch with the pot.
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