A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum How to help my dracaena lemon lime?

Hi there,

I have a lemon lime plant that I got about 2 months ago--it wasn't in great shape then, but since then it's developed a lot more brown edges over most of the leaves. Here's a link to some photos:

https://picasaweb.google.com/107817477640465904534/September22011?authuser=0&feat=directlink

I've seen a few gnat-type things around it--I thought they were fruit flies (we get them in my office sometimes), but maybe they're fungus gnats? If they're the cause of the damage to the leaves, how do I get rid of them?

I also read that dracaenas are very sensitive to fluoride--does this look like it could be fluoride toxicity too? I'm switching to bottled water for it from now on.

Any ideas on what I should be doing to help get this poor little guy in better health?

Thank you very much in advance!

Welcome, pickles.
I would go with the bottled water. And to get rid of the gnats I would use a squirt of dish detergent (or insecticidal soap) in a quart spray bottle with water and give that plant and the soil surface a light coating. Continue with that until you no longer see any gnats. And then as new leaves emerge from the top of the plant, cut off the damaged ones below. Or any that turn completely brown.

Only water once per week or every other week. Too much water is probably the issue.

Yes, that too.

I will do that--thank you both so much!!!