A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 I need help with my dying plant.

I'm gonna confess right up front that I know little to nothing about plants. They need water, and someone once suggested to me that they need light - preferably sunlight. That's the extent of my knowledge.

Anyway, I have this big plant that starting to get these brown spots all over. I don't have a clue what I'm doing wrong. What should I do???

You can see pictures of what I mean at:

Dead Plant Photo 1
and
Dead Plant Photo 2

Any suggestions would be immensely appreciated!!!

that looks like it's in the dracaena family.

how long has it been in the pot that it's in? how big is the pot? how often are you watering it? and how much are you water are you giving it?

it looks like you may not be giving it enough water and/or you may not be watering it often enough.

yep, draceana type family, probably one that is commonly called a "corn plant" don't remember the proper name right this second.

looks like a humidity problem, not a watering/dying problem. that is very easy to remedy. get a tray, about an inch or so deep, about an inch or so larger around than your plant, put some rocks in it so the plant doesn't sit down in the tray, but rather ontop of it, then fill the tray with water, making sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the pot. when the water evaporates, the plant will be happy because it will ge natural humidity.

as for the old/brown/"dying" leaves, just cut them off at the base of the leaf. won't hurt a thing.

AWESOME!!

Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a try.

Wash carefully after handling the dracena. I read that their sap is poisonous.

Other than those few brown leaves, it looks like a very healthy plant!

That's a kinda tropical plant. Based on your picture #2 it looks like you have it at the top of a stairwell. Is the plant getting enough light there? I would think move it to a spot next to a window.