A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 Unhappy Dracaena marginata (Madagascar Dragon Tree)

My marginata doesn't seem to be doing well and I'm not sure what the problem is. I try not to overwater, so I wait until I can stick my finger down into the soil and not feel any moisture there. It takes a very long time for it to dry though, I would say that I thoroughly water it about once a month. I bought it at the beginning of last fall and I live in Vancouver so it hasn't gotten much light, but the write-up on the side of the pot says it likes low to moderate light so I didn't think it would be a problem. What really worries me about it is that the new growth coming from the upper middle area has turned brown dried up and I've had to pull it out, particularly on the shortest of the three. I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure new growth turning brown is a very bad sign. Do you know what I'm doing wrong? Here are some pictures:

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t225/robynvannorman/Marginata006.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t225/robynvannorman/Marginata005.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t225/robynvannorman/Marginata004.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t225/robynvannorman/Marginata003.jpg

Thanks for any help you can give!

if you're only watering it once a month, that's not enough. every 10-14 days would better.

ok, first, i'd repot. it looks like you still have it in the nursery pot it came in. second, joclyn is right. they like a lot more moisture than that. also, i'd raise the pot up over the tray and keep water in the try to raise the humidity around them. it won't be a lot of humidity, but it will help. you can also group some other plants around it to help with the humidity also.

finally, even though this is a "tree" in its native environment, i'm moving this to houseplants because that's what it is for our purposes.