Dragon Plant Problems

tanyadscott

Hello all,

I was hoping someone could offer me some advice on my Dragon Plant which although has some nice, healthy new shoots growing from the top, the middle to bottom leaves aren't fairing as well and seem to be dropping off at an alarming rate. When I was given this plant it was healthy and bushy and yet despite taking pretty good care of it it is now looking sparse and droopy.
Here are some pics that may or may not be helpful for your 'diagnosis'?!
You'll notice that the roots are beginning to show above the soil ... perhaps that's the problem? Also, we found a small mushroom growing near the stem; could that be indicative of a problem?

Many thanks in advance,

philippasmith2

It looks as if it needs moving into a deeper pot so that the roots are covered.
Your mushroom is perhaps just from the type of compost you have used and possibly poor drainage ?
It's not obvious from the photos where you keep the plant but they prefer filtered light - you could try turning the whole plant every so often in order to stop it drawing up in one direction.

tanyadscott

Thank you so very much for replying and so soon after I posted. I’ve never been great at plant keeping, mainly because I know so little about it all, but I do love having them and I do try.
 I tend to go by the premise of being ‘benevolently neglectful‘ with my plants and for the most part it works, but I’m thinking that I’m so afraid of over-watering this particular dragon plant (my last one died because I watered it too much) that perhaps I’m not watering it enough and maybe it looks so sparse and its leaves are dropping because it’s UNDER watered?!

I will definitely try repotting it into a deeper pot, although the one it’s in is actually pretty deep (see picture) What do you think about simply topping up the soil so that it covers the roots which are showing? Or is that like applying a bandaid (masking the actual problem)?

I will also try turning the pot periodically although it’s not directly in front of a window (see another pic!) 

Again, thank you so much for helping me - I’m truly very grateful.

JennyJ

The pot looks plenty big enough to me so I would just top it up a bit. Let it dry out a bit between waterings too. Water when it's dry down to your first knuckle if you poke your finger into the compost (so maybe 3cm or so).