How to Grow and Care For Dracaena

Take your home to new heights with tree-like dracaena plants.

Place plants in bright, indirect light.
Pot dracaena plants in a well-draining potting mix like Miracle-Gro® Indoor Potting Mix.
Water when the top one to two inches of soil is dry, avoiding municipal water if possible.
Feed regularly with Miracle-Gro® Indoor Plant Food.
Prune if the plant gets too tall.

Dracaena plants with their lanky canes topped with arching, sword-like leaves, have great architectural appeal. Large types have the ability to vitalize an empty corner or bare stretch of wall--it's like a living sculpture. Dracaena also pairs nicely with other houseplants, adding variety to your houseplant collection. There are several popular types of dracaena plants:

"Lucky bamboo" (Dracaena sanderiana), is actually not a bamboo at all, but grows stalk-like stems that sometimes curl and twist around each other as they grow.
Dracaena fragrans, called "corn plant," has thick brown stems and green leaves (often with a yellow stripe down the middle) that look like those of a corn plant.
Dracaena deremensis is a sturdy type that has thinner leaf blades than Dracaena fragrans; popular varieties include Janet Craig and Lemon Line.
Dracaena marginata, sometimes called "dragon tree," has thin brown stems with tufts of spiky leaves on top and can grow to be 6-10 feet tall.

All of these plants are easy to care for. Just follow these tips for growing any type of dracaena plant.

Where to Grow Dracaena Plants Indoors

Grow dracaena indoors in bright, indirect light. Most types will tolerate fairly low light conditions, but you'll notice increased growth if you move plants to sunnier locations. Don't put them where the sun will shine directly on them, though, as the leaves may scorch. Dracaena plants are perfectly well suited to home and office conditions, but sometimes suffer from a lack of humidity. If you know it's exceptionally dry in your home, or if leaf tips begin turning brown, spritz leaves with water every few days, or place pots on trays filled with pebbles and water. (Make sure the water level is below the bottom edge of the pot so the plant doesn't suck up too much water.) As the water evaporates, the surrounding humidity will increase.

How to Repot Dracaena Plants

When selecting a potting mix, keep in mind that dracaenas love soil that drains well. We recommend using Miracle-Gro® Indoor Potting Mix, which is formulated to be less prone to gnats and contains no compost or bark that they can use as shelter. (Fungus gnats are a common issue with dracaena plants.)

Select a container that is no more than 1-2 inches larger than the root ball of your plant.
Fill it about ⅓ full with Miracle-Gro® Indoor Potting Mix.
Gently remove your dracaena from its pot and place it in the new container. Position it so that the top of the root ball is about an inch below the top of the container (so you can water the plant without the water running over the edge of the pot).
Fill in around the root ball with more potting mix.
Thoroughly water the plant and let it drain, then move to its permanent location in the house.

How to Water Dracaena Plants

Dracaena plants are sensitive to fluoride, which is a common ingredient in municipal water and may cause plants to develop burnt leaf edges. If you don't use well water or rain water to water your plants, consider purchasing distilled water to keep them hydrated.

Dracaena plants do not grow well in soggy soil, so water when the top two inches of soil are dry. Don't let your dracaena sit in drainage water–empty excess water from the plant saucer 30 minutes after watering. Dracaena growth slows in fall and winter along with their demand for water, so be sure to check the soil before watering.

How to Feed Dracaena Plants

When dracaena are actively growing, they need a regular supply of nutrients. Use Miracle-Gro® Indoor Plant Food (following label directions) to give your dracaena an instant boost of nutrition.

How to Prune and Propagate More Dracaena Plants

Dracaena can grow to be quite tall—between 4 and 10 feet or more depending on the variety—if left unpruned. When the plants are growing out of bounds, simply cut off the tops at a 45 degree angle, bringing them to the desired height. You'll see new sprouts emerging in a few months. You can also snip off any brown or damaged leaves as needed.

After pruning, you can root the cut tops to have even more plants to pass along to friends. Simply dip the cut end in a hormone and stick it 1 to 2 inches down in a small container filled with moist potting mix. Water sparingly until roots begin to grow, which can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months.

Common Problems for Dracaena Plants

The good news is that most problems for dracaena come down to either watering or light needs:

Brown leaf tips. Your plant may be overwatered or taking up too much fluoride from municipal water. Switch to distilled or rain water if you haven't already. If that doesn't help, pull back on waterings and move your plant to a brighter location to help it dry out.
Brown spots on the leaves. This usually means that your plant is receiving too much light. Move your plant away from the sun a bit, or find a new home with slightly lower light.
Yellow leaves. For dracaena plants, this is typically a symptom of underwatering. Adjust the amount or frequency of watering in small increments.

Ready to try dracaena? With so many varieties to choose from, you're sure to find a dracaena that's a great fit for your houseplant collection!