Beginner Gardening: Dracaena problems!!, 1 by mmabruk

mmabruk wrote:
Hello everyone,

I'm new here so this is my first post. I made this account because I found some very informative feedback from previous discussions and so I am looking forward to some useful advice! I recently bought 2 "Dracaena Fragrans Suprise" and 2 "Dracaena White Jewel" plants.

Problems:

- Brown Tips
- Some "tearing" on the leaves.
- Wrinkling

What I'm making sure I'm doing so to eliminate possible causes:

- The plants get the right amount of sunlight. Not too much directly, and not too little.
- I leave tap water standing for 2 nights in preparation for next watering session.
- I also use bottle water that doesn't contain fluorine and sometimes try to collect rainwater.
- The humidity and temperature seems to be the right amount. No too hot/humid, not too cold/dry.
- I place them in relatively small pots since I've read that dracaena's actually prefer to be a little root-bound.
- I cut off the brown tips that appear regularly, but then they continue to follow through and I find myself continuously cutting down the leaf with no end in sight.
- I place the plants in pots with holes at the bottom for drainage.
- The plants are placed in the middle of the living room, so no drafts.

As you can see, I've done so much research and taken a lot of steps to stop these problems happening, but I just don't know what I'm doing wrong.

The only thing that I can think of is maybe the frequency and amount of watering that I do. I touch the top of the soil to see if it is wet/damp. If it is, then I don't water it. If the top is dry, I stick my finger about 4cm deep and judge if it is still moist by the roots. If it is, then again, I don't water. This was a general rule I read somewhere however I find myself watering every 4-5 days. I also don't know how much water I should be using?

I've read that the brown tips are due to flourine in water, which cant be in this case since I let it evaporate by leaving water standing for 2 nights before I water and sometimes use bottled water or rainwater. Another suggestion could be overwatering, which might be the cause? I'm not too sure.

Some leaves have started to show some tears, as in, they appear like they have been ripped through the middle. Another big issue is that I've noticed some leaves are beginning to wrinkle and shrivel up in a way. Now for these, I have no clue what could be causing them. Nonetheless, I will attach photos so that you guys can see this much more clearly.

Any and all help is very much appreciated since I'm worried about how long this can keep going on for... I've only recently got them and they were in great condition so it must be something I'm doing!!

Many Thanks in advance!!