'Dumb'cane

This has been the most frustrating plant that I have ever grown. I got one of these from my grandpa's funeral when I lived in North Dakota and it did fine until I moved to Arizona. It started to decline so I repotted it hoping that would help. It just continued to decline until it was nothing but green canes with one or two leaves at the tip. Every time a new leaf came out it would soon die. I finally threw the whole thing in the compost heap. Well, this year we got a gift plant from a visitor and it looked so healthy. Shortly after that, however, it began to decline and now it is looking the same as the last one I had. If anybody has any luck with this plant, particularly in Arizona, I would gladly like some advice on what I'm doing wrong. Any suggestions are welcome. I would like to save this gift.
Thanks

I forgot to say that I recently did flush the soil thoroughly to get rid of salt buildup.

How often do you water it? They require moist soil so should not be allowed to dry out, water perhaps twice a week. It also needs a good amount of humidity so mist regularly or keep on a humidity tray.
Most Dieffenbachias lose their lower leaves as they age. If the leaves are young, dry air or drafts are probably to blame. Also, anything below 60 degrees will cause the plant to suffer and possibly die. They are happy in anything from bright, indirect light to partial shade. Keep out of direct sunlight though as the leaves burn easily.
Be careful when handling it, the sap can cause mild skin irritation so be sure to wash hands after wards.. Also keep away from children and pets.

QC--My first thought, as always, was-----
When you re-potted it, did you plant the plant deeper that it was growing?
By that I mean--NEVER EVER add any extra soil on top of the plant as you re-pot it. Always leave it at the level it was growing before!

The plant in the picture looks like it is trying to grow new leaves. Might make it!
Please check how deep it is potted......

Gita

and get it out of the light....the spot you have it in seems to get alot of light from the picture and they prefer very shady conditions, something I actually lack in everyroom of my house, but move it into a shadier spot

They prefer to be within 5 to 8 feet of a window

trina--
That seems contradictory to what several other people have said....

Philos DO like bright, indirect light. Again--you may be confusing the "Philodendron" with the low-light "Pothos"--which is in HB's and commonly called the same name.......NOT!

This is a Dieffenbachia, not a philo, although both in the Araceae family.

This message was edited Oct 18, 2009 4:28 PM

all I know is if my difenbachia (sp) comes with 10 feet of a window the leaves turn brown and drops off, my pothos doesn't care dark or light. direct sun or no sun it just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and the philo likes right in the sun but not the difenbachia (sp)

Calif_sue--

OOOPS!!! Got my Posts mixed up! Someone on another Post was asking about her Philodendron.....
I sure DO know the difference!

Sorry! Gita

Thanks all for your replies. First to address your questions and suggestions.
1) When I repotted it was planted at the same depth as originally.
2) It is kept moist getting watered at the very minimum once a week.
3) It is in a pretty shady spot no closer than 9 ft. from the window. When I took the picture the late afternoon sun just happened to be coming through the blinds at the moment but it generally receives almost no direct sun (I think it is in this amount of light for no more than 20 minutes a day) and very little bright light throughout the day. In fact I would say that the room is quite dim most of the day.
I think the most likely possibility at this time would be the lack of humidity. I actually was thinking about that. If you notice in my original post I said that I had no problems with this plant until I moved to Arizona. The humidity is much higher in North Dakota than here so that may explain some of it's unhappiness. It seems to me though that it is a little more unhappy than a lack of humidity would cause. I am not a beginner when it comes to growing things so that is why it is so frustrating for me to have so much trouble with this plant. Keep the ideas coming.

honestly I think this plant is like a cat your never gonna get it to do what you want when you want it to. I got mine from my grandfathers funeral....now for an admitted plant addict with over 600 (yes I feel shame) houseplants this plant should have been a piece of cake. but noooooooo I had yellow leaves, brown leaves, and yes even leaves that turned pure white, all at the same time! HOW soes that happen? I fittlefarted around trying everything thing I could think of until I was ready to cry....my plant even fainted how does this happen?
so finally I got fed up and dumped it in an antique high chair in the livingroom where it gets absolutely no direct light only semi bright reflected light. my spills a half a cup of coffee in it everyday cause he's not fully awake and the new kitty sleeps in it every night and it is suddenly happy

Ah, now see, you need a kitty to sleep in it! Forgot to mention that. ^_^
Just don't let them chew the leaves, there's a reason it's called 'Dumb Cane" (no, not because it's too dumb to know it should be doing better with the care given)

my kitty Chocolate here hasn't been interested in eating any of them, just content to sit in the pots....the chupacabra on the other hand has so far managed to eradicated 2 EE's, all 4 of my brugs, 2 datura's, an 5' tall philodendron, and half of an oleander, and hasn't even coughed! evil plant destroyer is what she is!

I have a couple of Dieffenbachia's, and they seem to thrive on neglect and mine stay on the dry side ... not bone dry but they do get dry. We have nothing but humidity here in Florida so there is enough moisture in the air to keep them happy. I agree, no direct sun which will burn the foliage, but my plants seem to do well in bright light.

From looking at your photo, the soil looks a bit heavy and wet to me, but that could be my old eyes! When you received your plant did you remove it from the pot to take a look at the roots? When re-potting, I only go up one size if necessary, otherwise I just prune away any dead looking roots and repot in the same container with fresh potting medium. I think a well draining potting medium is welcomed by Dieff's ... but I've found for me and my growing conditions, everything does better in a light, well draining mix. Years ago I couldn't keep a plant alive because I used a heavy soil and thought they were always in need of watering, LOL. Then there was a phase of a few years where I was working very long hours and didn't have time to water them so much and they seemed much happier. ^_^

Here's the thread back from 2007 when I chopped up my ugly Dumb Cane: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/768639/

This is a photo I just went out and took of that same plant today. I've taken cuttings a few times from this one. She's looking a bit pitiful because we had temp's drop to the mid 40's last night, but this plant has survived a lot of abuse over the years.

that's definately a different color than mine! But I saw a lot of plants in your pic I liked! LOL

plantladylin,

What is the little Dracaena to the left of your Dieffenbachia in the most recent photo? I have two of them. I had them for nearly a year, they lived on end tables on either side of one of my sofas. I was told they need "just enough light to read by". Is this correct? They seemed to thrive for a long time.. Now they aren't as happy and the only thing I did was remove the gnats and larvae from them..

If I may guess--it is a compact Jeanette Craig Dracena--often used in dish gardens....


Just as a side-note--plants that are all green require less light than a variegated version of the same plant.

Gita:

QCHammy's plant in question is a Dieffenbachia. I've heard of Dracaena fragrans compacta 'Janet Craig': http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/56851/ but not a Dieffenbachia by that name.

I have some variegated plants that do well in low light situations and others that like very bright light, I guess it just depends on the plant.

I have a Janet Craig that is a much darker deeper green, and the leaves are a bit wider. I think it is a very dainty plant, matter how big it gets. It just seems so feminine to me... Quite pretty!!

This other dracaena very looks different. Though I realize it could be a different variety.

Gitagal was actually replying to my question.. . I was referring to the Dracaena, that is to the left of the Dieffenbachia in the photo... Its small and to the left. Definitely a dracaena of some sort.

plantladylin,
its at the very front left corner of the last photo of your Dieffenbachia.

LOL, and it was in my photo! I had forgotten I even had that plant. It's isn't looking it's best either, from being shoved behind others in the corner!

Geesh, I am a terrible plant mommy. This thing has been planted in this glass cylinder type jar for awhile. It looks horrible ... full of water from the rain! I will dump it out and give it a proper re-potting.

I found another Dracaena compacta shoved behind a chair on the deck too. It looks in a little better shape but still needs some help as well.

I'd love to be able to grow a dracaena to look as good as a couple of these: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=dracaena+compacta&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=Hc_cSvmJPMGA8Qbo6r23BQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQsAQwAA

Aw Man!!! Still not the right plant.. Its in the last photo of the diff, and it is in the front left corner.. --- its leaves are not as wide and the color is not nearly that dark.

The plant you just posted does look to be a Janet Craig Dracaena.

I like Draecena's here's 1 of mine

or is that some sort of grass and my poor little draceana, just looks like a laid of clump of grass.. Oh My, talk about a bad plant mommy!!

the one in the front left corner looks like a red margined draecena

Trina, Yours is gorgeous and looks healthy!!

Nice one Trina! I have a couple of D. marginata 'Tricolor' ... one is planted on the side of the house and I think I have a couple of little ones in pots.

Oh, I think that is what it was called!!!

you know that monster has gotten bigger since then!
And I have 'Janet Craig', Lemon Lime, Spike and a few others, kitty likes to lay in those too!

Of all things guess what I got in the mail today? I 3" diameter 15" long piece of dumbcane wth a tag that said Suprise no return address....I'll give it a drink for tonight and pot it up tomorrow...here we go again!

Wow, what a nice gesture of someone to do that! Was it someone from Dave's Garden? This is a generous community here!

... you may be able to do a little detective work and figure it out by the postmark of the city it originated in!

I was looking at the picture before the last...where I saw the green one....

Yes-the plant in question IS a tri-color Dracena Marginata. DO NOT over water this plant. It can root-rot easily.

I don't know...I usually hang out in general discussion & chat so I'll see if I can play Nancy Drew...let's see if I have better luck with it than the other one. LOL... I also got me some bamboo orchids, philippine ground orchids, and some calla lilies from a trade...so I've been doing the Happy Dance all afternoon

You are going to be a busy gal with all those new plants to add to your collection!

Yeah but It gives me something to do all day...It gets kinda boring sometimes when your the only one home, but at like 3:30 everyday the house explodes with the arrival of 4 of my 5...the other one probably hasn't moved from his bed yet

Oh my goodness ... You have 5 kids? What ages? It must be pretty exciting around your place when all the kids are running around and the critters as well!