Corn plant help

I purchased a corn plant a few months ago and as of recent it seems to be going downhill. I am continueally
Cutting off dead/brown leaves. I water it with room temp distilled water and I wait until the soil is dry about 1-2" deep with finger test. I really like the plant and want to see how big it will grow. Could anyone help me?

What size is it now? What size container?

Are the leaves wilting before you water it?
Does the soil smell nice?
Are you thoroughly soaking it, and allowing it to drain when you water it?

Are the leaves soft or crispy?

The plant is around 3' to the highest stalk 4' and the highest leaf. The pot is a 10.5" standard black plastic pot it came it. The soil smells like soil, leaves that are green are soft and flexible. I would say I am soaking it enough. The leaves that are dying and turning brown are doing that no matter when. Sorry i took so long to get back to you been busy with my newborn.

Are the brown leaves soft when they die, or crispy? Are they tuning yellow first?
Soil that smells good suggests it is not being over watered, that is, kept too wet. So about the only other way to go is too dry, or else it is not a watering problem.

Is it kept in an area without excessive drafts of either too-hot or too-cold air? Not in front of a heater or cold window?

Congrats on the baby!

Is your plant near a heating vent or doorway? Or, if it's in a peaty mix and had been allowed to dry out too much (either at the store or at your home), it's possible that the plant roots aren't getting enough moisture. Take the plant out of the pot and look to see if the soil is moist throughout when you water it. If not, you need rehydrate the soil. Since pet is hard to rewet, you may need to submerge it in a bucket of water up to it's rim, until bubbles quit forming. If that's not possible, water it from the bottom, but allow water to remain in the saucer for at least 1/2 hour until the soil is thoroughly moist throughout. You may have to rewater more than once, if after a few minutes no water remains in the saucer. Then remove excess water that the plant doesn't take up from the saucer, and allow the pot to completely drain. You may have to turn it sideways to make sure the pot completely drains. I'm not an expect, but I hope this info is of help to you.

The leaves do start to turn yellow n soft but go to crispy brown. It is kept behind my sectional in a corner. This is why I keep a grown light on a timer for 2 hrs a day shinning up from the bottom. There is a window on the same wall that does leak a little cold air but nothing major. I will try to take it out this week and look at the roots but since this plant seems fragile right now would that be a good idea? Could I transplant it into another pot with some good soil. It's still in the same pot that I bought it in. The greenhouse said it shouldn't need repotted until spring.

Ooh, yellow leaves is another matter. It usually indicates overwatering. Recently, I took an overly dry neglected plant to my bathtub to rehydrate it. After I did that, I turned the pot sideways to completely drain it, as this plant is sensitive to overwatering. I was surprised that water kept pouring out of the pot. When I lifted the plant out of the pot, I found at least another 1/2 in. of water remaining in the pot. Closer inspection revealed that the holes in the side were almost an inch from the bottom of the pot. That means that whenever I water that pot it doesn't drain completely on its own, even though it does have a hole in the bottom of the pot. I had kept the plant in it's original nursery pot and set it in a decorative pot. I will put that plant in a different pot. Long story short, check to make sure that your pot completely drains when you do water it. Also, feel the leaves on your plant to check that it's not getting too cold from the window draft.

If you decide to repot it make sure the new soil drains really well.

If the pot is several inches tall but only the top inch is going dry, that's being kept too moist. Are you able to pick up the pot? If so, see how heavy it feels, then let it dry until it feels much more lightweight. Then you can know it's much more dry. Reading the sticky at the top of this forum should help you keep this plant looking great, especially in determining if/when to repot, and about how/why some soils can be much more likely to cause roots to rot, and how you can prevent that from happening.

Deebie, excellent! Even if a pot does have holes at the bottom surface, if I tilt it after watering, there's always a LOT more water that comes out, usually a solid stream at first, then drips for a few minutes. If it's possible to finagle some way to let the pot sit for 10-15 mins in the tilted position, that's so helpful, at least during winter when plants/roots tend to succumb to rot, in conjunction with the much shorter days, cooler temps. Dracaena would fall into the category of using much less water when temps are cooler.

Plants that sit directly on the floor for winter can struggle. Getting raised even a few inches can make a huge difference in the temp of the soil/roots, if that applies to your plant.

I would NOT recommend taking the plant out of the pot for a look-see.

There is not very much root at the bottom of each of the stems and IF you disturb
the root-ball, it could all just fall apart and your woody stalks will not stand up again
when you re-pot it. Please leave the potted plant as is.

The Corn Plant needs very little watering--for the above reasons.
My advice is to "let it be" and see how it fares.

Also--I don't think the grow light is necessary. Shining up from the bottom
may be affecting the lower leaves...too much light--or too warm....

Just my 2 cents worth. Gita