new "to me" dracaena is dying!

Help!, my boyfriend brought me this beautiful plant from a yard sale. The elderly couple told him that this plant is 40+ years old and the children in that family have several offshoots. They have always had this plant in the middle of their livingroom with a skylight above it. I repotted it and put it in the corner of my livingroom. Now it is very sad looking and the leaves on the left are dried up! I gave it plant food and watered it and now have a grow light on the wall behind it. Please help me save this beautiful heirloom!

My guess would be overwatering. They don't like a lot of it. Or transplant shock. I know older plants have a harder time than younger ones. How long has it been since transplanting it?

I agree with kwanjan, over watering soon kills of more house plants than anything else, to test if your plant needs water, stick your finger into the compost and if it is dry, give it SOME water, if wet, leave it to dry out more, I would also advise you to give it maybe cooler conditions if you have dry heating in the room you have it, in a corner is not the best place as it was used to having air circulating around it in the middle of a room with more natural light from the sky lite, it wont want put in a window to get burned from magnified heat, and as the plant is really almost touching the roof, maybe the grow lite is too close to the foliage and they do give off a lot of heat when switched on for a while. the yellow part wont come alive again now, so I would remove that whole stem and leaves too, if the pot is sitting on a saucer and it has water in it, lift the plant out and let the soil drain, dont add any more feed till the plant looks like it has recovered by showing new growth or you will burn the roots, when you need to feed it, buy some indoor plant food that is a liquid and use half doze, till it picks up more, I would also mist the foliage every other day to keep the foliage from drying any more. hope this helps you out, good luck. Weenel.

I'd also guess overwatering, I've found Dracaenas are pretty picky about that. It could also be the shock of moving--you've got it in different conditions now than what it was used to, and that can cause stress for the plant, as can transplanting.

I'd have to agree on the overwatering... Too, it looks like you've repotted into a large tub? does this have drainage? if not, you might want to get some holes in that tub ASAP. these plants do not like having "wet feet".

Wow, what a shame.
I'd agree w/ the over-watering, but I think it's also suffering due to lack of (enough) light.

I have this same plant, and it really needs some bright direct light.

If it were my plant, I'd cut off that dead portion near the top and give it more natural light.

My first comment is.............WHY did you think it needed repotting?

Marginatas can live for a long, long time in the same pot as they have very small root systems. Too many people always want to "mess with" the plants they get that are doing just fine by thinking that they need to be in a bigger pot and feed it immediatly.

Sometimes repotting does more harm to plants than anything else. If it has been growing happily in the pot it is in--then leave it alone! Having moved to a new home is change enough for it to digest. Different light! Different conditions! Geez!

When you re-potted it, did you add any extra soil on top of the existing soil? A plant can be "killed" in no time at all if you change the soil level it has been growing at.

For example----if you have a plant in an 8" pot, and you want to repot it, you need to go up ONLY one pot size--to a 10" pot. Now--a 10" pot is 2"bigger in diameter and also 2" deeper. When repotting, you need to make up the difference in depth by first putting 2" of soil on the bottom of the pot and then setting the plant's rootball on top of that and filling in around the sides with fresh potting mix keeping the surface level as it was. NOT by putting the plant on the bigger pot and then filling it up with new soil. This, essentially, "buries" the plant and it will react by yellowing leaves and eventually dying.

If this is what you have done, and if it has only been a week or so, you may be able to right the wrong by dumping it all out and repotting it correctly. If the plant has other problems, then I have no particular advice for you, except------------DO NOT feel that you need to always repot plants. If they are used tot he condition they have been growing in--leave it be! Plants, like people, "make peace" with what they have to live in and any major changes can really set them back.

ALSO----Whenever you repot anything--PLEASE do not start feeding/fertilizing it. It needs time to recover from the change. Keep it out of bright light, do not feed it or over water it for a few weeks.
I always use this example----If you have just had a heart transplant, why would someone want to feed you a T-Bone steak for dinner? Just because they thought it would do you a lot of good? Nor would they expect you to get up and walk a mile in 15 minutes.

Patience!!! Observe and let the plant guide you! You cannot force it to do anything if it is NOT ready for it. Treat it as you would an ailing patient......a lot of TLC and NO extremes.

Gita

Is this D. marginata?

I thought it looked more like either D. draco or D. arborea?

Thank you everyone for all your help. I will cut the dry leaves and see what she looks like from there.