Dracaena marginata (dragon tree) advice

I have recently acquired a tiny dracaena marginata tree, it’s obviously one that has been cut off and started rooting, I also have a grown dracaena marginata tree so I think I know how to care for it. My question is, when it grows big (I know it will be a few years yet) normally you see them with 1 trunk and it goes into 3 smaller trunks at the top, I was just wondering how you would make it go into the normal distinctive shape i.e. the 3 trunks? My boyfriend said that you can just put a small hole in the bark of the main trunk and then it will start growing a new branch out the side; is it true, if it is how do you put the hole in? Like I say I have no plans yet as it’s far too small.

Thanks :-)

I think what people do is cut the top off the plant and then it'll put out a couple new branches where you cut it (and then of course you can root the top and make yourself another plant). I don't think poking a hole in the trunk is going to do anything.

I've never heard of putting a hole in the bark of the tree to get it to sprout new branches. I have a few Dracaena Marginata's and I usually cut the tops off to force new branches to emerge. Sometimes you will get only one new branch, sometimes two, sometimes three. If you don't prune the tree as it grows it will eventually hit the ceiling and begin to bend. Doesn't hurt anything, you just get a tree with bends in the branches.

Thank you for that; I'll do that when the time comes.

In a weird twist of fate I accidentally decapitated my boyfriend’s tree this weekend; his blinds fell from the window right onto the plant :-( . It had 4 branches and two were decapitated, will these branches grow back? We planted the tops of the two branches and one had already grown a tiny root :-).

What kind of tree? A dracaena will begin to branch out ... eventually! I have had some that take their sweet time but eventually you will see little nubs along the side of the stem near the top where it was cut. Those little nubs will become new branches.

To Plantladylin it was a dracaena tree. I think the two branches which were planted are doing ok, he hasn't said they are looking sorry for themselves so I hope they are ok. I've not had the chance to see them since I've been away on holiday. He did however manage to kill one of the baby spider plants I gave him; I recently rescued 11 baby spider plants, and all 11 managed to survive growing roots and being transferred into soil and survive weeks, I give him them 4 weeks ago and dead! GRRRRRR!

LOL, Dipsy! Some men just are not good with plants, my husband being one of them! Whenever I go to visit one of my sisters for a few days my husband always asks me if he will have to water the plants! I have many, many plants and he enjoys looking at them but doesn't have a clue as to what is what and the type of care they need. He is usually very relieved when I tell him everything has been watered and will be fine until I return home!

I have cut tops off of dracaena's many times ... sometimes they root quickly, other times they root but are slow growing! I hope your boyfriend's plant does well.

There are a few Dracaena Marginata's listed in Plant Files:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/732/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/59787/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/59788/

I have a few small Dracaena Marginata's but this is a large one that's been sitting in it's container out in the backyard for a few years. I keep saying I am going to get it in the ground but have not gotten around to doing it yet!


This one is the Dracaena Marginata "Tricolor"

Oh I have tricolour one but its only a baby at the minute. I had no space for it at all but there it was at the garden centre in an inch by an inch pot, bone dry so i figured it needed to come home with me for a drink lol. I have a red edged dracaena as well, and my bf has half a one now haha. I think he said the tops he had planted (about 2 maybe 3 weeks ago) were starting to droop now, he tried planting two branches) with no greenery on them and the two tops, he said the two branches had gone soft and the tops hadn't so it was a good sign anyway, he did pick them out the soil to look at roots (because plants like being planted and pulled out every week to see how they are going GRRR - but he knows best apparently). Anyway look at my mumbling the question is would they root better in water then be transferred to soil or should he just leave them in the soil?

Thank you :-)

Your plants look huge plantladylin, I must say I do like the spider plant creeping in the photo as well haha. I'm swamped with my spider plants, I have 3 on my desk at work, and 4 sitting at home (i'm just praying none of them have "babies" for a while as I have NO where to put them all and I'd feel guilty killing the baby cos they would just get in the way in the house since the garden would be too cold for them during winter).

Hello and thank you for your help. The plant was purchased (along with several others) from a plant vendor who formerly serviced the office plants as well. We no longer subscribe to the service and I've been caring for the plants. I don't know anything about the soil or the drainage and the plant is too tall and cumbersome for me to lift out of the pot. I water the plant once a week, which doesn't seem like I'm overly watering it (or maybe I am). It's been in the same location for approximately 1; so, the lighting hasn't changed (only overhead fluorescent lighting). If you think of anything else I can try, let me know. Thanks again.

Dracaena marginata came up in my research for low light plants. I have very little natural light in my home. My two new plants are not happy so can someone tell me how much light they really need? Thanks!

Are you sure they're unhappy because of the light level? They're pretty sensitive to overwatering, so that would be the first thing I'd check on.

One of mine pretty much sits in a shaded area of the room - it's doing ok - it's growing mightly slow but then it is in a darker area - I also have 2 smaller ones and they are in the light and they seem to grow faster (they are also tri-colour ones where the other is a magentia one).