I was reading about air layering at this website: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM268.pdf And the document they wrote seems to imply that dracaena plants *require* this type of treatment. But information I've seen elsewhere on this site implies that you don't need to go to all that trouble. Some owners say they are very hardy plants, and you can just cut them down and stick them in the dirt. I'm confused about all this information. One consideration is that my brother and his wife are being very kind to care for the plant while we are relocating to Seattle from Chicago, but eventually we need to ship this plant to Seattle. Maybe we just cut it down when the time comes and stick it in our carry on luggage? Air layering requires alot of work, and creates an unsightly plant for a period of time. I am hesitant to put that burden on my brother's family as they care for our plant. And I'm not sure they would feel comfortable doing plant surgery. Oh boy... What is the consensus opinion? Is air layering really our only viable option?

It's awesome! It's perfectly normal for a specimen of its' age in a pot inside. The foliage near the top could be a bit sparse from being above the window, getting less light. Sorry for the delayed reply, errand day yesterday. There's a bunch of pics of older plants here: http://allthingsplants.com/plants/view/76304/Corn-Plant-Dracaena-fragrans/ Even in a 3-story atrium, the lower parts of the trunks become naked over time, as older leaves are lost, similar to the growth of any large tree. Whenever a trunk becomes too tall, it can be cut where one would like to see a new side branch. New growth usually comes from a spot near the cut. So, the lower the cut is made, the more room a new branch has to grow before getting too tall again. Sticking the cut piece(s) back in the pot can help yield a more full look, but trying to hide the trunks isn't necessary, under the umbrella of "normal" but perfectly fine if that's just what you prefer to look at. If you go in the house plant forum and search for Dracaena within that forum, you'll also see tons of other, similar discussions, with many more pics. If none of this is appealing, you can "make" your own new plant from this one. Cut off the pieces that are the most attractive to you, stick them in a pot, pushing the trunks all the way to the bottom of the pot so they will be sturdily upright. Using an uneven number, cut to different heights, would yield an instantly bushy-looking "new" plant. Some of the existing leaves are usually discarded when doing cuttings like that, but I've never had one fail to take root and start growing great new leaves within a few months. A nursing home or university would probably love to have the rest of it, if you prefer that idea & want to ditch the stump/root ball. Keep asking questions (here or in house plants,) if you have more of them, until you feel confident & can decide on a plan that's right for what you want to end up with.

I repotted this today, on its' way to stay in greenhouse for at least the next couple nights, expecting frost, or very near to it. The soil had sunk a lot. Surprisingly, the pancake of roots at the bottom was not huge. I chopped it off with a shovel. The Cordyline 'Red Sister' is a cutting I just added to the pot when I finished. The tallest part was too tall to be inside this winter, so it came off and got stuck in this pot. This was a cutting about 4 months ago. It's developed a great root system already. 'Janet Craig Compacta' has been repotted upright. It was leaning for a while to develop this cool zig-zag. 'Hawaiian Sunshine' to the right. A big cutting of variegated lucky bamboo (D. braunii/sanderiana.) It's in water with Coleus stems for tonight, until I can decide which pot it should join.

Unless you're using a medium that doesn't support several inches of complete soil saturation at the bottom of the pot (perched water), you're over-watering. The tip-off was "Watered when top inch of soil [felt] dry". You should water when the soil at the bottom of the pot shows dry or nearly dry. Use a TELL to 'tell' you when to water. I'll post something I wrote about using a tell and the limitations associated with excess water retention (or over-watering). Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support good root health, which is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to a build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al