Yeah, I water mine in the shower, which seems to work well enough to keep my tips and margins healthy. One thing to be kind of careful about -- if water that's especially hard or heavy in fertilizer gets into the growing tip of plants like Dracaena and Cordyline, sometimes -- not always, but sometimes -- it will kill the growing tip. The plant will grow a new one most of the time, usually fairly quickly, but it'll leave a dead space where there are no leaves. You can: 1) just try not to spray the top of the plant, 2) spray the top but shake the water out of the growing tip before putting it back, 3) spray the top but stick a paper towel in the top to suck out the water before putting the plant up, 4) spray the top and take your chances, or 5) modify your shower so it only sprays distilled or reverse-osmosis water. (I personally do a combination of #2 and #4. #5 is extremely impractical and is meant as a joke.) I've seen it happen with D. fragrans 'Massangeana,' D. deremensis 'Warneckei,' and D. deremensis 'Art,' but so far only those three. Aside from that one thing to watch out for, shower-watering has worked fine for me. And it keeps them dusted.

it's really very easy. get some rooting horomone from hardware store. cut cane into any length you'd like, making sure to keep track of up & down ends. this is very important as plant can't move water thru itself if you get it backward. dampen down ends in water. dip into rooting horomone & shake off loose powder. stick end into dirt mounding up around base to help cane stand upright until roots form. place plant in same place you had it before as it sounds like it was happy there. just wait a few weeks & you'll start seeing new growth at the tops which will let you know that roots are also growing. good luck with your new babies. lil.

It's a corn plant, Dracaena fragrans massangeana. They prefer to dry out between waterings but are pretty adaptable. They also adjust well to most light conditions, though bright indirect light or filtered sun are best (full sun will burn it). It's hard to say what might be the specific problem here. Burnt tips often mean mineral buildup in the soil: it's a little soon for this, if you only got the plant in August, but maybe. I wouldn't change the soil now, or anytime soon: it's probably okay at least until May or June. You might consider flushing the soil with lots and lots of water, letting the water run through the soil pretty thoroughly, the next time it's dry (and only the next time it's dry: don't do it now because you feel like you should be doing something): this will remove some mineral buildup, if there is any. (This works best if you set it in the shower or something and pour water through with a watering can or pitcher. You should use at least three gallons of water, and twice that much wouldn't hurt anything. Then let the plant drain well before moving it back to the decorative pot it's in.) Corn plants do not like to stand in water: whether you're flushing it out or just watering it routinely, make sure that you dump out any excess after about fifteen minutes. If you leave the pot to stand in water, the water will wick up into the soil until it's all gone, leaving the soil that much wetter for that much longer, which will eventually cause it to rot. I don't think the heat was probably the plant's main problem, though I agree that it probably wasn't doing the plant any favors, either. If it was a heat or watering problem, you'll probably be forgiven in a few months; corn plants are nice that way.

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.