Do you water enough to reach the drain holes (and all the roots)? Are you leaving the pot in drain water in the saucer (which can wick back in and rot roots)? Are you watering when it's needed according to how much of the soil is dry vs wet, or just to the arbitrary schedule? Try moving it back from the light just a foot or two. Have you checked for spider mites? They could easily be the original problem.

Wendy, Cordyline's aren't the easiest plants to grow, especially if the plant has problems in the beginning.

You mention it has brown patches..could this be scale bug? Are they round/oval and lumpy or just patches in the leaves?

I'd spray the leaves daily. They're definatly humidity loving plants, and a daily mist will help some. In fact, I'd keep this plant atop pebbles and a larger saucer filled w/water. You may have more leaves to cut off, but the new leaves should come out heatlhy..Toni

The patches on the leaves are dead spots. I checked all of it, no bugs. I have some pebbles, I could try that. Thanks.

Wendy, I'm just going to give you my experience. I put my Cordylines outside in early spring and because I have almost no shade, the old leaves often sunburn, discolor and turn yellow but as new leaves appear they are vibrantly colored and healthy, even though our temps are in the high nineties now. They thrive in high heat and several hours full sun as long as I keep them watered (daily or every other day).

I think your plant may need more light and less watering, especially if your home is airconditioned. A tropical plant can do well in cooler temps and less light than its native home but needs less water as it will be slower growing. My plants in winter only need watering every 10 days to 2 weeks. (If they get too dry they may lose a leaf but if roots are constantly wet I may lose the whole plant).

Your plant probably came straight from full sun or perhaps under shadecloth in high temps...it needs time to adjust and put out new leaves suited to its new environment. These are pretty tough plants...they just sulk when growing conditions suddenly change. Good luck. josh

Is it ok to plant a cordyline in a flowerbed? I have two that I just recently planted. I also have one that is planted in the ground in my backyard. Are these good places for these plants to be or should I transplant them?

Hi Wendy,
I have a cordyline cv 'katrijin' with the same problem.It doesn't seem to be life threatning although it is not aesthetic and some leaves actually have to to be ripped off. I think it's a fungus of some sort. Anyway, I wouldn't spray the leaves, because water can actually spread the disease.
I shower mine to clean it, but otherwise I try to keep the leaves on the dry side. Check this site for more information.

Here is a link that might be useful: cordyline production guide

I am sorry to say I am not having any bad luck with my Red Sister Cordyline.
We bought ours at Walmart, we 6 of them and they get sun from about 11am on they are planted outside.
My only question is we had a bad freexe here this year we covered them tops are fine, but the bottoms don't have any leaves. My husband wants to cut them back down to were there are no leaves. Will this work?

We grow them in the ground here. It is the nature of this plant to lose its bottom leaves as it gets taller. Most will only grow a single stem that just gets taller and taller if nothing impedes it (like a freeze).

If you want your plant to branch, completely top it. Cut the stem just below the last set of leaves. But ONLY do this during the hot season, or, in Spring if your plant got frosted. It will branch and get fuller with 2 or more new growth points emerging from the stem.

Then, take the part you cut off, strip all the leaves off, cut it into segments about 2-3 inches long each and lay half buried in shallow soil. They will root and make new plants along the stem that you can plant to increase your stand and make it look more lush.