Depending on pot size, sometimes it's difficult testing soil..If the container is larger than 12", sticking finger in soil doesn't work as well as it does testing smaller pots..That's why guages are used, but economically speaking, lifting pot works fine..if plant is light weight when lifted, you can bet soil is dry..if heavy, even if top soil looks crumbly, mid to lower soil is moist. IMO, Marginatas prefer dry well-draing soil, but need a hearty drink when dry..they also enjoy humidity..I mist its leaves daily, and set in shower every week or two. Bright light works fine, but depending on the species, (variegated) needs more sun than green w/red edge..otherwise the pink/green and/or red leaf loses color. There's a pic in the Plant Expert Plant book of a red leaf marginata..beautiful plant..But to keep leaves red, sun is mandatory..I think they'd adapt to full sun, even direct summer light, but placing in driect sun would have to be done gradually, especially if wintered indoors. I rotatee marginatas, but keep pink and reds closer to light in south windows..Drooping occurs when soil is over or underwatered..it takes experimenting. Also, marges prefer cooler temps than other Dracaenas..Hot, stuffy rooms invite mites and mealy..Toni

Lact., yes the link worked, TY. I don't have any advice about devices besides computers, but I just paste the URL into the body of the message, which seems to work well, and shows the link as a URL. The uploading of pics has gotten more awkward though, showing up in other spots besides where the cursor is. Then, even though there's a magnifying glass option, the pic rarely shows a larger version if that is clicked, and sometimes it's smaller. Interesting article but at one point, it should say hearty (stalwart,) not hardy (can live through freezing temps.) The link to supposed cultivar 'Gold Dust' just links to the plain species entry at USDA (with a pic of what looks like 'Florida Beauty' cultivar.) 'Gold Dust' may be a cultivar name, but no evidence of that yet is in this discussion so far. A common name is a nickname, used by whim of the grower or owner. A cultivar name is patented. Of the Dracs I have, 'Florida Beauty' is the 2nd-slowest grower. 'Janet Craig Compacta' is the slowest.

I think there is chance of the rocks/gravel becoming hot in your climate - but am really just guessing; I never lived in warmer than z6. Gravel I use is chicken grit, and it is granite chips. For the mix, I use size #2 = growers size. Here is the pic of it:For top-dressing, I use next size up (sometimes marked turkey grit). Some of different color is just bit of aquarium gravel that I used and is just mixed in randomly - I do not dispose of grit when repotting, it all gets reused :) But I have used size #2 as top-dressing if I run out of the bigger grit. I have some pots where I used pea gravel for top-dressing, and that is even bigger. Mix I use is made of coarse perlite and grit in approx. equal amounts and small amount of turface. I do not think there is any discoloration of the stems; perhaps what you see is just natural ageing or corking. But it is hotter where you are so maybe there is something associated with 'heat' ? I have some plants potted in only grit and do not see any discoloration that would make me think of mix-grit being too hot and 'burning' plants.

How much and how often are you watering?