Hi jottle!

This looks to be a variety of Dracaena deremensis (just FYI). Have you repotted it in the past two years at all? How much has it grown since you first acquired it? When you say the soil is fast-draining, as well as the pot, does the water almost immediately drain through the bottom of the pot?

If the dracaena has gotten a good deal larger (I assume, like other dracaenas I've come across, that it has), you may have a root-bound plant, which would account for the fast draining and what looks like the leaves starting to dry up - - - the plant may not be getting enough water. If you think this may be the case, repot into a slightly bigger pot with fresh soil and see if that helps. You may even consider removing the sickly stem, and making cuttings out of the 3 or 4 clusters at its top, but do this a couple weeks before or after to reduce stress on your plant. Also avoid watering for a few days after repotting to reduce shock.

If it is not rootbound, you may still need to provide it with fresh soil that will retain moisture more evenly, as your problem may be uneven watering. These plants don't absolutely need fast-draining soil, as long as you physically check its watering needs (sticking your finger a few inches into the soil to check for dampness). I consider this method far more preferable to setting a schedule, because as plants grow and mature their needs change, and it's much easier to identify moisture and root issues this way.

When did you last fertilize? If you can't remember, it is probably time. Use a fertilizer with a good bit of nitrogen as this helps plants produce healthy foliage. If you are also repotting, only use slow-release fertilizer if applying immediately afterwards, as liquid or quick dissolving ones can burn your plant while in transplant shock.

The other few possibilities are disease, insects and root rot. I doubt that it is root rot, I've seen this in dracaenas, and the leaves tend to turn black or brown from the tips, spreading inwards towards the stem, affecting leaves all over the plant, indiscriminately.

Disease is still on the table, though. If you try the other suggestions and still have problems with the leaves dying, try a disease control product (for houseplants) at your local garden center. I doubt it is an insect infestation, judging from the photos, but if it is, I would guess mites. These can be a huge pain in the *** so I hope not! But if you see teeny tiny bugs, even one, on the leaves, carefully inspect the rest. Mites hate light, and love dry conditions, so the best time to find them is at night after the lights have been off for hours. Best way to get rid of them is to spray the leaves down (top and especially bottoms), as well as the stalks, with water - and by spray, I mean with some pressure to knock those suckers off! You can be extra safe and follow that up with wiping down each leaf and stalk with a light mixture of rubbing alcohol and water to kill off any stragglers. I would test the mixture on one leaf first to ensure the treatment won't hurt your plant.

Sorry for the vast response, got carried away lol. Good luck with your dracaena! :)

Well said, though I do prefer a chunky/airy mix for all plants. Repotting this summer is definitely something to consider.

Dracaenas are sensitive to fluoride, and can receive a toxic dose over time if getting only tap water with that in it. Though other things can cause brown tips, if the plant in question is a Dracaena, fluoride is something to consider as a contributor. Whenever possible, try to give your plant non-tap water, like rain, distilled, or condensate from a dehumidifier or A/C.

It's also normal for the oldest leaves to be discarded at about the same rate as new ones are growing. Like a palm tree, this is part of the process of the trunk becoming woody (lignifying.)

Taxonomists say D. deremensis is a synonym of D. fragrans, as of last time I checked. They change this stuff constantly, very frustrating. This one looks like it may be the cultivar 'Warneckii.'

Thanks so much for the replies and information. I think the pot is definitely too small for a plant this size and this age. Good points! I'm going to switch to water without fluoride, fertilize (embarrassingly, it's been probably a year since I last did it), and repot with the loose/airy mix into a larger pot. The plant has grown about 7'' to a foot over the years. I don't think I have an infestation, though I have seen those very tiny tiny mites? in the soil after watering for the last two years. It's my understanding that these are harmless. They're only in the soil though. And if they were the issue, surely they would have killed the plant by now.

Those may be fungus gnats, more harmful to some plant roots than others, and the size of the plant would be a factor too in how damaging they might be. When you repot, rinsing the roots should help get rid of those as well as just getting rid of the old soil. After 2 yrs, you might find a pancake of roots at the bottom of the pot, (can also contribute to yellow/brown tips on leaves) you can cut that off. The mites/gnats probably won't start back up in the looser soil, at least until it's broken down over time into smaller particles.

Luckily, I'm 99% sure these are soil mites and not gnats. My other suffering snake plant does have fungus gnats, and they're almost impossible to get rid of. I hate those little flies! It's my understanding that the soil mites are harmless and possible beneficial.

IDK anything about soil mites, sorry. Fungus gnats are so common, I assumed... oops. Yeah, nobody likes fungus gnats! Have you tried soaking mosquito dunks in your plant water?

I usually use a soak of BTI which specifically kills the gnat larvae and is, I believe, the same stuff that's in the mosquito dunk. Unfortunately, it never seems to work 100% on these infestations even after multiple treatments and repoting :(

So here's an update on the dracaena situation. I seem to have solved one problem and created another :( The dying stalk (pictured in my 1st post) ended up being root bound or rotted. It was hard to tell, but I threw it out. The rest of the stalks had good roots. So I went ahead and repotted the whole plant into a larger pot. I waited a few weeks and then fertilized it and began watering again as usual. Everything looked fine for a month or two, but now one of the stalks has been developing these yellowish spots that turn into yellow streaks. In addition, some of the leaves are dying from the tips downward. The black tips are occurring in the other stalk as well, but at a very very slow rate. I don't think this is a disease since I've been watering sparingly. The plant has been thriving in the same spot by the window for almost a year now. What do you all think is going on here? Am I not watering enough?

When you say water sparingly, are you doing small sips? Using tap or rain/distilled? Did the new soil have any time-release fertilizer in it?

New soil does not have any fertilizer. I used some miracle grow in liquid form once. I water using distilled (though I've forgotten and have used tap before with this plant) about once every two weeks. Think this might be fluoride? Not using small sips, I basically add about a pint or two to the pot (thoroughly soak the surface each time). Too much water?

From my experience, it's best to drench the soil (not just the surface) so the roots get watered evenly, then allow it to completely dry out before drenching again. It's possible the yellow spots are disease, despite your watering sparingly. I'd try using some fungicide and see what happens.

I'll try a fungicide on it, but I'm worried that it might stress out the plant further.

I agree, if water isn't coming out of the drain holes, it may not be getting thoroughly wet when you water.

I'll be sure to give it a good soak, but it's hard for me to tell if the water is getting all the way down (I'm pretty sure it is given the volume of water I typically use) because the pot I'm using is the type that lets you water by putting a pool of water in the bottom for the roots to suck up. However, I just use it like a regular pot and water from the top at the base of the plant.

How's your tree doing?

Unfortunately this one isn't doing any better either. The yellowing is progressing slowly each day, and I tried a fungicide to no avail. I did notice a fungus gnat infestation about 10 days ago. However, I've controlled it with sticky traps. I know that it's the larvae that can do serious damage to the roots of the plant, but the infestation isn't very severe. It's a big tree. So I don't think that's the issue. I'm going to have to water it from the bottom from now on, however. The other stalks are now showing the yellow spots. So this isn't localized to just the one stalk or its root system. Again. I'm not sure what the move is here. I can't just repot it again. It was doing fine in its old pot, and now I wish I hadn't repotted in the larger pot with the new soil. Maybe I should go back to the smaller pot? I hear these things actually like to be a bit confined, but not to the point of being root bound.

It's normal for some older leaves to be discarded after repotting. Do you think it's more than that? Your last comment about the pot I didn't notice well before. If water is sitting in that reservoir, whether applied from top or bottom, that could cause roots to rot. After repotting, moisture use can slow down quite a bit until roots get settled again.

It's definitely not normal leaf loss. The spots are all over and on newer growth as well. It's possible that the roots are too moist, and there's some rot setting in. But in the same vein, it could be that it just needs more watering. What's the best way to tell?

A new pic? Is it dry when you water it?

So unfortunately, it's definitely getting worse :( I water it whenever the soil is dry down to 4 inches. How deep should the soil be moist before I water again? Here are the latest pics. The yellowing is spreading, and now all of the leaf tips are very slightly starting to die, some worse than others. To me, it looks like the plant is either starving for nutrients or water. I do hope it isn't root rot again. Any further advice to check for these issues aside from pulling the plant out of the pot again?

I'm out of ideas of what to suggest at this point. If you haven't read through the following info yet, hopefully you can find info to help improve your tree here:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1490818/good-growing-practices-an-overview-for

and here:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1497307/ukeeping-u-them-looking-good

Sounds like a plan Lizs4. Thanks for the detailed explanation. I'm going to hold off on watering until it looks especially thirsty and the soil is super dry. At this point, the yellowing and leaf death is spreading very slowly. So hopefully it will stop in the next few weeks. The fungus gnat infestation is also slowing down. So I do also want to wait until all the larvae have turned into adults so that there are no new eggs being laid in my now dry soil. I have a dunk that kills the larvae, but that would require drenching the dracaena again, which would surely kill it from root rot at this point.

Guess what I found at WM yesterday? I think it's the same as yours, Jottle. 'White Jewel?'

That's the one! Don't over water it ;)

TY! I don't worry about that anymore, since getting away from potting soil. Plants have to find more creative ways to die at my house if they're feeling suicidal. Convincing squirrels to dig them up seems to be the most common ploy lately...

I wanted to update this thread to ask for more advice, yet again. Ignore the first post and read my post on May 4th, 2015. I've been following the advice given to me here in this thread for the last year to not over-water, and I've gotten rid of any sign of fungus gnats. Unfortunately, the poor plant is still slowly dying off. Here are some updated pictures. I can confirm now that this is definitely not an issue with too much watering. I'm at a total loss as to what to do besides repotting yet again. About 20% of the leaves on all of the branches are now showing yellowing and then more pronounced dying that is evident in the attached photos. Anyone care to hazard a guess at this point? Could it be chlorine or fluoride in my water? At one point I tried distilled water, but only for a short period. The plant is not dying quickly, but it's definitely struggling as it has taken 7 months to get to this point. But it is definitely not improving no matter what interventions I've introduced (repotted once, watered much much less, fertilized).