So there was a layer of substrate underneath the pancake of roots?

this has never happened to me except when I had a serious problem with drainage in the bottom of the pot.

my guess is once you repot it and get lots of vigorous root growth, the leaves will have enough roots to support them.

In fact, it makes perfect sense that you watered 4 days ago and now it's showing that. Either it got too dry when you watered it or that bottom layer of stuff was too soggy and killed off some feeder root tips.

you said it yourself, it just put out a large new flush of leaves and those roots aren't really anything I'd call impressive at this point lol.

Lati - the roots just hadn't reached the bottom; it wasn't any wetter than the top area with roots, not enough for me to notice in any case.

It's now in the new mix and I dragged the 10x heavier pot back into the northern family room. I'll put her back in the southern living room in a few days. Compared to what I normally do to the roots, I really did not damage these...so as not to add insult to whatever injury it already had LOL.

Hey, I've had a much larger Dracaena with barely this much roots before! Haha. Compared to that, for this adolescent one, it was more than I expected, though less than I had hoped. I'm just happy they weren't black.

I did water when it was completely dry, or at least nearly so. I usually put my entire finger into the soil and if I felt no moisture at all, it was time to water--about every 3 weeks in the summer....so you think this was too dry?

Oh -- then there was the fact that my central AC went out last week and the repairman can't be here until Friday to fix it.....and it was 99-103 outside over the weekend and today.

Maybe it could be heat stress?

that soil at the bottom of the pot just doesn't sound right to me. Every plant I have, first thing they do is send out roots to the side, they follow the pot down and get to the very bottom and circle. But yours didn't do that? I'm really just confused now.

Someone else should be along to say one way or another lol.

Not much time to get deeply into this, but AFAIK, fluoride toxicity is something that happens cumulatively, over time. I suppose it could manifest seemingly overnight, but not sure. If we could gather more info about that, I'd like to know too.

Well, I did look at it in passing yesterday, Tiffany...but I'd notice if something this hideous is on a plant, I think LOL.

I know about 3-5 weeks ago when I wiped it down, there was not a single mark except on suspect leaf tip.

This one makes me really mad!!! Haha.

Lati, well, to be clear, roots had grown to the bottom but in branches. The main roots shown circled before the bottom and branches from here had grown into the bottom, most of which stayed there when I pulled this up. Ya know, it ain't easy unpotting these tall plants alone, so you do what you can. In my case, I pulled up! :)

Okay, I understand what you mean! Will you put it in a smaller pot or is it already in a pretty small pot?

Oh, BTW...

when I first saw the pictures and no description, I thought something spilled on the leaves and it's some sort of....phototoxicity from something being on the leaves? Did someone spill something on it on accident maybe?

That's from contact with something.

was it pushed up against a window or heater/air conditioner/refrigerator? Anything like that?

stand back away from it, it makes a pattern. A large circle on the front most leaf. Almost like a coffee ring on a coffee table.

Tiffany, it'll share my Arrowhead water from now on. Lol

Lati, it doesn't touch a thing. It's in front of a tan stone wall and windows to one side, air to the other two sides, but not touching anything.

Look! LOL

Right now, she is in my family room....much lower light. I'll put her back in a day or two.

Poor child. Poor, poor child.

She needs a much bigger pot! At least a 3 gallon one. When I worked in a nursery my boss told me corn plants didn't like perlite. Not sure if that's true or not.

Perlite needs to be well-rinsed if you're going to use it with Dracaena spp. It contains fluoride.

Z, that IS a 3 gallon! LOL

I actually wanted to use something smaller but didn't have the right look in anything smaller. The roots don't justify this big of a pot. I used to have one that was over 8 feet tall and it was in this size pot! But since it's in a very porous mix now, pot size should matter less.

Hmm...interesting about perlite. I believe perlite inherently has some fluoride, albeit minimal. Suppose that could be why?

Lati ---

JINX!!!

(Yes, I know my maturity is astounding. Lol)

Lol, you're silly.

I'll guess, sunburn. You said you opened the curtains. Don't worry about it. Your plant looks very healthy. The new leaves will adjust to the higher light and will be fine. Whenever you increase the light on a plant, you risk some sunburn. They will adjust and be healthier for it.

Great job and healthy plant!

Jane

That's what I was thinking, maybe it was against the window or a sliver of direct sunlight was beaming across those leaves or something.

I'd be so happy to know its sunburn, Jane. Though if it is....what a weak sauce plant!! Lol Sure, it's brighter but not that much brighter. It was constantly open slats vs open shutters...sheesh.

But that would make the most sense. I really don't think it was there the day before...and then the next day, this nonsense.

Perhaps I should just leave it in the northern room. I moved it into the southern room about a month ago because my family room is quite dark, and it appeared to like it there.

Lati, it sure sounds possible, though I haven't seen it since I don't spend all that much time in the living room. With the sun already so much lower, I suppose it could have streamed in about late afternoon.

Weak sauce plant, man.

Well, opening the window for full sun when the sun is low in the sky can have a magnifying glass effect on the plant. Some of my plants that have been IN the open window sill all summer recently started showing stress due to the sun lowering and so now it is getting direct sun whereas before the sun wouldn't cast a shadow inside the house.

I don't think you....it's hard to choose the right word here....I don't think you perceive just how much light those blinds/shudders block out even when you think it's very bright in the room. See....I don't think there's any tactful way to say that without sounding like an....well, I'm sure you know what I mean!

I wonder if the outline I'm seeing is maybe the outline of one of the things obscuring your window? Like dappled full sun through some tree branches?

oh...I just noticed similar damage to my spider plant leaf that's pressed up against the glass window. Same weird burning.

The good news is, your plant is fine!

Well now I am just offended, Lati. LOL

Hehe, I know what you mean. Until I start using sun for food, I can't guess how they feel. But I will say this: if ever I become a plant in another life, I will be something really hardy, like an Opuntia or a Sans. Nothing weak! Lol

Oh, that's probably not a good idea, those are the plants that are abused the most because of how "tough" they are!

Well, I sure as hell don't want to be brought back as no fern or Dracaena. Or Calathea. I'd opt for abuse over whining and whimpering at a tiny increase or decrease in light or water!

No, I will be a big, strong Sycamore or Opuntia!

(And then I come back to find I'm in the Lithops family. AAAACCCCCKKKKKK!)

Lol. You jest!

Grace, just saw this discussion in search results looking for something else. Hope all is well with you & your plants!

Looks very similar to fluorine/fluoride toxicity which Dracaenas are susceptible to. Sources can include municipal water, certain fertilizers, perlite, even peat moss. Check your fertilizer label for fluorine or fluorides, and if using tap water, allow the water to sit for a day before using it to allow any fluoride and chlorine to dissipate from the water. Here's a link to a Pacific Northwest Extension document which gives and overview of this toxicity in plants and includes a photo, which is not labeled, but looks very much like a Draceana, possibly a 'Janet Craig' variety. https://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/pathogen-articles/nonpathogenic-phenomena/fluorine-toxicity-plants