Looks like it might have in fact gotten frozen. At any rate I wouldn't bother with it if were mine - it's not like it's rare and hard to replace, looks like you've got another one right behind it.

That is true about the potting medium but the cooked looking, apparently frozen parts aren't going to come back regardless.

It's not likely that the entire plant was frozen - probably only the more succulent tissues were affected. There's only one degree of dead, so the dead leaves won't come back, but the plant likely will from parts not frozen. If you're determined to salvage it, you'll need to be VERY careful to avoid over-watering. Use a wooden dowel rod (5/16 is about the right diameter) sharpened in a pencil sharpener as a 'tell'. Stick it deep into the soil (as in all the way to the bottom of the pot) and don't water until comes out dry or very nearly so. If you're patient, odds are good that it will eventually revitalize from the part of the plant that's still viable and carry on, leaving you only with the chore of deciding where to prune to make it look spiffy.

Al

tapla, do you think i should just let all the leaves die and fall out on their own or should i try to remove as many as i can? (without pulling on ones that are still strongly intact)

embothrium, haha yeah i have two others just like it, one small baby one and the larger guy you can see in the back of the photo. i'm going to keep this sick one around just to see if it'll eventually get any better. i know all the yellow nasty looking leaves are done for though unfortunately.

Do you think i should just let all the leaves die and fall out on their own or should i try to remove as many as i can? I'd be inclined to wait and see what the plant does. You can certainly chop it back and wait for it to back-bud from the stumps you leave; and as long as the plant is still viable (alive), it will, so there is no problem in doing that. The closer you get to the roots, the more likely it is the tissues that make up the stems are still viable. Initially (as in currently), there will be no way to tell what's living and what isn't, but as the plant sorts that out, it will become apparent from where the back-budding occurs. The only thing you gain by waiting to chop it back to immediately distal to the most distal new bud is the fact the plant will be taller than if you chopped it back to a point closer to the base ...... and you might not even considered that to be an advantage.

I'd avoid pulling the leaves off. There are dormant buds immediately above every leaf, and pulling the leaves off can damage those buds. If you must remove the spoiled foliage, snip it off with a pair of scissors by cutting through the leaf very close to the trunk. Of course, chopping it back to a point proximal to the lowest leaf makes that point moot.

Al

jurasico, i did what you said and i'm really glad i did. i actually found multiple little healthy baby leaves that were sprouting beneath all the dead stuff. thank you!

thanks for all the replies, i ultimately gave him a massive haircut because the damage looked and felt very bad. as you can see above, i'd say the little stumps and baby leaves look very much alive so i'm feeling good about him making it :)

Is my dragon tree dead?

We moved an hour and a half away in freezing cold temperatures.

it was placed in the back of our moving truck.

There's a good chance the plant will break back (back-bud) low on the stem or right at the soil line, but no guarantee. Odds are high the top is a goner, but it depends on whether or not it suffered serious chill injury, which can occur at temps well above freezing if the temperature drop is sudden enough.

All you can do is wait. The leaves will all drop off, for sure. If you don't see new growth emerging from the stem within 2 months, scrap away some of the periderm (bark). If there is a green layer just below, wait awhile longer. It's critical that you do not over-water. The plant will be using almost NO water, so use a "tell" to "tell" you if the grow medium is moist deep in the pot - water only when the tell comes out nearly dry. Keep it warm and in good light. Withhold fertilizer until the plant is pushing new growth.

Using a 'tell'

Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant.

Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor.

In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water.

Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'.

One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue.

Al

Ive been trying to tevive this guy for a year now, my coworker was going to toss it out. It was left in an office when the pandemic shut ever down. Idk if I should break apart the stalks. Should i cut off the bottom? It cant hold itself.

Need more info. Are parts of the plant showing life? Can you post images of any particular parts of the plant that show damage or symptoms of the neglect as well as the entire plant and pot that contains it?

Al