Spider plant roots don't mess around. I repotted both of my Hawaiian spiders earlier this year into larger hanging pots. Their roots completely filled up their old pots and were somewhat rootbound. Now they've gotten so much bigger that it almost requires me to use both my hands to carry the pots. Especially with all of the rain we've gotten, haha. I wonder if collecting snow would be any better than collecting ice cold rainwater? With snow, at least you can shovel it into containers. By the time I've dunked my gallon containers into my collected rainwater and filled them all back up, I pretty much can't feel my hands anymore, lmao. Last winter, my sister was over visiting. I was outside filling up some containers and she came out to keep me company. When she wasn't looking I stuck my ice cold hand on her back and she about flipped her lid. My hands are aching right now just thinking about having to fill up any more bottles. At least it doesn't take very long to fill them up and get back inside to warm back up again. Well, I guess it's a small price to pay for keeping plants in our homes to brighten up our lives during these gloomy months. :)

There's a fungus among us. Looks to me like a fungus from overwatering. Little sips can wreak havoc on a plant. I will admit I have had trouble with watering amounts (my money tree) so I understand what you're trying to do regarding the brown tips. I would treat the plant with anti fungal spray. I'm sure someone here knows of a good treatment!

I'm not familiar with fluoride toxicity, but the link says the brown stripes affect the white stripes on the leaves, but it looks like your problem is at the edges, including entirely green areas, of the leaves. It shouldn't be hard to get the results of water tests done by your local water authority; ours even posts them online. This will also tell you how hard your water is. Is the lava rock a top dressing or is it part of the mix? Is the mix fine and peaty? Are the damaged leaves limited to one branch or to the top or the bottom of the dracaena? The size of the plant would affect how often you water; a plant that large in that sized pot will dry that amount of soil pretty fast so you'll have to water more often. On the other hand, the amount of water you give it each time mainly depends on the type and amount of soil in the pot. Make sure that the bottom of the pot isn't sitting in drained water, which will allow minerals flushed from the soil to reenter the pot and keep the lower part of the pot saturated with water, which is deadly to roots. As you probably know, dracaenas love lots of light. I've seen them thrive directly under bright office fluorescents, especially if the lights are on all or most of the day. You're dracaena's corner looks very dark, though, so I'd move it directly under a set of lights to keep it in good condition. I hope something in there is helpful.

Use distilled water ......... or water from a R/O water filtration system (what I use), or rain water, snow melt, or air conditioner/ dehumidifier condensate, all of which are deionized (no solutes harmful to plants) or very close to that state. N/a - leaves appearing at close to the rate they are being shed, or more leaves being shed than are appearing is an unsustainable condition. Expression of the pigment anthocyanin, which produces the maroon coloration of leaf margins, is usually most conspicuous in the very early and early developmental stage of the leaf; however, light levels are an overarching influence at all times. Brighter light will increase the contrast of the leaves' variegative coloration. Not to chide you, but to others, it's important to understand that because a plant tolerates something isn't necessarily an indication its provisional influence is advantageous to the plant. That a schefflera temporarily tolerates temperatures in the low thirties, or ponytail palms tolerate extended periods of drought and/or low fertility isn't reason enough to adopt those parameters as part of the plant's care regimen. The closer cultural conditions are to the limits the plant is genetically programmed to tolerate, the greater the stress the plant must tolerate to maintain viability. Stress quickly turns to strain, which is an unsustainable condition, unsustainable because under conditions of strain, the plant is using more energy than it's producing. In order to cope with severe stress and strain, plants have the ability to reduce the mass living mass the roots need to sustain, and the mechanism by which mass is diminished is my shedding parts to create a balance between the the plant's top volume and the size/efficiency of its root mass. Good point about the tea leaves. I did know coffee and tea grounds are not good for plants until all harmful chemicals have been leached during the composting process (whether in a compost pile or in the pot), but I wasn't aware of their high fluoride content. I did read that in humans the anti-oxidants act as a counter-measure to the potentiality of oxidative stress in humans. I have no idea if that carries over to plants, but I suspect not - just a guess. Something I wrote about the impact of coffee/tea or used grounds in container plantings: Coffee/Tea Grounds Forum discussions frequently center on the question of adding dilute coffee/tea or grounds to plants as a 'tonic', but Arabica (coffee) and Camellia (tea) are known for their toxic alkaloid (caffeine) content and their allelopathic affect on plants as well as autotoxic (poison to their own seedlings) effects on future generations. Caffeine interferes with root development by impairing protein metabolism. This affects activity of an important bio-compound (PPO) and lignification (the process of becoming woody), crucial steps for root formation. We also know that the tannins in both coffee and tea are known allelopaths (growth inhibitors). There are ongoing experiments to develop herbicides using extracts from both coffee and tea that cause me to want to say they might serve better as a nonselective herbicide than as a tonic. I would not use either (stale coffee or tea) by applying directly to my plants - especially containerized plants; nor would I add tea bags/coffee grounds to my container soils. Al