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i dont have a phone that works rite now. i live in the area, scottsburg, in, where we had the after effects from hurricane ike. and i had a very tall and leggy draceana plant. two stalks and a small baby growing about 1\’ tall. but during storm the plant was blown over and broke off the tops of the tall trunks. they were at least 5\’ tall. can i save them? and what should do with the part that is left? should cut off shorter. the tops that broke off were beautiful and healthy and i hate to throw away if i can save. can u help? my email is only way of contact. Andrea
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Andrea,
First take the baby and separate it from the parent plant and pot it. Then Take the broken tops and remove leaves so that you have a bout 2″ of clear stem. Now take a knife and re-cut the stem off at a 45 degree angle (cut about a 1/4″ off the bottom). Now if you have some rooting hormone dip the cut stem in to the powder and then immediately place in moist soil. (you can get rooting hormone at your local garden center and nursery — I use one by Greenlight called roottone — always pour a little into a saucer so that the rest of the roottone doesn’e become contaminated). Then turn to you stalks cut them at a 45degree angle. Twenty four hours later start misting the air around the plant. In about two weeks you should start to see growth come on the side of the cut stalks. Hope this helps. I hhope that this is the only damage you received from Hurricane Ike.
why do i have seperate the baby from other two now broken stalks? it is much smaller than others it is probably foot and half tall from dirt. its very close to the roots sys. what will happen if i leave it with others? and how tall should i leave the stalks? or how much do i cut off? do they need lot of lite do do this? cause very soon it will be time to bring in for cold weather. and then my plants go sort of dormat. i dont get much lite and i always think they wont make come spring but that first warm day they come out of it. so how will this transition affect them? thank you for getting back to me. im going to do this tomorrow. ill get back on and let you know how it works and in meantime i ll wait an answer
Andrea,
You don’t have to separate the babies but you can. On the broken stalks it doesn’t matter how tall you leave them only that you cut the jagged break do that it is smooth. It is also important not to forget the misting process. I would go ahead and move them inside now. This will keep the transplant shock to a one time instead of a twice occurrence this fall. Try placing them in a room with as much light as possible. you can always supplement with your regular indoor lighting. Please let me know if you need anything else.