Corn Plant

Question:

My plant is more than 12 ft. tall. It is getting too big for my house. It is blocking the hand rail, and we have three old people living at this home.

I would like to cut it in smaller pieces, and re-pot them to get it off of the stairs.  My husband has had this plant for over 30 years, and is afraid that if I cut it, it will die.

Please give me some idea what to do to save this plant from breaking or dying.

Answer:

It is quite easy to prune back your Dracaena and pruning it will not harm it in any way.

I suggest that you use sharp pruners to cut off the longest stem that is hanging over the stair rail. Cut off approximately 3 to 4 feet or however much you want to remove. New growth will emerge on that cut stem starting just below the pruning cut and grow slowly upward from there.

The top cutting can be shortened further to about two feet and rooted in its own small pot or simply inserted in the base of the existing pot so that you will have two stems in the pot and some growth at the base.