Dracaena Deremensis ‘Janet Craig’

Question:

I’ve had this plant for about 5 yrs, started out in a basket with like 6 other different plants & I separated them all. Transplanted it probably 3 times in the 5 yrs I’ve had it but have never know or could find what it was called! So therefore I can’t find out if I can separate it (because it seems like all the smaller ones are coming from the same root.), how often I should transplant, where I should put it, & everything else! Where the old leaves have fallen off its made like a bark all the way up to the new leaves. Just hasn’t grown much in the past couple of yrs. So thought it might be time to get it out of that pot! We live in southern Ohio if u think that would help anything about soil or light. If you could help me that’d be great! Thanks!

Answer:

I am on  a better computer and can now get a better look at your plant. It is a Dracaena deremensis ‘Janet Craig.’ It is not a Cordyline. Yours is badly overgrown so you are unlikely to find photos that look like yours, especially the leggy stems. However, you will see that the leaves are the same.

Pruning it back will not harm it.

The photo is not great quality, but your plant is either a Dracaena or a Cordyline. Both are close relatives and have the same care requirements.

The stems tend to grow long and leggy as they age. The solution is to cut back the leggy stems to about 6 inches. New growth will then slowly emerge from just below the pruning cut and grow upward from there. The top cuttings can be rooted in the same or a different pot after they have been shortened to a 3 inch stub below the lowest leaves.

In general these plants do best when kept tightly potted in small pots. They rarely require repotting. Provide moderately bright indirect light all day long and keep them no more than 6 feet from an uncovered window. Allow the top quarter of the soil to dry before watering thoroughly. .