A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum Dracaenia (spikes)

I had them in my outdoor flower barrels all summer and it was such a shame to leave them to freeze, so I dug them out and potted them for the indoors. Any one know if they will survive after being outside all this time. Too, I hope they don't go through a change of light shock because I don't have much light in my house.

They should survive...even if some of the leaves start to fall off they should still be okay, then next year when you put them out you could always cut them back lower and they'll spread out so instead of one spike coming up it'll go into 3......

I keep mine as houseplants and all summer they go outside in the sun, brought them back in a few weeks back and they're just fine.

You can definitely keep them year from year. I know a lady down the street who brings them in every fall and bring them out every spring

I guess I should go pot mine up, and bring them in, huh??
they are still out in a large pot on my porch, alive and well. :wink:

Oh, you can definitely bring them in!
I've had mine in the same pots for 5 years (because I just can't bear to throw anything living away. Ugh!) and they are now something really spectacular to look at. 3 and a half feet tall and ridiculously full and bushy.
They are one of the easiest plants I have. Toteing them in and out doesn't faze them one bit.
What's interesting is that people have no idea what they are when they see them since they are used to only seeing them when they're babies as most people just chuck them or let them die at the end of the season.
Sad, really, when they grow into something so spectacular.

alrighty then--dig them up I will !!!
--and transplant them I will.

Thanks for your advice.

I've never thought of them as an outdoor plant really. I've always treated them as houseplants. So every time I go to Lowe's in the spring and see "spikes" for sale out with the annuals it always seems weird to me. Like, why is their houseplants out here for sale with the annuals.

well see, I put on in the middle of my big pot of annuals I have on the front porch every year. I would like to keept them and not have the expence if possible.--I may try to save these then, if I can safely dig them up.

loz, i get a lot of "cheap" houseplants in the spring by cruising the annuals at lowe's and home depot. i'd rather pay $1.29 for a small annual than $3 for a small houseplant when they are the same thing, just a 3" pot instead of a 4"


carol, you can repot them easily. they are very forgiving plants.

So far so good, just a couple of blades are turning yellowish. Anyone know if the soil should be towards the moist or dry side?
Hopeing they will survive. I had also potted some parsley and left it outside, I forgot about it and later had to dig my pot out of the snow... burrrrr....I brought the pot in and it looked fine for about a week and yesterday I seen that half of it is wilting away. Oh well...you win some, you lose some..

I don't know what the actual rules are but I tended to let mine dry out a bit between waterings (while outside) and they grfew beautifully.



Now the bad news: we had a beautiful day today ----high 50's----so I decided to go get my spikes. well the pone you would recognize as a Dracaenia was frozen. the grassy looking ones were alive and well, so I found a clean pot, put rocks & pot shards in the bottom for drainage & proceeded to the front porch to transplant them, so I could bring them in.


BUT they were full of mealy bugs---so I guess I will let it all freeze out--and then replace all of the dirt in the large pot next spring.....

Thanks I will let it dry out a bit... sorry to hear about yours, you are right, don't bring them in or you could infest all of your indoor plants. Maybe next years...hugs..

Thanks and good luck to you as well.