A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum corn plant help

ok my boyfriend fell in love with this beautiful cornplant,so of caorse we bought it,we have had it almost 6 months,and well it's not so pretty anymore,
i don't know if i should repot it,um water it more,just give up on it,,but the ends are turning all brown

Don't repot it...you'll stress it out more. You have to much salts or fluoride in your water...you might need to use distilled water to water it instead, that is usually the cause for brown edges. Don't over water either, once or twice a week should be fine.

ok i will try botteled water,but what do i do about the browning leaves should i cut them off,what about lighting,i gave to over head plant growing lights,because i live down stairs in a finished basement with minamal sun light

should i never repot it,it has been in the same pot since i got it,its pretty big,but i will try the bottled water,what should i do with the browning leaves,should i cut them off,,and how much light does it nee, i live down stairs in a finished basement with very lil real sun light,i have to grow lights,but maybe thats two much,,


thank you for your help

I believe that's draecena marginata you're talking about, let me try a search on that or corn plant in the help section...draecena (if I've spelled that right) needs moderate light, if it's done okay so far under the grow lights it's probably adequate. My first thought was overwatering, Draecena should not be overwatered, so somewhat dry soil is ideal, but tamara has a good point about salts from the water...you could also be getting too much fertilizer if you have fertilized at all.
It would not hurt to gently pull at the plant to see if the roots have completely grown through the soil, when it's somewhat dry, the entire rootball will come free from the pot if it's rootbound, or just look at the drainage holes and see if there are significant roots coming through, that could indicate a need to repot or simply root prune. In my opinion, unless the browning is significant, the plant is not so overly stressed that it could not be rootpruned and/or repotted, plants you purchase are often at the verge of being rootbound. Draecenas can tolerate this better than some plants, though.
Let me try the search function to see what it might offer other than that.