Context
For anyone who doesn’t know, last week my Dracena plant got a fungal infection, and I made a post about it. In summary, the post said that I gave my Dracena plant a fungal infection due to overwatering and inadequate airflow. I’ve been nursing it and this post is going to be about my new care plan and how I fixed it. For anyone who doesn’t know a Dracena plant is a part of the Dracaena family. Photo of a Dracena plant below.
How I nursed my Dracena plant to health
My Dracena plant has recovered, but the recovery process was a little worrying. I first had to cut off all the infected leaves totaling about 6 leaves. However, the guide I used said if a leaf only had a little bit of rot that it did not need to be cut. That turned out to be bad advice and allowed the infection to spread further. This led to me cutting off all of the infected leaves no matter the amount of rot. Anyways, after that whole ordeal I learned that watering with distilled water would be better than using my hard city water, especially due to the infection. I also bought a little usb fan for it to improve airflow. In the meantime of waiting for shipping, I’m just pointing my box fan at it.
By day 5 of the infection there were nearly no signs of infection and I could see new growth on the leaves I cut. This fungal infection has taught me a lot about how to treat my plant better. I’ve attached a photo of the new growth below.
New Dracena plant care plan
I plan on watering it with distilled water every time the soil dries out. Watering only until a couple of drops come out through the drainage hole. However, can’t leave my window fully open due to bats flying in, so I’m just leaving it open about an inch and pointing a fan at the plant 24/7. One problem still remains in that I don’t really know how I’m going to give my plant fresh air during the summer, but I’ll probably figure something out.
What I’ve learned from this
- Neutralize infections early no matter how small
- Watering with distilled water is better for plant health than hard tap water
- Overwatering is very harmful to plants