BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Houseplants can I revive our corn plant?

We have what I think is (was?) a dracaena (Corn Plant) in our office lobby. The tops became so heavy that each of the three stalks have broken off. We now have a three-pronged hat rack... Is there any hope of reviving this plant, or is it destined for the dumpster?

sunteasipper, Just want to welcome you to the forum, We hope that you will enjoy your stay. And i hope someone will come along with an answer to your question
Rosie

I have dealt with this before. I have one that grew so tall it bent over. Here's what I did. Cut the stalk about halfway up then put it in a deep vase or a tall bucket of water to let it root. BUT you already cut it, right? did you save the upper stalks? If not then just recut the remaining stalks down to almost ground level. Leave about 6 inches of stalk IN the dirt. You can now reroot the parts you just cut. The remaining part in the dirt will sprout new stalks but it takes a very long time so you have to be patient. IF it doesn't sprout within let's say 4 or 5 months then it probably won't but I think it will.

Once the stalks you put in water root you can pot them.

I think I still have a pic of mine before I cut it. I wanted to save this particular plant becasue she is female and blooms the most beautiful spike of blossoms that fill my house with the most delicious scent, but only at night for a few months. Let me go look and see if I still have that pic and I will take a pic of the stalk, the top part I rerooted, so you can see how it's doing. It's doing fine actually.

I'll be back with the pics in a bit.

Here it is in bloom just before I cut it:



Here it is today, about a year and a half after:



When it is just beginning to grow new leaves, when you water it not only water the dirt, pour water also in the little cup at the top where the new leaves are forming.

Thanks for the welcome! I hope to learn a lot! T

Wow! Great pics. I will try your recommendation for reviving our 'hat-rack'. Since the top parts were indeed tossed, I will put the stalk into a tall vase. Keep your green thumbs crossed for me!

The tops would have been the part to reroot and have a nice looking plant sooner but the roots are already there with your existing HatRack. Just cut down the stalks, as I suggessted, to about 6 inches tall. Then you'll get a more balanced looking plant. Hopefully you'll get lots of new shoots.

Good Luck.

I adopted a corn plant when I moved into my apartment. When I got it, there were just three of the stalks and a few leaves growing out of the sides. Now, its growing like gangbusters! I don't see the little cups referred to earlier, but I know I can look forward to them!

Hey everybody! I just saw the beginnings of new leaves forming in the soil of the Cornplant I feared was dead!! yippee!! Now my project is an overgrown, gangley Rubber Plant. Is there a preferred way to prune this plant without traumatizing it? It has about 2-3 feet of bare stem between the soil and the leaves at the top of the plant. Where shall I cut it? Sunteasipper

[quote=sunteasipper]Hey everybody! I just saw the beginnings of new leaves forming in the soil of the Cornplant I feared was dead!! yippee!! Now my project is an overgrown, gangley Rubber Plant. Is there a preferred way to prune this plant without traumatizing it? It has about 2-3 feet of bare stem between the soil and the leaves at the top of the plant. Where shall I cut it? Sunteasipper [/quote]