If winters were only a bit warmer, the houseplant known as candy
stripe dracaena could grow in the garden to be 5 feet wide and
twice as tall. Locally though, it rarely gets even half that
large.
If winters were only a bit warmer, the houseplant known as candy stripe dracaena could grow in the garden to be 5 feet wide and twice as tall. Locally though, it rarely gets even half that large. Covered patios and lanais are as close as it can get to the outside.
Candy stripe dracaena – botanical name Dracaena marginata – are not very demanding, but they do require good drainage. Because these houseplants are generally grown in pots, they should not be watered until the surface of the soil is somewhat dry. If the soil is constantly moist at the surface, it is probably saturated at the bottom of the pot.
The foot-long, half-inch wide deep-green leaves have narrow burgundy-red “candy stripe” margins. The “tricolor” or “candy cane” varieties have an additional yellow stripe. With plenty of sunlight, leaves will be shorter, wider and on stouter stems. With more shade, leaves will be longer, narrower and more limber, and on lanky stems.
Foliage is arranged in terminal tufts on top of the smooth gray stems. Two or more tufts can appear where stems that grow too tall get cut back below their foliage. Stem tips that get pruned away can be rooted in a light medium such as fluffy compost.
If stems do not need to be cut back right away, they are easier to root by “air layering” while still attached to the original plant. Cut a notch about one-third of the way through the stem. Then place a big handful of moist sphagnum or light compost around the notch, and wrap firmly with plastic to hold it in place. The top and bottom of the wrap should be tie-closed with plastic (nursery) tape or string. Roots usually begin to form in about a month.
Tony Tomeo is a consulting horticulturist and arborist for New Image Landscape of Fremont. His weekly radio broadcast, “New Image Garden Report,” can be heard at 8:10am on Friday mornings on KSCO, 1080 AM of Santa Cruz. Tony can be reached at (888) 226-9191 or tt****@***************pe.com.
