Well, I have a nice corn plant(Dracaena fragrans 'Massangeana') which showed very nice growth after I placed it but now it seems to constantly generate flowers rather than new vegetative growth. The flowers are interesting...I guess...but I'm more interested in new leaf growth. Is there something that I can do to encourage leaf growth and end the flowering. Once a head of leaves sends out a flower, it stops growing leaves and this is part of the problem. Thanks.
I would think if you pinch off the flower buds it would start the leaf growth cycle again. {{{whoa! Just as I answered I see you're in Westchester. I grew up in Westchester}}}
Well...Pinching off the flowers, even before they open, doesn't seem to do the trick. And, once a flower "stalk" had grown from the center, no new leaves generate from there whether the flower stalk is cut off before opening up or if the flower is permitted to run its course and die. So, I think that there's something else that must be what I need to do. Funny, wrennie...I'm in Westchester but I always spent a few weeks in the Catskills every summer when I was a kid.
Hi Avi ~ I have much the same "problem" with my plant. I don't know if there may be another, preferable answer for you, but what I have decided to do, is to lop off the entire top of my plant, :twisted: so that it will branch out and send up several totally new growth points. It will mean a short term "ugly bare stick" phase, :-? but I think it will be a better plant in the long run.
Wow, zuzu, that seems pretty drastic...right now, anyway. The plant looks so good that I hope there's another measure that can be taken before I would resort to that. Can you tell me what kind of conditions your corn plant is in? Mine's a bright corner of the house where there are two nice-sized windows making up the corner, so the plant gets a good deal of light.
Drastic?? Moi? Yeah, I think you're probably right to let your plant just do it's thing, Avi. Mine isn't looking all that lovely just now, and is in need of a stern lesson! :twisted: Mu-a-haha "Off with her head!" I'd guess that your plant will resume it's normal growth habits, in time. Perhaps an abundance of light or fertilizer has caused this response? I really do think that was the case here. My plant spent the summer outside, 8) and hence, got more of both than it ever would have, had I left it indoors.
I have a huge corn plant that bloomed once, and I have been hoping it blooms again. However, it's been years, and it has never bloomed since. What's the trick to making it bloom? I see yours blooms all the time... I'm jealous.
It's been almost a year since my corn plant flowered. I was really surprised at the vigor of the flowering. The flower "bracts" (clusters of flowers) were quite large and the flowering went on...or, at least, they lasted for six or seven weeks. The fragrance of the flowers was just terrific and I have to say that although I didn't appreciate the complete halt to leaf growth, I enjoyed the fragrance from the flowers, which filled the ground floor of our house for weeks and weeks. Anyway, the flowering did, of course, eventually end and I cut the stems of the flowers off the plant. It seemed to remain dormant for a few months and then new vegetative shoots appeared at about the same places where the flowers had been and now the plants growth has resumed. There have been no signs of flowers this time of year, so far. If I had to guess, I'd say that it's aspect which affords the plant good light and a good watering regime would help foster flowering. The plant's so tall now that the new gtowth on top of the plant is above the window-line so I'm not sure if that would prevent flowering again.
I'm not sure what type of plant this is, but it sounds so interesting. I would like to have one. Where do you find them?
They're very widely available. I got mine at Home Depot, in fact. If you buy any plant there, just make sure that it's leaves are in good condition. The common name is "Corn Plant" (Dracaena fragrans 'Massangeana' is the scientific name) and you can ask for it at any nursery that sells house plants. They'd know exactly what we're referring to here.
Okay...since my last post which wasn't long ago...I just took a look at the corn plant I've been referring to and I see that a new flower is, indeed, blooming. Here's what it looks like right now:
Avi, How old is your corn plant? I have one that is about 6 years old, and it has never bloomed. I have to admit I don't pay much attention to it, it is sort of in a corner, and gets little TLC. It also got really tall, and kind of top heavy so i had to stake it so the stem wouldn't "swat" or even break. I wonder what i could do to make it happier? the bloom is quite cool!
This one's now about seven feet tall and doesn't need anything to support it. By now, it's about six or seven years old. It is very strong and the last time it flowered, three "branches" (I don't know what else to call them) had flowers on them. So far I only see the one that's in the photo, but I suspect there will soon be more. By the way, this is the very beginning of the flowering that you see in the photo. It continues to grow and branch out...I'll post more photos as it continues to bloom. This corn plant is in a corner with two perpendicular windows facing south so it gets good sun exposure. I think that it's very important to have it an amply-sized pot so that the roots have soil to grow in rather than be at all pot-bound and grow around and around the inside wall of the flower pot it's planted in. Also, while I don't believe it needs constant moisture (we have central air-conditioning and electric heat so it's fairly dry) it does need to be watered regularly, I think, to flower. I actually have another beautiful corn plant that's gotten huge with very dark and robust, lush leaves but it hasn't yet flowered. It gets sligtly less sunlight so I don't know if that's why it hasn't flowered. But, I can see that it does, like the other one, benefit from being watered regularly. By that, I mean I water it every 7-10 days but only to the point that I can see a very little bit of water come through the pot into the pot-tray beneath it. That way I know there's just enough water for it to use up before I water again. If you can, try to duplicate what I've done and I'd think you'd get some flowering. Once you've smelled the aroma of the flowers I think you will look forward to it.
I had no idea that corn plants flowered... and what a pretty flower it is too! And they get that large? Wow!
