I have posted a photo of this plant in another thread but will post again here with my question. The stems on the bottom get kind of soft and end up bending over from the weight of the leaf so I am constantly cutting off the bottom leaves. I think it is typical of the plant to lose the bottom leaves as new ones grow at the top but is it typical for the stems to become soft and curl downward? Breaks my heart to hack off leaves that are not even dying. I believe I will eventually end up with an 8 ft stem with all the leaves only at the top but perhaps this is normal? Dumb Cane ( photo / image / picture from carolo43's Garden )
You should not have to remove perfectly good leaves, It may be that your plant is too cold or that it is subject to cold drafts, say from a door opening and closing. This would cause the leaf stems to soften. Also, a word of caution, the sap is poisonous, care should be exorcised when handling leaf stems. Jerry
Thanks for quick reply, Jerry. My plant sits in a back bedroom and gets no draft plus I have a very warm apartment. But it does sit right next to a warm air register so now I have to wonder if even that could be a reason? I will stop cutting off those leaves, tho, and just let it go "el naturale'. I was cutting them off because as the stem droops, it gets a bend in the stem so I assumed it would just die anyway. This plant probably would have been a monster had I not been hacking at it all this time so thank you!
I grew this plant for a number of years in my sitting room,..its a pretty hardy plant,..but tends to get leggy as time passes,..and so you end up with leaves on the top area and the remainder becomes "cane",..i always has a pillar in the container to allow the plant to climb and grip,..allow the soil to go almost dry,..then water heavily,..this will make the stem stronger,..i had a problem in that it was top heavy with leaves,..while the lower end was just cane,..but nipping the tip does help to prevent it going leggy,..new plants can be grown from the cut tip. As Jerry warned,..don't allow sap from this plant in your mouth,..your tongue will swell,..you will have no voice for a spell,..and could choke,..(a great gift to someone you like),lol.
