Ikea dracaena marginata (dragon tree) in weird soil

londonTiger

Really weird situation. The plant was stagnant for ages. So I finally decided to chage to a large pot. In the process decided to remove as much of the old soil as possible.

The soil broke off very easily - no roots to speak off. The only roots left were confined in a petri dish sized area - I'm assuming the plant was fast grown in a 1inch tall pot about 4 inches in diameter and then moved to a bigger pot for sale.

In addition the soil felt very inert, almost like hay with very little nutrients. The pot used to be very light as well.

I've used general garden compost - a lot denser both in weight and nutrient wise. I'm hoping it will help the plant grow.

Is the commonly done in cheap plant stores? Do they cheap out in basic commodities like compost? Is this the usual thing in gardening and are you supposed to replant it onto your own compost after buying?

balustrada

I believe that most commercially supplied houseplants are imported from mainland Europe after being grown under highly controlled optimum conditions. The substrate in which the plant's grown most likely doesn't contain the nutrients the plant requires to thrive as they are probably administered separately in order to bring the plant up to saleable size quickly.

I've been keeping houseplants for the past 30 years ( I have two ceiling-height Dracaena marginata) and the first thing I always do on acquiring a new plant is to repot it. These days I mostly use Levington Multipurpose compost mixed with Perlite to assist drainage and aeration. So yes, my advice is always to repot a new plant as soon as possible so that you know exactly what it's growing in.

londonTiger

Thanks for the reply. I had the plant for at least 6-8 months and it didn't grow much at all during that period.

Since repotting the plant looks to be growing again - the leaves appear longer and there are small leaves growing out from the top.

Probably a beginners mistake not to repot - but ikea (who sell plants to beginners) should put a note on the label asking buyers to repot.

mfmaybe

I rarely have luck with ikea plants and this might be why. I stupidly assume they arrive with soil to sustain them for a while at least.

Eenymeeny

mfmaybe wrote: »

I rarely have luck with ikea plants and this might be why. I stupidly assume they arrive with soil to sustain them for a while at least.

Aha! Now I know where I've been going wrong. Gave up on Ikea plants because they never lasted long. Thanks OP:)
(Must admit that they were impulse buys anyway, prefer to buy from proper plantsman who look after their stock)