Library Plant

Hello,

One library plant has not thrived, in fact it has lost a third of itself. I am not sure what it is called. It could be the pony tail plant or red-margined dracaena. Because it does not have a swollen stem base I consider it not a good possibility for the pony tail plant. However that base stores water and this plant has been frequently over watered. Once I had to take it out and let it sit outside to drain off after I had dumped water out of the base. I am not sure how it got so much water, but I would suspect people were dumping their water bottles in there when they did not want to drink all of the water.

My boss said, “That plant needs to go in the garbage.”

“I could take it home and compost it,” I volunteered.

She rolled her eyes a little at me and repeated, “In the compost?”

She knows me too well. That plant is still in my house languishing in a corner.

I wonder about cutting the stem and starting a new one as well as repotting it. I have not found information that tells me it would be ok to cut the stem and re-root. I will repot when the weather is better and I can tend to the mess outside. Most of the plants that come to my house live a much longer life and some even look much better. There are two plants at the library that I did cut off stems and they now look great. One is so perfect that several people wondered if it were fake. The plant hospital is open, but not for violets. My parent violet is struggling to survive. The two violet shoots look as if they might make it, but I am not betting on them yet.

Paula