Dragon Tree 🐲
Scientific Name: Dracaena Marginata
⚠Toxicity⚠
The Dragon Tree is considered 💀TOXIC💀 to both cats and dogs
Symptoms of Dragon Tree ingestion include: vomiting (sometimes with blood), anorexia, hypersalivation, dilated pupils, depression, lack of grooming, increased aggression, lethargy and weakness, excessive sleeping and/or hiding.
It’s important to remember that any plant may cause vomiting and gastrointestinal upset in cats and dogs, and those with large leaves can be a choking hazard. If you believe that your pet is ill or may have ingested a poisonous substance contact either your local veterinarian or the APCC 24-hour emergency poison hotline at 1-888-426-4435
General Info
Widely known as Daenerys Targaryen’s favorite plant (probably), Dragon Trees are a common and easy-to-care for variety of dracaena, and are hardy, drought-tolerant things. They are hard to murder, help keep your air clean, and can be shaped through pruning, light training, weaving, and wire training. Cared for properly, these spiky beauties can grow up to 18 inches per year and reach heights of 10 to 15 feet!
❓ Let me know in the comments if you have any questions regarding the Dragon Tree or suggestions for plants you would like me to talk about in the future
Care Instructions
🔪How to Murder
Don’t give your Dragon enough water and its legs (trunk) will eventually start to shrivel with thirst. The tips of its wings (leaves) will droop and turn brown at the tips first and then begin to drop off. Now it’s just a sad lizard 🐉🔜🦎
Funny enough, you can also quickly kill the dragon by giving it too much water. I’m assuming it extinguishes the eternal flame within its heart or something like that 🧯💨🔥
Fluoride is great for our teeth, but dragons get pretty sad when you give it to them because they don’t like the government controlling their minds. If you see areas on the dragon that appear scorched or wings with yellow or brown edges, you are successfully making your dragon sad, great job 😿
🌍Soil
Dragon Trees prefer moist, airy soil that drains quickly. Use a fast-draining potting mix with peat moss and if desired, add some crushed charcoal, perlite, or vermiculite. If you prefer to make your own mix, try a blend of one part compost, or fine bark chips, one part perlite or vermiculite, and one part peat.
💦Water
Use room-temperature, filtered or “aged” water (water left in an open container for several days to remove chlorine) if possible. If you know your tap water has fluoride added, you may wish to consider using distilled or non-fluoridated water, as dracaena are sensitive to fluoride
Wait until the top one inch of soil is dry before watering, and empty the catch saucer under the plant after every watering to avoid root rot
If the plant appears particularly dry from a lack of humidity, you may mist it with a water bottle
💩Fertilizer
In spring and summer, feed a 20-20-20 liquid fertilizer every 2-3 weeks. You can use a slow-release fertilizer if desired. Fertilize once per month at most in the fall and winter, and water the plant before fertilizing to avoid burning the roots
🌞Environment
Place the plant in a bright area with sunlight that is indirect or filtered by a sheer curtain
Keep room temperature between 65-75°F (18-24°C) or higher
Dragon Trees can tolerate typical household humidity, but if the plant seems dry, you can mist its leaves occasionally
🌷Flowers
A blooming Dragon Tree is extremely rare indoors, but they can produce clusters of greenish-white flowers
👩🌾Re-potting
Dragon Trees do not need to be re-potted until they are very root-bound and showing signs of stress, however, since they grow very fast, they will probably need to be re-potted 1-2 times per year
Use a container that is 1 inch larger than the current one and has holes for drainage in the bottom
Pour an inch of well-draining potting mix into the new container
Gently hold the plant as close to the soil line as possible, turn the pot sideways, and slowly pull the plant out
If the large tap roots coil and cause the plant to rise out of its pot, you may wish to trim them down a bit with clean, sharp scissors, applying fungicide to the wounds afterwards
Put the plant in the new container and fill up the area around the plant, taking care not to change how high the soil line is on the plant and gently spreading the roots out
✂Pruning
When growing, it’s natural for the dragon tree’s bottom leaves to dry up and drop off
To keep the plant lower to the ground, you can simply cut off the top of the plant and a new crown of leaves will grow in its place. If you remove at least an inch of stem with the leaves, you can replant that as a separate tree, see the next section for details
🌱Propagation
Water the day before propagation to ensure proper hydration
Remove the crown of leaves and at least one inch of stem from the parent plant
Dip the end of the child plant’s stem in rooting hormone and plant it in your potting mix
You may cut the stem of the parent plant down if you wish it to grow lower to the ground
New growths should appear on the parent plant within a couple months and the process may be repeated if desired
Keep the soil moist but not soaking wet
