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I have a plant that I don not know what it is. I want to identify it, because I think it is getting ill and I want to know how to properly care for it. The plant was bought in a store about a two years ago. I added some pictures of the plant and I hope it will be enough.

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user6694745
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  • similar question to http://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/9901/what-is-this-houseplant-and-why-has-it-been-dropping-leaves/9904#9904 – kevinskio Aug 13 '16 at 18:32

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Dracaena marginata tricolor. This cultivar requires much higher light than the species which has green leaves with red edges. It also requires a light hand with the watering and vigilance for spider mites which can weaken it.

Best cultivation practices:

  • high light
  • free draining soil
  • pots on the smaller side to keep the root ball compact
  • go easy on the watering. This plant is commonly killed by root rot from too much water
kevinskio
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  • I've never seen D marginata tricolor with white stripes near the edges, they're pink, yellow and green, not white - which is why I didn't name the variety... – Bamboo Aug 13 '16 at 18:50
  • @Kevinsky I was looking for some pictures of Dracaena Marginata on the web and found some similar to mine. If nothing better comes along I will accept and upvote your answer. Thank you. – user6694745 Aug 14 '16 at 14:57
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It looks like a Dracaena of some variety, not sure which though. I would say the pot its in might be too small for a plant that size (hard to be sure because the pot's obscured by the outer container) and if you haven't potted up into something larger for the last two years, it's time that was done. You might turn the plant out of its pot to check whether its rootbound, but otherwise, its not looking bad at all, apart from some dry ends to leaves which might mean underwatering or insufficient root room in its pot.

One other thing though - I note the outer container (which won't have drainage) the pot is sitting in. That will be too small once you've repotted, but remember that any outer container (pot or tray) should be emptied out 30 minutes after watering so that the plant is not left sitting in water.

Bamboo
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  • Thank you. I repotted it about 3 months ago. Fresh soil. The reason I wanted to identify the plant is that there i something wrong with it. Little outgrowth at the bottom is dying out. Almost all the leaves have fallen off and it is sagging. My suspicion is that it was over watered and little outgrowth roots are rotting. Besides, the plant was for about 5 days in a darker place due to house work. I could not post more pictures so I will make another question about treatment. – user6694745 Aug 13 '16 at 18:22
  • What's odd is the white stripe on the leaves - it looks like Dracaena marginata, but even 'tricolor' doesn't have white stripes - it has pink yellow and green coloration,so the stripes down the outside are pink, I know, I have one of my own. Maybe you have some fancy new variety of D.marginata – Bamboo Aug 13 '16 at 18:46