The dracaena lemon lime plant, native to Africa, is a very close relative of the dracaena warneki (green and white striped leaves) and the dracaena janet craig (solid green leaves). The dracaena lemon lime has 12”-24” long sword shaped leaves with bright green and yellow stripes. Like other dracaena plants, the leaves are arranged in a rosette and grow off a very thick stem. A dracaena lemon lime is very easy to care for and can easily reach a height of 5ft-7ft. indoors. It also makes a beautiful bush. Because of the bright colors in the leaves, the dracaena lemon lime needs a little more light than other dracaenas. It’s a great plant to brighten up any room in your house. Dracaena plants are considered to be poisonous to cats and dogs by the ASPCA. Read more about common houseplants that are poisonous in my book Don’t Feed Me to Your Cat: A Guide to Poisonous Houseplants.
Plant Care
Light
Although a Dracaena lemon lime Plant can adapt to low light, it does better in medium to indirect bright light. Too much direct bright light causes the color in the leaves to fade. Too little light and the new leaves are narrower than the older leaves.
Water
Allow the top 50% of the soil to dry out before watering. Dracaenas are very sensitive to chemicals in the water. If your household water contains a lot of fluorine or chlorine, allow it to sit out over night before using it. Never use water that has passed through a water softener, it is too salty.
Fertilizer
Dracaenas require very little fertilizer. Feed monthly in spring and summer with a balanced, liquid plant food diluted to 1/2 the recommended strength. the recommended strength. It’s not necessary to feed dracaenas in the fall or winter.
Temperature
Provide warm temperatures between 70°-75°F (21.1°-23.9°C).
Humidity
Dracaenas like high humidity but do well in basic household humidity.
Flowering
Although a dracaena lemon lime does bloom, it rarely flowers as a potted plant. White flowers may appear in summer if the plant gets bright indirect light but no direct sun.
Pests
Mealy bugs and spider mites are the houseplant pests to look out for. Keeping the leaves clean and dust free helps prevent pest problems.
Diseases
Fluoride toxicity causes long, tan to dark brown spots in the yellow stripes of dracaena lemon lime leaves. Fusarium leaf spot disease produces reddish/ tan spots with wide, yellow halos on the new leaves.
Soil
Use a fast-draining well-aerated loose soil. Dracaenas can even be grown in soil mixed with lava rock.
Pot Size
A Dracaena lemon lime likes to be root-bound in small pots. Re-pot to the next size pot when the roots have filled the existing pot.
Pruning
Cut brown leaf tips off with a wet scissors. Tall stalks with only a few leaves at the top, can be cut anywhere along the stalk. New growth appears below the cut area.
Propagation
A dracaena lemon llme is propagated by stem cuttings.
Clean Air Plant
NASA recommends dracaenas as good plants to clean the air of harmful chemicals.
Poisonous Plant Info
The ASPCA considers a dracaena lemon lime a poisonous plant to dogs and cats.
FAQ
You can save a cold damaged dracaena lemon lime. As long as the temperature was above 45° the roots should be fine; but you will have quite few black leaves to remove.
Leaves of a Dracaena Lemon Lime or Striped Dracaena plant get blotchy and have a reddish haze when they are being attacked by a houseplant pest called spider mites. Spray your dracaena plant with the green solution (recipe in the Glossary) every 10 days for a month.
Dark brown tips on the leaves of a Dracaena Lemon Lime can be a sign of over- watering, too much fluoride in the water, too much fertilizer, or severe under-watering.Allow the top 50% of the soil to dry out before watering, fertilize monthly in the spring and summer but never in the fall and winter, and use water that does not have fluoride or chlorine in it.