How often to water dragon tree

The interval

A dragon tree is watered about every 12 days in the growing season and about every 21 days in winter. Growing season means the warm, bright months from spring to early autumn, roughly March to September in the northern hemisphere and September to March in the southern. Winter is the cold, short-day part of your own year. The Missouri Botanical Garden asks for uniformly moist soil while it grows and less water from autumn to late winter, and the long winter gap follows the light.

Let the top half of the compost dry before you water, which in an ordinary pot is the top 5 cm. The Royal Horticultural Society gives the same test for dracaenas: water only once the top 5 cm feels dry to the touch, and always check before watering. Then lift the pot. A dragon tree in a pot that is light for its size is ready, and one that is heavy is not, whatever the calendar says.

Water from the top, slowly, until water runs from the drainage holes, and empty the saucer. Use rainwater or filtered water if you can, brought to room temperature. The RHS explains that hard tap water is alkaline and that fluoride in tap water can damage the foliage and turn the tips brown, and NC State Extension advises distilled or non-fluorinated water. Humidity is medium for this plant, and ordinary room air is enough.

Overwatering is the dangerous mistake. The RHS links wet compost that stays wet for too long with root rot, which shows first as a soft stem base and a plant that looks tired however much it drinks. Underwatering is slower and milder, with browning at the tips. The Missouri Botanical Garden notes that leaves brown if the soil is too moist or too dry.

What is particular to this plant is that it tolerates a dry spell far better than a wet pot. NC State Extension calls it drought tolerant and advises letting it dry between waterings, but not severely. A thick stem stores water, so a missed week costs it nothing, and that is the reason to hold back in winter rather than top up out of kindness.

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