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Home › Forums › Houseplants › Houseplant Forum › dieffenbachia (dumb cane)
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Hi — adopted somebody’s dying dieffenbachia, peeled off the dead/dying leaves and cut out a bunch of dead/dying stalks. It has several left, each with about one foot of naked stalk topped with healthy leaves. It’s in a 12-inch plastic pot.
Learned it likes it a little dry and light but no direct sun. Now that it’s been situated for a few weeks, it’s suddenly started to bloom prolifically. I’m hoping that’s a good sign, not a stressed out sign, but I read they rarely bloom and usually die after blooming. The first stalk to bloom is still alive — anything I can do to help it pull through?
I haven’t fertilized it for fear of choosing the wrong kind and sending it downhill. Still losing a few leaves a week as they turn yellow, so I’m not sure if that’s a lack of water or overwatering (about 12 oz/week).
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Welcome! I’m Margaret Roach, a leading garden writer for 25 years—at ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ ‘Newsday,’ and in three books. I host a public-radio podcast; I also lecture, plus hold tours at my 2.3-acre Hudson Valley (NY) Zone 5B garden, and always say no to chemicals and yes to great plants.
