Corn Plant
BOTANICAL SUPER POWERS
Low to Medium
The orientation of your window defines where to put your plant so it gets low to medium sunlight. If your window faces
North, place your plant between 0 and 2 ft away from it.
East or West, put it 2 to 10 ft away.
South, place it between 5 to 15 ft away, as sunlight from the South is the strongest.
Low Light Tolerant
This plant feels good even in dimly lit rooms.
Air Purifying
This plant cleans the air from toxins and VOCs like a pro.
Most notably removes: trichloroethylene, formaldehyde, benzene, xylene, ammonia.
O2 release at night
Unlike most plants, this one releases oxygen at night. Why not put a few of these in the bedroom?
Traveller-Friendly
Traveller-friendly plants are the ones which can tolerate occasional draughts.
If you travel and sometimes are away for 1-2 weeks you should look at traveller-friendly plants. These plants are resilient and if you miss 1-2 waterings they will be fine.
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Plant story
The Dracaenas (the corn plant) were mostly found in tropical Africa, and more recently in Southern Asia and have been used by people for a long time. The genus was nicknamed Dragon trees and their red sap called Dragon blood, namely because of Pliny the Elder, a Roman savant of the first century who believed the plant grew drawing from the blood that was left after legendary battles between an elephant and a basilisk. Dracaena comes from the Greek ‘drakaina,’ female dragon. Some say the genus got its name after Sir Francis Drake, a 16th-century English explorer who supposedly brought some of the specimens home to England.
The Corn plant gets its nickname from its resemblance to its upright growth and graceful leaves, similar to corn foliage. With its broad green leaves and a yellow stripe in the middle, Dracaena fragrans Massangeana is the most popular variety of Corn plants and accounts for most of the corn plant production.
Place of origin
Throughout tropical Africa, from Sudan south to Mozambique, west to Côte d'Ivoire and southwest to Angola
Dracaena
This plant comes in different varieties.
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Light
LOW TO MEDIUM
Check the direction of your window, then put your plant within the range suggested below.
Within any given range, aim to place the plant as close to the window as possible.
North:
EAST/WEST:
SOUTH:
DISLIKES
Direct sunlight
Water
LIGHT DRINKER
Check the moisture of the soil 1/week and water only when 2”+ of the topsoil is dry.
2'+ OF THE TOPSOIL IS DRY
DISLIKES
Chemicals in water
Sitting in water
Air
TROPICAL
Aim to provide the air conditions your plant would find in its natural habitat.
TEMPERATURE
18-27°C65-80°F
HUMIDITY
HIGH
Mist daily
Use humidifier
DISLIKES
Low humidity
Soil
HEAVY EATER
Use liquid fertilizer as indicated below from March to September.
FREQUENCY
monthly
NPK FORMULA
3-1-02
DISLIKES
Fertilizing in winter and fall months
Care for your Corn Plant like a pro!
Light
Corn Plant needs LOW TO MEDIUM.
To place your plant in the perfect spot, let’s start with understanding how much light it needs and how much light your place gets. To figure this out, you need to find the direction of your window and measure how far the plant is from it. First, using the compass or map on your phone, see what direction your window faces: North, East, West, or South. Here’s what you need to remember:
- South-facing windows make for the brightest spots, then East- and West-facing, and then North-facing.
- If the window is in between two directions, use the least sunny direction as a base.
- Each window has an optimal proximity range. Here’s where to put your Corn Plant, based on the direction of your window:
- within 2ft away from North window;
- between 2-10ft away from East or West window;
- between 5-15ft away from South window;
Within this range, the closer your plant is to the window, the more light photons it gets, and the better it thrives.
The Dislikes of Your Alocasia When It Comes To Light
Your
Corn Plant doesn’t like direct sun rays. They are harsh and can sunburn the plant’s sensitive foliage.
IMAGE DIRECT SUNLIGT
Note: This is a general guideline. Each place is unique, and you know yours best. Is the window view obstructed by the trees and a highrise? Is there a sheer curtain? If so, less light is coming in. Move your plant closer!
Still not sure if your Corn Plant will be thriving in the spot you picked?
Another simple way to define brightness levels is by measuring the intensity of the shadow. That’s particularly helpful if the view is somewhat obstructed and it’s hard to estimate how much light actually sneaks in. Place a sheet of paper on the spot where you’d like to grow a plant. Hold your hand about 1 foot (30cm) above the paper. Now, what do you see?
Corn Plant needs Low to Medium.
Water
Corn Plant is a LIGHT DRINKER.
Check your plant regularly, but only water it when it’s thirsty.
Every plant needs a period of drying for the oxygen to get to its roots. Overwatering damages your plant by preventing that process from happening. So how can you know how much water your
Corn Plant needs? The ideal watering frequency depends on the plant’s drinking habits and how fast the soil dries out in your unique indoor space, so it would be misleading to recommend a fixed schedule. To best meet your plant’s water needs, monitor it, and watch for the signs it’s thirsty.
Here’s how the how to:
Once a week before giving your plant a drink, check the moisture level in the pot by dipping your finger a couple of inches into the soil.
Light Drinkers need to be watered when 2’+ of the topsoil is dry.
The dislikes of Your Corn Plant When It Comes To Water
- Your Corn Plant doesn’t like it when its roots are left sitting in water. They would start to rot and that would irreversibly damage your plant.
What to do: Make sure you always discard the drenched water from the pot or saucer after watering.
- Corn Plant doesn’t like it when the soil dries out completely.
What to do: Make sure only the topsoil gets dry in between the waterings while deeper down the pot, the soil still retains some moisture. The plant’s roots need to stay in slightly moist (not wet) soil all the time.
Air
Corn Plant comes from a Tropical climate. Aim to provide the air conditions it would find in its natural habitat. At all times, maintain a comfortable room temperature of 65-80°F,18-27°C.
Corn Plant thrives in high humidity (40-50%) and it will feel best if you mist it daily or use a humidifier. However, it is adaptable and will also tolerate normal humidity(30-40%), so don’t sweat it (get it?).
The Dislikes of Your Corn Plant When It Comes to Air
- Corn Plant dislikes low humidity. When the air is bone-dry, the pores through which the plant breathes lose most of their moisture, and the plant can’t always counter that through the water that its roots absorb.
What to do:
Your plant will feel best if you mist it a few times a week or place it by a humidifier.
Soil
To provide your Corn Plant with the right nutrients, fertilize it from March to September.
It’s a HEAVY eater plant. As a rule of thumb, it should be fertilized once a month.
Liquid fertilizer with NPK formula 3-1-2 (Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium) works best for it.
Otherwise, you can use all-purpose indoor plant fertilizer.
Never fertilize your plant during the winter or fall months. It goes through winter dormancy and its appetite naturally slows down.
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