Dracaena Song Of India

The Song of India plant is a species from the dracaena genus (dracaena reflexa) that has become a popular house plant that is an outdoor plant in some areas of the world.

This tree like plant is fairly easy to grow and maintain like others from this genus, although it does require high humidity levels.

Description

There are various cultivars of the dracaena reflexa that display different leaf variations, although the most popular you’ll see sold in garden stores is the yellow edged variegata type. They usually grow up to about 3ft tall indoors (which takes a fair few years) and have a bushy tree type of look about them.

Like other dracaenas, these are fairly easy to care for and grow and can withstand a certain amount of neglect, but not as much as other dracaena plants. The song of India does need it’s bright light and quite high humidity levels to thrive. The worst two things a grower can do is over water or allow the temperatures to drop very low.

How it looks: The leaves are the main attraction to this species – although it does flower (we’ll cover that shortly). These leaves are glossy that arch over and grow up to 1ft long and a couple of inches or so wide. Some of these seem to grow quite out of hand (especially outdoors) and start to look a bit ugly, which can be overcome with pruning and training it’s growth.

Flowering: As mentioned this species can flower and bloom clusters of near-white small flowers that are not very attractive or noticeable.

Removing toxins: The Song of India plant was used in the NASA’s (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) clean air study which proved to remove a considerable amount of toxins from the environment.

Note: Another similarity to other dracaenas is the bottom leaves will begin to turn yellow and fall, which is totally the norm. They are just shedding leaves to grow new ones, so don’t worry.

Facts

Caring For The Song Of India

Elyssa Goins

Elyssa Goins is an experienced house plant hobbyist who maintains over a hundred plants. She is a gardener, beekeeper, and a proud mother of four.  She is a member of the American Horticultural Society, has a published study in the National Social Science Association, and loves to talk about her love of plants.  For the past twenty years, she’s been all about growing and caring for various fruits, veggies, herbs, livestock, kids, and houseplants. Managing a big garden to feed four growing kids and raising dairy goats has taught her so much about being an excellent plant parent and now is her time to share with you.