Question
I have an indoor dracaena, 50" tall, in a plastic pot, 11" diameter, 12" tall.  For aesthetic reasons, I need to transfer to a cereamic pot,already purchased, 22" tall, 11" wide.  The pot tapers to 7" wide at the bottom. I purchased the dracaena from a reputable wholesale nursery 1 week ago. So far it is happy, in indirect light, near a large patio glass door.  There are 5 stems, 4 of them about 1" diameter, 1 about 5/8" d.  There is new growth at the base.  I read that repotting a dracaena should inlcude 1 part drainage material plus 2 parts potting soil.  Should I avoid large rocks or pot shards at the bottom?  Is there something I should do to avoid stunting the growth from a transfer to a much larger pot?  How much water should I give it?  Right now it gets about 1 cup of city water per day. Is that enough?  Will it need more in a bigger pot, or the same? Thanks for your help!

Answer
Jenny,

I am confused, the pot is the same diameter but but twice as tall? The new pot must have a drain hole in the bottom and a drain tray under it. If it does not have a drain tray you must keep it in the plastic pot and set it inside the ceramic pot or you will overwater it at some point and kill the plant. Your lighting sounds fine. You should always give it enough water that all the soil in the pot gets moist and you should never allow any water to sit in the drain tray. Then you should not water it again until the soil has seemed totally dry to you for at least 3 days. It should absolutly not be planted in a pot that is more than 20% larger than the pot it is in currently. In other words if it is in an 11 inch pot it should not go in a pot with a diameter more than 13 inches. In a bigger pot it would need more water and that wouldbe impossible for the plant to use up before the roots begin to rot.

For potting soil you should use 2 parts standard potting soil mixed with 1 part perlite to improve the drainage of the soil. Good luck.

Darlene