Yeah, I water mine in the shower, which seems to work well enough to keep my tips and margins healthy. One thing to be kind of careful about -- if water that's especially hard or heavy in fertilizer gets into the growing tip of plants like Dracaena and Cordyline, sometimes -- not always, but sometimes -- it will kill the growing tip. The plant will grow a new one most of the time, usually fairly quickly, but it'll leave a dead space where there are no leaves. You can: 1) just try not to spray the top of the plant, 2) spray the top but shake the water out of the growing tip before putting it back, 3) spray the top but stick a paper towel in the top to suck out the water before putting the plant up, 4) spray the top and take your chances, or 5) modify your shower so it only sprays distilled or reverse-osmosis water. (I personally do a combination of #2 and #4. #5 is extremely impractical and is meant as a joke.) I've seen it happen with D. fragrans 'Massangeana,' D. deremensis 'Warneckei,' and D. deremensis 'Art,' but so far only those three. Aside from that one thing to watch out for, shower-watering has worked fine for me. And it keeps them dusted.

Adding a layer of rocks, gravel, packing peanuts, other, doesn't reduce or impede drainage, and it doesn't improve it. The soil still retains it's drainage characteristics regardless of whether there is a "drainage layer". If you have a soil that supports 3" of saturated soil (perched water) at the bottom of a container, it will always support that much water - no matter the shape or depth of the container. If you put 3" of gravel or stones - even 12" of "drainage" material under it, the soil will still support the same 3" of perched water. All you will have done: You've reduced the amount of soil in the container and raised the level of perched water so it now sets atop your drainage layer. IF you have a soil that supports a 3" perched water table in a 6" deep pot, and are using a 3" "drainage layer" the soil will be 100% saturated immediately after proper watering. From this, you can see that "drainage layers" are counter-productive unless your only intent is to reduce the total volume of soil in the container (and there are better ways to achieve this) or the soil particles are large enough that they support no perched water, in which case no drainage layer is needed. A 3" layer of saturated soil located several inches above the bottom of the container would be just as detrimental to root health/function as one located at the bottom. Al

Thanks for all the advice! I'm a college age male who recently bought a Dracaena Massangeana for my dorm room next year. Having killed every plant I've tried to take care of, I was understandably nervous. In researching how to take care of it, I compiled a short care guide, which I will post below. I hope noone minds that I have copied some small snippets from this thread into the 'guide'. Feedback or corrections would be greatly appreciated. Also, I currently have the plant in the plastic container it came in, and am wondering what type of pot would be best to put it in. Thanks! CORN PLANT (dracaena massangeana) MAINTENANCE: WATERING: water every 7-10 days. Water when soil is dry to touch one inch down into soil. 1. Add water slowly to the pot so that it soaks into the soil. 2. Keep doing this until all the soil is moist and a little water comes out at the bottom. 3. Leave the plant alone until you can tell the soil is a little dry when you stick your finger an inch or so into it. 4. Repeat #1. It is important to wait until soil is dry in between waterings or it is possible to overwater; this is often indicated by the leaves beginning to drop or yellow. When you are watching for the water to come out of the bottom of the pot to show that all the soil is moist, be sure that it is not running down a space between the soil and the pot. If so, water a little, then wait for the soil to swell back to fill the pot. Brown spots on the leaves are caused by fluoride in the water. Make sure you water it with water that has no chlorine or flouride. If that is impossible leave the water you use sit in an open bucket for 3 days before using it and the chlorine and fluoride will dissipate and not hurt your plants. Also never leave the plants to sit with water in their drain trays for more than 2 hours after watering them. They do not like swamps. SUNLIGHT: They require low sunlight, making them perfect for corners and hallways. Though corn plants can adapt to low light, they do best in medium sun. Anything above dark works just fine. Don't waste a front and center window spot on this one. PESTS: If the corn plant becomes infected with bugs or mites, spraying a soapy mixture of water and dish soap over the plant should take care of the problem. SOIL: re-fertilize every second month. PROPAGATING (by 'Air-Layering'): http://www.extension.umn.edu/projects/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/h100airlayer.html ROOTBOUND (Def.): A rootbound condition occurs with very healthy plants that are growing vigorously and their root systems get so large compared to the soil in the pot that the soil dries out and needs water every couple of days. If a plant is in a small pot, the roots can get bound up in a ball and prevent the plant from reaching its true potential. Then, and only then, should a plant be moved to a larger pot.As plants grow tall, their roots get long as well. Transferring a root-bound plant to a new pot will bring new life and growth to your houseplants. - http://www.ehow.com/how_2038234_transfer-rootbound-plant-new-pot.html PLANT FOOD: plant food is not medicine and should be used only with healthy, vigorously growing plants. STRUCTURE - KEEPING UPRIGHT: You don't need the cardboard or anything else to hold it up. Just pack some more soil in there, and use your hands to pack it very tightly around the canes to hold them straight. They do tend to get top-heavy, so you will have to repack again from time to time. If you can put the thing inside a ceramic pot, the weight will help keep it from falling over.

Dracaena fragrans massangeana has a VERY aromatic flower. I'm kind of surprised it hasn't flowered sometime in the 10 years you've had it. Yes the tip that produces the flower will die off after the process. Just that single tip not the whole plant. That's why you're seeing the decline. Most of the canes have multiple tips/heads. Hope this helps.