{"product_id":"janet-craig-dracaena-dracaena-deremensis-janet-craig","title":"Janet Craig Dracaena - Dracaena deremensis Janet Craig","description":"\u003cp\u003eWith no stripe or coloured edge to lose, Janet Craig looks much the same in a dim office as it does beside a window, and that plainness is why it is chosen. Glossy, deep green, strap shaped leaves arch out all along an upright cane, so the plant looks full and leafy from the pot up. It suits a reception area, a meeting room or a lounge room wall that never sees sun.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBotanically it has moved. The deremensis group is now included in Dracaena fragrans, the same species as the corn plant, although the trade still sells it under the older name. In the house it behaves differently from its striped relatives, mainly because it puts up with far less light.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBuilt for low light, not for no light\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is one of the few indoor plants that holds its condition several metres back from a window or under office lighting, which is why it turns up in so many foyers and workplaces. Low light is not darkness, though. In a windowless room it survives rather than grows, putting out fewer and smaller leaves each year. Bright, indirect light gives the glossiest growth. Direct sun is the thing to avoid: behind a west or north facing window the dark leaves scorch in pale, bleached patches within a few hot afternoons. Outdoors it belongs only in a frost free, shaded courtyard or verandah in the subtropics.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhat goes wrong, and how to fix it\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlmost every failure starts in the pot. In low light the plant uses very little water, so a routine set for a sunny room drowns it. Push a finger into the mix and water only when it is dry to the second knuckle, less often again in winter, and never leave it standing in a saucer or in a decorative cover pot full of runoff. Root rot shows first in the oldest leaves, which yellow and droop, and then in a cane that gives under your thumb just above the mix.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBrown tips and margins are the other common complaint. Janet Craig is sensitive to fluoride and to the salts fertiliser leaves behind, so use tank water where you have it, avoid potting mixes heavy in perlite, and feed sparingly, with a half strength liquid fertiliser a few times over the warm months. Trim brown tips with clean scissors, following the natural point of the leaf. Dust shows badly on dark gloss, so a damp cloth every few weeks keeps it looking cared for and lets the leaves use what light they get. Mealybug in the leaf bases and spider mite in dry, heated rooms are the pests to watch for. Chewed leaves make cats and dogs ill, with vomiting and drooling the usual signs, so with pets in the house give it a room they are kept out of.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eJanet Craig or a corn plant?\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf the room has decent light and you want colour, the \u003ca href=\"\/products\/corn-plant-dracaena-fragrans-massangeana\"\u003eCorn Plant\u003c\/a\u003e gives you the broad lime stripe on taller canes. For a near black leaf in a brighter spot, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/dracaena-black-knight\"\u003eDracaena Black Knight\u003c\/a\u003e is the darker alternative. Janet Craig is the one for the dim room, and for anyone who wants an indoor plant that looks the same in a year as it does today. For an office fit out that needs several plants with the same tolerance of low light and neglect, mix it with other shapes from \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/low-maintenance\"\u003eLow Maintenance Plants\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 2 sizes, from 300mm up to 400mm, priced from $189.00 to $349.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Every size here is established stock rather than a starter plant, so this line is intended for immediate effect rather than for growing on. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/low-water-gardens-australia\"\u003elow water gardens\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"300mm","offer_id":67671095148913,"sku":null,"price":189.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"400mm","offer_id":67671095443825,"sku":null,"price":349.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/janet-craig-dracaena-dracaena-deremensis-janet-craig.jpg?v=1791518811","url":"https:\/\/plantdrop.com.au\/products\/janet-craig-dracaena-dracaena-deremensis-janet-craig","provider":"Plant Drop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}