How to Grow Dragon Tail Plant

Dragon tail's lovely lush dark green leaves makes it a popular choice for growing indoors. Position in medium to bright lightly lit room, out of direct sunlight. It will tolerate more dimly lit rooms, but growth will be slower and more sparse. 

Depending on the size of the plant, use a well-drained pot around 20 - 30 cm in diameter, and part fill with a premium potting mix like Yates Specialty Potting Mix Plants & Ferns.

Remove the plant from the container, gently tease the roots and cut away any circled or tangled roots. 

Place the plant in the pot and gently backfill around the plant's root ball with potting mix and then water well. Your dragon tail should be able to grow happily in this pot for 1 - 2 years.

To train your dragon tail to climb (instead of crawling across the pot) give it a totem made out of sphagnum moss or coconut fibre – you can either make one or purchase these from most nurseries. Stake the totem behind the plant and train the stem(s) to grow up the pole by securing with string or old hosiery. It will eventually grow roots into the totem, especially if the totem is regularly misted or watered.

Keep the potting mix just moist, allowing the top 3 - 5 cm of potting mix to dry out in between waterings. Watering can be reduced during the cooler months. During hot dry weather, mist the leaves occasionally or group with other indoor plants to increase humidity. While this isn't 100% necessary your plant will appreciate it.

Feed the plant every two weeks with Yates Thrive Indoor Plants & Ferns Liquid Plant Food. Alternatively insert a Yates Thrive Indoor Plants & Ferns Plant Food Spike into the potting mix every 2 months. Regular feeding will help promote healthy lush growth. If your dragon tail is growing too large or causing the pot to tip over, trim back the stems to keep the plant more compact and promote bushier growth. Remember though that it's naturally a vigorous trailing and climbing plant.

In the wild dragon tail grows as a forest floor dweller in tropical and subtropical climates so it loves warmth and humidity. However, it is very adaptable and will also grow well in warm climate gardens. Grow in a sheltered spot with medium to bright light and out of direct sunlight. It will tolerate growing in low light but growth will be slowed and the spacing between the leaves will become elongated or sometimes the stem grows completely leafless. This is a sign that the plant needs a brighter position.

Choose a warm, partly shaded frost-free spot in a garden, in well-drained soil.

Dig a hole and improve the soil by mixing in some Yates Dynamic Lifter Plant Food & Soil Improver Pellets. Place the plant in the bottom of the hole and gently backfill around the plant's root ball with soil and then water well. If you'd like your plant to grow up instead of out, provide some support for the stems with a wire trellis or bamboo poles. It can be kept in a garden bed as a creeping groundcover but bear in mind that if there is a tree nearby it will likely start climbing.

Apply mulch, like Yates Dynamic Lifter 4 in 1 Mulch, around the root zone. Keep the soil moist but not wet.

To promote healthy lush growth, feed regularly with Yates Thrive Indoor Plants & Ferns Liquid Plant Food. If your dragon tail is growing too wild, the stems can be back to keep the plant more neat and compact. Remember though that it's naturally a vigorous trailing and climbing plant.

To propagate from stem cuttings use sharp secateurs to cut a 15 - 20 cm length which has 2-3 sets of leaves. Make the cut approximately 1.5 cm below a node (the bump along the stem where a leaf normally appears). Remove the lower leaves and place the cutting in a jar of water with the bottom node submerged. Top up the water as needed to ensure the node is always covered with water. After 4-6 weeks roots should form. Once roots are 10-12 cm long transplant into Yates Specialty Potting Mix Plants & Ferns. Cuttings can be taken at any time of the year but root formation will be fastest during the warmer months.

• Green thumb tip: to retain their leaf colours and patterns, variegated Devil's ivy will require brighter light than greener varieties.

These plants are pretty resilient, however monitor your plants for pests like mealybug and fungus gnats, diseases like root rot and signs of over and under watering.

Mealybugs – these small white insects are a common pest on indoor plants and can usually be found at the base of leaf stems or on the undersides of leaves. If spotted then treat quickly with Yates Advanced Garden Insect Killer or OCP eco-neem before they spread to other plants.

Fungus gnats can be a common pest of indoor plants. The tiny winged adult fungus gnats are annoying and their larva can damage plant roots. Drench the potting mix thoroughly with OCP eco-neem to kill the juveniles that live in the potting mix and to help break the lifecycle and reduce further infestations, apply Yates Gnat Barrier granules over the surface of the potting mix. These abrasive granules create an effective barrier against adult fungus gnats.

Root rot is normally due to overwatering or a poorly drained potting mix. Reduce watering to allow the top 3-5 cm of potting mix to dry out before watering again and don't let water sit in the saucer or an outer decorative pot.

Signs of Overwatering

If the plant is wilting; the leaf tips are brown; the leaves are yellow and mushy; and/or the potting mix is wet and smells bad, it's likely you need to allow the potting mix to dry out more in between watering sessions.

Signs of Underwatering

If the plant is wilting; leaves are dry and shrivelled; and/or the potting mix is shrinking away from the edges, this means you need to water more often.