Houseplant Has Brown Spots on Leaves

Judy,
Can you help me identify this plant and give me some advice on how to care for it? It is not doing well, with dark brown dry patches on the leaves. I have tried watering it from the top, from the bottom, not watering, and watering it a lot and nothing seems to help.

Hi Sue,

 

Green striped dracaena
Houseplant with brown spots

Your plant is a little blurry, but I think it’s a Dracaena, probably a warnekii of some kind. Here is a picture of one, what do you think?

They can have a white stripe or a green stripe depending on the variety.

Dracaena-deremensis-Gold-Star-10-BU

These plants usually get dark brown patches because of the quality of the water you are using or if you are giving the plant too much plant food. Never use water that has a lot of fluoride or chlorine in it; never use water that has passed through a water softener; never feed any Dracaena in the winter and always dilute your plant food to 1/2 the recommended strength the rest of the year. If your water has a lot of chemicals in it, let it sit out over night before using it. You can read more about all types of Dracaenas in the Popular HousePlant section of the website.