Need a plant for the dim corner where everything else gives up? Meet the Janet Craig dracaena, one of the toughest green plants you can bring indoors.
Its dark green, lustrous leaves tolerate the low light and humidity levels found indoors, which has made this cultivar a favorite of the interior plant industry, and it is widely used in home and commercial interior landscaping. That is how it earned its nickname: the low light workhorse.
It sits in the same species as the corn plant, which has been one of the most popular house plants used indoors for decades.
It has wide, dark, glossy green leaves held in graceful arches along thick stems. The plant can grow up to 10 feet tall, though it is easy to keep it shorter. The species can reach 15 feet, but most indoor specimens stay under 10 feet.
Dracaena Janet Craig Quick Care Tips
- Botanical name: Dracaena fragrans ‘Janet Craig’
- Older name: Dracaena deremensis ‘Janet Craig’ (still common in the trade)
- Common names: Janet Craig dracaena, Janet Craig plant
- Family and origin: Asparagaceae; the species is native to tropical Africa
- Growability: Easy, low maintenance
- Hardiness zones: USDA 10a to 11b; other listings give 11 to 13
- Size: Up to 10 feet tall; easy to keep shorter
- Flowering: Rarely blooms as a houseplant
- Light: Bright, indirect or filtered light is best; tolerates low light; no direct sun
- Temperature: Keep above 60°F; 70 to 80°F is ideal indoors, though 60 to 70°F days are also suggested; leaves yellow above 90°F
- Humidity: Tolerates indoor humidity; mist occasionally if it drops below 30 to 40%
- Soil: Commercial houseplant potting mix that drains well; avoid mixes high in perlite
- Water: Let the top inch of soil dry, then water thoroughly; water less in winter
- Fertilizer: Liquid foliage plant fertilizer monthly in spring and summer; no superphosphate
- Pests and problems: Mealybugs, scale, thrips and spider mites; root rot from overwatering; brown tips from fluoride or salts
- Propagation: Tip or stem cuttings, air layering
- Safety: Toxic to dogs, cats and horses; low toxicity to people if eaten
What’s in a Name?
You will see this plant sold as Dracaena deremensis ‘Janet Craig’, and that name is still all over nursery tags. NC State Extension now lists it under Dracaena fragrans and gives Dracaena deremensis as its previous name. The Royal Horticultural Society also lists it as Dracaena fragrans ‘Janet Craig’. Same plant, newer label.
The cultivar name is usually traced to the Robert Craig nursery in Philadelphia and to a Craig daughter named Janet. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society library holds the Robert Craig Company’s old catalogs and its 1956 centennial booklet, and it says that, according to that booklet, Janet was the daughter of Robert A. Craig, son of the Robert Craig the nursery is named for. The 1930s introduction date often repeated online is harder to pin down, so treat the date as nursery history rather than settled fact.
Why Janet Craig Dracaena Thrives in Low Light Indoors
Low light is where this plant earns its keep. The Chicago Botanic Garden says its leaves tolerate the low light and humidity levels found in interiorscapes. Most dracaenas grow best in bright, indirect light, but many also tolerate lower light.
Tolerating low light is not the same as loving it. Bright to moderate, filtered light is best. Direct sun can burn the foliage, but if light levels are too low, the leaves will narrow. And a plant moved from dim light to a brighter spot grows thicker, stronger new leaves and grows faster.
So a north window or a spot a few feet back from a bright window is a good home. If all you have is a south or west exposure, keep the plant out of the path of direct sun.
Janet Craig Plant Hates Heat: Temperatures
Here is the part many owners miss. Janet Craig does not like heat. UF/IFAS Extension‘s commercial growing guide says temperatures above 90°F cause foliar chlorosis (yellowing) of ‘Janet Craig’, and it lists temperatures above 90°F, along with low available iron, as a cause of yellow leaves with green veins in dracaenas.
Cold is a problem too, so keep it above 60°F. Dracaenas should be kept above 60°F at all times; chilling injury shows up as slimy, dead spots on the leaves and heavy leaf drop. Indoors, 70 to 80°F is most appropriate, and drafts should be avoided.
The species thrives at 70 to 80°F, though normal house temperatures of 60 to 70°F during the day, with nights about 10°F cooler, are also suggested. In short, if you are comfortable, your Janet Craig probably is too. Just keep it away from heating vents, cold windows and doors that open to winter air.
Outdoors, Janet Craig is a plant for frost-free gardens only: USDA zones 10a to 11b, or zones 11 to 13 by other listings.
Humidity
Average home humidity is usually fine; the plant tolerates the humidity levels found indoors. When winter heat dries the air, though, the leaf tips can suffer. The tips can turn brown if indoor humidity is too low, and a humidifier may help, especially in winter. If household humidity drops below 30 to 40 percent, an occasional misting of the foliage helps.
Janet Craig Dracaena Watering Guide
The rule is simple: let the top inch of soil dry, then water thoroughly. Dracaenas like to dry slightly between waterings, and they don’t like cold water. You can cut back on water in winter. For more detail, see how often to water dracaena.
Use a pot with drainage holes, and empty the saucer or decorative cover after watering so the plant never sits in water. Root rot usually comes from a soil mix that drains slowly or from watering too often.
Fluoride and brown tips. Dracaenas are fussy about what is in the water. Dracaena is very sensitive to fluoride, with symptoms of yellowing tips or margins or dead, scorched areas. The Pacific Northwest Plant Disease Management Handbook says both Dracaena deremensis and D. fragrans are very sensitive to fluoride and that many city water supplies add fluoride at 1 ppm, which can cause symptoms on sensitive plants. If the leaves turn brown, try non-fluoridated water. The easy fix is to use distilled, rain or filtered water. Letting tap water stand overnight removes chlorine, not fluoride. Our brown tips guide walks through every cause, and there is more in fluoride toxicity on dracaena.
Related: 9 reasons dracaena leaves turn yellow.
Soil and Potting Mix
Clemson Extension says a standard commercial houseplant potting mix works. To protect against fluoride injury, it says to avoid potting soils with a high percentage of perlite and to keep the soil pH between 6.0 and 6.5.
That lines up with the growers’ recipe. Commercial dracaena mixes combine sphagnum peat, pine bark, vermiculite or perlite, with the perlite leached (rinsed) before use, and larger plants may get 10 to 20% coarse sand to keep them from tipping over. Growers aim for a mix pH of 6.0 to 6.5.
When should you repot? Move the plant to a larger pot when it starts to lift out of its pot or sends roots out of the drainage hole. Wait about four weeks before repotting or fertilizing a plant that has just been placed indoors, because it does not need the extra stress.
Fertilizing Dracaena Janet Craig
Go easy on the food. Feed dracaenas with a liquid foliage plant fertilizer once a month in spring and summer, or use time-release fertilizer pellets. Follow the label for the amount.
Two warnings come with that. First, don’t use fertilizer that contains superphosphate, because it often has high levels of fluorine. Second, salts build up. Leaf tips and margins may burn or turn yellow if plants are fertilized too heavily, and the species is sensitive to built-up salts, so flush the salts out monthly. Damaged leaf tips will not recover, so prevention matters more than cure.
Pruning and Grooming
Over time, the leaves collect dust. A feather duster or a soft, damp cloth keeps the foliage clean and glossy. If a few tips have already turned brown, trim them with clean scissors, following the leaf’s natural shape. Sunburned areas can be gently trimmed, and leaf tips damaged by fluoride or salts will not recover, so trimming is cosmetic.
Has your plant grown tall and bare at the bottom? If the stems become too long and bare, you can cut them off at the height you want, and new leaves will soon appear. Cut off dead or damaged leaves whenever they show up.
Propagating Janet Craig
Those trimmed tops do not have to go to waste. Rooting tip cuttings, air layering and cane cuttings are the main ways dracaenas are propagated, with tip cuttings used for the smaller dracaena species. Rooting basal shoots in spring or late summer works too, and stem cuttings are recommended.
Pests and Problems: Mealybugs, Scale, Thrips and Mites
Janet Craig has few serious pests, but a handful show up indoors. Scale insects and mites are the most common dracaena pests, and thrips, mealybugs and glasshouse red spider mite also show up. Look for scale on plants as small bumps on stems and leaves, and for mealybugs on dracaena as white, cottony masses.
Rinsing (syringing) the plant periodically with dilute soapy water helps control spider mites and mealybugs. For mealybugs on houseplants, UC IPM says to dab them with a cotton swab dipped in a solution of 70% or less isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol in water, testing a small part of the plant a day or two first to check for leaf burn. It says insecticidal soaps, horticultural oils and neem oil applied directly to young mealybugs can reduce their numbers.
Root rot is a watering problem, not an insect problem, so insecticidal soap will not fix it. Root rot usually results from a slow-draining mix or watering too often. Let the top inch of soil dry between waterings and make sure the pot drains.
Is Janet Craig Toxic to Pets?
Yes. The ASPCA lists Dracaena fragrans (corn plant) as toxic to dogs, cats and horses. It names saponins as the toxic principle and lists vomiting (occasionally with blood), depression, loss of appetite, drooling and, in cats, dilated pupils as signs.
The poison severity is rated low. For cats, dogs and people who eat the plant, the signs include mouth and stomach irritation, vomiting, loss of appetite, depression, drooling and difficulty breathing, and the sap may irritate skin. Keep the plant where pets and small children cannot chew on it, and call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center if you think a pet has eaten some.
Does Janet Craig Clean the Air?
You may have heard that Janet Craig is an air-purifying plant. It was one of the plants in NASA’s 1989 study, Interior Landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution Abatement (the September 1989 final report), which tested how plants removed benzene, trichloroethylene and formaldehyde. Those tests ran in small, sealed chambers.
A home is not a sealed chamber. Iowa State University Extension says that in reality houseplants have little effect on air quality in the home or office, because homes and offices have a constant turnover of air. A 2020 review of 12 chamber studies in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology found it would take 10 to 1,000 plants per square meter of floor space to match the air cleaning that ordinary air exchange already provides. Grow Janet Craig for its good looks and easy care, not as an air purifier.
Dracaena Deremensis Varieties and Sports
Janet Craig has relatives that share its toughness. ‘Janet Craig’, ‘Janet Craig Compacta’, ‘Lemon Lime’, ‘Lisa’, ‘Michiko’, ‘Warneckii’ and ‘Gold Star’ are among the Dracaena deremensis cultivars sold in Florida. Two striped cousins are the Warneckii dracaena and Dracaena Lemon Lime.
Dracaena Lisa
At first glance, Dracaena Lisa looks a lot like Janet Craig. Look closer and the leaves are narrower, and the plant grows in a more upright, columnar shape on visible green trunks, which is why it is often sold as cane plants. Staggered canes of different heights make an attractive grouping, even in narrow spots.
Dracaena Michiko
Michiko is another upright, cane-style relative. Its leaves are held tighter to the trunk, which makes it a good choice for narrow or tight spaces where a bushier plant would crowd the room.
Janet Craig Compacta
Dracaena Compacta (Janet Craig ‘Compacta’) is the dwarf form of the Janet Craig group. ‘Janet Craig Compacta’ is listed as a cultivar of its own, and ‘Compacta’ has 5-inch-long leaves tightly clustered along slow-growing stems. It makes a good candidate for a low light bathroom plant.
Want more ideas? See these types of dracaena for indoor use, and how to grow Song of India (Dracaena reflexa).
The Bottom Line
Janet Craig is about as forgiving as indoor plants get. Give it bright, filtered light if you can (low light if you must), let the top inch of soil dry before you water, keep it above 60°F and away from heat, and go easy on fluoride, perlite and fertilizer. Do that and this workhorse will keep a dim corner green for years.
Do you have a Janet Craig holding down a shady spot in your home? Tell us where yours lives!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Janet Craig dracaena grow in low light?
Yes, it tolerates low light. Its leaves tolerate the low light and humidity found indoors, and many dracaenas tolerate lower light even though they grow best in bright, indirect light. If light is too low, the leaves narrow, and direct sun can burn the foliage. A spot with bright, filtered light suits it best.
How often should I water a Janet Craig plant?
Let the top inch of soil dry, then water thoroughly. Avoid cold water; root rot usually comes from slow-draining soil or watering too often. Cut back on water in winter. Use a pot with drainage holes. More in our dracaena watering guide.
Why are my Janet Craig’s leaf tips turning brown?
Fluoride, salts and dry air are common causes. Dracaena is very sensitive to fluoride, so avoid high-perlite mixes and superphosphate fertilizers. The species is also sensitive to built-up salts, so try non-fluoridated water and monthly flushing, and know that tips can brown when indoor humidity is low. Use distilled, rain or filtered water. Our brown tips guide covers each cause.
What temperature does Janet Craig dracaena need?
Keep it above 60°F to avoid chilling injury. Indoors, 70 to 80°F is most appropriate, though 60 to 70°F days are also suggested, and temperatures above 90°F cause yellowing of ‘Janet Craig’ leaves. Keep it out of drafts.
Is Janet Craig dracaena toxic to cats and dogs?
Yes. Dracaena fragrans is toxic to dogs, cats and horses because of saponins, with signs such as vomiting, depression, loss of appetite, drooling and dilated pupils in cats. The poison severity is rated low, and the sap may irritate skin. Keep the plant out of reach of pets and children.