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.
The Chicago Botanic Garden says its dark green, lustrous leaves tolerate the low light and humidity levels found indoors, making this cultivar a favorite in the interior plant industry.
Clemson Extension adds that ‘Janet Craig’ 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.
Clemson describes 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. UF/IFAS Extension says 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 (NC State Extension); Chicago Botanic Garden lists 11 to 13
- Size: Up to 10 feet tall (Clemson Extension); 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: 70 to 80°F is ideal indoors; keep above 60°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: Water thoroughly once the soil surface is dry to the touch
- 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 and Chicago Botanic Garden also list 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. Chicago Botanic Garden says its leaves tolerate the low light and humidity levels found in interiorscapes. Clemson Extension says most dracaenas grow best in bright, indirect light, but many also tolerate lower light.
Tolerating low light is not the same as loving it. NC State Extension recommends bright to moderate, filtered light. It says direct sun can burn the foliage, but if light levels are too low, the leaves will narrow.
Clemson adds that 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. UF/IFAS says chilling injury shows up as slimy, dead spots on the leaves and heavy leaf drop, and that dracaenas should be kept above 60°F at all times. Indoors, it says 70 to 80°F is most appropriate, and drafts should be avoided.
NC State Extension says the species thrives at 70 to 80°F and should be kept above 50°F if possible. Clemson suggests normal house temperatures of 60 to 70°F during the day, with nights about 10°F cooler.
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. NC State lists USDA zones 10a to 11b, and Chicago Botanic Garden lists zones 11 to 13.
Humidity
Average home humidity is usually fine. Chicago Botanic Garden says the plant tolerates the humidity levels found indoors. When winter heat dries the air, though, the leaf tips can suffer.
NC State says the tips can turn brown if indoor humidity is too low and that a humidifier may help, especially in winter. Clemson says that if household humidity drops below 30 to 40 percent, an occasional misting of the foliage helps.
Janet Craig Dracaena Watering Guide
Clemson Extension’s advice is simple: let dracaenas dry slightly between waterings. Wait until the soil surface is dry to the touch, then water thoroughly.
It also says to avoid watering with cold water. NC State adds that you can reduce watering 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. Clemson says 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. Clemson says 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.
NC State suggests trying non-fluoridated water if the leaves turn brown. 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. UF/IFAS says commercial dracaena mixes combine sphagnum peat, pine bark, vermiculite or perlite, with the perlite leached (rinsed) before use, and that larger plants may get 10 to 20% coarse sand to keep them from tipping over. The same guide recommends a mix pH of 6.0 to 6.5.
When should you repot? NC State says to move the plant to a larger pot when it starts to lift out of its pot or sends roots out of the drainage hole. UF/IFAS advises waiting 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. Clemson Extension says to feed dracaenas with a liquid foliage plant fertilizer once a month in spring and summer, or to use time-release fertilizer pellets. Follow the label for the amount.
Two warnings come with that. First, Clemson says not to use fertilizer that contains superphosphate, because it often has high levels of fluorine. Second, salts build up. –
Clemson says leaf tips and margins may burn or turn yellow if plants are fertilized too heavily, and NC State says the species is sensitive to built-up salts and suggests flushing the salts out monthly. UF/IFAS adds that 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. UF/IFAS says sunburned areas can be gently trimmed and that leaf tips damaged by fluoride or salts will not recover, so trimming is cosmetic.
Has your plant grown tall and bare at the bottom? Clemson Extension says that 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. UF/IFAS says rooting tip cuttings, air layering and cane cuttings are the main ways dracaenas are propagated, with tip cuttings used for the smaller dracaena species. Clemson lists air layering, tip or stem cuttings, and rooting basal shoots in spring or late summer, and NC State recommends stem cuttings.
Pests and Problems: Mealybugs, Scale, Thrips and Mites
Janet Craig has few serious pests, but a handful show up indoors. Clemson Extension says scale insects and mites are the most common dracaena pests, NC State lists thrips and mealybugs, and the RHS lists glasshouse red spider mite and scale.
Look for scale on plants as small bumps on stems and leaves, and for mealybugs on dracaena as white, cottony masses.
Chicago Botanic Garden suggests rinsing (syringing) the plant periodically with dilute soapy water to 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. Clemson says root rot usually results from a slow-draining mix or watering too often. Let the soil dry at the surface 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.
NC State Extension rates the poison severity as low. For cats, dogs and people who eat the plant, it lists mouth and stomach irritation, vomiting, loss of appetite, depression, drooling and difficulty breathing, and it says 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, A Study of Interior Landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution Abatement, 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. UF/IFAS lists ‘Janet Craig’, ‘Janet Craig Compacta’, ‘Lemon Lime’, ‘Lisa’, ‘Michiko’, ‘Warneckii’ and ‘Gold Star’ 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 small, slow version. Clemson Extension says ‘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), water when the surface dries, keep it between about 60 and 90°F, 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. Chicago Botanic Garden says its leaves tolerate the low light and humidity found indoors, and Clemson Extension says many dracaenas tolerate lower light even though they grow best in bright, indirect light. NC State Extension adds that if light is too low, the leaves narrow, and that direct sun can burn the foliage. A spot with bright, filtered light suits it best.
How often should I water a Janet Craig plant?
Water when the soil surface is dry to the touch, then water thoroughly. Clemson Extension says to let dracaenas dry slightly between waterings and to avoid cold water, and it says root rot usually comes from slow-draining soil or watering too often. NC State Extension suggests cutting 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. Clemson Extension says dracaena is very sensitive to fluoride and advises avoiding high-perlite mixes and superphosphate fertilizers. NC State Extension says the species is sensitive to built-up salts, suggests non-fluoridated water and monthly flushing, and says tips can brown when indoor humidity is low. Our brown tips guide covers each cause.
What temperature does Janet Craig dracaena need?
Warm, steady room temperatures suit it. UF/IFAS Extension says 70 to 80°F is most appropriate indoors, that temperatures above 90°F cause yellowing of ‘Janet Craig’ leaves, and that dracaenas should be kept above 60°F to avoid chilling injury. NC State Extension says the species thrives at 70 to 80°F and should be kept above 50°F if possible, and Clemson Extension suggests 60 to 70°F days. Keep it out of drafts.
Is Janet Craig dracaena toxic to cats and dogs?
Yes. The ASPCA lists Dracaena fragrans as toxic to dogs, cats and horses because of saponins, with signs such as vomiting, depression, loss of appetite, drooling and dilated pupils in cats. NC State Extension rates the poison severity as low and says the sap may irritate skin. Keep the plant out of reach of pets and children.