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I can't keep those plants alive or looking good myself (a friend of mine says they are the easiest). I found 2 things contributed to my plants demise. One is overwatering. If leaves are turning yellow rather quickly, then you are overwatering. I also had a problem with the end of leaves always turning yellow then brown. I have well water, so I read/found that by using water that sits out for 24 hours (I have a jug that is filled with water for my finicky plants) and then I water my plants, this problem disappears. Hope you have better luck than I did.
The weird thing is that there are two corn plants in this pot (one's larger than the other), where it's only the larger one that is going from yellow to brown. The other one looks fine. For awhile, only the much larger leaves were changing from yellow to brown, but now, even the smaller bottom leaves are turning. This had been going on for a good two months and I have practically stopped watering and nothing's changed.
When was the last time you repotted this plant? Could very easily be rootbound and the yellowing is the plant's way of telling you "my shoe is too tight". Also, when did you fertilize last?
Maybe this is a plant that matures, then dies, like a corn plant would in nature. I keep a few big palms indoors in the winter and as soon as they start looking at all bad, out they go. You can buy a new plant at Home Depot for $15., so maybe you should just pitch it and move on.
Nothing looks worse that a bunch of overgrown, sad, tattered indoor plants.
I'm thinking along the same lines as SD snowbird. You have two plants competing in the same pot, so perhaps giving them more space (ie repotting them) would help.
As for watering, I water very little and only once a week. As the tree grows, the bottom leaves begin to turn yellow and eventually dry out completely. That's when I trim them off (not before).
Corn plants are typically planted in groups of two or three so I don't know that one is cutting into the others space.
Honestly, I have never been able to kill one of them and I do nothing as far as caring for them.
Are you watering it to much?
Mine gets little to no natural light and I might remember to water it once or twice a month but I have to keep chopping it cause it keeps growing into the ceiling. This one is old so I don't know what their lifespan is but it is long.
The one I had before this was maintained by a teenage boy so you know it wasn't high maintenance either . I finally gave it away when we moved and it had grown from a relatively small plant to being 6ft.
Try leaving it alone?
The only time it was repotted was when I bought it and moved it from the cheap plastic container it came in and placed into a regular container. My parents used to have these plants too and they had multiples in a single pot as well, so I don't think that could be a huge issue. I think I'll try what Alter suggested and just 'leave it alone'. No watering nothing, just alone.
I'd agree with Alter. We have one of these that we got for a few bucks on sale. The bottom leaves go brown and we just cut or pull those off. It actually started go bad when we moved it into our sunroom with the other plants. I think it was doing bad because we were watering it and "taking care" of it in that room. Now that it's back in the spare bedroom, and somewhat neglected, it is doing just fine.
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. I finally gave it away when we moved and it had grown from a relatively small plant to being 6ft.
