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I have an indoor plant, I believe it's a dragon tree, that's about 2 years old. I am not a green thumb and truth be told this is the longest any plant has lasted in my care.
Recently I was watering the plant and noticed that there are some microscopic bugs milling about in the soil. They don't appear to fly or jump, but just go in and out of the nooks and crannies in the soil whenever I water. I also noticed what I assume to be a yellow fungus of some sort growing around the pot both at the soil line and in the saucer under the pot. Note I've never watered it so much that any water has seeped out of the pot.
I water the plant every 1-2 weeks when the soil is dry.
I did a google search and some results say the bugs are pests while others say they are harmless so I'm not sure what to make of that. I don't believe you can see any of the bugs in the attached photo but you can see the yellowish tinge to the white bits of the potting soil, as well as around the rim of the pot.
Yes, that is a dragon tree trunk. The trunk looks smooth and healthy ...... I'd like to see the foliage to see the condition of the leaves.
If the bugs are microscopic and just milling around on the soil they're probably soil mites, most likely orbatid soil mites, and soil mites are in all soils everywhere (unless the soil has been sterilized). There are many species of soil mites but they are harmless and serve a beneficial purpose to the soil by breaking down organic material and making it easier for the plant to absorb the nutrients from the soil. Check out the information here and look at the video of orbatid soil mites feeding to see if that's what your tiny bugs look like.
It looks to me like you have some algae and mineral salts accumulations (the yellow stuff) on the soil ...... and since you've had the plant in the same pot for 2 years the roots might be getting cramped now ....... so it may be time to repot the plant up into a slightly larger container holding all new fresh clean potting soil that is well draining. You don't need to worry about knocking all the excess soil off the root ball before you repot it but it wouldn't hurt to loosen up the roots in the root ball a little bit if the root ball is cramped.
I found that watering my dragon trees every 10 to 14 days is ideal - every 10 days in summer and 14 days in winter.
I'd like to see the foliage to see the condition of the leaves.
As requested. Note that some tips are brown because my wife attempted to "trim" the brown tips off the foliage which caused more browning. She thought she was helping...haha.
So to the question about the yellow - what is it exactly? I know you said algae and mineral salt accumulation but how do I prevent that? I see it on the rim of the pot but it also appears in the saucer underneath even though I've never watered it so much that water went to the saucer.
I'll also take any other tips you may have for caring for this plant. Like I said I'm not a green thumb but this is the longest I've kept a plant and I'd like to keep it going!
As requested. Note that some tips are brown because my wife attempted to "trim" the brown tips off the foliage which caused more browning. She thought she was helping...haha.
So to the question about the yellow - what is it exactly? I know you said algae and mineral salt accumulation but how do I prevent that? I see it on the rim of the pot but it also appears in the saucer underneath even though I've never watered it so much that water went to the saucer.
I'll also take any other tips you may have for caring for this plant. Like I said I'm not a green thumb but this is the longest I've kept a plant and I'd like to keep it going!
The plant looks healthy, glossy, upright and vigorous so you are doing a good job. The tips on dragon plant leaves do turn brown easily, especially if the plant gets too hot or too little water or becomes exposed to a lot of direct sunlight. It's the nature of the dragon plants, mine do it too and they're growing in ideal conditions the same as my indoor orchids get. It's just the way they are because in nature dragon trees are understory rain forest plants accustomed to dappled sun/shade on the forest floors of Madagascar.
Re: the bolded question, to be honest I don't know what yours is or what's causing it, numerous things could cause it, including the type of water used, type of plant foods given (or withheld) and the source and intensity of light. They really don't like strong light or direct sunlight. But I suspect with yours it could be because of the mix in the potting soil it's in now. There appears to be a little too much acidic woody organic material (one of the reasons it's got so many soil mites there breaking down the wood, bless their little hearts ) and the perlite !! (that's the white stuff, it is puffed up airy volcanic glass and has significant amounts of flouride in it which is toxic to dragon trees). So just one more reason to repot the plant into fresh new soil in a bit bigger pot now because that new potting soil from a reputable supplier should have more sand, soft loamy soil well composted, pulverized humus and peat moss and LESS acidic woody material that can encourage fungal growths, and NO perlite.
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) and the perlite !! (that's the white stuff, it is puffed up airy volcanic glass and has significant amounts of flouride in it which is toxic to dragon trees). So just one more reason to repot the plant into fresh new soil in a bit bigger pot now because that new potting soil from a reputable supplier should have more sand, soft loamy soil well composted, pulverized humus and peat moss and LESS acidic woody material that can encourage fungal growths, and NO perlite.
