Dragon Tree - root rot symptoms?

[TanQ10]

Hello--

How do i tell if my Dragon Tree has root rot?

Background: This is my first house tree - i've had it 9 months, the top 3 shoots (4 ft originally) have grown about 8 inches each, it has been in a sunny room, in a corner farthest from the porch doors about

10 ft away) so i would say it gets diffused bright light - we live in Hawaii, so it's moderately humid and i water on average every 10 days, after checking the top 1" of soil. The plant is in it's original potted soil, in a pot about 10" in diameter, 14" deep.

A few weeks ago, the smalllest/newest 2 shoots lost all their leaves, then started sprouting new baby leaves at the top. I noticed the 2 stems, the top 3 inches, had a healthy looking bright green, with bright green baby leaves. Now these two stems are very soft to the touch, and the outer 'bark' is very papery and thin - I could almost slide it off like a glove?? The baby leaves, which got to about an inch long only, turned yellow/brown and fell off. What is going on?? I checked the leaves on the other healthy shoots and noticed no spider mites or anything bad in the soil. Did i overwater somehow? Is the pot not draining? Do i need to change the soil and put the plant in brighter light?

Thanks in advance for your replies

-T

[Cereus-validus]

Check out this website. The info applies to Dracaena also.

[barrett]

Can't be lighting because Hawaii gets approx. 12 hours of day light all year long; you would have seen problems long before now. However, this is the coldest time of year for Hawaii. Cooler temps. equal slower respiration in indoor plants thus less frequent watering is needed. One inch of growth per month is good; the roots grew too, so check to see if the plant is rootbound - if it is repot into larger pot and use a well draining media mixture.

[TanQ10]

Thank you. I will repot this weekend into a larger container with fresh soil. The outer bark slipping off like a glove really seemed strange. Is that normal?

-T