Hi all - have what's about a 6 year old plant from Home Depot that has changed substantially over its time from dark skinny leaves to this - and now it produces red berries!

Is this is a dracaena and if so which one? There's little I can find about fruiting bodies on dracaena that look like this, is there a way to germinate them?

Thanks!

Not a Dracanea. Its an Aglaonema.

Hi Plantlab, to the site!

I agree, your plant is Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema commutatum) and info in our plant database says that the berries contain chemicals which inhibit germination, so you will have to remove the seeds from the flesh to sow them.

All aroid berries do that. They are like little pomegranate seeds. They get distributed in nature by small mammals and birds that eat the flesh of the berry and leave the seed.

I have read repeatedly that growers suggest to remove the berries so the plant pushes vegetative growth, not flowering and fruiting. Might be interesting to see if you can germinate the seeds (check online for info), some seeds have limited viability once they dry out. Also, a lot of tropicals are helped by bottom heat for seed germination, especially in winter (assuming you're in the northern hemisphere somewhere).

I never remove the berries off of anything to 'push growth'. I let all my aroids flower and fruit regardless of type. Aglaonema typically self pollinate for me. Anthuriums, I pollinate myself and raise hybrids of my own making.

While it is also recommended by most growers to remove the seed from the berry before sowing ('cleaning' the seed), experiments by myself and a few of my pals who also grow Anthurium from seed have demonstrated that it really isn't always necessary. Letting berries ripen (and even get moldy) and fall off the spadix and onto the ground, and having the fruit part just decay naturally to reveal the seed, ALWAYS results in volunteer seedlings

Thanks for your help everyone - this is a great resource here!

This is the second or third berry the plant has produced so I'll try some germination experiments as more show up - I've just re-planted them in the soil of the pot and watered them thus far. No plans on pushing the plant one way or another, after I re-potted it a few years ago I've kind of just let it do its thing.

Thanks again!