Hi everyone. First post.
I have a yucca that is becoming to big and reaching the ceiling. I have read that you can chop it and it will regrow. Am I right that I chop it about a foot from the base? And then chop the remaining and place these in water to root?
Thanks for any help in advance.
Tony
I think mine is a different species, but it comes back very well from hard pruning. I do not know if the top part will grow new roots when you cut it off, but I think it will.
If you want to be more conservative just prune off the top, leave some leaves. Then try rooting the part you have removed.
Also, watch the original plant at the part where you cut it. It should produce new growth.
If both work, then let it grow a while to store up more energy and do it again, cutting just enough off the top to start a new plant, and waiting for more new growth from the original plant.
You could do that several times and get many new plants, if if works.
A bit sideways too!
Diana is right, just prune the top off and re-root it and any sections you want to do as well but remember the orientation of any bare stems (bottom must go in the soil and the top stays pointed up). I did this to my yucca this summer - cut off the tallest stem (about 8 feet tall). I cut off maybe 5 feet of it and cut that in half. I put the two cut sections between pine bales practically the entire summer (to root and not rot). I finally took them out of the pine bales and saw roots and put those two sections in a pot of Nature's Helper (shredded pine bark and other gritty articles).
Here are a few pictures of it before and after. The cut tops are ponytail palm and the yucca and the middle sections. In between pine bales. The ponytail did not produce any roots but it didn't rot or dry up either. The yucca showed some roots. The final image shows what cutting did to the mother plant - she produced pups at the base and on the cut stem.
I agree to what is said above, but would add a caution: you will have better chances of success in the spring. Plants do not root well, or re-grow from pruning during the dark days of winter.
What a cool trunk! Agree with doing in spring/early summer, when plants are ready to grow much more quickly. If it was mine, I'd cut it at the first bend down from the top, stick the top back in the pot with the stump, repotting stump when doing this. Going lower would remove the cool bends, and mean that all or part of that cool 'architecture' be put under the soil to grow roots, that would be a shame, IMVHO.
The stake wouldn't be needed after that. Instead of staking in the future, try rotating plant once or twice a month or so, so it leans evenly toward the light.
One more look, one more thought - you can see at the bottom where it was cut once before.
This message was edited Nov 19, 2013 12:55 PM
This message was edited Nov 19, 2013 12:56 PM
