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Yucca too heavy and big

pauline_bertrandpauline_bertrand Posts: 2
in Problem solving
Hi

I bought this yucca about 4 years ago and it followed me through 3 cities, and in 3 different pots.
Its trunk is the same height as before, it still has 3 branches, but the leaves part has grown up a lot and it is now too heavy for its trunk size. The leaves are making the trunk fall on a regular basis.

I have tried planting bamboo vertical supports in the pot and tying the trunk with straw to the bamboo.

Here are some pictures of it baby and now!

Is there a safe way to stabilize the trunk and make it lighter, should i take off the bottom leaves?
Thanks!

Posts

  • RaspberryKillerRaspberryKiller Posts: 156
    Definitely needs a serious pruning. I'd remove leaves from each stem, and in fact remove one of them entirely. It can be re-potted and will likely grow as a new plant, forming its own roots.

    You might want to consider using a plastic pot instead to keep the weight down. Also, that much soil will also add weight. You could try potting with a bottom layer of clay pebbles (super light and we'll draining) and then a mix of compo and and vermiculite.
  • pauline_bertrandpauline_bertrand Posts: 2
    Thanks a lot for the advice!! If i cut one of the stems, should i do so where they are starting (close to the trunk) or rather close to where the leaves start? Thanks
  • Paul B3Paul B3 Posts: 3,154
    edited August 2018
    Pauline ; have you got a brighter position where you could place your plant ?

    It looks to me like it's getting 'drawn' or stretchy weak growth due to lack of bright light (etiolation) . That is why the stems are thin and unable to bear the weight of the foliage .
    It has obviously been 'topped' in the past to encourage side-shoots to develop ; that is what growers do to that particular species . You could try that again but place in a sunnier position .
    I used to grow this plant outdoors in the summer months (after acclimatisation) where its leaves & stems grew much more robust .




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