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Strange growth from our cordyline

2

Posts

  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Right down to the bottom of the stem Paul, as close as you can get to the plant itself. (In case Jenny is busy 😊).
  • paul907paul907 Posts: 7
    Thanks AnniD
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Up to you really. The main thing is to avoid leaving a cut end sticking right up where you can see it. 
    If there are leaves on the flower spike and you want to keep those, take it down to where the leaf joins the stem. If the flower spike is branched and there are flowers on another branch that haven't finished yet, you can take the finished one back to the branch point.  Or leave the whole spike until all the flowers are over.  Or you can follow the flower spike right down to where it's coming from the main plant and cut it off there.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    It's not a cordyline, it's a Phormium
    Devon.
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Well spotted @Hostafan1, l referred to my phormium but didn't make the connection ! 🙄 
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    AnniD said:
    Well spotted @Hostafan1, l referred to my phormium but didn't make the connection ! 🙄 
    I merely noted that nobody else had actually said "it's not a cordyline" so I thought I'd mention it.
    Devon.
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    edited July 2019
    My problem is, I'm distracted by the cricket :) . Also, I have always had a problem with cordyline/phormium id. I have a mental block where they're concerned.
    Edited to add, I have just realised you may have thought I was being sarcastic Hostafan, that wasn't the case, I just realised you were right and I hadn't twigged..... :)
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    I know they're hugely popular with many, but I'm a fan of neither. They're so often scruffy and full of dead foliage, and many have had hideous "haircuts" 
    Devon.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    @Hostafan1 , you are right of course!
    I don't like them myself.  My experience is with helping my sister to get her four humungous purple-leaved phormiums in order after the previous owners had given them very bad haircuts (leaves chopped off halfway down) and left lots of dead leaves and old flower spikes in them.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • Paul B3Paul B3 Posts: 3,154
    Remove expired flower stems with secateurs as soon as flowering is finished ; this prevents the dead flowers forming a sticky mess when they drop .
    Cut as close to ground as possible .
    Phormiums are pretty tough ! ;)
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