I recently bought a yucca plant from wilkos which has some kind of grey clay stuff that has been artificially been added to the top of the trunk. Has this been done to stunt growth and will it harm the plant to remove it? Thanks!
Yes, that helps! It looks like a sealant used to stop the stem/trunk weeping and getting infected with pathogens when it was cut to that height. I'd leave it until the plant has settled into its new position in your house and then try to remove it carefully in a couple of weeks' time, using a clean, sharp gardening knife or kitchen knife. It should come off quite easily. (If not wait a while until it is easier.) Try to avoid damaging the core of the trunk when you do this. The trunk will not grow any higher than this but the shoots will continue to grow upwards.
Yuccas are grown from sections of stems from larger plants and the suppliers generally seal the top cut with something. I've grown them from stem cuttings of some big ones but didn't seal the top, and they are fine. It will fall off eventually, as the stem thickens.
A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
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