[Grubbypaws]

I have a 25 year old Yukka which has now completely outgrown my living room. I have had it since being a student when I bought it from the local GC and am very attached to it but it has to go  

Does any one out there have a home for it?

[arugula]

Could you acclimatise it to live outdoors in a pot for instance and ultimately plant it in your garden? You have had it a long time...

[arugula]

It might help if I gave you the whole story. I have done the same thing successfully. Your climate will be colder in winter than it is here but you could fleece...

[Grubbypaws]

I guess that I could give it a go 

After hitting the ceiling some years ago it started a horizontal course and then developed a secondary vertical branch.  So basically I have a long straight bare trunk going the whole length of the lounge with two healthy vertical growing areas. Is it possible to air root it and end up with 2 smaller yukkas that I could house more easily?

If it is possible how do I go about it?

[mumofstig]

I don't know about air rooting, but, you can cut the stem through at whatever height you fancy and it will grow new branches

[Grubbypaws]

Just cut it so that it is a bare trunk with no leaves?? 

[mumofstig]

That's what I did to mine 
you can also root the top bits after you've cut it down...info here
http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/indoor/yucca-plants-care-and-pruning-tips-for-pruning-a-yucca.htm

[Grubbypaws]

MumofS,

This is awesome; thank you.

From reading this article my yukka wont just live but prosper and multiply 

[Spana]

I've got the same problem.

  Theres a big one in my greenhouse that i keep cutting down and it just throws out new shoots and away it goes again. 
 I've rooted loads of the chopped off bits, one of them is 6ft tall and unfortunately its  in the greenhouse border.  I'm going to dig it up and make a yucca forest with that one and  the rest that are in pots.

Mums link wont work for me so cant see what it says but they root easier if you leave the cuttings a day to scab over before you pot them on into sandy compost

I wrote about yuccas cuttings in my diary a couple of years ago, see below

If anyone has a yucca houseplant and would like to take a cutting from it they root really easily.
Cut off the bit for the cutting and pull the leaves from the stem.  They overlap so start at the bottom and take them off in order.  When you have a good length of stem leave it for 24hours or so to scab over, I have left them as long as 4days and they’ve still rooted.  Then get a deep pot, I use the flower buckets from Morrison's which they sell off cheap and fill it with gritty compost.
Push the cutting in right up to the bottom leaves.  You need enough stem in the pot to hold the whole thing steady.  Give it good water and leave it to root.



 

[Grubbypaws]

Spana, Just how hard do you cut down the parent plant?

[Spana]

I'll go and take a photo of it so you can see, give me 5 minutes

[Spana]

This is my one.  Its been hacked back hard every year for yonks, i couldn't get in the greenhouse if i didn't I put the pop bottle in so you can get an idea of the trunk size.



All the shoots are possible plants. I would cut them off at the trunk and shorten the cutting to the right size.

This pic is right at the base and you can see even from really old wood new shoots come, i just rub these off.


Hope this helps you a bit
 

[mumofstig]

See  - I told you you could cut it right down 

(Link is working ok for me  )

[Spana]

Its working for me now mum It got stuck half way before

[Grubbypaws]

Thanks folks, this has been a real eye opener. It sounds silly but 'what to do with the yukka' has been worrying me as it been part of our home for such a long time. The kids (1 qualified lawyer and 1 accountant  )  cant remember a time before the yukka!!

Spana, how deep is your Morrison flower bucket? You seem to have such a sound technique  I am going to follow it to the letter 

I suppose that the only worry is what the house will look like in another 25 years!