The question of how to trim a yucca sooner or later arises from each owner of this plant. The fact is that at home this exotic flower can grow very tall. The appearance of the plant will not be very attractive in this case: a bare trunk and a cap of leaves at the top. The article will detail how to crop a yucca at home, as well as when and for what purpose.
General information about the plant, description
The genus Yucca (Yucca) belongs to the family Asparagus (previously - to the family Liliaceae). It is sometimes called the false palm. The yucca grown at home is a spectacular ornamental plant with a high woody (sometimes branched) trunk, on the end of which impressive leaf caps are concentrated. They are narrow, long, lily-lanceolate, spiky. Depending on the species, yucca leaves may have a green or bluish-green color, be erect or penetrating. In height, individual species can grow up to three meters.
The most common garden species are shrubs with a tree trunk. A yucca blooms (the photo can be seen below) with white bell-shaped flowers, but this rarely happens at home, because flower buds can take root, you need a long cold wintering (the ideal temperature for keeping yucca during rest is no higher than + 10 degrees). Therefore, usually garden yucca blooms, which is grown in the open. It is practically impossible to get box-fruits from a plant, because for its pollination insects are needed - endemic to the southern latitudes.
The birthplace of the plant is the New World. In the south of the USA, in Central America and Mexico, the conditions are ideal for her. In the countries of southern Europe, and even in our moderate climate, yucca is also often grown in the open. It is most common as an indoor flower.
Plant species
This plant perfectly animates and decorates the landscape of the site. In open ground conditions, two species are usually grown: yucca gray (Glauca Nutt) and filamentous (Filamentosa). They are perennial low evergreen shrubs.
In indoor conditions, most often you can find a giant yucca, or elephant (gigantea or elephantipes), less often - aloe (aloifolia). The first of them was named due to the wide thick trunk resembling an elephant leg. Under natural conditions, it can grow up to nine meters and have a crown diameter of four to five meters. The leaves of the elephant yucca (photo can be seen below) are dark green, linear-lanceolate, in nature they can grow more than a meter in length. Crohn yucca aloe-more like a ball. This plant is shorter and less powerful. The leaves are tougher.
Yucca at home
This plant is quite unpretentious, and this is one of the reasons why it is popular with flower growers. A roomy yucca grows slowly, but at the same time it looks quite attractive. However, in order not to get a long bare trunk, and on it - a hat of leaves under the ceiling, you need to take care of the appearance of the plant in advance. To do this, trim the yucca in order to obtain lateral shoots. It allows you to achieve branching plants.
This procedure is also useful because the yucca grows, as mentioned above, very slowly, so large specimens are quite expensive. But by trimming the yucca, you can get your own planting material suitable for rooting. How to grow yucca on your own, as well as the nuances of caring for the plant will be briefly described below.
Preparation, selection of the place of cutting
When deciding in which place and how to trim a yucca, it should be borne in mind that after this procedure the trunk thickness will forever remain the same as now. He will not grow anymore. Therefore, try to imagine in advance how the plant will look in the future. If it is not tall enough or too thin, it might be better to postpone pruning for a year or even several years.
When choosing a place for pruning, the presence of kidneys is taken into account. If the yucca trunk has a thickness of up to 5 centimeters, leave two kidneys, if 7-8 - four. Subsequently, a new top with leaves will form from each bud, and the plant will look more magnificent and attractive.
The height of the yucca should be at least 60-70 centimeters. At a distance of less than 50 centimeters, cutting it is undesirable. Preparing for pruning involves abundant watering for several days. Thanks to this, the plant will receive less stress.
What is needed
To trim the plant, you need to prepare a sharp knife or garden pruner. The tool blade should be disinfected by wiping it with sleep to avoid possible rotting of the barrel. You will also need crushed wood (activated) charcoal and garden var or natural wax.
Timing
Yucca pruning in order to obtain lateral shoots and planting material is carried out at the end of winter or early spring, while the plant has not yet left the dormant period. In yucca, active growth begins in April, and if this period coincides with pruning, the flower may die. If the procedure is carried out before this time, the sections of the trunks will dry well, and the yucca begins to branch.
When and how to prune a garden yucca? This is also done in early spring, in temperate latitudes - after the snow melts. If the plant tolerates wintering well, dry and damaged leaves are removed. They can also be cut after flowering, along with the peduncle.
What to look for
Trimming is carried out in one motion. You can’t break the trunk, otherwise you can damage the growth points located on it. The cut should be flat. The tool should be sharp, as the yucca barrel is strong enough and strong. It is desirable to cut it off in one precise motion.
Slice Processing
The slice must be dried for two hours. After that, it is sprinkled with a thin layer of crushed charcoal or activated carbon. Then the slice must be filled with liquid paraffin or treated with garden var.
After trimming, the plant must be put in partial shade. For two months it is watered very carefully, no more than once a week. If pruning was successful, and the plant tolerated it well, after a few months, the yucca begins to branch. Around the trunk, new stems appear (from two to five). Their number depends on the thickness of the trunk and how many kidneys were left on it.
Pruning
Trimming yucca in order to obtain cuttings is carried out if the plant begins to disappear. This is usually seen in the trunk, which begins to soften. The reason is rot damage, including due to excessive watering. This is one of the most common causes of death of such plants.
Cut off all not affected by rotting parts of the trunk and branches. They are cut into cuttings 25-35 centimeters long. Places of slices must be dried for at least two hours, then sprinkled with activated or pulverized charcoal. Then the cuttings are placed in water or planted in the sand. After the appearance of young leaves or in the water - the roots can be transplanted cuttings. Often, if the trunk and branches are affected, unfortunately, only the tops of the yucca can be saved.
Growing yucca
As mentioned above, the resulting tops with leaves, as well as cuttings, can be used for rooting. Previously, they are given a little fade in a dark place.
For planting, it is very important to use suitable soil. In nature, yuccas grow on dry sandy soils. It is very important for the plant that the water does not stagnate and the soil does not sour. Therefore, a good layer of drainage (5-7 centimeters) must be put in the pot. It is better if it is not expanded clay, but large pebbles, broken bricks or shards. This will make the pot more stable as the yucca grows to an impressive size. The soil should be nutritious, but loose, with a pH of 5.5 - 6.5. You can buy ready-made at the store. Suitable mixture for yucca, dracaena and palm trees. And you can do it yourself according to one of the following recipes:
- Soddy, leafy ground, fine gravel - in two parts, humus - one part.
- Compost, fine gravel (3-4 mm, you can take coarse sand or zeolite), coconut substrate - one part each, universal store mix - one part.
A rooted healthy plant benefits from bright light. But it is advisable to protect the yucca from direct sunlight, which can cause leaf burns. For planting yucca garden choose a well-lit place. It is desirable to take out a houseplant in the summer on a balcony or in the yard, it loves light and fresh air. This is another reason why it makes sense to crop the yucca (we will explain how to do this in the article). After all, transferring a two-meter plant from place to place is very difficult. If you saw that the yucca turns yellow, perhaps she does not have enough light, and the flower needs to be rearranged.
Watering the yucca should be plentiful in the summer, moderate during the dormant period. In general, this plant normally tolerates a lack of moisture. Soil before watering should dry well. After the top layer has dried, you still have to wait two to four days, depending on the age of the plant and the size of the pot. Indoor yucca is watered in the warm season once every 8-9 days at a temperature not exceeding +22 degrees Celsius, every 6-7 days at a temperature above +22. During dormancy at temperatures above 18 degrees Celsius, you need to water the yucca once every two weeks, below that once every 20 to 25 days. Excessive watering is indicated by the appearance of black midges and the acidic smell of the soil. Spraying the leaves of an indoor flower is usually not required, but some gardeners recommend doing this in extreme heat and in too dry air.
From April to August, the plant is fed with fertilizer for palm trees or decorative and deciduous plants. Do this once every 15-20 days, and not earlier than a month after pruning or transplanting.
Finally
The article described how to crop a yucca, when exactly and why it should be done. The most popular species of this plant were also named and the rules for caring for it at home were briefly described. The cropping procedure, as well as the care of the yucca itself, is not complicated. This is an unpretentious, but very beautiful plant, and if all the rules of care are followed, there will not be much trouble.