The question of how to prune a yucca sooner or later arises for every owner of this plant. The fact is that at home this exotic flower can grow very tall. At the same time, the appearance of the plant will not be very attractive: a bare trunk and a cap of leaves at the top. The article will describe in detail how to trim a yucca at home, as well as when and for what purpose this is done.
General information about the plant, description
The genus Yucca (Yucca) belongs to the Asparagus family (formerly - to the Liliaceae family). Sometimes it is called a false palm. Home-grown yucca is a spectacular ornamental plant with a tall, woody (sometimes branched) trunk, at the end of which impressive leaf caps are concentrated. They are narrow, long, lilac-lanceolate, pointed. Depending on the species, yucca leaves can be green or bluish green, erect or penetrating. In height, some species can grow up tothree meters.
The most common garden species are shrubs with a woody trunk. Yucca blooms (photo can be seen below) with white bell-shaped flowers, but this rarely happens at home, because in order for flower buds to be laid, a long cold winter is needed (the ideal temperature for keeping yucca during the dormant period is no higher than + 10 degrees). Therefore, garden yucca usually blooms, which is grown in the open. It is almost impossible to get fruits-boxes from a plant, since insects are needed for its pollination - endemic to southern latitudes.
The birthplace of the plant is the New World. In the south of the USA, in Central America and Mexico, the conditions for it are ideal. In the countries of southern Europe, and even in our temperate climate, yucca is also often grown outdoors. It is most common as an indoor flower.
Plant species
This plant perfectly enlivens and decorates the landscape of the site. In open ground conditions, two species are usually grown: gray yucca (Glauca Nutt) and filamentous (Filamentosa). They are perennial low evergreen shrubs.
In room conditions, you can most often find giant yucca, or elephant yucca (gigantea or elephantipes), less often - aloe-leaf (aloifolia). The first of them got its name because of the wide thick trunk, resembling an elephant's leg. Under natural conditions, it can grow up to nine meters and have a crown diameter of four to five meters. Leaveselephant yucca (photo can be seen below) - dark green, linear-lanceolate, in nature can grow to a length of more than a meter. The crown of the aloe yucca is more like a ball. This plant is shorter and less powerful. Its 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. Indoor 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, pruning yucca is carried out in order to obtain side shoots. It allows you to achieve branching of the plant.
This procedure is also useful because yucca grows, as mentioned above, very slowly, so large specimens are quite expensive. But, after pruning the yucca, you can get your own planting material suitable for rooting. How to grow a yucca on your own, as well as the nuances of caring for a plant, will be briefly described below.
Preparation, selection of cutting location
When deciding where and how to prune a yucca, you should keep in mind that after this procedure, the thickness of the trunk will forever remain the same as it is now. It won't grow anymore. Therefore, try to imagine in advance how the plant will look in the future. If it hasn't grown tall enough or is too thin, it may be best to delay pruning for a year or even a few years.
When choosing where to cut,take into account the presence of kidneys. If the yucca trunk is up to 5 centimeters thick, two buds are left, if 7-8 - four. Subsequently, a new top with leaves will form from each bud, and the plant will look more lush and attractive.
Yucca should be at least 60-70 centimeters tall. It is undesirable to cut it at a distance of less than 50 centimeters. Preparation for pruning involves abundant watering for several days. Thanks to this, the plant will receive less stress.
What you need
To trim the plant, you need to prepare a sharp knife or garden pruner. The blade of the tool should be disinfected by wiping with sleep to avoid possible rotting of the trunk. You will also need crushed charcoal (activated) charcoal and garden pitch or natural wax.
Timing
Pruning yucca to obtain side 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 April, the yucca begins active growth, 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 dry well, and the yucca begins to branch.
When and how to prune garden yucca? This is also done in early spring, in temperate latitudes - after the snow melts. If the plant has endured wintering well, dry and damaged leaves are removed. They can also be cut back after flowering, along with the peduncle.
What to look out for
Pruning is carried out in one motion. It is impossible to break the trunk, otherwise the growth points on it can be damaged. The cut point must be even. The tool must be sharp, as the trunk of the yucca is quite strong and strong. It is desirable to cut it off with one precise movement.
Processing the cut point
The cut must be dried for two hours. After that, it is sprinkled with a thin layer of crushed charcoal or activated charcoal. Then the cut must be filled with liquid paraffin or treated with garden pitch.
After pruning, the plant should be placed in partial shade. For two months it is watered very carefully, no more than once a week. If the pruning was successful, and the plant tolerated it well, after a few months the yucca begins to branch. New stems appear around the trunk (from two to five). Their number depends on the thickness of the trunk and how many kidneys were left on it.
Pruning to cuttings
Pruning yucca 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 the death of such plants.
Cut off all non-rotted parts of the trunk and branches. They are cut into cuttings 25-35 centimeters long. Places of cuts must be dried for at least two hours, then sprinkled with activated or crushed wood charcoal. Then the cuttings are placed in water or planted in sand. After the advent of youngleaflets or in water - 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 tops with leaves obtained as a result of trimming, as well as cuttings, can be used for rooting. Beforehand, they are given a little tuck in a dark place.
It is very important to use suitable soil for planting. In nature, yucca grows on dry sandy soils. It is very important for the plant that the water does not stagnate and the soil does not turn sour. Therefore, a good layer of drainage (5-7 centimeters) must be placed 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 in the store. Suitable mixture for yucca, dracaena and palm trees. Or you can make it yourself according to one of the following recipes:
- Sod, leaf soil, fine gravel - two parts each, humus - one part.
- Compost, fine gravel (3-4 mm, you can take coarse sand or zeolite), coconut substrate - one part, universal store mix - one part.
Established he althy plants benefit from bright light. But it is advisable to protect yucca from direct sunlight, which can cause leaf burns. For planting garden yucca, choose a well-lit place. It is advisable to take out a houseplant in the summer to a balcony or courtyard, it loves light and fresh air. This is anotherthe reason why it makes sense to trim the yucca (how to do this, we will tell in the article). After all, it is very difficult to move a two-meter plant from place to place. If you see that the yucca is turning yellow, it may not be enough light, and the flower needs to be rearranged.
Watering yucca should be plentiful in the summer, moderate in the dormant period. In general, this plant normally tolerates a lack of moisture. The soil should dry out well before watering. After the top layer has dried, you still need to wait, depending on the age of the plant and the size of the pot, two to four days. Indoor yucca is watered in the warm season once every 8-9 days at a temperature not higher than +22 degrees Celsius, once every 6-7 days at a temperature above +22. During the dormant period at temperatures above 18 degrees Celsius, you need to water the yucca once every two weeks, below - once every 20 - 25 days. Excessive watering is evidenced by the appearance of black midges and the sour smell of the soil. Spraying the leaves of an indoor flower is usually not required, but some flower growers recommend doing this in extreme heat and when the air is too dry.
Feed the plant from April to August with fertilizer for palm trees or decorative foliage plants. They do this every 15-20 days, and not earlier than a month after pruning or transplanting.
In closing
The article described how to prune a yucca, when 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. In the pruning procedure, as in the care of the yucca itself, there is nothingcomplex. This is an unpretentious, but very beautiful plant, and if all the rules of care are followed, it will not be much trouble.
