The coolest yucca of all yuccas. Yucca elephantipes, more commonly called the spineless or soft-tipped yucca, is a fast growing member of the agave family. In fact, it can quickly outgrow its original position in the garden.Yucca elephantipes is a small evergreen tree reaching around 9 metres (30') in the wild, but it is usually smaller in cultivation. It develops a thick, branching trunk which is reminiscent of an elephant's foot at the base. From summer to autumn it produces white, bell-shaped flowers in large panicles. The spineless yucca is adaptable to a wide range of climates and conditions and is drought, salt and frost tolerant. It can be grown indoors as an architectural pot plant, or outdoors as a landscaping plant. It is suitable for modern, Santa Fe or Mediterranean style houses and landscapes.
I grow it everywhere there is a "hole". These plants grow very fast, are trainable and reproduce like rabbits, well at least 3 offshoots per year, per plant.
Yucca cuttings can be taken almost anytime of the year.
First, tidy up the clump by stripping the lower leaves off the stems. Stripping the leaves will also prevent the cutting from losing its moisture before the roots grow. Take your cutting from a mature stem, with brown bark underneath the stripped section. If the bark is cream-coloured, rotting may occur. The cutting can be taken from any part of the stem. The thickness and length of the stem doesn’t matter. The foliage at the tip of the cutting does not need pruning. Allow the stem to dry out for a few days to a week in a shady spot. After drying out, put the cane in an appropriate-sized pot filled with a free-draining mix. Keep the pot moist and store in a shady spot with plenty of light. (Tip: make sure you tie the cutting to something after it is potted, as it may fall over in the wind.) Roots should form in about two to four weeks. Do not re-pot until you see roots in the drainage holes of the pots.
First, tidy up the clump by stripping the lower leaves off the stems. Stripping the leaves will also prevent the cutting from losing its moisture before the roots grow. Take your cutting from a mature stem, with brown bark underneath the stripped section. If the bark is cream-coloured, rotting may occur. The cutting can be taken from any part of the stem. The thickness and length of the stem doesn’t matter. The foliage at the tip of the cutting does not need pruning. Allow the stem to dry out for a few days to a week in a shady spot. After drying out, put the cane in an appropriate-sized pot filled with a free-draining mix. Keep the pot moist and store in a shady spot with plenty of light. (Tip: make sure you tie the cutting to something after it is potted, as it may fall over in the wind.) Roots should form in about two to four weeks. Do not re-pot until you see roots in the drainage holes of the pots.
Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI've been searching everywhere to find correct instructions for harvesting Yucca offshoots and creating new plants. I have a wonderful Yucca that has just begun to bear offshoots everywhere along the lower trunk.
I am in New York and strictly an indoor gardener. Is there anything else I should know?
Thank you.
Gary Schaut
gary.schaut@gmail.com
The best way to propagate yucca cuttings is to cut them straight from the branch it's coming from (cut close to the mother plant) . That will insure that there is enough room for root growth on the stem. Besides the technique on the blog, you can also water root them (more suitable for indoors) Just stick them in a cup of water (room temp). Be sure to change the water often as this is a tropical plant and they tend to smell the water up pretty bad. other thank that...thats it :) Good luck. Let me know how it worked :)
ReplyDelete