Question
QUESTION: I have an Ikea bought cane Yucca plant like Chini has with a tall and short trunks.  It's been 5 or 6 years and has been virtually care free.  A couple of years ago a plantlet/side shoot dropped off and I tried to stick it in soil to propagate it without success.  I'm trying again as the top shoots have grown very tall with about a foot of stems and long droopy leaves.  My question is what's the best way to propagate these shoots.  A week ago I've taken a shoot with air root/bumps and stuck it in water, today I potted it in Sphagnum moss after seeing water roots between an inch or 2 long.  I've also removed the bottom leaves and trimmed the top leaves in half.  I have a 2nd candidate to try too but I'm not sure if I need to do anything special or if the roots will survive the transitional shock from water to soil.  I'm also wondering if cane/stem cuttings on this plant will trigger new shoots to grow down below like back budding or if it'll stay bald.  Too many questions. . . Thanks.

ANSWER: Peter,

Go to a garden center like at Lowes or Home Depot and pick up a bottle of Rooting Hormone. Removing the bottom leaves was the right thing to do. On the next one do not trim the top leaves in half, they will not grow back to full length. Take the first one out of the moist spaghmum and dip it in rooting hormone then insert it in a fresh pot of potting soil in the pot you want it to grow in. Then take the 2nd cutting off the plant and dip it in rooting hormone then insert it in a fresh pot of potting soil in the pot beside the first.  Yes, cutting the top off the plants will trigger new shoots to grow down below like back budding. In fact it will trigger several new shoots to grow and you will have to choose which to keep and which to pinch off. I do not reccommend keeping more than 3 per stalk and make sure they are coming off the stalk at different locations. It was not too many questions. If you have more write again. You have a 75% chance that your cuttings will root with the rooting hormone. It may take a month. I have owned a yucca for 30 years and love it. Good luck.

Darlene

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QUESTION: Darlene,

Thank you for your reply, now I'm much more confidant.  I still wonder what's a better soil to use for the cuttings?  The mix I potted the water-rooted one in is called the Sphagnum peat moss, not sphagnum moss as I want to avoid root rot.  I have used rooting hormone on Dracaena Marginata cuttings into some moisture controlled soil and it died, as well as cuttings that are air-layered with inch long roots, although I'm pretty sure it was too little roots to support the top heavy stem and leaves the whole thing rotted away in a couple weeks after I potted it without removing the sphagnum moss around the roots.  Now with this Yucca cane cutting, how about the amount of water to give the soil?  Should it sit deep into the pot and would it require a bag over the pot like with smaller cuttings?  How much light should it get initially?  I live in central NJ and the air inside the house is very humid this time of summer.  Thanks for all your tips.

Answer
Peter,

A yucca is a desert plant so do not put a plastic bag over it, too much humidity will promote rotting. Also don't use moisture controlled soil it will hold too much water. In fact just use plain cheap potting soil and mix 2 part of soil with 1 part of builders sand and you will have the perfect mix for a yucca. or a marginata for that matter. You have to be very careful with moisture controlled soil as it will keep plants too wet and more plants are killed by too much water than by too little. Indoors it should get as much light as possible. I keep mine in front of an east facing french door with no drapes so it gets full sun all morning. The air is humid here in Indiana too. That is fine as long as you let the plant dry out totally between waterings. Good luck.

Darlene