Question
I have a 12' or so tall, what I call a palm tree that is growing taller and taller. It is in a 14" high by 17" wide pot.  Is there a way to cut down the plant to where the stock/trunk will begin to grow again? And the part that is cut off, can it be put in water to root or into rooting soil?  I have had this tree/plant for 28 years.  It came in an arrangement from my fathers funeral and the plant was only 3 to 4 inches tall.  I don't want to do anything that will kill it and I really don't want to cut a hole in the roof to let it keep growing.  I seem to do okay with my plants so any suggestions to try to keep it smaller, would sure be appreciated.
Thanks,
Barbara

Answer
Barbara,

If you cannot send me a picture go to Google.co and put in yucca then click on images and see if what comes up is pictures of your plant. That will tell you if you have a yucca. If it is not then put in dracaena marginata and click on images and see if what comes up is pictures of your plant. Let me know which is your plant and I will tell you some pointers that will help it root better. Good luck.

Darlene

Barbara,

You can do exactly what you want to do but you cannot do it until after April 1st when the days are longer and the cutting will root much better. The parent plant will also not go into shock nearly as much. I do reccomend that you email me a picture so I can tell you what kind of plant it is and the best way to root it. It will be soil and not water but how often you should water while it is rooting depends on what it is. Also how much light it needs depends on what it is.

How large a plant gets depends on how large a pot it is in. I   recommend that you root prune and move the parent plant to a smaller pot so that it doesn't get so huge again. Or you can root the part that you cut off in the same pot with the parent and have 2 plants in one pot making a much more attractive plant and making both plants more root bound so neither will grow so large. When it is in such a large pot it will keep overgrowing your home unless you roo prune or add a second plant.  When you cut off the top section of the plant remove the leaves off the lower 20% of the stem, dip the cut end in rooting hormone and insert it in soil, either in the pot with the original plant or in a separate pot.

As I said, if you send me a picture I will tell you what your plant is. Good luck.

Darlene