Question
This story has a story, 30 years ago, while on my honeymoon, my new husband and I purchased a potted Yucca to put in out "first" apartment.  Now, here it is 30 years, 2 kids, 5 moves and 1 divorce later.  The main cane of the Yucca stands about 8 foot tall although the poor thing is bent over.  The good news is that several years ago it managed to produce a baby from the base of the old plant and that one is doing great, it has no cane, just leaves sprouting from the ground around the old cane.  At this time I would like to repot it.  Is it possible to separate the two, should I cut the old cane down and pot the top hoping that it will root...will the left over cane sprout new leaves?  My kids are now grown, I would like each of them to have a part of this plant if possible. What sort of soil should I use? I think that after 30 years I got the watering thing down, it seems to like the schedule I have for watering, although I wonder if I should water a little more often if I want the old top section of the cane to produce roots.  This poor thing has survived so well, I would hate to murder it at this time.  Any good information you could give me would be appreciated.  I am planning on repotting before the weather gets cooler as I need to do it outside because of the size.  We actually have a photo of the plant in the apartment, it was only about 12 inches tall and there was actually 1 cane and one smaller one a the base, somehow we lost one part of it, (I can't remember which part, I was busy raising kids) but the good news is that we sprouted a new part and are back to 2 parts. This poor thing deserves the best I can provide for it, it has been a trouper for years.

Answer
Melana,

First of all where do you live? Has the yucca been indoors or outdoors? Fall is not a good time of year to do the project you want to do. Spring is the best time a year to both repot the yucca and prune it and attempt to propagate the cuttings. You will have a 50% better chance of them rooting in the spring. I highly reccommend you wait until at least March 1st. If you decide you cannot wait let me know and I will give you complete instructions. Also pick up a pot no more than 2 inches larger than the pot it is now in, some sandy cactus soil or regular potting soil and an extra bag of builders sand to add to the potting soil and a bottle of rooting hormone. Also if you can email me a current picture of the yucca I can give you better instructions on cutting it. Send the pictures to [email protected]

Darlene