Yucca or False Palm is a popular plant in home gardening. However, for its normal development, pruning is necessary from time to time. About the rules, terms and other nuances of the procedure - in this article.
Trimming reasons
False palm at home grows slowly and often in one trunk. A long and thin bare trunk with a skirt of leaves at the top looks ridiculous, so the plant needs to be formed.
The need for manipulation also arises with the growth of a side shoot in an inconvenient place, for example, at the surface of the soil, which spoils the appearance of the bush.
Yellowed or dried leaves require removal for sanitary purposes. Wellness manipulation is also needed if the trunk at any stage of growth begins to bend. Such a plant may overturn under the weight of foliage on a crooked trunk.
Optimal timing
The yucca rest period lasts from November to February, during which time it manages to gain strength for further development. Before the active period of vegetation begins, stressful procedures can be performed: pruning, reproduction, transplantation. Dates end February, March.
Did you know? The yucca variety is a raw material for the production of ropes, paper, and also for denim. The properties of palm fibers give the fabric wear resistance.
Rules of procedure at home
Before starting the process, try to imagine the appearance of the plant after the manipulation. Note that after pruning, the palm tree stops the growth of the main trunk, its thickness also remains the same, only newly formed shoots grow. Therefore, they form a plant upon reaching a certain length of 50-70 cm.
Essential tools and preparations
To carry out the manipulation, so as not to be distracted, you need to immediately prepare everything you need:
- sharp knife with a wide blade or secateurs;
- medical alcohol;
- cotton pads;
- Activated carbon;
- beeswax.
Technology
The plant needs preliminary preparation: abundant soil moisture for 2-3 days. The technology is the same in all cases, there are only a few nuances that take into account the purpose of trimming and the shape of the crown.
Sequencing:
- A cotton pad moistened with alcohol wipes the surface of the cutting tool.
- In one directional movement, a cut is carried out.
- With a trunk thickness of up to 5 cm, the slice is carried out above 2 kidneys, more than 5 cm leave 4 kidneys.
- The slice is treated with powdered charcoal and left for 1-2 hours.
- After covering the cut with wax, which prevents the penetration of bacteria.
With multiple trunks
If there are several shoots, pruning is carried out in several steps: on the trunk for a year. Given the slow growth of yucca, they will develop evenly.
Important! If the simultaneous manipulation of all trunks, the plant may die from stress.
Cuttings
Cuttings are carried out in two cases: due to rotting of the trunk or for propagation. If, after wintering, the trunk becomes soft, so as not to lose the flowerpot, the healthy part of the shoot, cut and transplanted into a new container. All slices are processed.
If the remaining part is partially rotten, it is resuscitated by removing the affected area and treating it with a healthy fungicide. For reproduction, they wait until acceptable for dividing into several parts of the trunk length. Cut off the top, other parts and root the resulting cuttings in a new container.
For branched crown
The palm becomes most decorative in the presence of a branched crown of several shoots. After trimming, the tops of the kidneys do not always wake up and bloom symmetrically, as we would like. In order to achieve several lateral stems, the flakes of the trunk above the sleeping buds are smeared with cytokinin paste.
After flowering
Dry flower stalk and yellowed leaves do not add aesthetics, but continue to pull nutrients on themselves. So that the healthy parts of the plant do not lack moisture and nutrition, the dry parts of the plant are removed. Dry foliage, in order to avoid severe exposure of the trunk, is cut off, leaving about 2 cm of petiole.
Winter pruning
Many gardeners are wondering if it is possible to prune a plant in the fall. Autumn procedure is not mandatory, moreover, it is undesirable before the rest period. But in exceptional cases, when the palm is sick and needs to be removed from the affected areas.
Garden Yucca Trimming
In principle, there are no special differences from trimming a room copy. The main difference is that they carry out the procedure twice, as in most garden plants. Frozen, diseased shoots and foliage are removed in spring.
Formative pruning repeats the room yucca procedure, leaving only a larger number of kidneys. Slices are treated with garden varieties or grafting wax.
The tool can be prepared independently:
- Purchase in the pharmacy "Ozokerit" (anti-inflammatory drug).
- Melt in a water bath both substances, taken in equal proportions.
- Knead well.
- The drug is applied to sections as a fungicide.
Important! Remote areas of the plant with the presence of rotten places need to be burned so as not to spread the infection.
For 1-1.5 months before the onset of the first frosts, a yucca is examined and damaged or diseased leaves, dry peduncles are removed. Sections are sanitized. As soon as the sections dry and heal, it is possible to carry out an event to shelter a palm tree for the winter.
Aftercare
The successful outcome of pruning depends on the care of the plant after. The flowerpot is placed in a warm place with a temperature of + 20 ... + 23 ° C. Lighting for about 2 weeks should be dim, for a garden copy you need to come up with a canopy from the sun.
Watering during the first month once a week. Water for irrigation is settled, its temperature corresponds to the air temperature in the room. After the shoots appear, depending on the diameter of the trunk, some part is removed. (A diameter of 5 cm will not withstand the load of more than 3 developing stems.)
Two weeks after pruning, you need to feed the pot: make fertilizer on the sheet. The first top dressing can be wood ash, which also has a fungicidal effect (mixed with water 1: 3). Subsequent feeding before the fall is applied every 3 weeks. Mostly mineral balanced complexes are used for succulents, for example, “Bona Forte”, “Good Strength” (the proportion is halved from that given in the instructions).
A garden plant can be fertilized with organics: an infusion of cow manure diluted with water 1: 20. After rooting, the flower needs bright light, but without direct sunlight. In an arid and hot period, the foliage is sprayed.
Did you know? The Indians of South America ate the flowers and fruits of some varieties of yucca.
Florist recommendations
Beginners in floriculture often make mistakes that lead to sad consequences.
The advice of experienced plant growers will help to avoid them:
- For successful pruning, it is advisable to let the plant grow a trunk diameter of at least 5 cm.
- A street copy is cut off in warm, calm and dry weather.
- More than 5 buds left on a stump can create an overload for yucca.
- For the rest period, the flowerpot is transferred to a cool room up to + 15 ° C.
- Close proximity to operating heating appliances is not allowed.
- When watering, you need to focus on the drying rate of the soil, overflow is disastrous.
- Be sure to disinfect working tools, soil, capacity and cuts of the flower, otherwise the disease can not be avoided.
Video: How to trim a yucca trunk
Yucca is popular both in home floriculture and gardening; it is a frequent decoration of offices and office buildings. One of the simple and inconsequential in growing plants, after proper pruning, will delight the eye with a decorative, lush crown.
