Help! Yucca drooping/ falling...Is it dying??

[Planterella]

Hi All,

HELP. What can i do? I have a 3-year old Yucca elephantipes. Super top-heavy, stalks are all drooping & won't stand upright. The trunk has always been short. The leaves look healthy, and I can see a new shoot coming out of the short cane. He's always been quite happy in a south-facing window (although it's been cold/darker in winter)

He's gone down rapidly last 2 days, because I had untangled, pruned the roots a bit, then changed all of the soil (to Cactus/succulent soil, for better drainage). I could not see any root rot, but the old soil was overly impacted & way too wet. I wanted to let him dry out a bit, so I have not watered in 2 days.

I think he's in shock , but do I need to prop him up somehow? Should i water him a bit? Or do I need to cut off & propagate one of the stalks (I've never done that) THANK YOU!!

 

[Logan]

Hello and welcome to GF
I think that it's in shock, if you've disturbed the roots. It would have been better just to repot it in a slightly bigger pot. Give it a bit of water just to settle the roots in.

 

[Planterella]

Thank you for the quick reply. I'm so mad at myself..... ! It had looked a bit droopy for awhile (and i know Yucca leaves typically stick upright), and we are moving soon. So I decided it was time to change the soil, trim roots, etc. I'm afraid I killed it.

The cane/trunk is so short (compared to all of the long stalks branching out). I have it propped up because if not, all the stalks will break. Ugh, I'm really worried if it keeps declining I'll have to take stalks off & try to propagate separately.

I have him propped up in the sink, because it just falls & tips over.

 

[Logan]

I don't know much about house plants but if you do cut the stalks off cut them above a leaf then it could recover, if it doesn't have to support all the leaves it might have a chance.

 

[Planterella]

Would you cut an entire stalk off where it meets the actual trunk, or break halfway.... or just a leaf? And then, try to put in dirt? Or a cup of water?

(Sorry, I've literally never propagated any kind of plant, and I know Yuccas are often sawed off at bottom, versus other leafy plants where you can just pull off a small stem & put into a glass)

Or perhaps you meant that I should just remove/discard some of the upper/outward weight in stalk, so that the trunk would be supporting less? Yikes, that sounds like chopping his arms off!

 

[Logan]

Here's a video that will help with propergation you could take the whole stems off the trunk and put them in water like in the video.

 

[Planterella]

Thanks. I didn't realize that over time, Yucca's need to be "stripped" of the under-growth leaves. In order to focus on the new growth of the plant.

I've gone ahead & propped him up with a stake, tied up, and stripped off some of the lower leaves on the 3 stalks. I'll see how things go, perhaps when it's sunnier out, I will cut off the stalks & propagate those. Gets a bit unruly for a houseplant to be growing out in 3 different directions!

I did notice, at the bottom of one of the outward growing trunks/stalks it feels a bit "mushy" Hopefully, it will dry out?

 

[Logan]

If the trunk or stems feels mushy it's rotting.