Advice on Giant Yucca control please!

[Julie A]

I live an annexe with an old orangery and a Giant Yucca which was inherited by the owners of the house the annexe is attached to. The orangery is a great environment for growing succulents and the Yucca provides much appreciated shade for me and my succulents in hot weather. When I arrived 3 yrs ago it already needed repotting in my landlady's opinion but we haven't attempted it. The soil is like concrete and the plastic pot mis-shapened so I reckon she is right. As you can see it is huge but also it is flipping lethal! If it isn't attempting to give you a serious eye injury it is giving you nasty 'papercut' type injuries. Despite this unfriendly behaviour, I have fed, watered it and spent hours ridding it of scale bug (diagnosed on this very forum - thank you). There are two problems really 1. It continues to grow and has nowhere to go. 2. It is becoming more yellow each year. The photo doesn't show it well but the new growth is green but the mature leaves are becoming more yellow.

What would people advise by way of management? Can it be 'pruned'? The growth near the base is all new. What will happen if it isn't repotted? Thank you.

[StevenT]

If it's not repotted it will gradually become less and less healthy.

So I would :
Saw off the tall stems and discard them.
Then put it into a larger pot (maybe you will will need to cut the old pot off with a Stanley knife or similar - a mallet can be useful to tap the knife downwards to cut the pot.) A new pot with less taper towards the base would be more stable.
Use a mix of 2 parts John Innes and 1 part perlite (to reduce the overall weight).
Feed it well and regularly with a balanced feed.
Repeat in future when necessary.

Good growing!

Steven

[Julie A]

Super helpful, Steven, thank you!

[Stuart]

It should come out of the pot quite easily, either lift the plant by the stems and have someone hit the pot downwards with a hammer or lay the plant on its side and hit the pot away from the plant. It's quite normal for the older leaves to turn yellow before they drop. All the bare stems would have had leaves at some time which would have started green then turned yellow as they age. Each rosette can cony support a certain amount of leaves. I'd only cut back any of the stems that are going to hit the glass, after all the work you've done on it it would be a shame to cut it back too far. The stems that you cut off will root easily though slowly, they can be cut back to a short leafy rosette to root which would look better than a long bare stem. Repotting won't be too difficult.
Stuart

[Chez2]

It should come out of the pot quite easily, either lift the plant by the stems and have someone hit the pot downwards with a hammer or lay the plant on its side and hit the pot away from the plant. It's quite normal for the older leaves to turn yellow before they drop. All the bare stems would have had leaves at some time which would have started green then turned yellow as they age. Each rosette can cony support a certain amount of leaves. I'd only cut back any of the stems that are going to hit the glass, after all the work you've done on it it would be a shame to cut it back too far. The stems that you cut off will root easily though slowly, they can be cut back to a short leafy rosette to root which would look better than a long bare stem. Repotting won't be too difficult.
Stuart

Won't it come back from the top of the stem Stuart? I ask as I was given a house plant yucca in the early 1990s. Every few years when it got to four or five foot I cut the top growth off, rooted that and it started shooting from the top again. I had been doing this for over twenty five years but the last time I did it I cut it right down to the bare stump because a shoot came from below the soil not the top of the trunk.

[Ali Baba]

If a high proportion of the leaves on each rosette are yellow, then that suggests a lack of nutrients, which is not surprising given the relatively small pot. Regular liquid feeds will help (even if you repot it).

[Julie A]

Thanks so much for all the info. Really appreciate it. I'm a bit confused though. Can I clarify? Sorry hope I'm not being too dense. A rosette is a growing tip I guess? So in terms of pruning I can:
1. Cut off and discard the tall stems and wait for the plant to come again from where is was cut. Also the lower rosettes will continue to grow no doubt. Or...
2. Root the cut off pieces and also keep or discard the remaining plant. If I root the cut off pieces (cut fairly close to the rosette, if I understood correctly) will they just form a single stem or would they eventually send off side shoots.

The yellow leaves I am referring to, is not the yellow of the lower ones dying off, it is just a rather sallow apperance overall, increasingly over the last couple of years. It's not a happy bunny, me thinks. Not surprisingly!

One more thought. Would it cope planted out in the garden? There is another one in the garden - looks the same to me anyway. Doesn't do as well as this one in terms of growth and loses quite a few leaves each winter. Just wondering about rooting cuttings and planting the big fella out??

Thank you.

[Stuart]

Yes, you're correct with 1. and 2. It looks like the 'florists yucca' Yucca Elephantipes so won't be hardy outdoors. Yuccas don't normally branch until they flower when the flowering rosette dies after flowering and it branches from the stem below the flowering rosette.
Stuart

[Julie A]

Interesting. Thank you Stuart, for all your help.