If you are wanting to promote new growth on your yucca plant and make it look bushier, or you are just wanting your yucca plant to grow more branches so you can propagate your yucca plant, follow the steps below which will explain how to encourage the yucca plant to grow more shoots and branches.
To encourage more branches to grow from your yucca plant, you simply cut the top off an existing yucca branch. It will then put out shoots just below where you cut the yucca plant.
Watch my video below or read my how-to guide below that to learn more.
How to Make Yucca Plant Branch Out In 5 Easy Steps
This whole process to start growing some additional shoots on your yucca plant can take anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks. Follow the steps below and good luck.
How to get your yucca plant to shoot off extra branches
For extra branches to grow 28 days
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Prepare Your Work Area
You will need your yucca plant and a pruning saw. I’d recommend you also wear safety gloves (to protect your hands from the saw and sharp tips of the yucca plant), and safety glasses (so your eyes don’t get poked by the pointed yucca leaves)
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Cut Your Yucca Plant
Using your pruning saw, cut the yucca branch off. Where you cut the branch is most likely where the new yucca shoots will appear, so think about where you want that to occur.
If you want shoots coming from out of the ground then cut low on the branch, if you want the shoots to come out high then cut near the top of the yucca plant.
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Position Your Pot
Move the yucca plant (if possible) somewhere it won’t get direct sunlight all day. With no leaves, there is a (very small) chance that the yucca plant could dry up and die. If you can’t don’t worry, it’s very unlikely that your yucca stub will dry up and die.
Water the yucca plant lightly every 2 to 3 days to prevent it from drying up. I water both the soil and the stem of the yucca plant lightly.
Optional: If you want you can also plant the yucca branch that was cut off into a pot or the ground which is a great way to propagate and multiply your home’s garden plants, or you can try and sell it on Gumtree or Facebook Marketplace or give it away as a gift to a friend.
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Extra Branch Growth
After 4 to 6 weeks (depending on your climate and other local conditions) you will start to see some shoots coming up near where the yucca plant was cut.
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Growth Progress
This photo is only two days after the photo taken in step 4. Yucca’s can grow fast!
Supply:
- Yucca plant
- Grow pot
- Potting mix
Tools:
- Pruning saw
- Safety gloves
- Safety glasses
Yucca Extra Branch Growth Rate
Here is the same yucca plant after 10 weeks of growth. You can see that yuccas are one of the toughest plants out there, they are so easy to grow and make a great feature for almost any type of garden.
FAQs
How Do You Cut a Yucca Trunk?
Almost any type of saw will be able to cut a yucca branch. I use a pruning saw for most branch cutting that isn’t big enough to need a chainsaw.
What Happens when You Cut the Top Off a Yucca?
When you cut the top of a yucca off, the yucca will start to grow some additional shoots. It can put out anywhere from just a couple of shoots to over 10 shoots.
Do Yucca Branches Grow Back?
When a yucca branch is cut off, in most cases, it will grow new shoots to replace the branch that was cut off. You will likely end up with more shoots than you had before you cut it off.
Why Would You Want to Cut the Top Off Your Yucca Plant?
If your yucca plant is getting too tall and needs to be pruned back, then this is the kind of situation in which you would need to cut the top off your yucca plant. Or if you want to propagate your yucca, cutting the top off is an easy way to get a cutting to plant.
How Do You Promote New Growth a Yucca Plant?
To encourage your yucca plant to grow new branches, you can cut the top off the yucca branch. The plant should put out additional shoots to replace the missing branch.
Read the guide above to learn more about properly encouraging new growth on your yucca plant.