Cordyline. Cut the top off.

[marshal]

Hi everyone.

I did a little experiment on a small cordyline, cutting off the top to see of it would sprout from the trunk.....well it did. I wanted to do this before I tackled my prize specimin...a 20ft tall single stemmed cordyline. Well last night I cut about 7ft off the top.

My question is this. The part i cut off has a trunk of about 4" diameter. i have trimmed some of the lower leaves giving me a 12" trunk, and planted it into the ground with a bit of general fertiliser. it there any chance at all that the top will root and grow??

it seemed such a shame to chop it up and compost it. i thought it would be worth a go.

[David E. Ross]

Fertilizer in the potting mix will promote rot before it roots. Try rooting it first, in a small container with a mix of half peat moss and half coarse sand and without any fertilizer at all. After it's rooted, then move it to a properly sized container with a mix that contains a light amount of nutrients.

[marshal]

Just to let you know the cordyline that i cut the top off has 8 shoots coming out of the trunk near the top.

The top part that I cut off and planted in the ground has 7 shoots. I did not think it would work, but have been proved wrong.

I stripped off all the leaves so i was left with a 4' log. Placed it in a 12" deep hole. Took 3 weeks for the shoots to appear.

Should have a nice plant in a couple of years.