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I'm planning on pruning back a very tall yucca houseplant, shown below. Since it is so tall it seems like I have some options about how I could cut it to potentially to propagate it to several additional plants ... maybe?

The red lines on the photo are just a tentative cutting plan which this question addresses.

It seems pretty clear that the bottom portion (section 5) will survive this pruning just fine. It will keep all the leaves in the lower section. (Visible here).

From reading around the subject online I think I can replant the top section (labelled 1) and it can grown into a new plant. There seem to be plenty of examples of this.

But what about the proposed middle sections 2, 3, 4? None of these have any living leaves on them, they are just long sections of woody stem. If I were to cut the stem more-or-less as indicated and plant these is it possible they would grown into new plants?

Given the lack of leaves is there rooting hormone or fertilizer or specific soil conditions to aim for to make the propagations more likely to succeed?

All the examples I've seen online so far have dealt only with sections like 1 or 5... didn't see any examples of just using woody stems.

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Numbers 2 to 4 can be put in soil immediately, these canes will form roots in a few weeks. But be sure to put the right side up!

New shoots will appear after weeks to months. You can stimulate to get more shoots by putting it outdoors. Sun and rain will stimulate to grow more shoots.

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  • I didn't think to mention our climate in the Q; I live in NY State (USA) which is temperate and even in the summer can be cold (not freezing). Jun 6, 2021 at 12:21
  • I think they will be fine outside in summer (mine are outdoors now in the Netherlands), it is just to stimulate the plant to have more shoots. When frost comes back, of course get them back inside. You can also keep them indoors, but the chance is high that you'll only get one shoot. See my old question.
    – benn
    Jun 6, 2021 at 12:48

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