Digging Yucca Filamentosa

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 5:44 pm

Ive decided that I have to move my Y filamentosa. I planted it before I expanded the bed a good 4 feet, so its too shaded.

Im aware of the fact that they have huge tap roots. The question is, how deep is deep enough to ensure that I wont kill it in the move?

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 6:00 pm

Move a Yucca? Your in trouble.

Moving is easy.....dig it up and plant it into the new location. Roots of filamentosa typically don't go down more the 1 foot. The part which people hate is that you'll have 10 new plants come up where the mother plant was. Filamentosa roots go more horizontal than vertical......they are like narrow potatoes.

Here's a tall trunked Y. gloriosa form I dug up and the roots are not all that large.........but I got many new babies!
<img src=http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/ ... f48233.jpg>

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 6:02 pm

Ah thats good then. Im sure i wont have to worry about too many babies popping up. The problem with the spot is not enough light, and too much water in spring.

Thanks for the advice

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 9:30 pm

10 new plants come up where the mother plant was.

Or still is...That's the truth, anybody want 10 of mine?

My neighbor tried digging her 20 year old y.filamentosas...she gave up.
Said it was like trying to cut through stumps below the ground.
Must've had lots of horizontal hard roots in her very dry field.

I had a similar experience and quit, had no idea to just keep going a little bit more.
Even tried a crowbar and the bugger still wouldn't come out.
So left it there.

Barb

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Tue Jan 08, 2013 4:25 am

I'd probably place a piece of 4 x 8 plywood over the Yucca roots to kill it........no light = no food.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Jan 08, 2013 7:32 am

plywood over the Yucca roots to kill it........no light = no food

Light penetrates soil/rocks in the ground?

Interesting, Tim.

Barb

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Tue Jan 08, 2013 12:58 pm

Barb, the Yucca roots will send up new shoots............if they don't get light they will die along with the roots.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Jan 08, 2013 5:36 pm

Grasshopper finally got it, thanks Tim.

Barb

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Tue Jan 08, 2013 5:58 pm

Ever since i found out about Gloriosa ive loved them. Dunno why..

Thanks for the advice again. Ill use the post hole digger. Only thing that wont go through are hard rocks.

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Tue Jan 08, 2013 6:27 pm

Hi Jesse,

keep in mind the west coast of the USA call Y. elephantipes = Y. gloriosa.........not sure why. The true gloriosa does not look like Y. elephantipes. Y. gloriosa will not be hardy in your area unless you protect it. Even I am pushing the limits..........never see them in our area. They may be a zone 5b or 6a plant when planted in a supermicroclimate or planted in very dry locations......like out west. Aaron will tell us soon since he is zone 5b and has a few gloriosas.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Tue Jan 08, 2013 6:30 pm

Y guatamalensis used to be Elephantipes.

So wait.... when you say that seedling looks like guatamalensis, youre saying it looks like gloriosa, not "spanish dagger", the common houseplant?

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Tue Jan 08, 2013 6:40 pm

Hi Jesse

I misunderstood you when you said you had a Y. guatamalensis.........I thought you germinated it from seed...............then I thought your wide leaf Yucca could be another Y. guatamalensis. The true gloriosa is a different plant from elephantipes/guatamalensis. I've never seen such wide leaf gloriosa seedlings.........but under low light conditions Y. gloriosa may get wider leaves? I'm not sure what your seedling is.........if it's a Yucca I would have guessed a Yucca native to Mexico not the USA.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Tue Jan 08, 2013 7:52 pm

Only you would know the parentage of this seed......

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Wed Jan 09, 2013 9:10 am

The farthest north I have seen Gloriosa is at the St.Louis zoo-
did not know they could make it there-tried an Aloifolia in StL
when I was a teenager....didn't work-didn't know what I was doing...

StL zoo.

<a href="http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... rip101.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... rip101.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... rip103.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... rip103.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Fri Jan 11, 2013 8:10 am

Jim, Good looking yucca.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Fri Jan 11, 2013 8:21 am

Would have loved to jump the fence and dug out the shoot in pic #1 but I don't think they would have liked that!

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Fri Jan 11, 2013 11:32 am

hardyjim wrote:Would have loved to jump the fence and dug out the shoot in pic #1 but I don't think they would have liked that!

I know how you feel, I would have wanted too do the same.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Fri Jan 11, 2013 12:14 pm

Did you ask? You wont know till you ask!

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Fri Jan 11, 2013 2:05 pm

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Fri Jan 11, 2013 4:37 pm

Ah, those pics felt good.

Barb

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 6:04 am

lucky1 wrote:Ah, those pics felt good.

Barb

I agree.

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 8:29 am

yes......nice photos..........I want summer NOW!

regarding northern gloriosas...........Jim and Aaron have a few.........you guys are in good testing areas since your really pushing the limits. We'll see what happens in a few years.

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 8:38 am

I left my small potted gloriosa variegata in unheated GH. It looks OK so far.

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 9:47 am

igor.glukhovtsev wrote:I left my small potted gloriosa variegata in unheated GH. It looks OK so far.

I've had gloriosa variegata for years uncovered outside and has no problems here. But it is almost a different plant than the other Y.
gloriosa.

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 10:01 am

DesertZone wrote:But it is almost a different plant than the other Y. gloriosa.

Do you mean a natural form is less hardy than a variegated one?

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 11:15 am

igor.glukhovtsev wrote:
DesertZone wrote:But it is almost a different plant than the other Y. gloriosa.
Do you mean a natural form is less hardy than a variegated one?

They are very hardy, but they also look much different than other gloriosa's I've seen. The leave are very stiff on varigated ones, to me they just don't grow the same as others I have seen.

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 1:25 pm

Yucca gloriosa variegata is the only gloriosa form to die back to the ground on me except for the forms I no longer grow.

Looking good in 2008
<img src=http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/ ... t236-1.jpg>

Fried after the 08-09 winter.......Y. schottii died to the ground that winter too.
<img src=http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/ ... 2510-2.jpg>

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 5:00 pm

Aw, that was a nice gloriosa.

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 6:23 pm

TimMAz6 wrote:Yucca gloriosa variegata is the only gloriosa form to die back to the ground on me except for the forms I no longer grow.

Tim, that was one nice looking gloriosa! Too bad it died back to the ground.

I had 2 die back to the ground here as well, but only after they bloomed. I have never had any trouble over wintering them otherwise. The flowers came late in the season so maybe it drain the plants energy for the winter?

My freind in TwinFalls ID, his also died after it bloomed then came back from the roots. I think the next time mine tries to bloom I'm going to cut the flower stock out.

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 8:55 pm

Funny that no other gloriosa or recurvifolia has died on me after blooming. I have loads of different forms. That 08-09 winter for us was hard as my Y. schottii's died too. I had a schottii survive the 4 seasons prior and it died in 08-09 so I'm not sure what's killing the gloriosa varigata. Perhaps it has too many aloifolia genes in it?? They have more 'succulent' leaves than other gloriosas..........likely a 'non-hardy' form.

PS, I dug up all those Y. gloriosa variegata pups this summer and tossed them........only have a few roots hanging around. They form too many brown spots on the leaves to enjoy them. I need space for all the hybrids out there! This summer I crossed a Yucca 'gloriosa x flaccida' x ['constricta x filamentosa' x 'filamentosa x elata'].........boy talk about a lot of genes.

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 9:25 pm

TimMAz6 wrote: Funny that no other gloriosa or recurvifolia has died on me after blooming. I have loads of different forms. That 08-09 winter for us was hard as my Y. schottii's died too. I had a schottii survive the 4 seasons prior and it died in 08-09 so I'm not sure what's killing the gloriosa varigata. Perhaps it has too many aloifolia genes in it?? They have more 'succulent' leaves than other gloriosas..........likely a 'non-hardy' form.

PS, I dug up all those Y. gloriosa variegata pups this summer and tossed them........only have a few roots hanging around. They form too many brown spots on the leaves to enjoy them. I need space for all the hybrids out there! This summer I crossed a Yucca 'gloriosa x flaccida' x ['constricta x filamentosa' x 'filamentosa x elata'].........boy talk about a lot of genes.

That new Yucca cross will be interesting!

Could have been the winter cold. Too bad they don't do good there.
Both of mine bloomed in like late Oct and atleast one in November. Strange to see a yucca bloom in the snow.

Same thing happened to one LaMar had, bloomed around Thanksgiving.

This is the second bunch of suckers, left after the second one bloomed and died.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 9:55 pm

That new Yucca cross will be interesting!

Yes it will.
Tim's going to need a 5-foot long label for the pot.

Aaron, those suckers look good.
Very natural looking.

Maybe the trick is to try and protect all the suckers with one cover over a winter.
When there are more and more growing closely, they'll survive harsh winters.
If only they'd bloom earlier in the year.

Barb

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Sun Jan 13, 2013 4:52 am

Im assuming the filamentosa and elata genes are for hardiness, and gloriosa is for a trunk. Whats the constricta and flaccida crossed in there for?

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Sun Jan 13, 2013 7:18 am

Hi Barb............I think our excess moisture lowers the hardiness of the south west plants. Yuccas typically loose 1 zone of hardiness in our area compared to western conditions. It also could be the fact that south west plants are less happy growing in our climate (less sun, etc...) and are not as strong going into winter; therefore, die at lower temps.

Jesse.............I hybridize what ever is blooming! Yucca constricta genes give tall blooms like this Yucca constricta x filamentosa. I love the large gap between the top of the leaves and the bottom of the bloom......great hybrid Yucca.

Sorry but the bloom wasn't open yet but you can see how tall it is............over 10' tall (3.1m). Nice for a 'small' Yucca.
<img src=http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/ ... AM0239.jpg>

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sun Jan 13, 2013 8:42 am

Yuccas typically loose 1 zone of hardiness in our area compared to western conditions.

Brutal cold versus too much rain is quite the trade-off.

Always love seeing that pic, Tim.
Spectacular "gap".