Day of the Triffids ...

[Nelly Gay]

Have any members of LPSG had problems with houseplants such as Monstera and Yucca literally taking over ?
The healthy specimen in a 6" pot grows into a ceiling-skimming 12ft monster filling rooms and needing a dentist's waiting room or hospital waiting room to continue their growth spate ...
There were even magazine adverts looking for good homes for errant Cheese Plants with "forty leaves". Free to collector".

 

[Pecker]

Send them to me. They'll die no matter how hard I try to make them happy.

 

[joyboytoy79]

Monstera is notorious for taking over – if you let it. The best thing to do is trim it back every couple of months. The cuttings can be rooted and given to friends, or simply tossed (although that would be a waste). What kind of “Yucca” are you referring to? “Yucca” is a common name for about 30 different species, from across genera. (btw, I’m a Botany major, if ye hadn’t guessed it)

 

[Mulebear]

(btw, I’m a Botany major, if ye hadn’t guessed it)

Cool. My partner has written several books on euphorbias (now out of print). He's constantly bringing home all kinds of oddball plants. Can you guess what kind of plants these two are.

Plants

Yes, that's me with the plants.

 

[AlteredEgo]

Monstera is notorious for taking over – if you let it. The best thing to do is trim it back every couple of months. The cuttings can be rooted and given to friends, or simply tossed (although that would be a waste). What kind of “Yucca” are you referring to? “Yucca” is a common name for about 30 different species, from across genera. (btw, I’m a Botany major, if ye hadn’t guessed it)

Mmmm. You are nerdtacular darling. Very sexy. I hope you take this as a compliment, even coming from a flaming het.

 

[Aloha!]

Botany...bleh...you gotta come over to the quantum side! Tonnes of cooler stuff...like, for instance, did you know that if you're leaning on a wall you might "leak" through? There's an infinitely small chance that you'd "leak" to the other side of the wall...That's cooler than plants...ok...I think it is

 

[Nelly Gay]

Monstera is notorious for taking over – if you let it. The best thing to do is trim it back every couple of months. The cuttings can be rooted and given to friends, or simply tossed (although that would be a waste). What kind of “Yucca” are you referring to? “Yucca” is a common name for about 30 different species, from across genera. (btw, I’m a Botany major, if ye hadn’t guessed it)

Yucca elephantides... is the monster in question .

 

[Nelly Gay]

Send them to me. They'll die no matter how hard I try to make them happy.

Nobody can kill a Yucca !
I have seen them happily growing away in a corner of a closed-down Greek restaurent ; unwatered for months .
My own Yucca has survived outside seven London winters....
When an atomic bomb falls the only things that will survive will be Yuccas, cockroaches and (of course) Cher .

 

[joyboytoy79]

Yucca elephantides... is the monster in question .

I assume you mean Yucca elephantipes (which has recently been renamed Yucca guatemalensis). The common name is Spineless Yucca, as it lacks sharp terminal spines on the leaves. Like a Monstera, the Spineless Yucca can be pruned back to keep it in size. You will likely only need to prune it every year or so. To prune, simply cut off the growing tip about 1 foot (or more) below the oldest living leaf. Also like Monstera, Spineless Yucca is easy to root and give to friends. After a prune, it will take 3 or 4 weeks for a new sprout to emerge, usually from just below the cut. Sometimes multiple sprouts will occur, resulting in a branched specimen. If you prune the branch too far up, the new sprout will be spindly. If you prune above a living leaf, the new sprout will take quite some time to emerge, sometimes more than a year.

Hope that answers your question!

 

[joyboytoy79]

Mmmm. You are nerdtacular darling. Very sexy. I hope you take this as a compliment, even coming from a flaming het.

Awww! *smooches* It's even MORE of a compliment coming from a flaming het! *blushes*