what's wrong with these plants - jade and yucca

[lost_almost]

The jade is growing lopsided and the yucca was given to me in this state. What am I doing wrong and how can I fix it?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/meandering_icon/LJpics/jadeplant.jpg

beginning gardener, houseplants

Comments

[moropus]

No plant over 3 feet high should be in a pot that small. I've grown yucca outside and they are impossible to kill. Repot it and get it a stake to support it, maybe. I've had yucca outside and when they got tall and spindly, I cut them down to the ground so they would come back bushy because I like them to look that way. I don't know it that would be a good idea here or not.

I'm not sure anything is wrong with the jade. My friend has some and they grow in all kinds of crazy shapes.

[low_delta]

I cut them down to the ground so they would come back bushy

Do you think she could aldo replant the cut-off plant also? Seems like it would root. Having recently bought a similar plant at a big box store, and repotting said plant, I've seen what they look like under the dirt.

It appears this yucca has been growing towards light. I recommend always turning potted plants, so they grow relatively straight.

Also, aside from whatever problem these jades are having, it helps jades grow bushy, if you pinch them off.

[eanja]

I know nothing about yucca, though it definitely looks like it needs a bigger pot, if only so it doesn't tip over, but the jade might be overwatered. If you water them more than once a month or so, they will often grow so quickly they can't hold up their own weight, which looks like what's happening here. If you can still stake those stems up to something approximating vertical, they may eventually thicken to where they stand up. Otherwise, the option is to cut them back and let the plant grow new shoots that hopefully don't fall over (you could then replant the cut off bits, if you want.)

[rhiannon_s]

Seconding what everyone else said on the Yucca, needs a much bigger pot. It'll come good though.

The jade, I reckon it isn't getting enough light. It doesn't like too much really hot direct sunlight in mid-summer, true, but it does need to be in a really bright room otherwise. And if you are in a more northerly latitude, direct sunshine in winter, spring and fall won't hurt it at all.

[virginiadear]

That jade plant is just growing out straight. Pinching out the growing tips will force it to put its growth efforts elsewhere, such as in making branches.

The rule of thumb for houseplants is that the plant needs to be no taller than 2.5 to 3 times the diameter of the pot (across the top of the pot. If the container is square, measure from one corner to the diagonally opposite corner.) Your yucca looks not only as if it's been overlong in its present home, but as if it might enjoy more direct light. (Do you have a patio or a balcony?)
Do you know how to air-layer a plant? It's a method of propagation, but it will also make your yucca (or yuccas, since you'll end up with more than one) more manageable.

First: Gather together all the things you'll need: a very sharp knife; rubbing alcohol; long-hair sphagnum moss; extra long twist ties; clear plastic cling wrap (the same plastic cling wrap you use in the kitchen) or some other clear plastic sheeting; a container of clean water

[meermondliebe]

Yucca does need more space to grow. They need the space for their spiny leaves to sprout out and grow.