Removing Cordyline leaves

[Rich]

Hi there,

Does it help to remove the bottom leaves from a young Cordyline even if they're not dead or dying? My theory is that it may then have more energy for growth, but I'm not sure if I'm right.

Cheers

- Rich

[jezza]

I leave them on. There was one down the road from me where they cut the lower half of leaves off, it died.

[Adam D]

Surely if there is some green left in them then they are still capable of producing energy?

I would leave them on. Particularly as it is a young plant.

[Nick]

Hi if you pull the leafs off, the bark that the leaf comes from is very soft and can do untold damage to the very young bark. I myself made that mistake by pulling the dieing leafs off before they were compleatly brown, I would just leave them to go brown and they will soon fall off by there selfs with out any risk to the trunk,
I find that by removeing the leafs your exsposing very soft tender bark etc and it is so young that it will be white in colour, leave it b,

[redsquirrel]

dont they need the leaves for photo synthesizing things. that creates growth so leave them on til they die i reckon.i leave all my palm leaves til totally brown,advice ive adhered to from many palm enthusiasts who know a darn sight more than me

[Nick]

sounds good advice there Darren.

[lisa]

Same advice here, if the leaves are healthy leave them on as they will photosynthesise and make the plant stronger, if you pull them off before they are ready you could leave a wound making the plant open to infection and viruses.

[cordyman]

I see a lot of people cutting the leaves off close to the trunk, leaving just the top tuft. a couple of weeks later the leaves have browned and come off easily. The cordys seem to grow very fast with this technique.

[jezza]

I planted 3 australis in my front garden in february this year. They were 12" high. I have only given them a squirt with the hose pipe this summer on hot days otherwise i've left them alone. They are now 3.5 feet tall!

[Cathy]

I planted 3 australis in my front garden in february this year. They were 12" high. I have only given them a squirt with the hose pipe this summer on hot days otherwise i've left them alone. They are now 3.5 feet tall!

Jezza you are doing well!
From observations rather than personal experience, it seems to me that when planted small, Cordys do much better.
I have tried to move several, after a year or more and they do not seem to like disturbance. If the tap root is severed during a move, it can be a death sentence, albeit a slow fading away.

[DiCasS]

Mine are normally left alone unless they look a mess or as recently done, cut them close to the trunk to let light through to other plants. I normally find that after flowering they just drop off anyway, but tend to hold onto their leaves for longer if they haven't flowered.

Di

[jezza]

Jezza you are doing well!
.

Thanks, you're not so bad yourself

[stephenprudence]

its two edged sword, if you cut them off (not pull), then it can do damage to the plants, if you leave them on then you can induce rot so what do you do?

[Nick]

When mine look tatty and they are hanging down I cut them off but leave 3 inches or so on, then within a fer weeks they go brown and come off real easy with out damaging the trunk..