Hardy Tropicals UK

I need some help regarding our Cordyline Australis. We were given these by someone who wanted to cut them down and dispose of them. So we rescued them and were exceptionally careful in not damaging to root structure.

1 of them the leaves are brown at the bottom another is yellow and brown at the bottom and so far the other one looks ok.

Now we know that moving them disturbs them so we’re trying our hardest to make them happy we just need to know we’re doing the right thing. Please can someone advise what we can do?

Hi Angela and welcome. The lower leaves of cordy`s do naturally go yellow then browns and then you can pull them off or leave as you wish to allow them to die back and fall off themselves. This is what forms the trunk.But also can be sign of stress.Generally they dont transplant well from the ground due to the root mass .All you can do is ensure they are well watered until the roots have settled and hopefully growing .Possibly 6 mths or more or not at all sorry Good Luck

Thank you so much, fingers crossed we’ve done the right thing and they might be happy one day. They’re so beautiful we didn’t want them to be cut up!!

Would you suggest any specific plant food for them?

Hi angela, sorry but I wouldn't hold your breath with them! 90% chance they'll decline after being dug out. You don't want to be feeding them anything..just water and hope for the best.

Hi Angela, I'm afraid I'm with Karl on this one I have never managed to transplant Cordylines successfully. I hope you do better, let us know if you do.

Oh no
It would be such a shame after all the effort. They’re so beautiful I didn’t just want to see them chopped down.
Maybe we’ll see how they go and if not we’ll have to purchase some more, they’re just so beautiful x

Also, sorry one more question. How much water? Do I hose them every day or just once a week?

You will have to gauge that yourself...your in a very dry county so make sure they don't dry out.

Karls right it depends on a lot of factors such as soil type weather etc .Make sure they dont dry out but dont waterlog them either .

Welcome Angela2019
I have moved my ones 3 times due to moving house. Because they have a taproot they don’t transplant well. They tend to lose a lot of leaves as the severed roots can’t take up enough moisture and so the plant drops some leaves as a response. They do take a few years to recover BUT if the main stem dies you will usually find that it will re shoot from the base/root ball so if that happens it will soon get going again, probably as a multi stem.

Oh and they were 10-12ft tall when I got them, rescued from a clients house who was going to chop them down anyway!

Springy Steve you’ve given me hope! I won’t give up on them.
Would you suggest any type of food for them or just keep them watered?

As Karl says, keep them moist but not sodden and maybe give them a dose of Palmbooster as sold by Nigel at Hardy-palms.co.uk.

https://www.hardy-palms.co.uk/product-c ... ertiliser/

I repotted mine successfully last year , I had two main stems about 4 foot and a couple of offshoots in a fibreglass pot when I took them out I lost loads of the rootball and most of the tap root as it had grown in to the side of the pot .
There was next to no roots on them when i had to break the pot to lever the plants out as the roots were all left gripping the rough surface of the fibreglass . I didn't give it a hope of making it tbh .
I staked the trunks and used rootgrow and palmbooster to try and boost the roots and it must have done the trick as they are still growing nicely now.
So don't give up on them it is possible

This is great news thank you!
I’ve bought some food for them and I’m watering them so fingers crossed they will survive, I’m not giving up