Duped by FB Marketplace sellers :(

by Brittany
(Chicago, IL, USA)

Hi Jacki!

My boyfriend picked up these Yucca Cane plants from a facebook marketplace seller two days ago for a GREAT price – we were so pumped to get them! Unfortunately when he brought them home, I realized that they were in dire shape. I attached photos, but both plants have drooping leaves, and several of the stalks have no leaves at all. One of the plants is leaning a LOT. This plant also seems to be attracting fruit flies / gnats.

Is there any way to save them!?

Please let me know if it would be helpful to have additional photos or information!

Thank you sooo much in advance 🙂
Brittany

Comments for Duped by FB Marketplace sellers 🙁

Mar 21, 2021 First by: Jacki Cammidge, Certified Horticulturist First; the leaning is not affecting the plant,it’s strictly an aesthetic concern, so deal with that later when you repot it. Second; I think the reason the seller wanted to pass these along was because they are really overgrown. This can be fixed by chopping them off, and letting them regrow. You can also re-root the tops to make nicer new plants. However, chopping off a plant that is in this kind of shape will be it’s death sentence, so don’t do it. They obviously tried this method of getting the plant to bush out, hence the leafless stalks. Third; the fungus gnats. They are awful, and hard to get rid of, but don’t give up. This page has more details.

Mar 21, 2021 Follow-up by: Brittany Gibson Thank you Jacki! We are taking your advice and trying to cut them down and repot the healthy ones. What is the best way to pull the healthy trunks out of the soil without killing it? Google says to turn it on its side, but we can’t really do that. Thank you!

Mar 21, 2021 I think by: Jacki I think the advice you’ve got means to lay the pot on its side, to loosen the soil. Then you can pull the plant out. To be honest, I would try to leave it for a while to let it recover. I call it ‘putting it on ignore’.