By Trq
United Kingdom 
I have a fifteen foot tall cordyline that has started to drop all its leaves. There is a dark patch around the base of the plant that is weeping with some areas that look like white spit. Does anyone know what this is and whether the plant is saveable
16 Jan, 2011
Previous question
If that soggy area is at the base of the stem, you will need to cut back to the ground. This would be best left till Spring, and you may find it shoots from below the ground. It's the very cold weather we had late last year which has caused this - it's unfortunate that the cells at the base have been affected. Were it higher up, you could have just cut back past that point.
16 Jan, 2011