Washingtonia

I saw this in the Range for £12 instead of £26 so I thought I would have it but as most Washys in GCs now are all grown with three or four plants together from seed (I presume), I am wondrering whether to cut three out and leave the best one or try and pull them apart. The roots are matted together. Best to leave doing anything until Spring?

 

Might be safest to cut the ones off you don't want.
Let's face it, unless you want 2 or more plants it's not worth trying to save the smaller ones which could end up being at the expense of the whole lot.

 

That's what I thought only I don't want to leave a mass of rotten roots in the pot after I have cut the other three off. I only want the one plant.

 

Perhaps it you cut them off now and plan to repot next spring then when repotting you might be able to get the dead plants out without too much root disturbance.

 

How about hosing the root ball to remove all compost, leave a day so roots shrink slightly then try to wiggle them apart? A bit harsh but I've managed it with plants with big roots

 

I might try that @CarolineL

 

I've had success with the washing the roots off method. They separate 'fairly' easily in a large bucket of water. you'll lose some of the smaller roots and the plant will sulk for a month or two after repotting, but speed of growth is better when not all grouped together.
For some reason, they don't like -8c and being frozen solid.....who knew?