March 2012:
I'm not sure if it was the heat or if it was the gnat-like bugs that accumulated in this warm room, but there was significant leaf drop. It would happen to one trunk at a time. The first trunk started dropping leaves, probably one cluster per day. When no leaves were left, the trunk would turn black and ultimately it pulled out with barely even a tug! When this started to happen to the second trunk, I hung some bug traps and caught almost all of the gnats, and moved the plant to a more climate-controlled room with comparable light. It was too late to save the second trunk, but this maneuver managed to spare the third trunk.
March 2013:
After about a year I realized that the density of the foliage could only improve with additional trunks, as was the intent of the original clustering. So I tried to propagate. I had read that you can snip off a short segment from the top, stick it in rooting hormones and water, and roots will emerge after a week or two. I waited over a month and still no roots emerged. I ended up tossing the top clipping because it started to stink.
I had held off trying this technique because I worried this would stunt the original main trunk. However, as you can see in the images below, a new trunk shoot has sprouted out near to where the old top had been clipped.
November 2013, before clipping:
November 2013, after clipping:
May 2014, new sprout growth:
