Author: Elena N. https://floristics.info/ru/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&id=19 Category: Houseplants Published: January 28, 2019Last edits: January 11, 2021
- Growing from seeds
- Yucca turns yellow
- Yucca aloifolia
The love for the exotic is in our blood, and as soon as there is free space in the apartment, the owner immediately has a desire to place some outlandish large-sized one there. Ideally, a palm tree. Well, or at least a false palm tree... This is how dracaenas and yuccas appear in our apartments. By the way, did you know that yucca can be grown not only indoors, but also in the garden? The cold-resistant species Yucca filamentosa and its varieties are suitable for this.
What you need to know about yucca?
- What maintenance conditions and what care does the plant require?
- How can you propagate yucca at home?
- What problems may arise and how to solve them?
You will find answers to all these questions in our article.
What makes yucca unique?
Perhaps you have come across elephant yucca in offices, shops and shopping centers? Like any indoor flower, the small false palm has its own unique properties.
Its trunk is strong and thick, brown in color, and the higher it is, the greener it becomes.
Although it is not poisonous, if a child swallows a piece of the leaf, it can cause weakness and stomach upset. In addition, it releases phytoncides that cause allergies in sensitive people. It’s worth taking this into account when deciding where it’s best to put it: in the children’s room or living room.
What conditions does the Tropicana accept and how easy is it to care for it?
Seasonal care calendar
How to care for yucca according to the seasons? Care information:
Spring:
- acquisition;
- change of soil;
- formative pruning;
- rooting cuttings.
Summer:
- removal to fresh air;
- regular watering;
- feeding;
- bloom.
Autumn:
- reduction of watering;
- returning to the house.
Winter:
- cool conditions and infrequent watering;
- or warmth, sufficient watering and lighting.
Temperature
In summer, the optimal temperature for the flower should be +23-26 °C. In winter, it enters a dormant period, so +15-18 °C will be comfortable for it, and with a lack of light, the temperature can drop to +10 °C. But we do not allow temperatures below +8, and in summer above +30 °C.
In winter, when I ventilate the room, I try to put the flower pot in a place where drafts will not reach it.
Yucca that stands near the window should not touch the glass, otherwise the leaves will begin to freeze. Hot radiators also pose a threat to leaves. In short, sudden temperature changes lead to stress on the palm tree.
However, an adult, strong yucca surprises with its ability to courageously endure sharp daily fluctuations. For example, if the temperature briefly rises to +35 °C, and at night drops to +8, she calmly tolerates it. A true native of the humid subtropics!
Description of the plant
Yucca is indigenous to Central America and its arid regions. Visually, it is similar to a Palm tree, especially in its natural habitat, when the leaves from the lower tiers dry out and fall off, the trunk becomes lignified and only a bunch of hard leaves remains at the top. But this is not Palma.
There is some confusion regarding the classification of Yucca. At first, Yucca was classified as a member of the Liliaceae family, then to the Agave family, and now to the Asparagus family. Moreover, Yucca is now simultaneously on the list of representatives of both. In general, there is complete confusion. In addition to Palma, it is also often confused with other indoor flowers similar to Palma - Dracaena and Cordyline. An experienced florist will not be mistaken; he will immediately see the difference. But for beginners, this similarity is a little confusing.
Large specimen of Yucca
In nature, Yucca grows as a fully or partially leafy large shrub from two to eight meters in height. Indoor species grow up to a meter or two. Its tree-like stem is topped with green or gray dense leaves, sticking out in different directions or slightly drooping, pointed lanceolate or xiphoid in shape. The length of such a leaf can reach up to a meter, although indoor specimens have leaves no more than 50 cm in length. There are stemless species of Yucca, the crown of which consists of one or several rosettes.
Yucca blooms amazingly beautifully, throwing out powerful vertical peduncles, abundantly strewn with buds. Large flowers, up to 8 cm long, resemble cup-shaped bells. The flowers are most often white, but creamy-greenish, yellowish or pinkish tones are found in nature. The fruits are of no interest; they look like dry boxes. True, some species have juicy edible fruits. But unfortunately, not every gardener gets to see Yucca blooming at home. It grows quite quickly. From a small plant it can turn into a large bush or tree in a few years. What should be done to make the plant feel “at home” and at the same time maintain its compact decorative shape and dimensions acceptable for your room? Let's try to figure this out.
Priming
Yucca does not like stagnant moisture. Therefore, its main requirement for the soil is that water should not linger and pass through in transit.
The acid-base balance of the earth does not play a special role - yucca is not picky.
Like real gardeners, let's prepare the soil mixture ourselves. Pour drainage into the bottom of the container, about ¼ of it. We prepare the soil from three parts:
- sand;
- compost;
- leaf humus.
If we don’t have all the ingredients, we go to the nearest flower shop and buy soil for palm trees or dracaenas.
Bloom
Sufficiently mature specimens bloom. At the end of spring and summer, a peduncle appears from the center of the rosette, on which a loose paniculate inflorescence with white or cream fragrant flowers blooms.
The lifespan of a yucca flower is about a month.
Some species of yucca bloom once in a lifetime and are then replaced by young shoots. This makes them similar to agaves.
Flowering does not occur even in the oldest specimens if seasonal maintenance requirements are not met - there is no winter dormancy period.
How yucca blooms - photo:
Watering
Improper watering is the only thing that can threaten the health of the yucca.
I try to pour so that the lower part of the soil, where the bulk of the roots are located, is always wet. Therefore, I water until water begins to flow out of the holes.
How can you tell when it’s time to water the plant? When the soil in the upper part of the pot dries out by one third, I go to water the flower. Depending on the air temperature, this takes from 2 to 4 days. I do not immediately drain the water that flows into the pan, but after 20 minutes.
In general, yucca does not tolerate stagnation of water and long drying, so sometimes it is important to let it dry out even two-thirds of the ground.
For her, this is so important that if after 3-4 days we see that the soil has not yet dried out, we take the initiative into our own hands and loosen the soil.
Important
The smaller the volume of the pot, the more often you have to water it, and the larger it is, the less often.
Crown formation
Yucca is not prone to branching. But it occurs when is damaged . In natural conditions, this happens naturally - when the upper part of the trunk breaks or dies.
At home or in the garden, the florist himself can easily shape
In order for the plant to begin to branch, the top or a significant part of the trunk is cut off The plant should still have green leaves . Soon new shoots , their number varies.
An educational video on how to give a beautiful shape to a yucca:
Transfer
I replant yucca once a year or as needed. It is important to choose the right pot. It must be quite large, otherwise the roots will not support the massive crown and leaf mass. The plant may not stand and fall over.
Don't worry if the roots wrap around the entire soil ball. This does not mean that you missed the time of replanting, it’s just that the yucca’s root system is structured this way.
By the way, if you don’t want your yucca to grow, you can stop it from growing. Just trim the roots and plant back in the same pot.
Trimming
There are different purposes for pruning:
- achieve branching;
- reduce the height of the plant.
You need to know that after this operation the growth of the trunk in thickness will stop, so it is recommended to trim plants with a stem thickness of at least five centimeters. Pruning is carried out in February - March, before the start of active growth.
The instrument must be sharpened and disinfected. You can use a knife, pruning shears or garden saw. If the tops of the heads were sawed out, the sections after the operation should be cleaned with a sharp knife.
The plant must be healthy, at least thirty centimeters high. With a sharp instrument, a part of the top of his head, five to ten centimeters long, is cut off. When pruning, whether part of the leaves is left or not. In the second case, dormant buds awaken on the trunk. This happens after about three weeks.
The sections are sprinkled with crushed coal. Cuttings are used for propagation. For trimmed yucca, reduce watering to 1-2 times a week.
Reproduction
It is very easy to propagate yucca from cuttings:
- cut a cutting from an adult plant;
- dry it in the shade for about 12 hours;
- place in moist soil;
- when roots appear, transplant it into a pot with soil.
There is also a method of reproduction through circumcision. For example, our palm tree has grown and we decided to shorten it. A couple of days before cutting the top, water the yucca generously. We cut off the top of the palm tree and root it in water or damp soil. It is best to do this in the spring, when the plant is just waking up.
Choosing a flower in a store, differences from dracaena
Highly decorative specimens are sold in stores. But they represent a part of the trunk, separated from an already mature plant.
When such a stump is rooted, only thread-like roots are formed. Its lifespan will not exceed 2-3 years.
Therefore, it is preferable to choose a young plant that was obtained by rooting a side shoot and has not yet formed a trunk. With proper care, it can live at home for 15 years or more.
Sometimes the plant is confused with another false palm. You can distinguish yucca from dracaena by three characteristics:
- sharp edges of foliage (dracaena has no thorns or jagged edges);
- the leaves are leathery, erect (in dracaena they are soft, curved down);
- the plates are rough to the touch (in dracaena they are smooth).
How to feed yucca
We feed the flower as desired in spring and summer. Twice a month from April to September I water with a special liquid fertilizer Kemira, it is intended for palm or decorative deciduous species.
Honestly, yucca is so unpretentious that it grows even in poor soil, but of course, if you feed it, the plant will be even better.
In the autumn-winter period there is usually no need for fertilizing. Also, you should not feed the flower for the first 3-4 weeks after transplantation.
Features of cultivation
Caring for a yucca palm tree will not require much sacrifice from you. The only prerequisite for yucca in home floriculture is good lighting. The homeland of the yucca plant is desert and semi-desert areas, where it grows under the hot sun, so it is best to place it in close proximity to a southern window, but if the western or eastern window is well lit, you can place the yucca near them.
The second distinctive feature of the plant is that yucca does not bloom indoors, although in nature it blooms with large white bell-shaped flowers collected in panicles. If you arrange it for the winter in an insulated loggia, you may well have a chance to see the yucca bloom: the formation of flower buds occurs only during a long stay in the cold.
If you are impatient, buy a mature plant straight away, as yucca grows very slowly. However, keep in mind that yucca is popular, so it will cost you a lot.
A yucca's daylight hours should last at least 16 hours, which means that in winter it will be necessary to provide artificial lighting for it.
In all other respects, caring for the yucca plant is simple, you can even forget about it for a while, and it will not wither away from it.
Pests and diseases
Yucca is almost never sick, but if brown spots appear on its leaves, there are good reasons for this, for example:
- waterlogging;
- hypothermia of roots,
- frequent overflows;
- lack of air to the roots due to poor drainage;
- poor soil drying;
- too acidic soil;
- increased alkalinity.
Due to any of the above problems, a fungal disease appears, but the essence is the same - yucca is a drought-resistant plant and excessive moisture is harmful to it.
If the plant is already suffering, how to stop it?
Control measures are simple: remove the affected leaves, water the plant with a fungicide. We also reduce watering and spraying. We move the palm tree to where there is more light.
Why does yucca turn yellow and how to save it, watch the video:
