Question
Yucca
Hi,
I bought a Yucca almost a month ago. It was in a small pot, had 3 biggish
trunks and two other small ones coming out. On asking about what sort of
weather conditions are required, one thing the sales guy mentioned was not to
keep it in front of a glass window as it would scorch the leaves.
I kept the plant inside initially - a little far from a big glass window, but
gradually one of the leaves began to turn brown. Gradually the other small
shoots began to die and are now completely dry.
From my previous experience of over watering, I do not water this everyday.
Once in 2-3 days.
This did not help and I moved the plant to the balcony as internet research
said it requires a lot of sunlight being a tropical plant. I repotted it to a
biggger pot (attached image1) and initially thought it was doing better as I
saw new leaving coming from the top. But now the older leaves have also
started drying out and the new leaves do not open up. The edges of the leaves
along with the tips get brown. There are also some brown roundish areas in
the leaves (seen in the image). I'm not sure if its some sort of
disease/fungus? I did keep some vinegar in a bowl besides the plant to
attract any fungus if at all. No help there.
My balcony does have a glass panel all around. Could this be a cause of it
drying out? The latest I have noticed is that the new leaves that were
shooting do not seem to open up and make way for more. Why could this happen?
Any help would be appreciated. I really want it to grow well.
AnswerChinni,
Yuccas are desert plants. They love the sun. They hate being wet. Put it back in front of the window. Mine is in front of an east facing window all winter and never sunburns. The only time you have to worry about sunburn is in the summer if you move it outdoors then it needs to be in the shade or it will sunburn.
Watering should not be every 2-3 days! It should be every 10-14 days, only when the plant is totally dry.
When you repotted it it appears you used straight black potting soil. It should be potted in a mix of sand, potting soil and perlite in equal quantities. That will create a much better soil for your yucca. It also looks like you may have overpotted it. You took it from a very small pot to a very large pot. When you repot a plant you should only move it to a pot with a diameter 2 inches larger than the pot you are taking it out of. If you go too large you have a lot more soil than you do roots and when you water it the roots can't use the water up before you are there again with more water and that will cause root rot which will cause browning of the leaves like you are experiencing.
When you water it water it enough that all the soil in the pot is moist otherwise you will have some wet roots and some dry and some parts of the plant will die. Then an hour after you water it empty the drain tray. If you can't dump it use a turkey baster to empty it. If it sits in a drain tray of water it will encourage root rot.
If you fix the soil and pot size and follow my watering instructions your plant is young enough to do very well. If you have more questions feel free to write again. Good luck.
Darlene
