Question

Yucca plant   Hi Tom

I was given this plant about 2 years ago by someone that had owned it for about 25 years.

About a year ago I noticed the roots were growing up out of the soil so I thought it was time to replant it in a bigger pot. When i did this, I noticed the roots were very tightly packed together and the soil smelt old and slightly mouldy. The previous owner had it in the same plastic pot for most of it's life.

When i repotted it, I put it in a ceramic pot, used a dry soil mix, and put some broken clay pot pieces at the base of the new pot for drainage. Since I have done this, the plant leaves have begun to dry out and turn yellow. I used to pull them off but new ones wouldn't grow and it would speed up the process of the leaves dying. It has now got to the stage where there are only a handful of leaves on each stem. I noticed the stem base seemed very spongy and wet so about 4 months ago I stopped watering the plant every 2 weeks and changed to once a month. This doesn't appear to have made any difference.

Is there anything I can do to improve the health of my plant and stop it from dying?

Answer
Hi Sophie,
Thanx for your question.  It sounds to me like the plant was at one time waterlogged or not draining well and a fungus has invaded the plant.  It may be beyond salvation now.  If the stem base is spongy, that's not good.  That pretty much means the interior of the plant has been invaded.  At this point there  is not much you can do but let the plant dry out.  At least that is what I think.  You may want to access the folks over at the Houseplant forum for a second opinion.  Yuccas don't have a high water requirement and you were right to do what you did when you repotted the plant.  Water the plant only after the soil has dried up somewhat.  Sometimes, a plant will recover on its onwn, it just depends on how extensive the fungal infection is.  If you still have green growth, that's a good sign the plant may make it.  Sometimes a plant will go all the way downhill before recovering itself and coming back.  I wish I could tell you more.  Please check with the volunteers at the Houseplants forum for a second opinion.  Go to Home/Garden and click on Gardening and then Click on House Plants.  I hope this helps.
Tom