Hi there,
I recently inherited a nice floor plant which I was told was of the Yucca variety and had it in my place for about a month now. I've been getting some nice new growth, but at the same time have been getting some yellowing of leaves and some black spots have been appearing on certain leaves.
Can anyone tell me what's causing the discoloration? I'm trying not to overwater as I was told Yucca's thrive on "neglect". And are the black spots a fungus?
Thanks in advance.
-Todd
I'm not an expert but some plants (yucca, roses, azaleas...) just won't grow in the house.
Well I don't know about that. I've had a variegated yucca for years in the house (do move it outside for summer though and easy to propagate from cuttings). Had a bonsai florist azalea for about 3 years too. Daughter forgot to water it when we were in Aruba for a week and that was the end of it. Roses I tend to agree with - at least I haven't had a lot of luck with them.
I think a Yucca is one of those plants you can ignore--and it will thrive.
Do not try to replant it--leave it alone! those woody stalks do not have too many roots.
Just like the Corn Plants and Snake Plants. You move them--and you will pay for it.
In the summer--put it outside in bright filtered sun. In the winter, bring it in and give
it the best light you can. The main thing is--DO NOT OVER WATER!!!!
A good soaking once a month is adequate.
Yuccas are almost desert plants. Little care needed.....
Gita
Its the middle of summer and I don't think this Yucca has been outside.
Thanks for the info. But back to my original question..... what's causing the yellowing of the fronds? And are the black spots a fungus? I've removed a lot of the frond with the black spotting and so far I'm not seeing any instances of new ones appearing.
-Todd
Hi Todd,
As new leaves appear, the oldest leaves will eventually start dying. Cut off the leaves that are sick looking - they've done their job. If you do not remove the sicker looking leaves they will eventually die anyway and stay on the plant as a "hula skirt". If it is new leaves doing this then you need to figure out what the plant lacks in care. Light, watering, fertilizer are the 3 you need to look at. With all the foliage it appears it is doing very well. More than likely the black spots are some form of mold or decay. Perfectly normal on yuccas. If you have a large number of leaves doing the same thing, then it may be something in the water or too much water, or not enough light.
Yuccas have a huge root system forming tubers that you can never seem to dig out of the ground (hardy yuccas for us). Seems like if you want to get rid of a yucca and dig it up, before long another shoot is coming up in the dug up area. Yucca roots are sold in the grocery store as a tuber much like any other root crop. They are also quite easy to propagate by stem cuttings as well as the tubers.
Just to dispel the apparent notion here that this may be one of the hardy Yucca species that the OP is trying to grow indoors, there is a tropical Yucca that's a common house plant. That's Yucca elephantipes... I assume that's what the OP is growing. (That said, I don't pay much attention to house plants and can never distinguish it from the similar Dracaena so I won't comment further on its ID.)
http://www.ourhouseplants.com/plants/yucca
