Hi Everyone, I was wondering if you could help me with my Yucca? I bought it about 5 months ago and until recently it has been doing really well. I have been watering it maybe once a week or slightly less, and it has been standing in a shady corner on the landing. I recently noticed that a lot of its leaves on the upper part have been drying out and dying. I watered it some more, to no avail. I then gave it, and my other house plant (a dragon tree) some multi-purpose plant feed and while the dragon tree seems to love it (has brightened up considerably and seems stronger, more vibrant and with more body), the Yucca does not seem to be responding. I have also moved the Yucca from its shady corner to the bright living room where it gets loads of sunlight, but so far without any effect. Is there anything else I can do? It seems such a shame to watch it die and the leaves on top really do seem to be gradually all dying out (it actually looks even worse now than the picture I’m attaching to this mail, more leaves have died). Please help if you can! Thank-you very much in advance, Freya freyaberry*at*hotmail.com
I don't know for sure, but that pattern of yellowing strikes me as root rot. What is your container's drainage like? Is the bottom of the root ball sitting in water? Is the soil nice and airy and dry to a knuckle deep? Yucca guatamalensis would not like as much water as your Dracaena spp dragon tree. And it would like more light, so at least that part is being addressed now. I'd imagine the shoots that are all yellow are moribund, and the others are close behind. A few lower yellow leaves on a shoot is not much of a problem. Mine for instance, yellow on the lowest third but that's because I ripped them out of the ground to transplant, and then just chucked them in new holes with no prep. I fully expect them to make it. I was given the original plant thirty years ago and a thousand miles away. They can survive a lot of abuse. What I would do is completely unpot yours, examine the roots for rotting and the stem for soft spots near the roots especially. Cut the bad parts from the roots and dust it with cinnamon or a rooting hormone powder with a fungicide in it. Put it in fresh potting soil with excellent drainage like a cactus mix, and in a planter that has a way to drain off any excess water. I'd cut all of the leaves off, probably even the shoots cut close to the main cane, and then cross my fingers. Even more drastic measure would be to saw the cane into pieces, trim off all the leafy growth and prop small sections of the cane in clean cactus mix to root separately. That way, any damage or fungus in the softened lower stem will be amputated from the upper cane, allowing the upper part to root.
Thank-you very much! I will be sure to follow your advice, and hope for the best. Much appreciated. x
