my grandma has had a Yucca elephantipes for as long as i can remember, it has never bloomed, how can you encourage it to? i realy would love to see the flowers. do they smell at all?
you don't encourage yucca to bloom, you wait until they are ready to... if the plant is in the ground it's more likely to bloom more quickly although it will still be quite a long time before it is mature enough to produce blooms. if it's in a container and is kept inside, then it could take much longer - multiple decades, sometimes. any idea exactly how long she's had it? how big is it? has it ever been cut down/topped off to make it shorter? what conditions is it being kept in? container? inside year-round or outside during summer? what state is the plant located in? in the ground? soil composition? sunlight amount?
i live with my grandma, the yucca is a little shorter then me (5' 9") it has never been cut back, but does look like it has been at some time. she has had it for as long as i have been alive. 14 years. mabey longer. i am not sure. i will ask her. it is in a container, and i think it needs a bigger one. my grandma says it is fine. it has never been out side, it is inside and gets alot of sun. we have huge windows that take up most of the walls.
Hmmm. I've never grown them inside, but I know outside they take several years before they bloom - mine took about 3 seasons. It might need a bigger pot and more light.
if i'm remembering correctly, 20 years or so is about when they bloom when kept in containers. i could be thinking of dracaena, though, and the time frame doesn't apply to yucca as it does to drac's. cutting back usually affects time it takes for the plant to get to maturity...in most species, anyway. really not sure if that applies to yucca (probably, though). if the yucca has been in the same container for over 3 years, at the least, it needs to be unpotted and the soil replaced. it probably does need a bigger container, also, so that the roots aren't so cramped (which they would be if the container size hasn't been changed in more than 3-4 years). i have a different type of yucca outside and it bloomed within 2 years of transplanting - i don't know how old they were before they were cut and given to me, though. and, i have a couple of pups that have sent stalks up this year (they're each about 2 years old now, one may be 3 years old). different type of yucca and it's outdoors and that does make a difference since the roots have room to do what they want without restriction. that definitely makes a difference with water uptake and growth, so, blooming would occur a bit faster...and that applies regardless of species... at the least, unpot the plant and refresh the soil...old soil has no nutrients, so, time to blooming will be extended if the plant isn't getting proper nurishment. when you unpot it, if you find it rootbound or close to it, then increase pot size.
I just googled it, and a map says zone 5A. Looks like that kind isn't hardy where you are and the couple things I've read says there's didn't bloom. Those are very different from the yuccas I'm familiar with. I've seen those but always thought they were some sort of palm tree! http://hort.ufl.edu/trees/YUCELEA.pdf That says it needs to be 8-10 feet tall before it blooms.
oh, no, definitely not hardy in ohio!!! iirc, it's only hardy to zone 8; maybe 7b. you CAN put it outside for the summer and take it inside again in september, though. that may help it grow a little better/faster. you need to acclimate it though - can't just pop it outside on an extremely hot day. best time to move plants inside/out or outside/in is when the temps are about the same in both places. in other words, when you don't have the heater or the a/c on and the windows are open - so, the temps inside are about the same (within 8 degrees or so). even if you have it in front of a window inside, the sunlight outside will be much stronger - the windows have some glazing on them that blocks some of the rays - so, you'll need to allow it to adjust to the stronger light by putting it on the porch in a spot that is pretty shaded or only gets a bit of morning sun and then, over the course of a couple weeks, move it every few days closer and closer to the fuller-sun position. even after acclimating, i'd still keep this particular plant in a spot where it is shaded from the hottest afternoon sun, though. 1) you don't want it to go into shock or get burned after being inside all these years and 2) the less changes you force on it, the easier it will adjust...and, if you put it in too-bright conditions, it may have problems come fall when it has to go back inside. always best to err on the cautious side :)
Some do smell and some are even edible. Keep in mind plants bloom according to seasons. The way the know when it's time to bloom is by how long the day is or how many hours of sunlight they get per day. Joclyn gives good advice! The best light is natural sunlight (yields the best results) just like rainwater is the best water you can use.....unless one lives in LA so I hear (acid rain). Summering it outdoors while the days are longer and wintering indoors while days are shorter will give it a more pronounced difference and therefore (if mature enough) should encourage it to bloom. You might check to see where you're species's region of origin is and check the weather trends there, and possibly terrain or soil reports if you can find them...
