Hello, I have a sick Yucca plant, I think my girl friend over watered it, but if some one could confirm it by looking at the pictures on the link below I would be very grateful. If it is due to over watering, is there any action I should take? It has not been watered for 7 days and does not seems not to be recovering. many thanks John (Virtually no idea about plants) Kibble http://s281.photobucket.com/albums/kk227/johnkibb/Sick Yucca
normal growth pattern for this plant is for the older leaves at the bottom to die off as new leaves grow out at the top. so, to a point, what you're seeing is to be expected. that said, the soil looks plain old wet and this plant doesn't like to be extremely wet for long periods. they are desert plants and are succulents (retain moisture within the trunk/leaves), so, watering a lot and/or frequently is not needed. what kind of soil is it in? does that container have drainage holes? when was the last time it was repotted?? if it's not been repotted since you've had it, then it's in the original peat and that could likely be the problem (on top of the overwatering). if this pic was just taken and the soil is still that wet, there probably aren't drainage holes in the container. you could have root rot happening. i would suggest unpotting the plant and gently removing the soil and then repotting in fresh soil - allow it to sit, in the dry soil, for a week before watering - you want the roots to have time to dry out. also, once it's unpotted and you can look at the roots, remove any that are brown/black and/or mushy. the container looks a bit small, so, when you repot, put it in something at least an inch larger in diameter - probably two inches would be better. if the root ball is right up against the current container, definitely move up in size by 2 inches - you want to allow some room for more growth and you need to have a proper amount of soil around the roots. most important is to have drainage holes in the bottom. best type is unglazed clay (it allows the soil to dry out a bit quicker than other types of containers). soil should be a very well-draining mix. i use cactus soil - which is a mix of small bark pieces, perlite, peat. i add in some plain soil (to hold a little more of the moisture for a bit) and some extra big bark pieces for more drainage (you can use perlite or aquarium soil instead).
Thanks Joclyn, The soil was still very wet but the roots still seemed in good condition. The roots were "coiled" around the put so I went up 2 inches in pot size. I looks better already and "the Yucca" says thank you. Yucca is here = http://s281.photobucket.com/albums/kk227/johnkibb/Yucca - IN RECOVERY/ I also have an Orchid, do you know what action I need to take to ensure it flowers again. (I promise I will buy a book and not ask you everything:-) Orchid is here = http://photobucket.com/Orchid_2009 Thank you very much for the advise John & Paja (the plant killer:-)
i'm glad the yucca is doing well - it looks great in the new pot!! lol, you can certainly by books...no one here minds answering questions, so please, ask away as you need to!!! the orchid looks like it might be a phalenopsis type. do you have pics of the flowers it had on it? now, orchids are something i've not had much luck with in getting them to bloom again...they'll grow for me just fine - just won't bloom. so, i'm really no help there. maybe someone else will have some suggestions for you. if there's a sub-forum specifically for orchids, i'd post there, too (some people only visit some of the forums, not all of them that are on the site)
