I need some direction. I have it under 2 indoor grow lights for heat and light. They are on about 7-10hrs per day. I may be underwatering. When i checked the top it was dry about 2 inches down. The lights have been doing a good job, they are growing fast. I have had it now 2 months and all of the branches(not sure if that's what they are called) have been growing very well. Here are some pix. Please let me know what i should do next. Thanks
you're right in that you need to check the soil and water when it's dry down a couple of inches. and you do need to do a thorough watering when it is dry down that far. does that container have drainage holes? if not, you need to repot into something that does. and it should have the same diameter at the bottom as the top - leaves more room for the roots to grow before becoming root-bound. otherwise, it looks okay...soil looks like the right type; the general size of the container is not bad (other than as above); the leaves look decent. the normal growth pattern IS for the lower leaves to die off as new ones start at the top...so, seeing a few that are on their way out isn't surprising. the lighting. well, natural light would be better - you risk burning them with the heat of the lamps. the amount of time you've got the lights on is right, though. any way you could put it near a window so it can get real sunlight? as for watering, these need thorough watering and then need for the soil to dry out before watering again. if you don't have drainage holes in the container, then the soil will never really dry out and you can never be sure if you've watered it thoroughly enough if you can't see when the soil is full (once the soil is full, the excess drains out the bottom). since it's not just one or two leaves that are in the process of dieing off, you might have some root-rot setting in or you could just be underwatering...either condition isn't good. it'd be a shame to lose such lovely trees! at the least, it needs repotting into a more appropriate container. as for thorough watering, that should be done ever 2-3 weeks.
Thanks so much for the reply..... I'll go and get a new pot with drainage! As for watering, how much should i water. 1 liter, 2 liters when it is time to water? Should i cut the dying ones off? What's the best way to do this if i should? Thanks
I've never actually cut the leaves of a Yucca. When the old leaves are done, you can simply pull them off gently; this is what we do in Ecuador and the trees seem happy for it. Start with the ones at the bottom and work your way up; anything that's white or yellowish when it's exposed will green up in about a week. Yours looks very healthy - I agree with Joclyn about the repot, and the natural light if it's at all possible. I live in the native range of the Yucca you're growing, and have some in my garden. They're drought tolerant, and with the colour and gloss of your leaves you seem to be watering about the right amount for them. I don't water mine, but it's been raining for about two weeks here (and I wish it would stop for a bit) and when I lived in the semidesert I used to water them once a week. Mind you, those were growing in full sun in a place where it did not rain, and the average daily temp was 35 C. Long and short of it is, give the Yuccas water when the soil is dry for about 5 cm down, and give them enough that it comes out the drainage holes. As a side note, yours look like Y. guatamalensis or Y. elephantipes - when they eventually bloom your house is gonna stink so good!
Looks very healthy. Nothing wrong with the yellowing leaves at the bottom. It's normal for the plant to yellow a bunch of leaves at the lowest branches. Just pull it off. You're speeding up the process of it dropping them eventually. If a plant starts to yellow its leaves in the middle or top, and there are yellow leaves speckled throughout the tree, it usually means nitrogen deficiency. Yours are fine. I would feed the plant organic liquid fertilizer once or twice a month.
Ok GREAT!!!!!! I live in Ontario Canada. It's now just starting to warm up. 15-20c during day and 3-8c over night. I live in an apartment and really have no direct light. I was wondering if or when i could put it outside on the balcony to get the sun during the day and bring it in over night. I get the morning sun till about 2pm then it's shade on my balcony. Would that shock it? What is the lowest temp that it don't like? If we get northern wind it feels like -1 or +1 overnight. I'm going to get a new pot for sure with drainage holes. Now should i put rocks in the bottom? Well I'm very glad that i joined this site. This has been the best info that I've got from anyone. Even plant stores here. Thanks so much everyone!! OhCaN
when you repot it, let it sit in the dry soil for a week - just to give the roots a chance to get re-situated after all the moving about of the repotting. then put in a cup or two of water and let it soak down for a few minutes. then another cup or two and let soak in for a few minutes...and continue with small amounts and put each new one in a different spot so that you get all of the soil in the container pretty evenly moistened. once the soil soaks up the water, you'll see some coming out of the bottom drain holes...that's when you stop adding more water. you only need to go slowly like that the first time after repotting. keep track of how much water you put in that first time and use that as your guide for the next time it needs watering. the next time, put in half the amount and let it soak down and then the whatever is left and if you don't see water coming out the bottom, add in just a tad more until you see drainage. for that size container, it should be every 2-3 weeks for watering...definitely let the soil dry down at least 2 inches (5 cm) before watering again. as for putting it out on the balcony, yes, you can do that. i would wait until it's consistantly warmer so that you can leave it out all day...bringing it back and forth every day will cause a bit of stress, so you don't want to do that for too long. for the moment, i would move it to directly in front of the balcony door so it will start getting acclimated to the light and, as the weather continues to warm up, i'd start putting it outside during the day for a few hours a day and gradually increase the amount of time it's outside (over the course of a couple weeks) until it's at a point where you're leaving it there all day and then you can just leave it out over night too. i would wait until it's had a few weeks in the new container before starting the trips outside though. depending on temps, you may need to water it every 10 days or so when it's outside...only time and conditions will tell. you'll just need to check the soil weekly and water if needed or skip it for a few more days if the soil is still moist. the light conditions on the balcony sound really good and the yucca should do really well there!
You can put rocks in the bottom of your new pot (with drainage holes) if you would like to get fancy. The key is having drainage holes and allowing the plant to drain. This means not sitting in water trays for long periods - aka "wet feet". Those who love miniature trees and making doubly sure that they are not overwatering and giving their trees optimum drainage, put rocks at the very bottom of the pot and then layer in the soil. It's not necessary in your case, but if you have extra room in a new large pot, then by all means do so. If you go to the pot section of any store, you'll find certain pots with peculiar drainage or "sieve" systems at the base. These are usually plastic pots with black plastic "sieves" or drain systems at the bottom. These plastic pots mimic what the plain pot + rocks at the bottom do. Check it out if you're curious. Usually such plastic pots have NO drainage holes at the bottom. Therefore, the plastic sieve prevents overwatering when the person watering has no way of knowing when water should be running out of drainage holes because there are no drainage holes! So, long story short. If you have drainage holes, rocks are not necessary. If you do not have drainage holes, you should have rocks. If extra careful, then have both provided there is space in the pot.
And although nobody's mentioned it yet, when your Yucca gets too tall, it will be time to propagate it. Do this by cutting the stems at the desired height. Allow both cuts to dry over, then put grafting wax over the cut on the trunk half, and plant the crown half into dry soil with a support. Don't water for three or four weeks, then start easing the water back in. Voila! Now neither one is too tall, and you've doubled your Yucca! I have had horrible experiences with those plastic-sieve bottom pots; mostly my plants tend to grow so fast that they run rootlets right through the seive, and it causes horrible horrible shock when I try to repot or plant out.
