not to sound silly but what are fungus gnats? can they also affect majesty palms, since they are not doing well either? what exactly does a fungus gnat do to the plant, and how do i eliminate them?
They're the 'no-see-ums' you run into (into droves) after rain in warm places. Your yucca is a succulent and needs to be kept pretty dry in winter, and never sit in drain water.
fungus gnats lat eggs in moist rich soil, the larvae eat up all organic material, including roots. not so bad at first, but severe infestations will cause yellowing and even death. if one plant has them, they probably all do, these guys fly and breed like mad. they often eat the roots off my cacti seedlings ALL the roots. sometimes i will pull up a rootless cactus, with gnat maggots hanging off the foot
thanks for the input.......i must add however, that i am not sure how often to water this plant. i try to resource on the internet, and i get many different opinions. this is my first yucca, and it is a wonderful plant, how can i tell when it needs water?
firstly is yours grown in a pot? how small the pot is? yucca needs to have a reasonable size pot and enough soil to cover the roots or else it gets burnt easily. They can withstand full-sun..in fact yucca looks brilliant and sharp in full-sun. whenever u see the leaves flops down and loose its sharpness that is an indication that it is dehydrated and require watering. I tend to water mines 1-2 times a week. but u have to make sure that the soil isn't to dry. i heard that yucca bottom leaves turn yellow naturally. It's a matter of pulling it off to make the plant look nicer again.
a photo of my yucca...i can't resist adding some annuals in the pot i hope that would suffocate the plant. i suppose the leaves flops down because it's grown in a shadier area.