Yucca Houseplant Leaves Are Wilting

Question

My Yucca has pointy leaves and is in a pot near a window that gets indirect light. I water it once a week. I have had it approx. 6 months and I see it wilting away. How can I save my plant?

Answer 1

One of the most popular indoor houseplants, Yucca elephantipes, is spineless and tropical. Yucca care is relatively simple. It grows best in high light. If the plant is in a sunny location, let the top quarter or third of the soil become dry before watering. The most important thing is not to let the indoor yucca sit in a puddle of water. Doing so can promote rot and then, the eventual death of the plant. If overwatering occurs, the plant will begin to shrivel and die. Since the yucca is a succulent, it can stand being in a drought situation.

Answer 2

Yes, the most common error people make with yucca is to overwater them. If the leaves are droopy, but the stem is still firm (in other words, stem does not feel soft and flexible,) there’s a good chance you can save the plant by letting it dry out to sufficiently aerate the soil.

Watering on a schedule is alright, but it’s much more important to determine the moisture content of the soil, and water only when that has reached a “bare trace of moisture” level. How do you determine this? Easiest thing is to stick a kebob skewer into the pot, then pull it up and run it between your fingers. You should feel just a trace of moisture. Here’s a video that will show you what I mean http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf-8InSamYQ

When you finally water, you should water enough that you get a runoff of about 1/4″ in your saucer. You don’t need to remove this, the plant will use it or it will evaporate. The important thing is not to let the plant sit in water for longer than a week; that would indicate that you used way too much water.