Yucca: leaves turn yellow and dry, what to do, how to resuscitate at home | Flowers, herbs 2024
In the south of Europe, yucca winters normally in open areas, in a cool climate, a representative of the Agave family is bred as a potted flower. The subtropical culture loves heat, is demanding on lighting, temperature conditions, does not tolerate drought, and does not tolerate excess moisture. What to do if the yucca leaves turn yellow and dry, you need to decide quickly, because the plant, which purifies the air and pleases with decorativeness, may disappear.
What affects the appearance and he alth of yucca leaves
Evergreen perennial, according to flower growers, takes root better in the garden than indoors. But when creating optimal conditions, the subtropical plant is comfortable in the room.
Agrotechnology
Succulents love permeable soil that absorbs moisture. Before planting a yucca in a pot, you need to make a drainage layer and fill the space:
- humus;
- vermiculite;
- peat;
- sand.
If single leaves turn yellow, do not worry, but when the color changes massively, the plant begins to dry out, this is already a serious problem.
Lack and overwatering
Under natural conditions, the evergreen perennial, like all succulents, accumulates water, which it uses during the dry season. When growing in a room, yucca needs to be watered, but this should not be done every day. With too little irrigation, the leaves begin to wither. With frequent watering, moisture stagnates in the pot, which leads to:
- to root rot;
- malnutrition;
- to dry shoots.
In summer, the plant is watered when the topsoil dries. In winter, the yucca rests. During dormancy, the succulent should be watered less and less frequently. With excess moisture, the tips of the leaves become dark in color, then dry and fall off.
Violation of transfer rules
When the soil in the pot is too wet, loosen the top layer. If the shoots continue to dry out, the subtropical guest is dug up and transplanted. When the roots are damaged, the perennial sheds its leaves. To make the succulent easier to endure stress, the pot with it is rearranged for several days in a dark pantry.
Change where the plant grows
Yucca is usually placed on the south window, but not everything is so simple. Sometimes the leaves of a false palm tree suddenly begin to turn yellow, shoots stop developing. It is worth trying to rearrange the pot to another place. Often after this, the yucca comes to life.
For the winter, succulents are best taken to a cool but bright room.
Micronutrient deficiency
If the plant has created conditions close to the optimal environment, but the leaves wither, lose their rich green color, this may be a sign of a lack of nutrients. First you need to find out what the yucca is deficient in, and then carry out foliar feeding - spray it with a fertilizer containing the necessary substance.
With a lack of nitrogen, the ends turn yellow, young leaves become white-yellow. Lack of phosphorus is fraught with the death of the plates. With a deficiency of iron and magnesium, dark streaks appear.
Natural causes
Yukka, like any plant, matures and ages. The lower leaves gradually turn yellow, which serves as a normal life process. Dried greens are simply cut off, which gives the palm an even more attractive look.
Climate related reasons
The succulent was brought from the subtropics of America, where the sun rises high, it is hot in summer, and if the yucca is not created such conditions, the leaves lose their green color.
Inappropriate lighting
The heat-loving plant is placed on the south side, but with prolonged cloudy weather, as well as in the period from February to March, the yucca does not have enough light. In the cells of the perennial, hydrostatic pressure drops, the tips of the leaves dry out, the plates stretch out and turn yellow. To restore turgor, you need to connect a fluorescent lamp, a succulent needs at least 10 hours of not direct, but diffused light.
When a false palm tree is placed on the northern window, it loses its decorative appearance, the leaves at the base become almost white.
Temperature conditions
For indoor yucca, 25°C is sufficient in summer, but the ornamental flower thrives at higher temperatures.During the dormant period, the room should be cooler. However, already at +12, the palm begins to shed its leaves, at +5 they curl and darken. Yucca can't stand drafts.
Incorrect humidity level
Under natural conditions, the succulent grows in a dry and hot climate, but in apartments heated in winter, hot batteries contribute to the drying of the air. And during dormancy, yucca needs moisture, and the plant, as well as the room, is sprayed with a spray bottle, otherwise the leaves curl into a tube, the tips dry.
Pests
Cute yucca growing in the garden attracts mealybugs, beetles, aphids, thrips. Parasites find decorative perennials in the apartment.
Spider mite
An arthropod insect, whose body does not exceed half a millimeter in length, has 8 legs.A pest is brought into the room with flowers bought at the market, gets through the air to the lower floors. The spider mite is most often activated during the heating season and begins to feed on juice and yucca leaves:
- Turn to yellow.
- Covered with whitish spots.
- Wither and die.
To cope with the pest, the window sill where the yucca is located is washed with water and laundry soap, wiped with ethyl alcohol. The room is sprayed to increase humidity, the plant is treated with insecticide.
Shield aphids or scale insects
Prolific insects love indoor flowers, attach themselves to green shoots, cling to the veins of leaves on both sides and drink the juice. Parasites leave behind a sticky trail. Yucca stops developing, the young plant may dry out.
Diseases
With improper care, excessive irrigation, combined with low temperatures, pathogenic microorganisms are activated that cause diseases that lead to the fact that the yucca loses its decorative effect, sheds its leaves.
Brown spotting
With excess moisture and insufficient nutrients in the soil, the plant's immunity is weakened, and the palm tree becomes vulnerable to brown spot fungi. Colorless spots appear on the lower leaves. In the absence of attention, the affected areas acquire a yellow color, and after a few months they turn brown, mycelial spores become noticeable. To cure yucca from brown spot, you need:
- Dry the soil in the pot.
- Reduce irrigation.
- Cut off infected leaves.
Succulents need to be treated 3-4 times within 2 weeks with Topaz or a stronger fungicide Ridomil Gold.
Leaf marginal necrosis
Excess moisture promotes the activation of the fungus Cytospora. The pathogen begins to multiply, but with timely detection of signs of the disease, yucca can be saved. Gray spots first form at the ends of the leaves, quickly spread to the entire plate, darken, acquire a brown-black color.
Fusariosis rot
To cure a succulent from a fungal infection, you need to spray chemicals on the entire plant, from root to trunk and top. It is better to remove part of the earth, since there are spores in the soil.
When infected with Fusarium, the leaves rot at the base and die.
Symptoms and root cause identification
To return decorativeness to yucca, you need to understand why it turns yellow and fades. The characteristic signs help to find out what triggered the problem.
Leaf tips dry
Insufficient lighting causes the ornamental plant to look less beautiful. If the tips of the leaves of an evergreen succulent turn yellow and dry out in early spring or late autumn, the air may also be too dry.
To return the plant to an attractive appearance, you must:
- Put the pot away from the battery.
- Periodically turn on the phytolamp.
- Wipe above ground with a sponge dampened with water.
To increase humidity, yucca is sprayed from a spray bottle. It is often undesirable to start such a procedure, the liquid will accumulate in the leaf sinuses, which is fraught with decay.
Yellowing and drying of the entire plate
In order for the palm tree to rest in winter, it must be kept in a cool room. The temperature should not fall below 12 or 13 °C. Failure to comply with such conditions, combined with poor lighting, leads to a weakening of the immunity of the plant, the plates turn yellow and dry out both in the old lower leaves and in young rosettes. They become mottled and dry when the yucca is exposed to direct sunlight.
To protect the plant from burns, the pot is moved away from the window.
Leaves turn yellow at stem
With frequent spraying, abundant watering, due to waterlogging, the roots of the plant begin to rot, an unpleasant smell of dampness appears, the stems crack, the leaves turn yellow. So that the yucca does not die, it is transplanted into a new pot filled with fresh soil. Intact roots are sprinkled with wood ash, rotten roots are removed.
Leaves turn black and fall off
When the succulent is located in a draft, at low temperature and high humidity, which occurs in the absence of a drainage layer in the pot and abundant watering, you can notice that the tips of the yucca leaves have turned black. They fall off when infected with fungi, which are activated when the rules of care are violated, in the absence of optimal conditions for a tropical plant.
Leaves are curling
The succulent freezes when the air temperature drops to 5 ° C, which can happen if the yucca is left on the balcony or loggia, and it gets colder outside. Perennial leaf edges darken and curl.
How to reanimate a plant
Having found out the reason for the loss of the decorative look of the yucca, it is necessary, without delay, to address the problem.
Fight against fungal diseases
When a plant is affected by cercosporosis or brown spotting, dry the ground in a pot, reduce the amount of watering, cut off diseased leaves and spray the yucca with Topaz, Ridomil Gold chemicals.
To cope with marginal necrosis, the infected area is removed, capturing he althy tissue. The slices are sprinkled with activated carbon, the palm tree is treated with Topaz.
For the treatment of Fusarium rot use "Profit", "Previkur". The top layer of the earth, in which fungal spores start, is removed. Fungicides are sprayed on leaves, shoots, and trunk.
Destruction of spider mites
Having found whitish spots formed by pests, the yucca must be carefully treated with laundry soap and covered with polyethylene for a day, then sent under a warm shower. The window on which the succulent stood is washed by adding Karbofos to the water. The plant is sprayed with insecticides "Fitoverm", "Intavir", humidify the air in the room.
Salvation from scale insects
To cope with a pest that drinks juice from yucca leaves and stems and covers them with a sticky coating, the plant is treated with kerosene or a special agent.The composition is prepared by combining 2 tsp with a liter of water. alcohol and 15 mm of liquid soap. If such treatment is ineffective, the succulent is sprayed with Actellik and Aktara insecticides.
How to save a yucca if it has suffered from improper care
To revive at home a houseplant that wilts in winter, you need to check the temperature. When the apartment is more than 15 ° C, the palm pot must be moved to a cool place. If the leaves are pale and stretched out, you need to arrange additional lighting. Softening of the trunk indicates rotting of the roots, which occurs due to frequent and abundant watering. Yucca is unlikely to be saved, but it is worth trying to cut and transplant the top into another container.
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