Yucca Plant

Botanical Name: Yucca elephantipes

As a young plant, the yucca plant is a stemless rosette of long, sword-shaped leaves with pointed tips. As they mature, yucca plants develop thick, woody trunks with several arching leaf rosettes at the top. The edges of these leaves are spineless, and not as sharp as others in this genus, giving Y. elephantipes the common name Spineless Yucca.

This plant is extremely easy to grow and is tolerant of changing conditions, such as humidity and temperature. One thing it doesn't tolerate is soggy soil.

You can put yucca plant outside for the summer months where it will get some direct sun every day. Outdoors, it may produce tall spikes of fragrant, white flowers.

Repot in spring when the plant becomes root-bound. Use a heavy container to prevent toppling, because older plants can get top-heavy. Older plants can be top-dressed instead by replacing the top 2-3 in (2.5-5 cm) of soil with fresh soil.

Origin: Mexico

Height: Up to 5 ft (1.5 m)

Light: Bright light to full sun.

Water: Keep soil moist in spring through fall. In winter, water just enough to keep soil from drying out.

Humidity: Average to dry room humidity.

Temperature: Cool to average 50-75°F, 10-24°C

Soil: Any good potting mix that drains well.

Fertilizer: Feed with a balanced liquid fertilizer every 2 weeks in spring and summer.

Propagation: Cane cuttings and offsets root easily. Plant them in potting mix and keep it barely moist.