Yuccas are actually easy to care for and very tough, which is best demonstrated by their resilience. The agave plants (contrary to popular belief, they are not tropical palms!) come from the dry deserts and semi-deserts of Central America, where they are used to plenty of sun and extremely little water - but they can still cope with comparatively little light and lower temperatures. Only an excess of moisture causes the leaves to initially hang - and then turn yellow and die.
What to do if the yucca palm droops leaves?
When a yucca palm droops its leaves, it is usually due to too much moisture, which can lead to rotting roots. To save the yucca, you should remove excess moisture, cut off diseased parts of the plant and repot the plant in fresh substrate.
Yucca is probably too moist
If the yucca is drooping its leaves, you have most likely watered it too often and/or kept it too wet (and used the spray bottle too often to wet the leaves). Now the roots have probably already become rotten, so that the affected leaves can no longer be properly cared for. The trunk may even be affected: Take a look to see whether it is already soft or otherwise feels different.
Saving dying yucca – this is how it works
If incorrect watering behavior and rotting roots are the causes of the hanging leaves, with a bit of luck you can still save the he althy parts of the yucca:
- Unpot the yucca and remove all soil.
- Inspect the roots and cut away anything rotten.
- Prune the yucca above ground too: remove all diseased parts of the plant.
- Repot the yucca in fresh substrate.
- And from now on water significantly less!
- In severe cases, cut off the still he althy parts of the plant
- and root them as stem or crested cuttings in a pot with soil.
- Do not place the cuttings in a glass of water for rooting
- and do not put a plastic bag or cut-off PET bottle over it.
- This only encourages rot.
Water Yucca properly
Watering a yucca once or even twice a week is far too frequent. Allow the plant to dry between each watering - it's only time for fresh water again when the substrate is dry deep down (finger test!). Since the yucca is also succulent and has the ability to evaporate only a small amount of water during high heat, it usually does not need to be watered more often than usual during hot summer days.
Tip
Underfloor heating that is too hot can also cause drooping leaves - many yuccas don't like this intense heat from below. Otherwise, the recent repotting and any associated damage to the roots could also be the cause.