2024 Author: Beatrice Philips | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-18 12:09
Yucca elephant (or giant) is a popular houseplant in our country. It belongs to a tree-like and evergreen plant species. The homeland of this species is Guatemala and Mexico. The elephant yucca got its name because of the similarity of the trunk with an elephant's leg.
What are the characteristic features of the plant? How to properly care for a yucca? How to reproduce? Look for answers to these and some other questions in our material.
Botanical features
Despite the fact that in Russia yucca most often grows at home, it can also exist in the wild . It is in such conditions that the plant develops quite quickly and reaches its maximum size (height - up to 9 meters, column diameter - up to 4.5 meters).
Externally, the elephant yucca consists of upright dense shoots. The shoots have bright green shiny leaves. In width, the leaves can reach 10 centimeters, and the length can be more than 100 centimeters.
It is important to note that the giant yucca is a flowering plant. This process takes place during the hot summer months.
On the peduncles that had time to form in the spring, flowers grow by the summer . By their nature, such flowers belong to the bell-shaped type and have a snow-white color. At the moment when the flowers fade, small oval fruits appear in their place, the size of which does not exceed 2.5 centimeters.
Care
In order to maintain the life and health of the plant, botanists recommend that you strictly adhere to the rules of caring for elephant yucca. Consider the optimal conditions required for this type of plant.
The amount of light
Yucca needs quite a lot of bright light. That is why it is advised to place the plant on the windowsills on the side of your house or apartment, which is the most illuminated. It is also important to note the fact that direct sunlight will not harm the yucca, so in the warm season the plant can be placed in the air.
On the contrary, negative consequences can occur only when the plant is in the shade . The minimum amount of time a yucca should spend in the light per day is 10–12 hours. If it is impossible to provide natural light during this time, you need to connect artificial light . If you neglect this rule, then the appearance of the leafy part of the plant will deteriorate significantly.
Temperature regime
The maximum allowable air temperature for keeping yucca is +25 degrees Celsius. If the thermometer reaches higher marks, then it is necessary to carry out regular ventilation so that fresh air constantly flows into the room where the plant grows and develops. However, even so prolonged excess of the maximum permissible temperature is undesirable.
If you use an air conditioner or fan to cool the air temperature in the room, then in this case it is necessary to take into account that the plant does not tolerate drafts. Therefore, all cooling appliances should not be pointed at the yucca pot.
As for the cool season, and especially winter, this is the season during which the plant goes into a state of dormancy, its growth stops. Therefore, he needs to provide cooler conditions of stay - the air temperature should be about 10 degrees Celsius.
Water
Water plays a special role in the life of a yucca. Watering the plant should be regular and carried out at the moment when the top layer of the soil in which the flower grows is completely dry. Moreover, the water should be clean (ideally, settled), and its temperature should be in the range of 18 to 22 degrees Celsius … These rules apply in warm times when the yucca is developing.
In late autumn and winter, when the plant enters dormant, watering should occur less frequently.
Important: you need to water not from above, but from below. When watering, it is important not to get water on the trunk.
Fertilizers
The giant yucca needs complex feeding. For their implementation, any formulations intended for deciduous plants are suitable. Required frequency of fertilization - 1 time in 14 days (feeding is not recommended in winter).
Landing rules
In order to plant a yucca, you will need to prepare a special potting mix. So, it should include:
- 3 parts of sod land;
- 2 parts of river sand (preferably coarse);
- 2 pieces of leafy land.
This composition must necessarily be nutritious, and in its structure - friable. The soil should be neutral, without the predominance of alkalis or acids, it is also important that water can easily pass inside during irrigation, as well as the air necessary for aeration.
If the preparation of such a composition seems very difficult to you, then you can follow a simpler option. To do this, it will be enough to purchase a ready-made mixture of soil, which is intended for palm trees (such a composition can be purchased at almost any flower shop), and then add a small amount of sand to it.
As for the pot itself, then its size should correspond to the size of the flower, respectively, the capacity should be quite large and high.
Before planting, a dense layer of pebbles or granite should be laid on the bottom of the pot (this manipulation will make the pot heavier), on top of this layer it is necessary to make a layer for drainage.
Reproduction
There are several ways to propagate a plant. Let's consider the most popular ones.
- Seminal … Despite the fact that this type of breeding is one of the simplest, it is rarely used. This unpopularity is due to the fact that the germination rate of elephant yucca seeds is rather low.
- Using apical cuttings . This method is more common than the one described above. For its implementation, the upper parts of the shoots must be rooted in the sand, and then planted in the soil composition described above. Parts of the trunk.
Propagation of giant yucca with parts of the trunk is the most popular method. The parts of the trunk obtained during pruning (their length should be at least 10 centimeters) are rooted in the sand, and then transplanted into the soil.
Diseases
Yucca, like any other plant, affects many diseases. The most common diseases of elephant yucca include root rot and leaf spot (leaves turn yellow, dry). If you notice even a minimal manifestation of these ailments, then you need to carefully reconsider the care of the plant. In particular - the regularity of watering, as well as the air temperature in the room . After you put these processes in order, the disease will go away.
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