Yucca elephantipes or Yucca
Easy to Grow Architectural House Plant
| PLANT SNAPSHOT | |
| Botanical Name: | Yucca Elephantipes |
| Common Name: | Yucca |
| Light: | Bright light – it enjoys direct sun |
| Watering: | Water the soil when surface feels dry to the touch |
| Feeding: | Every two months in the growing season |
| Humidity: | Low – no need to mist it |
| Air Purifier: | Yes |
Diameter: 60-70 cm
Plant ID: 11480 W 4
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Yucca Elephantipes is an evergreen sword-leaved mini tree with a gnarly trunk. It’s a sun-loving best-selling houseplant that combines good looks with low maintenance.
Native to desert regions of Central America and Mexico, yucca can get as tall as 6 metres in the wild though it usually makes a few metres as a houseplant. It’s very easy to grow, drought-tolerant, and won’t mind at all if you forget to water it for a while.
The elephantipes part if its name comes from its trunk that resembles an elephant’s leg with its wider base and grey-brown cracks. Cats rather like these as scratching posts. The foliage is arching and sword-like and while this variety is called the spineless yucca, it can still give you a sharp poke with its tip so do be careful especially around children.
As it grows the lower leaves will turn yellow and fall away, but they’re replaced with new growth at the crown. This is a natural process and nothing at all to worry about.
Yucca is a hardy, exotic-feel houseplant that adores bright, hot sun. If you have a brightly lit conservatory, front room or porch it’s an excellent low maintenance choice.
How To Water And Feed Yucca Elephantipes
Yucca prefers a dry environment like its native Mexico, so check the soil each week and only water it when the soil feels dry down a few inches. Yucca stores water in its trunk and leaves so it manages for some time without a drink.
It’s best to soak Yucca in a bucket of water or in the sink for a few hours when needed and allow it to run completely dry. Soggy compost is the number one enemy of yucca and will rot its roots.
There’s no need to mist it, but a gentle (and careful!) damp cloth over the leaves every few weeks removes dust and lets it purify your air efficiently.
A dilute solution of houseplant fertiliser once a month in the growing season generates new foliage, but there’s no need to feed it in the winter.
How Much Light Does Yucca Elephantipes Need?
As much light as you can give it! Where other houseplants shrivel, scorch and die yucca will thrive. It’s a real sun worshipper that loves bright direct sunlight. On hot summer days put it outside to sunbathe but remember to bring it back inside at night.
Where to Put Yucca Elephantipes
The sunniest spot you can find in your home is best for a yucca. Sunlit windowsills, porches, and conservatories are excellent spots but it will grow in partial shade too - just be careful not to overwater it.
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