need to add that plant has sun all day. I did water after planting and we had a couple of days of heavy rain end of last week but I don't think I really watered heavily

It's most likely just stressed from planting. Not sure what your temps are, but if it is hot you must keep it watered in good for a couple of weeks at least.

Also always water the plant prior to planting/transplanting. This greatly reduces stress to the plant.

Good luck.

Tex that has not been my experience at all.

Edited to say after thinking about it...I did lose two...out of the seven planted. So maybe it was an overwater issue....

This post was edited by lilsprout on Mon, Jul 7, 14 at 23:17

Actually given the plants TexasRanger deals with (and I have too), he's absolutely correct.

However, given that the poster is in NJ, we have no idea what kind of yucca (or even if it is a yucca) the person planted, so I hesitate to issue any advise, though it would seem if it were any yucca I think of, one watering would suffice for a week or two. If they're having rainfall and he is watering too, it's probably drowning/root rot.

Ok, reread...I agree with TR, it's been overwatered.

The plant I have is Color Guard Yucca. All the leaves dropped the very next day after planting so I don't think it could have rotted away so quickly? I planted right out of the planting container and roots were undisturbed. Should I try drying them out or go replace it at Lowes ? :)

to make it worse, its thundering now and we are getting more rain

This post was edited by RafaelNJ on Mon, Jul 7, 14 at 23:44

I planted a very small yucca with very small calladium in a planter together. I'm starting to realize that was probably a bad idea. It does look good together though. Or is it ok as long as there is very good drainage?

Here's a pic.
Does anyone by any chance have an idea what the very small plant in the front is? It happened to be in another pot and I thought it was neat so I planted it.

'Color Guard' is a variegated version of Yucca filamentosa, common name 'Adam's Needle'. Out of its range in a wet climate I would never water at all it unless it was very dry for a long period. It will definitely need good drainage and might need to be planted a raised area in a wet climate. I would not let it have any more water right now and would place it in a dry spot until the rains stop.

Sometimes people separate a pup from the parent and don't let the broken roots callous sufficiently before planting or potting up. This would cause rapid rotting in wet soil. Its hard to tell if thats what happened. If it was, it will smell like rotten bananas.

As yuccas go, this one is less drought hardy than most others and in a hotter dryer climate it requires supplemental water so its probably a good choice for New Jersey but winter will be a challenge if its wet. Don't use mulch especially close to the plant, use gravel.

Well I have rock/gravel in my backyard where all the plants are planted so that should be an advantage ! As to placing it in a dry spot that's not exactly possible as its dark out and raining. Also its planted in the ground so I would need to dig it up. This is a fairly decent sized plant so I don't think it was pupp as in your example. I can try to take a pic tomorrow morning and post. I have seen these planted next to a TJ Maxx near me and they seem to survive winters just fine... however I am not sure if they dig them up

I have on occasion gone out in driving rain and dug out endangered plants if I am worried, which I have sat and done several times not to mention nearly killing myself in freezing cold covering them with numb fingers. Now I only grow desert varieties that will survive our winters. Once a plant is well established, its not so critical but early on rot is a very common problem. Dry is best.

Once rot starts, it happens quick. Here is a site that might help.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://search.aol.com/aol/imageDetails?s_it=imageDetails&q=rotted+yucca&img=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.plantfinder.com%2FServices%2FARChase%2Fimages%2Fyucca8.jpg&v_t=nscpsearch&host=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.plantfinder.com%2FServices%2FARChase%2Fyucca.asp&width=97&height=77&thumbUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ft2.gstatic.com%2Fimages%3Fq%3Dtbn%3AANd9GcTZTu5Oe1iQe4SY2qmMYqusyLaNeJcU9p5DMHGgFpFNhORq29G6PKsdrw%3Awww.plantfinder.com%2FServices%2FARChase%2Fimages%2Fyucca8.jpg&b=image%3Fq%3Dr%3DimageResultsBack%26v_t%3Dnscpsearch%26oreq%3D36f5b1b28a8c4c4f9e9b9267831a8c76&imgHeight=124&imgWidth=157&imgTitle=Fusarium+stem+rot+on+Yucca&imgSize=14351&hostName=www.plantfinder.com

One thing I thought is how long has Lowes tortured it with a daily watering before you got it even ?

Since you just got it, why don't you unplant it and inspect the roots tomorrow if you can. TR is right about the banana smell of septic roots...I've smelt THAT before ;)

In Oklahoma, where my rainfall averaged about 32-36 inches a year, I never watered this plant beyond the first watering after I planted it (obtained from a cacti and succulent specialist friend of mine). It was a nice plant and I was happy to have it. Filamentosa is quickly possibly the most water tolerant yucca there is.

So after the heavy rain last night I think just to spite me some of the leaves have started to pop off the ground... can anyone understand this? I am including a pic to show you how the plant looks now. It had one frond up and now there is probably around 10 lifting up.

Looks great!

Mine did that too. It was just stressed...

Guys, I don't know what is going down, now all but 2 fronds are down again. It seems like it tries or does get some fronds up over night and then they fall down again during the day. Is this common? I believe the first time I also noticed the fronts up in the morning and later in the day they were down again.

If it's having problems getting water (like roots rotten), that would be an appropriate response....recover when cooler/more humid.

I was hoping lilsprout had it right but now you have me worried. So does that mean the plants is pretty much done?

I was hoping lilsprout had it right but now you have me worried. So does that mean the plants is pretty much done?

I pulled this offline. I would leave it alone and advise DO NOT water it, its been watered more than plenty for a newly planted yucca, let the soil dry completely before watering again. I would even consider moving the rocks around it for a while in order to dry out the soil since you have had a lot of rain. The rocks will help in winter when you really want the crown to stay dry and clear of leaf debris or anything that stays wet.

If rain continues, if it was me, I'd move it under cover until the weather settles to prevent rot and allow it to dry out. From what you wrote, it sounds like the plant has plenty of roots already so its not a cutting that needs more time to develop them. The roots are geared and prepared for storage-- the plant stores moisture as a coping mechanism against periods draught which occur in its habitat. Being dry for a period wont hurt it, constant wet will. If dry, the leaves would appear shriveled, dehydrated and stiff, not drooping and it would take some time for the plant to finally succumb to dying due to too dry.

This particular type is more tolerant of moisture as it would need to be in shade with supplemental irrigation in a place like west Texas.

duplicate post

{{!gwi}}

This post was edited by TexasRanger10 on Tue, Jul 8, 14 at 18:31

Here is the link. It addresses your situation.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.gardenguides.com/99945-problems-transplanting-yucca-plants.html

This post was edited by TexasRanger10 on Tue, Jul 8, 14 at 18:32

I will do as you advise ! thanks for that. I thought if I just pull out the plant from the container and plant it it should not have any effect on the plant. I did not really disturb the roots in any way and plant looked great in the planter. Isn't transplanting more if you dig it up from the ground to replant somewhere else? I am probably a noob and don't understand it.

duplicate post

This post was edited by RafaelNJ on Tue, Jul 8, 14 at 21:27

So weather has not been helpful, it has rained pretty much every day for the past week, some days heavily. The yucca does now have about 4 leaves standing up and it does look some mornings like more are standing up or at least trying. I think its also starting to put out new leaves in the middle, and I noticed something growing out of the side that almost looks like another trunk ?

Yay!!

Good to hear :)