Did you do a search on here? That's what you were advised to do.

Hi Dave, I think I did it correctly, yes. I couldn't find anything about Yucca and leaf curl though. There's a lot about leaf curl and other plants, I don't know if it applies here. I'm a total novice and don't know what the cause could be. I read it's too much water, not enough water, not the right type of water for different plants. Maybe it's something others can't answer. The only consistent answer was to repot the plant if rot is involved, which I did. I haven't the foggiest what the white stuff is, I thought maybe calcium deposits.

Do you think I should go back and delete the other post and this post? I don't think my Yucca is going to make it any way. And, given I can't find the answers aside from already taking the kind advice supplied here by lovely strangers, I'm not sure anyone including myself can do anything! I thought I would give it one last go at asking before I gave up. But I don't want to annoy anyone if that's what I'm doing.

Also I'm finding it a bit hard to figure out this forum. I'll eventually get the hang of it, I hope!

Thanks for your help.

Now that I see the photos I wonder--are you sure it's a yucca? I've been poked and scratched by a thousand yuccas, and none of them had a stem and the leaves are very fibrous and spear-like. This is what I mean:

Hmm, can't seem to post my photo at the moment, I'll try again later.

Well I guess I was totally wrong about all yuccas looking like my yuccas. Let me introduce you to yucca utahensis, whose leaf cluster sits right on the ground:

There's an old Peanuts cartoon in which Snoopy says how much he loves yuccas and ends the strip by saying "yucca yucca yucca." To this day I can't keep myself from muttering that every time I think of the plant.

Then there's the story I read somewhere in which a non-desert-dwelling camper claimed he'd been harassed by a gang of yuccas that moved around during the night so he'd stumble into their sword-like leaves every time he went out during the night to relieve himself in the dark.

Oh my days litterbuggy you've cracked me right up! I guess guess how sharp their leaves can be, one could say "live by the Yucca, die by the Yucca...Yucca, Yucca, Yucca". Oh, that was my poor attempt at a joke, I think I failed! Ha! But, I can absolutely see someone thinking they were being harassed by a gang of yuccas for exactly this reason.

This is a lovely one, I've never seen this type of yucca before, just gorgeous. I believe mine is a elephantipes, but I may be wrong. I was told it was a Yucca by someone I would think would know, but I can't be certain. Thanks kindly for posting this pic though, makes you realise there's such variety in the world.

I would love for someone, anyone to identify my plant, if it is a Yucca and if so, what sub-type. Would come in handy!

tropicofcancer your idea seems like a great one, I don't know if I have enough to work with. I have approximately 14inches of curvy stem, including the bottom which looks rather dark and possibly unhealthy compared to the rest of the trunk. Will this be enough, to you knowledge? And, would you suggest I reuse the same pot and soil the Yucca is already in, once I've cut off the roots and found the healthy? Or should I discard this medium? Gosh, I hope my Yucca survives. (Below I've put some pics of a new development, I'll go to explain too.)

I can't say I have an area outdoors that's safe for the cuttings as you've described. My outdoors bit is hit with sun from early morning for a few hours, before going into shade. It's east facing. Would it be acceptable to have it indoors, until I can place it in some medium?

Below are some updated pics. I thought one of the problems might be that the top of the trunk is exposed. It's always been this way, but I seem to see this type of tree with a waxy type substance 'capping' it off. In the comments section of the video they thankfully address this, it turns out I can use normal unscented candle wax, which is what I'll do!

There's a new development of marks on the leaves, happened overnight. They're very small, but as they came on so quickly I'm wondering if this is a sign of something else, like a fungal infection? And, how to deal with it. It might be nothing, but I'm thinking it's something! If I'm going to propagate, is this going to be a problem? Should I cut off the leaves that have these marks? The UK is different in terms of what we can/can't use on plants with fungicides and such, so if anyone has any specific ideas I'm all ears. In the mean time I'm going to try and look around and see if can find some certain answers.

I fear I'm doing way too much, all at once, and I might just be the death of dear Yucca! But, I welcome any thoughts people have, everyone has been extremely keen on helping and providing insight it's been a great learning experience so far. So, yes, thanks! You really do learn something new every day.

Very small but new spots of leaves, cause unknown:

I wouldn't suggest removing leaves that look healthy, because they're needed to generate food/energy, which the roots need in order to grow.

I don't think a fungus would appear overnight in tiny spots all over the plant. Are the brown spots raised and a little corky? If so, they may be oedema from increased pressure inside the plant's vascular system caused by overwatering (at least I think that's how it works).

Have you watered recently? Do you check the soil moisture all the way at the bottom of the pot before watering? Most plants suffer badly if their soil stays wet for a long time, so even those of us with hone-made mixes that are highly aerated check the soil moisture and don't water until the soil throughout the pot is dry. I know you said you're soil is fast draining, but I suggest monitoring the moisture directly with a sharpened dowel (a skewer or unfinished chopstick works too) to make sure there's enough air most of the time to provide oxygen to the new growing roots.

Yucca is adapted to dry conditions and symptoms of compromised roots take a while to show up in the leaves. If you leave it like this the plant will slowly decline. New symptoms will appear in the leaves and will not go away.

From your picture of the roots I think they are mostly dead. Perhaps the base of the trunk is in bad shape too. You cut a small notch on the trunk to see if there is still green live tissue under the bark. You may find that closer to the roots the trunk is rotted/dead but an inch or two up it is still alive.

One more thing you can try is to squeeze the roots with your hand. If it crumbles then it is dead. If they are dark they are dead. I would remove all dead roots and clean it up to see if you can find any sign of white fleshy roots. But I bet you will not find any.

You can use almost any wax to seal the wound on top. Elmers glue will also work. Plumbers putty too. Vaseline, etc will be fine too. But that is still not going to fix the roots.

Looks like you have two live tufts of leaves. So part of the trunk is still alive and the leaves are living off of that. Simplest is to think of the stem as a cutting and try to re-root it. Using fresh mix is always safer for such purposes. You may need to support the stem while it is rooting. If you do cut the stem, let it dry out before planting.

I'm sorry it's taken so long to get back to you very helpful people. I haven't been well. But, back to the important matter of Yucca!

I've made a cut into the bark, what can be seen is the attached. What does everyone think? It's not exactly fleshy or green.

tropicofcancer:

Should I just cut the tufts of leaves off instead and try to root those like in the video?

I wish I'd been well enough to tackle this sooner. But, that's life and this is a learning curving. One that's most certainly enjoyable.

Take care. And, thanks for the great advice.

Art: Has state of plant changed in the meanwhile - getting worse or the same as before?

I was expecting a green layer beneath the bark. You should try cutting a little deeper. Use a sharp knife cleaned with alcohol and try cutting a small wedge. Try couple of spots near the top, middle and bottom of the stem. The spot where you see a thin green layer is alive. It will not hurt the plant.

I have a feeling the green portions are limited to the top. In that case I will just go with rooting the cuttings as shown in that video and be done with it.

Hope you have recovered. Life does have a way to alter our wishes and plans. I wish you luck.

Hello again!

I would say the Yucca is in the same condition as before. No worse but also no better.

Doing as suggested, I cut deeper. There's no change in the fleshy underneath of the bark, it's white. It's moist too, not a lot but a little. I couldn't find any green so you're likely right, it's best to treat it as dead and gone.

I'm going to go ahead and attempt to propagate the Yucca, as the video instructs and hope for the best. I honestly can't see how it can recover from how it is now and think it's likely hanging on for its dear life due to the lovely weather we're having here.

If propagation is successful and my memory stays in tact, I'll post an update with pics here. It's always good to have a happy ending after all!

ah, yes, life does have a way of throwing us curve balls but life would be boring without them! Many thanks for your advice and best wishes, all is very much appreciated here in sunny London, UK!

Take care.

I will start by slicing the stem clean across somewhere near the bottom. Keep cutting small disks of the stem till you see a thin green flesh right under the bark. The inner core should be white and sort of juicy. At this point I would cut another thin slice as clean as possible. It is possible that somewhere along the stem there is still a live portion perhaps more near the top. If you see green then you can propagate it as single piece. Otherwise just pop the two green branches and root them.