The yucca or palm lily is one of the most popular indoor plants. The easy-care plant is easy to recognize by its typical trunk and the sword-shaped, pointed leaves. These are leathery-rough and covered with a waxy layer to protect them from drying out. The yucca comes from the arid regions of the USA and Mexico and is therefore used to a rather dry climate. Black or brown leaf tips can therefore have various causes.
Dry air can be the reason for dark leaf tips
Causes of dark leaf tips
With most indoor plants, dark and dry leaf tips are an indication that the air in the room is too dry. However, yuccas are usually quite insensitive to drought, which is why other causes of drying out of the leaf tips can also come into question. For a better diagnosis, we have compiled the most common reasons for you here.
Dry air
If the leaves turn brown at the tips and edges, maybe even curl up or dry up completely, then the plant usually suffers from insufficient humidity. As a rule, species native to tropical rainforests in particular show these signs, which can be remedied by higher humidity (e.g. by more frequent spraying). Yuccas, however, are used to drought, which is why this cause is very rarely an issue.
heat damage
Drying leaf tips on yuccas, on the other hand, more often indicate heat damage, especially if the plant generally leaves a rather limp overall impression. The cause is accumulated heat, which can become a problem, especially in winter: then many yuccas stand over or against a heater, whereby the heat cannot escape and instead damages the plant. Instead, yuccas need a vegetation break in the winter months, during which they are cultivated in a light location at around 5 to 10 °C. On the other hand, many yuccas develop diseases if they hibernate in a warm living room.
Other possible causes
If the above two causes of dry leaf tips are out of the question, then it could be one of the following reasons:
- Lack of light (yuccas like it bright)
- Waterlogging due to incorrect watering behavior
- Ball dryness (very rare, usually the opposite is the case)
- over-fertilization
- a plant pot that is too small (yuccas should be repotted every two years!)
Leaf tips that are already black will not turn green again. If the sight bothers you too much, only the scissors will help. However, it can happen that the interface turns black again. The only real remedy is to eliminate the cause.
tips
Do not just cut off the dry tip of the leaf, but the entire affected leaf. The yucca will sprout again.