How to Fertilize a Yucca Plant

Yuccas produce healthy foliage and flowers with minimal soil nutrition.

Desert soils provide little water or nutrition -- conditions to which the yucca is well adapted. These relatives of the cactus thrive in dry soils and require minimal nutrition. Sandy sites and garden beds with too little nutrients for most plants provide the best location for growing a yucca. Some light fertilization of young plants encourages quick growth and early health so the plant quickly reaches its mature size and develops a healthy root system.

Things You'll Need

• Balanced granular fertilizer

Instructions

1. Apply a balanced, slow-release fertilizer blend, such as a 10-10-10 analysis, at half the rate recommended on the label for the yucca size. Make one annual application in early summer.

2. Spread the fertilizer on top of the soil around the yucca plant. Leave a 6-inch space between the fertilizer and the yucca base so fertilizer doesn't come in direct contact with the leaves.

3. Water the soil thoroughly after applying the fertilizer. The water helps the fertilizer dissolve into the soil, where it will reach the root zone of the yucca plant.

4. Fertilize yuccas beginning one year after planting and continue to fertilizer once a year until the yuccas are three to five years old. Mature, well-established plants typically don't require fertilization.

Tips & Warnings

• Although you can use any balanced fertilizer, a fertilizer blend formulated for cacti works especially well for yuccas. Apply cactus fertilizers at the rate recommended on the label.

References

• University of Florida Extension; Agave and Yucca: Tough Plants for Tough Times; Gary Knox; February 2010
• Arizona Cooperative Extension; Cactus, Agave, Yucca and Ocotillo; Jack Kelly, et al.; April 2009