If you grow cycads — and especially if you grow Cycas revoluta, the king sago palm — you need to know about Aulacaspis yasumatsui. This tiny armoured scale insect, barely the size of a pinhead, is the most destructive pest of cycads worldwide. It has killed entire populations of Cycas revoluta in cultivation. It has forced botanical gardens to… Continue reading Cycad Aulacaspis Scale (Aulacaspis yasumatsui): Identification, Treatment and Prevention
Category: pests
The Agave Snout Weevil: How to Identify, Prevent and Fight Scyphophorus acupunctatus
If you grow agaves, yuccas or related plants in a warm climate, there is one pest you need to know — and fear. The agave snout weevil (Scyphophorus acupunctatus) is a black beetle, roughly fifteen millimetres long, whose larvae bore into the heart of agaves and related plants, destroying them from the inside. By the time the… Continue reading The Agave Snout Weevil: How to Identify, Prevent and Fight Scyphophorus acupunctatus
My Yucca Has Yellow Leaves — Causes, Diagnosis, and Practical Solutions
Yellow leaves on a Yucca are one of the most common complaints among gardeners and indoor growers alike. The genus Yucca includes roughly 50 species, from the compact rosettes of Yucca filamentosa to the towering trunks of Yucca elephantipes, and virtually all of them share the same alarming symptom: leaves that turn from healthy green to sickly yellow, sometimes seemingly overnight. The… Continue reading My Yucca Has Yellow Leaves — Causes, Diagnosis, and Practical Solutions
My Cycas revoluta Has Brown Tips, Why? Causes and Solutions
Brown tips on the fronds of Cycas revoluta are not a disease in themselves — they are a signal. The leaflet tips are the furthest point from the root system and the last tissue to receive water and nutrients, which makes them the first to show stress from a wide range of causes. Understanding the pattern of… Continue reading My Cycas revoluta Has Brown Tips, Why? Causes and Solutions
My Cycas revoluta Has Root Rot, Why? How to Diagnose, Treat, and Prevent It
Root rot is the most lethal disease of Cycas revoluta in cultivation. While yellow leaves, nutrient deficiencies, and pests can usually be corrected, advanced root rot often kills the plant outright — or reduces it to a hollow stump. The tragedy is that root rot is almost always caused by the grower’s own watering habits, which makes… Continue reading My Cycas revoluta Has Root Rot, Why? How to Diagnose, Treat, and Prevent It
My Cycas revoluta Is Turning Yellow, Why? A Diagnostic Guide
Few sights alarm a cycad grower more than golden-yellow fronds appearing on a plant that should be uniformly deep green. Yet yellowing leaves on Cycas revoluta — the sago palm — is one of the most common problems reported by both indoor and outdoor growers worldwide, from southern Japan to Florida, the Mediterranean coast, and well beyond.… Continue reading My Cycas revoluta Is Turning Yellow, Why? A Diagnostic Guide
Spider Mites on Yuccas: Why They Spread and How to Save Your Plant
Spider mites are one of the most dangerous pests on yuccas — and one of the most underestimated. Unlike mealybugs, which weaken a plant slowly over months, spider mites can strip a yucca of its entire foliage in days. A beautiful Yucca rostrata, with its perfect sphere of blue-grey leaves, can be reduced to a bare… Continue reading Spider Mites on Yuccas: Why They Spread and How to Save Your Plant
My yucca is rotting : why and how to save it
Your yucca has a soft trunk, leaves yellowing all at once, a strange smell coming from the base? It is almost certainly rotting — and the instinctive reaction of many owners is to water more, assuming the plant is thirsty. That is the worst thing you can do. In the vast majority of cases, a… Continue reading My yucca is rotting : why and how to save it
Mealybugs on yuccas
Mealybugs and scale insects are the most common pests on indoor yuccas — and among the most frustrating. They arrive silently, multiply out of sight, and by the time most owners notice them, the infestation is well established. On a typical indoor Yucca gigantea, it is not unusual to find hundreds of scale insects during a… Continue reading Mealybugs on yuccas