How To Grow Red Yucca From Seed

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Red yucca also has some other common names that include hummingbird yucca, redflower false yucca, coral yucca, texas red yucca, and yellow yucca. Hesperaloe parviflora is the botanical name of this plant which is pronounced as Hess-per-AL-oh par-vi-FLO-ra. 

grow Red Yucca From Seed

It is a perennial, evergreen succulent plant. It has simple linear-shaped leaves that grow up to 6 inches in length. The red-colored flowers attract honey bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies to your garden. In this article, we shall be looking at how to grow red yucca from seed. But before diving further into this, we shall first have a look at some features and attributes of this plant.

What is a Red Yucca Plant

This plant belongs to the family of century plants. The evergreen succulent is a very easy-to-grow plant and it requires very little care to grow. It is drought-resistant and requires very low maintenance. 

Traits and Attributes of Yucca Plant 

The origin of this plant is Mexico, Texas, and Coahuila, and it has a perennial life cycle. Red yucca can grow up to 3 to 5 feet in height whereas the width of this plant could go up to 4 to 6 feet. It grows well in rocky places. It grows in the form of clumps of foliage that have flowers on arching stems. 

Red yucca requires low maintenance and has a medium growth rate. This broadleaf evergreen plant has a medium texture. It can be grown by divisions or start from seeds. Seed starting could be a little bit difficult because its seeds are hard to find. But we have one method of getting the red yucca seeds. Just keep reading and you will get the answer very soon. 

Conditions to Grow Red Yucca Plant

As told above, this plant needs a little care and maintenance. Full or partial sunlight with proper soil having good drainage is required. Coastal or mountainous regions are best for growing this plant. 

6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, and 10b are recommended USDA hardiness zones to plant red yucca. The exciting thing about this plant is that it is winter tolerant. It can survive even in sub-zero temperatures. 

Fruit And Flower

The tubular-shaped flowers have gold/yellow, red/burgundy, or pink colors. The flowers bloom in spring and summer, having a long bloom season. The bloom season could be in March, April, May, June, and July. While in warm winter regions the bloom season could be year-round. 

The 1 to 3-inch long flower that grows on 4 to 6 feet long stalks has a spike or panicle floral structure. The fruit of this plant is a woody black-colored capsule. 

Stem and Leaves

Red or burgundy stalks are nonaromatic. The simple, leathery-feeling leaves are blue or green in color. The 6 inches-long and inch-wide evergreen leaves have white filaments like hairs present on them. These leaves also change their color as in winter they would turn reddish-brown or purple. 

Companion Plants Of Yucca

What to plant with red yuccas? 

This plant is a rough and tough plant that grows well even if not given much care. Companion plants further enhance their ability to grow well. A few plants are mentioned below that can be the best companions for your plant.

  • Crassula
  • Hens and chicks
  • Yellowbird of paradise 
  • Westringia 

How to Grow Red Yucca Plant

Red Yucca

You can grow this plant in a couple of ways. One is to start with seeds or seed pods. This one will be discussed in detail in this article. The other one is to grow the plant from rhizomes or from pups. 

How to grow Red Yucca from Seeds

Although it is hard to find the best quality red yucca seeds from stores if you can arrange the seeds of red yucca, follow these steps to grow. 

How do you start a yucca plant from seed?

You can start the plant from seeds outdoors or indoors as you like. If you want to start the red yucca outdoors, start sowing seeds in the fall season. To grow indoors you need to sow them before the last frost. These steps should be followed to get the best germination results.

  1. Growing indoors is best if done by using seed trays. Get a flat seed tray.
  2. Wash the tray thoroughly with 1 ratio of 9 combinations of bleach and water respectively. 
  3. Doing this will clean the tray and remove any risk of plant disease.
  4. Make sure that the tray has drainage holes in it. 
  5. Let the tray dry up completely and add cactus soil to it. Don’t fill the tray completely. 
  6. Now you can spread some seeds of red yucca over the soil
  7. Cover the seeds with some more cactus soil.
  8. Now use the sprinkler to add water to the soil.
  9. This whole system should have a high humidity level. To achieve this, cover the tray with a plastic sheet.
  10. It is recommended to place the tray under 60 to 80 Fahrenheit temperature. 
  11. Spraying water into the tray is very important on a daily basis. 
  12. You should keep the tray on some bright spot but it should not be placed under direct sunlight. 
  13. The seeds will take about 3 to 4 weeks to germinate. To get good results you should sow plenty of seeds. Only some of them will sprout. 

How to Grow from Seed Pods

Red Yucca seed pod

As told before, it is hard to get good quality red yucca seeds. The other way to get the seeds is from seed pods and start the germination process. 

What are Red Yucca Seed Pods

What does a red yucca seed look like?

Usually in the late summer during its bloom season, this plant produces red flowers. These flowers will last for some weeks and after that, the petals of the flowers will start to fall. Now you will start to notice hard and spherical seed pods. 

How to Harvest the Red Yucca Seed Pods

Once you see these seed pods, let them dry completely before harvesting them. These pods are about one inch in length and they have a dry husk. These seedpods contain lots of black seeds, and from these seeds, you can start your young plants. 

Once the pods start to crack open you can now collect the seeds. Be careful not to delay the collection of seeds as you may lose the seeds if the pods get open completely. Open the seed pods and harvest the seeds at the right time. You can store these seeds for up to 5 years. Store them in the sand and refrigerate them for later use. 

Once you get the seeds from seed pods they are ready to sow. Remember that freshly picked seeds would have a high germination rate. It is also recommended to soak the seeds in water before sowing them. Now you can follow the steps told before to germinate the seeds. 

How to Grow Red Yucca Plants in Containers

You can grow red yucca directly in the garden soil from seeds. The good thing is that this plant can also be grown in containers. As you have started the seeds in trays. Once the seedlings are mature enough to be transplanted you can use small-size containers. This container must be at least 4 inches deep. The seedlings mature in usually 8 to 10 weeks. 

I would recommend you keep the red yucca in a small container for their first growing year. After that, they can be transplanted into a bigger and final container or in a garden. The final container should be at least the size of one gallon. Regular potting soil can be used in the containers to grow red yucca. 

Soil Preparation  

For good results, the soil you are using to grow red yucca should have good drainage. Dry, sandy, and loamy soil could be used for this. The pH level should be 6.8 to 7.2. The key to growing red yucca is dry and sandy soil. This plant also grows best in rocky gardens.  

Watering the Plant 

Red yucca is a drought-resistant plant and has very low watering needs. But during their first year, they would need water as new roots are growing during this time. Only an inch of water per week would be enough. Don’t water your red yucca unless the soil dries out completely. 

Choosing the Location for Red Yucca Plant

This plant needs full sun for better growth, that is 6 hours of sunlight a day. But the good news is that it can also survive well in partial shade also. 

How to Care for Red Yucca Plant

The established Red yucca doesn’t need much care. It also does not require many fertilizers but it is recommended that you should use general-purpose fertilizer. Get some good quality fertilizer and feed your plant lightly during the spring season, when your plant shows new growth. 

You have started your plant from seeds so keep in mind that the growth will be slow. It might take up to 4 to 5 years for your red yucca to start producing flowers. Once they bloom, the flower stalks will produce fruits. At this time you will see hummingbirds visiting your garden. 

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References

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/germinate-red-yucca-seeds-20976.html#:~:text=Place%20the%20seed%20tray%20in,transplant%20into%20individual%20plant%20pots.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/foliage/yucca/yucca-seed-pods.htm

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Wajahat Badar

I am an enthusiastic and passionate gardener who is interested in both traditional and modern methods of plantation and improving home living. Living green is the revolutionary lifestyle that all nature lovers require.

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