Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Support the plant database you love!

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Search Smarty Plants
See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

 
rate this answer
2 ratings

Wednesday - August 06, 2008

From: Port Monmouth, NJ
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Pests, Cacti and Succulents
Title: Bugs on yucca plant in New Jersey
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I noticed small bugs ALL OVER 4 established yucca plants all near each other. They may look like Halticotoma valida but I'm not positive. There is no brown on the leaves except for the large amounts of bugs scurrying about but the leaves are no longer fully green or straight up. The leaves seem very muted in color and they seem to be wilting more and more. HELP!! How do I get rid of them before they kill my plants?

ANSWER:

We're still trying to get our minds around there being yucca in New Jersey. There are 28 plants that either are yuccas or have "yucca" in their names in our Native Plant Database. As we went through trying to find a likely candidate, we found that most of them listed their native habitat as Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Finally, we found one, Yucca filamentosa (Adam's needle) that is known to grow in New Jersey. There is also Hesperaloe parviflora (redflower false yucca) but it didn't appear to be growing anywhere outside the desert Southwest, either. Do you know which yucca you have?

The Floral Genome Project Yucca filamentosa has some general information on this plant. Nearly every website we visited on yucca assured us that there were no significant pests or diseases of the yucca if its cultural requirements were met. However, we did at last find a site that admitted they might have infestations of Halticotoma valida. See if the images on the referenced site match the bugs you are talking about. We also found several references to mealybugs as being a nuisance to yuccas. This eHow site gives you complete instructions on How to Control Mealybugs. Here is a page of Images of mealybugs. And, finally, here is a Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station website on the Plant Health Problems of Yucca . The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center neither recommends for nor against pesticides, but these sites have suggestions for the specific bugs in question. Always read directions carefully and follow them to the letter when applying pesticides.

 

More Cacti and Succulents Questions

Bloom stalk not visibly connected to Century Plant from Johnson City, TX
July 31, 2013 - Can anyone tell my why my Century Plant is growing a bloom stalk a couple of feet away from my plant instead of up through the middle? Ive never seen one do that and it strikes me as being rather odd!
view the full question and answer

Black bugs on yucca from Aledo TX
April 14, 2013 - We have flowering yuccas that have thousands of small black bugs that seem to be hurting the plant. They are not on any other foliage in our beds. What do I use to get rid of them??
view the full question and answer

Runaway Agave Americana from Pacific Palisades CA
April 29, 2013 - We live near open space on Santa Monica Mountain State Park. Our Association planted non-native, invasive Agave Americanas all over the adjacent slopes, and we are trying to get the exploding pups and...
view the full question and answer

Propagation of an agave from Dripping Springs TX
April 30, 2014 - Hi there, I have a Century Agave in my backyard. It is over 6 feet tall and is now producing the center stalk. I understand that means the plant is going to die. My question is how to harvest the pups...
view the full question and answer

Transplanting agave in Austin
September 22, 2009 - I have an 8 foot tall agave (americana?) planted in my front yard. It has been there quite happily for over 20 years. How would I go about transplanting this to another location? Thanks!
view the full question and answer

Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.