If you are so much picky about the indoor display of all your rooms, I’m sure the Dracaena or Yucca is at the top of your choice. Enhancing the interior beauty, both of these plants play 100 on 100 that people don’t want to miss.
But, there are some differences between dracaena vs. Yucca. Again, the dracaena and Yucca have some similarities, like their growing aspect.
So, you can be perplexed about which one to choose between Dracaena and Yucca. And this is where my article can help you remove your confusion.
Well, I’m going to tell you in detail about these two tiny plants in my article. So be with me till the end!
Table of Contents
Dracaena Vs Yucca in Term of Definition
⦿ Yucca
Yucca is a houseplant that people choose to use in terms of their home décor. You can grow the yucca plant for both indoor and outdoor purposes. This houseplant is completely pest-resistant, drought-tolerant, and slow-growing. It is easy to plant and propagate.
Yucca is beyond all questions to bring gravity and increase the beauty of your house. Yucca comes in more than 20 types and grows into large and timbered stems.
However, a special type of yucca plant is called the succulent plant. And this plant is familiar with the yucca cane plant. It is called yucca cane because the trunk of this yucca type looks like a cane. This plant grows tall, more than 30ft on its trunk.
This yucca cane plant benefits many diseases like blood pressure and high cholesterol control.
A yucca plant can come in different colors like yellow, brown, white, bluish, green, etc., based on its cultivation process and weather.
Amazingly, the yucca plant requires no more water to grow.
⦿ Dracaena
Drakaina is a Greek word that is the origin of Dracaena. Drakaina means a female dragon. This amazing plant will bring you the beauty of your house and many more for your health issues.
For your house, air refinement dracaena houseplant plays the best. This plant will help you prevent carbon dioxide, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene. So, you can ensure good health for your family.
Even it can help you minimize the risk of headache, anemia, kidney disease, respiratory issues, etc. However, if you want more environmental benefits from dracaena, you can plant it outside because dracaena get bigger a lot while it grows outside.
Click here to know how big a dracaena plant can be.
Dracaena Vs Yucca – What Are the Differences?
1. Habitats
The native habitats of the large indoor yucca plant are in dry and hot regions of the Caribbean and North. But, the dracaena plant belongs to the tropical areas in Northern Australia, Southern Asia, and Africa.
2. Types
The Yucca comes in more than 20 types, while the Dracaena comes in more than 29. In addition, there are some types of dracaena yucca plants that look similar to them.
Example-
Yucca that looks like a palm tree is a kind of ornamental yucca tree. Growing palm trees for your indoor display will magnetize your house’s gravity.
On the other hand, the variegated yucca houseplant is another perfect ornamental plant type that looks like trees. They come in white and yellow variegation.
On the other hand, Dracaena has the most popular type of species that looks like bamboo, such as Sanderiana. These exclusive species come with curly leaves, and it is the species of the dracaena genus.
3. Leaves pattern
The Dracaena comes into pointed and long-styled leaf patterns with a darker green color, while the Yucca comes into a spiky leaves pattern.
Compared to the Yucca, Dracaena can grow on multi-color leaves to bring the appearance of a real tree.
4. Height
Both the dracaena yucca species are tall, but you can easily classify the Dracaena from Yucca because the Dracaena has a more convenient height than the yucca plant.
5. Soil Type
In terms of Yucca, the dry or sandy soil type is the appropriate match. It grows sandy soil fast.
If the amount of sandy soil is less, you can add some more to the potting mix to get a good result.
But, in the case of Dracaena, the sandy soil won’t work. Since the Dracaena belongs to the tropical areas, it prefers nutrient-rich soil with a well-draining capacity. And, if you want to add some potting mix, the potting mix should be of high quality.
6. Feeding Schedule
You don’t have to feed the yucca plant daily for its fast-growing while the Dracaena does. So, you should go through a proper feeding process while it’s dracaena species.
7. Leaves Condition While Dried
You’ll notice the leaves of a dracaena plant fall off while dead, bringing a diamond shape to the plant stem. Yucca plant leaves, however, remain attached to the plant stalk and allow the new leaves to appear and grow.
8. Watering Practice
The watering practice doesn’t come the same for both these species. The yucca plant root hormones can absorb water for a long time. So, if you miss watering the plant any time, it will not damage your plant.
You’ve to water the yucca plant once a week during the summer season and once every 2 or 3 weeks after in the winter. The watering process of Dracaena shouldn’t be like Yucca. Since the Dracaena grows on sandy soil, you must water this plant regularly to ensure the soil isn’t getting dry.
Dracaena Vs Yucca – What Are the Similarities?
This section of my article will help you make the yucca and dracaena identification in terms of their similarities. First, let’s find out the similarities between Yucca and Dracaena.
⦾ Growing Aspect
Both the Dracaena and Yucca are slow-growing plants. If I tell you about Dracaena, it takes a year to grow 1.5 feet and will take even a decade to grow up to 10 feet while planting indoors.
But, planting a Dracaena outdoor will require years to grow up to 50ft. According to the growing aspect of Yucca, you won’t find it any different than the Dracaena.
Yucca also consumes around two years to grow 1.5 ft indoors. So, if you want them to grow fast, both plants will frustrate you.
⦾ Indirect Light or Fairy Light
The Dracaena cannot go through any strong light because the strong or direct light damages their leaves. If you put a dracaena plant pot in a sunny place, the green leaves will turn into the browning leaves, and the leaf base will be spoiled.
Again, the leaves will be crisping and begin to have spots on their surface. The leaves of the Dracaena will lose the capability to make food. These indirect light requirements go the same for Yucca also. Yucca will even die if you keep them in strong sunlight.
⦾ Warm Regions
Before you go for both of these species, you must check out the aptness of your area. Both the Dracaena and Yucca cannot grow in the hot regions. Therefore, the USDA zones should be 10 to 12 if you want the Dracaena to thrive. On the other hand, Yucca requires a maximum hardiness zone of 11.
⦾ Acidic Soil pH
The little acidic soil type is well accepted for the yucca and dracaena plants. These species go well for the acidic soil conditions of 6.0 to 6.5 pH.
Dracaena Vs Yucca- How to Grow?
How to Plant Yucca
Growing Yucca requires all the easy procedures. However, a simple and small-sized container can be a great way to grow the yucca plant inside.
You can plant the Yucca in any season of the year. But, make sure the sun is shining full, and the soil doesn’t sit while wet. Choose a container that can leave you plenty of space inside for the Yucca’s grown-up leaves.
Of course, you’ve to choose a robust container so that it can carry the plant while growing strong on its tip. That’s all!
Ways to Nurture Yucca
It’s pretty easy to grow and nurture a yucca plant. You need not take any additional initiatives for Yucca to grow well. If you want to avoid the outdoor or indoor yucca plant problems and nurture them perfectly, follow the given factors below, and you’ll be done-
- Try placing your plant in a shaded area where it seems not too sunny and, again, not too shaded. Because the plant gets more indirect sunlight than direct sunlight, it will bring a nice leaf color.
- Choose the soil type with well-draining capability. Ensure the type of soil retains sufficient water for the plant’s nutrients and holds the yucca plant upright.
- Remove the leaves that are dried already.
- Take the plant outside the room if the temperatures are warm. It can be in the afternoon or morning sun when the sunlight seems gentle or mild to ensure warm temperatures.
- Ensure your yucca plants are not getting too frosted. If you can maintain all these steps above, your yucca houseplant will soon turn into a patent plant.
So, these are all about the yucca plant care outdoors and indoors. Go through the requirements properly, and your yucca plant will grow nice and healthy.
How to Plant Dracaena
You’ve to be careful while choosing a container for the dracaena plant. First, the container must be at a specific measurement. So, the container size should be one-third in size compared to the root ball of Dracaena.
Make sure the root ball is 1″ right below the container. This placing will allow you to easily water the plant so that water never gets outside the container. You can use plenty of potting mixes to fill the root ball all around.
Keep watering the plant thoroughly and place the plant container in a fixed place so that you don’t have to move it now and then. Still, some significant factors to consider while planting a dracaena houseplant. Let’s explore-
- The place to put the plant should be bright but with indirect light. It’s essential to get bright or moderate light while planting dracaena plants because fairy light won’t hamper the plant leaves, while extremely strong light can roughly damage the leaf.
- Water while the upper soil surface is dry.
- Try not to use city water.
- Plant the dracaena plant in terms of fresh potting soil or mix.
- Using plant food for the Dracaena’s fast growth will be the right decision, But don’t use such plant food between 1 month of planting duration.
- Keep trimming the plant to give it good shape or while it gets tall.
That’s all!
8 Ways to Nurture Dracaena
Taking care of Dracaena is so easy that you can maintain it by following just a few steps. Check out the given steps below-
- The first condition for a dracaena plantation is to choose fresh soil. Fresh potting soil can help you grow the Dracaena fast.
- Choose the soil type that comes with the soil moist but never gets too wet.
- The soil surface should be well-drained so that the dracaena leaves won’t turn into yellow or brown leaves.
- Dracaena always looks attractive with green leaves. But, over watering or acidic soil conditions over 6.5pH will harm the plant’s leaves. Therefore, you’ve to make sure standard amount of water while watering the plants.
- If you want it to be an indoor plant, ensure the room temperatures vary from 60° to 70° F during the daytime.
- Make sure the temperatures are not too cold or too hot.
- Remove any dead leaves or dry leaves on the plant.
- Keep the dracaena plant clean always.
FAQs
1. Is a yucca plant the same as a corn plant?
Well, a few types of corn plants look like Yucca. You’ll get confused with these two plant types unless you know their leaves.
These two types of plants come to make a difference in their leaves and care requirements. The leaf of a corn plant comes in pliable, broad, and soft patterns, while the yucca leaf seems stiffer and narrower.
2. Are the snake plant and Dracaena the same?
Yes, it is. You must know the Dracaena come in a variety of species. In that regard, the snake plant is one of its types called dracaena trifasciata. The dracaena trifasciata is the most popular houseplant.
3. How long can a dracaena plant live?
Well, if you can make some additional care for your dracaena plant, it will live for more days further. With its tropical appearance, it lives for more than a decade.
4. What if my dracaena plant leans down?
There are some definite causes of the leaning issue of Dracaena. The dracaena plant can lean due to overwatering, poor draining conditions, extreme temperature, insufficient sunlight, etc.
In this case, I recommend you ensure a dramatic temperature during your Dracaena’s first phase. Second, you’ve to ensure the plant isn’t overwatered and the drainage condition is well enough to drain the extra water from the plant pot.
Your dracaena leaning problem will be solved if you can maintain the given care instructions above.
5. Is Dracaena an indoor plant or an outdoor plant?
This amazing plant will work the way you want to use it. It can be planted as an indoor plant and again as an outdoor plant. You can plant the Dracaena in your subtropical climate. If you plant it indoors, it will grow its height up to 3 feet on a pot and appear like a bushy tree.
6. What plants are similar to yuccas?
Many plants are available that are similar to Yucca, for instance, texas, sacahuista and nolina party.
Before You Go
I know that everything is now clear about Dracaena vs Yucca. Above, I have brought out thorough descriptions of the two; thus, choosing between the two or opting for both will be pretty easy.
And how is your outdoor flower garden? Would you love to add an elegant and fragrant shrub? A rose bush will do. Check out my next article on two rose varieties: Chrysler Imperial Rose Vs Mr Lincoln.
