Yucca plants are versatile succulents ideal for water-wise landscaping.
The evergreen foliage and dramatic flowers add striking texture to the garden, whether grown as standalone specimens or as groups.
With 51 species in the Yucca genus, these plants are highly diverse with different growth habits and foliage colors.
We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.
Our guide to growing yucca provides an overview of how to cultivate the most common species grown in home landscapes.
There are a variety of ways to propagate yucca plants, from offset divisions to root cuttings – as well as starting from seed.
Small, dark, and rounded in appearance, yucca seeds look pretty unassuming.
But after going through the proper processes in just the right conditions, they’ll transform into some of the most aesthetic succulent plants in the Americas. Scratch that – the world.
Of course, it’ll take more than just sticking a seed in the ground and walking away to yield full-grown, healthy plants.
You’ll need to time your sowing properly, provide the right conditions, and so on.
In this guide, we’re going to go over all the steps for how to start yucca plants from seed.
Here’s what I’ll cover:
How to Start Yucca from Seed
Before we start, it’s worth mentioning that these instructions are intentionally kept quite broad, as there are 40 to 50 species within the Yucca genus.
It’s also important to note that plants started this way may take up to five years to mature and bloom, so patience is required!
Yucca Pollination Basics
We can’t talk about these plants without also discussing the yucca moths, aka species in the Tegeticula and Parategiticula genera.
Yucca and Tegeticula/Parategiticula species are a textbook example of mutualism – one’s survival is heavily dependent on the other.
Without Tegeticula and/or Parategiticula moths to carry pollen between specimens, yucca flowers can’t cross-pollinate, which is essential for genetic variation and the spread of the species. Both of which are essential for long-term survival.
The plants act as hosts to the yucca moth, providing nectar for the adults and a place for the females to lay their eggs.
As a result, almost every species of Yucca has its own species or two of moth that they coevolved with. And without this partnership, both sides are doomed.
Making things more complicated is the timing that’s required for successful reproduction, for both parties.
Adult moths must emerge around the same time as flowering takes place. And as you can imagine, these two things don’t always happen simultaneously.
Yuccas probably won’t flower much during dry years, if at all. Plus, right before transforming into adult moths, the larvae burrow into the ground and lie dormant for one or more years before emerging as adults.
As a result, there may be some years where the flowers do not end up being pollinated.
Therefore, if you want to pull off growing new specimens from seed that you gathered, then you’ll have the most success when you do so in their native habitats, where they have a species of moth to help with their reproduction.
In addition, those collected from hybrids and cultivars may not grow true to the parent plant.
Otherwise, it’s best to order online or snag some from a friend.
Seed Acquisition
If you purchase seeds, you’ll have to make sure that the species you’ve selected is hardy enough to survive in your region.
To gather seeds from an existing plant, you’ll need access to a mature specimen.
After pollination, fruit capsules are produced, and in late summer to early fall, you’ll need to harvest these as they start to dry out – but before they split open.
Allow the fruit to dry completely before harvesting the seeds within. You’ll have to crush the capsules to access the insides – I’d use pliers for this, if you’ve got them.
When you’ve opened up the capsule, remove the seeds and separate the intact ones from any that are damaged.
Set the undamaged seeds in a baggie or sealed container of moist sand and put it in the refrigerator until spring.
Check the sand regularly to ensure that it stays moist but not oversaturated. In spring, they’ll be ready to sow.
Sowing Seeds
You can start your seeds indoors at any time of year, since you’ll be controlling the environment and they won’t be exposed to extreme weather conditions.
If you’re starting outdoors, you’ll need to wait for spring, when the overnight temperatures are reliably above 50°F.
It’s best not to direct-sow into the landscape, but to sow in pots instead, as you would if you were starting indoors.
Before sowing, soak the seeds in water for 24 hours. If any float to the surface, remove and dispose of these – they probably aren’t viable.
After soaking, the viable ones – those that sink – will be ready to sow.
First, you’ll need to prepare four-inch containers with a potting mix suitable for cacti or succulents.
I generally recommend Tank’s-Pro Cactus and Succulent Mix, available from Arbico Organics, if I’m not making my own succulent soil mix.
Tank’s-Pro Cactus and Succulent Mix
Sow the seeds – one per container – just below the surface of the potting mix.
Moisten the media, and keep your containers under grow lights or near a bright, sunny window. If you are starting outdoors, set them in a sunny spot, protected from harsh sunlight during the hottest part of the day.
Make sure indoor temperatures are consistently between 65 and 75°F, you can use a heat mat if you need to provide additional warmth.
Keep the potting mix evenly moist until the seeds germinate, and when the seedlings have one set of true leaves you can start to water when the top inch of soil is dry to the touch.
The plants should remain in their pots for the first year, only transplanting them into the garden the following spring.
Seedlings in pots started indoors can be moved outside for the summer months, but be sure to harden them off first, as discussed below.
Those started in containers outdoors should be protected from frost during their first winter, or set in a greenhouse.
Transplanting
When outdoor temperatures are consistently above 65°F during the day and 40°F at night, your plants should be ready to be transplanted into the ground.
The seedlings will have had a full growing season behind them before planting out.
Before you transplant indoor seedlings, you should harden them off to the (relatively) harsher outdoor conditions.
To do this, leave your plants outside in full sun for a half to a full hour on the first day before bringing them back inside.
Each successive day, add 30 to 60 more minutes of outdoor exposure until the seedlings are outside full-time.
To transplant, choose a location in full sun with well-draining soil. The soil should have a pH of 5.5 to 6.5 and a desert-like sandy texture.
Dig holes as deep and wide as the containers the plants are currently growing in – spacing them appropriately based on the expected mature dimensions.
Carefully remove the young plant from its pot, lower it into the hole and backfill with soil before watering in well.
Water whenever the top two inches of soil dry out until the plants become established.
After that, you can treat them just like you would adult yuccas!
You can also choose to grow your yuccas in containers, and you can size up the pot as the plant outgrows the existing one.
The More You Know, the Better You Sow
For those trying to grow yuccas from seed, knowledge is power. And in this circumstance, “power” is the healthy and vibrant seed-grown plants that your efforts have yielded.
Sure, it takes more work than transplanting or growing from cuttings. But this way is more enjoyable, arguably.
Plus, since growing from seed is a sexual means of reproduction rather than an asexual one, you could end up with a cool new mutation on your hands!
Have you tried growing yuccas from seed? Have any questions? Tips of your own to add? Let us know in the comments section below!
And for more yucca-growing know-how, we’ve got you covered with these guides:
