Ponytail palms are a unique-looking, long-lived indoor plant that thrives on benign neglect. They are very easy to grow, provided you don’t overwater them! Here’s how to grow and care for a ponytail palm in your home.
Despite its name and palm-like appearance, the ponytail palm is not a true “palm.” In fact, it is more closely related to desert plants in the Agave and Yucca genera (e.g., Joshua trees).
The typical ponytail palm consists of a large, domed “stump,” which tapers off into a thinner stem. From the top of the stem, one or more rosettes of long, green, leathery leaves develop as the plant ages. Indoors, the leaves can reach up to 3 feet long, but outdoors, they may be double that length.
In its native environment (eastern Mexico), the entire plant has been known to reach up to 30 feet in height! However, ponytail palms that are grown in gardens as landscape plants don’t usually get to be more than 10 feet tall. Indoors, they are rarely taller than 4 feet.
Care of this plant is generally simple; the most common difficulty is having to adapt your watering habits to its watering needs!
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Ponytail in Distress
I'm in Saint Pete Beach, FL and have a huge ponytail palm in the ground in front of my home. We bought the house five yrs ago and the tree was already here. It's a double trunk and everyone says it is the biggest ponytail they have ever seen. Approx 25' around at the base and 15-20' tall.
Recently I noticed a larger than usual dropping of dead leaves and now the new leaves are yellowing much too quickly. One or two leaf clusters have actually caved in. We've had above average rainfall this year but drainage is good and the Royal Palm and Queen Sago in the same area are doing fine. I suspect it might be too wet . Any thoughts on what might be causing the problem and what to do about it?
Thanks for your input.
Outdoor Ponytail Palm Problems
Boy, that’s a big one alright!
It sounds like your analysis could be correct: the plant is likely getting too much water and its roots may be rotting. Unfortunately, with a plant so huge, there’s not a whole lot that you can do, aside from hoping for drier weather.
To confirm your theory, take a look around the base of the plant, poking gently with your foot to see if you can find any obvious soft spots. These would be a sign of rot and too much water in the soil. If you can’t see anything aboveground, gently dig down (no deeper than 1ft) around the base of the plant in a few different spots to see if you can find any rot belowground. If you can’t find any signs of rot there either, the problem is probably deep within the roots of the plant.
There’s not much you can do for the plant at this point, unfortunately, but ponytail palms are fairly hardy. If it gets a chance to dry out, the plant should recover!
Hello, my ponytail plant is
Hello, my ponytail plant is about 8 years old, I have repotted once. It's about 4 ft tall and has new stems coming from the top most of the time. The older leaves are bent and come all the way to the floor. Can I trim those leaves to give it a more upward poofy look on top? They do not have brown tips, they just drag the ground and are droopy. Thanks.
Trimming Leaves
Yes, you can trim the lower leaves back! As long as you let the new growth grow unimpeded, the plant will be fine.
Do I need to repot?
I have had my pony tail for ~ 44 years. It stands ~ 6.6' high. It has been in a 22" diameter X 16" tall pot for ~ 10 years. The bulb of the plant is ~ 17" in diameter (~ 2.5" from the edge of its pot). The tips of the lower palms have begun turning yellow, then brown and traveling up the palm until I have to remove them. The plant is still putting new palms out of the top of the plant. I water it ~ once every 2 weeks with about 1 qt of water. What can I do to stop the lower palms from dying? Does it need to be re-potted (would take a crane and a team to do so!)? If so, how much larger pot does it need? If not re-potted, how do I adjust its water (have watered it the same since 1974!)? This is an heirloom plant my mother gave me in 1974; it has been "babysat" by family as I was stationed overseas. My daughter has her heart set on inheriting it some day....
Dropping Leaves
Wow! That’s quite an old tree! Congrats on keeping it happy for so long.
Lower leaves turning brown is not usually a cause for concern—especially if the plant is continually putting out new leaves—as that’s just part of the natural growth cycle of the plant: grow new leaves, drop old ones. But, if this is the first time you’re seeing it happen after having the plant for so long, there may be outside factors in play.
Have you changed your source of water in the past year or so? Desert plants can be especially sensitive to chemicals in tap water (such as fluoride), which can cause the tips of leaves to turn yellow and brown. Try watering with distilled or spring water for the next few months and see if that solves the issue.
Browning tips may also be caused by too much intense sunlight. But again, if the plant is still regularly putting out new growth, it seems like it’s happy where it is.
The pot size is likely not an issue, as ponytail palms don’t mind being constricted. Moving it to a larger pot will only encourage it to get even bigger (and more unmanageable)! The amount of water is also not likely a problem, as long as you are letting the soil dry out properly between waterings.
Pony Tail Palm
My Pony Tail Palm is 42 year old and thriving. I just re-potted it and brought it in for the winter. It has five babies on it also. To help it from drying out while inside, I mist the top of it and sometime down the trunk to keep it supple. Also, I don't pull off the dried palms when inside the house as that causes the top to dry out faster. Good luck!
BLOOMS
One of my pony tails bloomed this summer. I have never experienced this. What do I do?
Bloom
The short answer: Nothing!
Blooming is normal for mature ponytail palms, and the flowers are a treat for pollinators. Assuming you can reach the top of your ponytail palm, simply snip off the flower spike once it has faded. That’s it!
Ponytail palm from Sams
I just bought 2 ponytail palms that were already potted from Sam’s. The planted palms have smalls stones on top of the soil and the stones seemed to be glued together. How in the world can I water them? Or is this something new for the top of a plant? By the way, they came from Costo Farms.
Ponytail Palm
This is a common (and, quite frankly, dumb) practice done by some stores. Here’s our response to a previous comment regarding a ponytail palm bought from Sam’s:
“With the way your plant is currently potted, it sounds like it will be very difficult to know when and how much to water, which will surely end up stressing out both you and the plant. Really, it would be best to repot it entirely. Try carefully removing the rocks to see if there’s any way you could get the plant out of the pot. If it’s cemented to the bottom of the pot, perhaps you could carefully break the pot apart (assuming it’s terracotta). Be careful not to snap the stem of the plant in the process. If you can manage to get the plant out, replant it with a succulent potting mix in a pot with a drainage hole and follow the care instructions outlined above.
If there’s absolutely no way to get the plant out, you could create a makeshift dip-stick to tell you when there’s no water left in the bottom of the pot. Assuming the rocks are fairly loose, take a straw and feed it down to the bottom of the pot, leaving a bit sticking up from the surface. To check the water level, take a piece of string and feed it through the straw to the bottom of the pot. If the string comes out bone-dry, it’s time to water again. Be careful not to water too much at once, as you don’t want the base of the plant to sit in water.”
The top of my plant came out?
hi I was given a small ponytail plant, I have had it since Christmas, I do have some brown leaves, but the bright green part just fell out of the top. The bulb of the plant is soft at the top but I only watered it twice? Can i save my plant. Thank you, Melinda Wharton
Indoor/outdoor
I live in Western Oregon, and I have a three year old pony tail that’s at least 3ft tall. I’ve had it indoors in a great big beautiful south facing window. I’ve just recently moved and have this huge covered porch, with two skylights. Can I bring my pony tail palm outside for the summer, and back indoors as winter gets near? Thanks!
Outdoor Ponytail Palm
Yes, you can put your ponytail palm on the porch for the summer—it should enjoy the extra sunlight. However, when you first put it outside, you should keep it in partial shade for about a week before moving it into full sun. Direct sunlight right away would be a shock.
You’ll also want to keep an eye out for pests when you bring the plant back inside. Do a close inspection for scale especially. Bring the plant in when nighttime temps get down to the high 50s consistently.
Pony tail palm uprooted!
I moved a 10 year old plant outside in Central Florida in a fairly wet spot. Surprisingly it grew to about 20 feet then was blown over last year in a hurricane. It was not totally blown out of the ground so it was propped back up and continued to grow but not well. We cut it back about 10 feet hoping it would sprout. No luck after several weeks so we pulled it out and set it by the trash. Yesterday I noticed three sprouts near the top of the trunk!! I guess it wants to live. We pulled it into the sun and set it on rocky sandy soil. Now what?? Cut it back more? Plant the roots again? The root/base it heavy and solid.
Ponytail Palm very tall and old (houseplant)
I have a ponytail palm a friend gave me about 35 years ago. I love it and at this time I don't want to lose it. It is about 6' tall. IF I wanted to cut it off would new starts come on? Should I leave it alone, I don't want to lose it, just afraid it is going to fall over or not get enough nourishment being that tall. I was given another one recently that has three individual starts shooting off where it had evidently been cut off. It is beautiful.
Ponytail getting old?
I have a ponytail palm for almost 35 years. I repot it no so often due to the large dimensions. The last 6 -7 years do not grow well. New leaves are constantly rotting before they grow and spread and have fallen over 50 percent in last years. It has multiple branches that go better. I have not changed anything about grooming, fertilizing and its position. At the last pot change (2 years ago) the roots were reduced and concentrated in the upper part of the pot. I do not want to lose it. Any suggestion?
Old Ponytail Palm
This is a tough question because it sounds like you haven’t done anything differently that would cause your plant to have problems!
There are reports of 350-year-old ponytail palms in Mexico, so we doubt your plant’s issues have anything to do with age. Perhaps the plant needs more light? They are a desert plant, so they grow best when given full sun all day long. Try moving it to a sunnier spot, if possible.
Check your fertilizer, too, to make sure that it is an all-purpose formula and that you are not fertilizing the plant too much or too little. Additionally, you may want to check the pH of the soil. If it is too acidic or basic, the plant will not grow well.
Finally, make sure that you are not over watering. Rotting leaves can mean that the plant is getting too much water. Let the top inch or two of soil dry out between waterings.
Hopefully, one of these changes will be successful for you and your ponytail palm. Good luck!
OLD PONYTAIL PALM
Thank you very much for your help. I reduced watering and moved the plant in a sunnier position that receives more light all day long as you advised. I waited more than 2 months to see if it would go better. The results: top shoots of the main trunk keep rotting. The lateral shoots that start from the base were clearly improved. Your help was great, the problem was not solved 100% though. Thank you again for your help. I hope I can keep my plant alive.
Ponytail plant
I just acquired this plant. It has been in an office setting until now. It has foam under it. I'm sure to hold the moisture while it was there. Now how should I care for it. I live in zone 7 so winter may be too cold for it outside.
Planting Outside
I have a small (maybe 1.5') ponytail that I bought with the intention of planting in the corner of the backyard. My husband, however, has decided he wants it to go in this very small area in front of the house. This area is a spot surrounded by concrete and directly against the house and is currently filled with a bleeding heart vine. How much space does the ponytail need and will the placement prove to be a problem as it grows? He is convinced that the small area will prevent the base from growing too large for the space.
Ponytail Palm Outside
A ponytail palm grows very slowly, but will eventually fill the space it’s given. They do well in pots because they can tolerate being root-bound—that’s what keeps them small. If planted in the ground, they can get up to 30ft tall! How deep does the concrete go? If not too deep, the plant’s roots will spread underneath, letting it get larger.
Ponytail palms like fairly dry, well-drained soil, and need full sun. If the spot where your husband would like to plant it is right up against the house, there could be rain run off from the roof or the plant could be shaded by your house, depending on which direction it faces.
Assuming that that spot doesn’t get too wet and gets full sun exposure, you could plant the ponytail palm there, though you may have to remove it many years down the line if it gets too large. At that point, the roots may be too deep to remove, though!
Ponytail Palm problem
Hello - I live in SW Florida. I have a ponytail Palm I received when I volunteered at the Naples Zoo 12 years ago. It was about 2” tall. Now she’s 3-4’ and potted on my lanai. For the last 6 months it’s been covered in a fuzzy white particles. I water/fertilize as needed. Of course watering more. I have tried to wipe each leaf clean with different suggested “ home remedies” to no avail. It just keeps returning. Then I bought Garden Safe Fungicide3. It covers fungicide, insecticide and míticide. Still it keeps returning. What’s next? What can I do? I love this plant. It signified a turning point in my life and I do not want to give up. It’s orjerwise healthy at the base and still producing new branches but they are quickly covered in white. Please help! Thanks!
Mealybugs
It sounds like you could be battling mealybugs, which are tiny white pests that can quickly infest a plant. They tend to congregate on the undersides of leaves and look like little pieces of cotton or fungus.
Mealybugs can be tough to get rid of. Repeated application of an insecticide is usually what does the trick. The insecticide that you bought does list mealybugs on its label, so it should be appropriate. Follow the directions on the insecticide’s label, and make sure that you search every nook and cranny of the plant, as well as in and around the pot and soil. Remove all the bugs that you can see by hand and know that you’ll need to treat the plant several times to kill subsequent generations of the pest. The insecticide only kills the adult mealybugs, but not the eggs.
In the meantime, you may want to move the plant to a different area in case the insects are hanging around that area. Mealybugs spread easily, so keep the infected plant away from other plants.
Trimming pony tail palms
My pony tail is putting out branches, or clamps of leaves, several places along the main stalk, should these be pruned off?
Pruning Ponytails
It depends on what you’re looking for in your plant! If you want it to grow as tall as possible with only one central stem, trim off the offshoots so that the plant focuses its growth upward. If you’d prefer that your plant be a little bushier, leave the offshoots alone. Offshoots can add interest, but a tall, single-stemmed ponytail palm is also quite a sight. The plant will do fine with or without the offshoots, so it’s up you!
I am trying to keep the plant
I am trying to keep the plant in more sunlight and water less, but the brown tipped leaves are getting worse. Should you remove these and if so how?
Brown Tips
If your plant’s leaves continue to turn brown at the tips, you may actually need to water a more. If the plant is in intense sun for most of the day, it will dry out fairly quickly. Test the soil and water when the top inch or so of soil is dry. This could be once a week, twice a week, or more. When you do water, water deeply.
As for the brown tips, they can be cut off if you prefer a cleaner look, though the leaf tips won’t grow back.
Repotting
Hi there,
I have a poneytail palm that is about 9 years old- it was given to me as a gift when my grandfather passed away. It was in a small clay bowl with a hole at the bottom. I just repotted it, as it definitely had outgrown the bowl. There was hardly any dirt in there when I took it out- it was also topped with stones that I would just water over once a week. I repotted it to a larger pot that does have holes at the bottom with regular potting soil and used some fertilizer too (I reported it after reading this info). I then put that pot into an even larger decrotive pot that does not have holes in it. The pot with holes fits pretty snug into the pot with no holes, the pot inside is a plastic pot, and the decrotive one is clay. I used to water it once a week- when I repotted I gave it about 4 times as much water as I typically do, since there is now so much dirt in there and thought I’d wait awhile to water again.
This was about two weeks ago, and today the underneath leaves are starting to yellow. This has happened in the past before also. But now I am worried since I changed the pot. Any advice I would greatly appreciate!
Ponytail Palm Problems
Yellowing leaves can be caused by over- or underwatering; to know for sure, you’ll have to check the soil and see if it feels wet or dry.
Our guess would be that the plant has gotten too much water—the potting soil and plastic pot hold in more moisture than the plant has been accustomed to. For now, take the plastic pot out of the clay pot and check the bottom of the plastic pot. Is the soil at the bottom still moist? If so, let the plant dry out outside of the clay pot. Also note that if the plastic pot is too snug in the clay pot, there will be nowhere for excess moisture to evaporate to.
If it seems like the plastic pot is holding too much moisture, you may want to consider repotting the plant again. Ideally, use a clay pot with a hole in the bottom, as well as a succulent soil mix (or a 1:1:1 mix of perlite, potting soil, and coarse sand). When you repot, don’t water for about a week in order to encourage the plant to put out new roots.
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