Growing Ponytail Palms

How to Care for a Ponytail Palm

Christopher Burnett

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.

About Ponytail Palms

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 (such as 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 get 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. Kept 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!

Planting

Choosing Soil and a Pot

Use a fast draining soil, such as a cacti and succulent potting mix. If you have potting soil, sand, and perlite already on hand, you can create your own desert soil mixture: Simply mix 1 part potting soil, 1 part perlite, and 1 part sand.
Select a pot that has a hole in the bottom, so that excess water can be drained off. Ponytail palms do not like to sit in moist soil for very long.
Use a clay pot if possible; the porous material will absorb some of the water, drying out the soil more quickly (a good thing for cacti and succulents).

Care

How to Care for Ponytail Palms

Ponytail palms prefer to have as much light as possible, so place the plant in a bright location. Bright, indirect sunlight is best.
Keep soil fairly dry. Water from spring through fall, allowing the top inch or two of soil to dry completely before re-watering. During the winter, only water occasionally.
To water, soak the soil and allow the excess water to drain through the bottom of the pot into a dish. Let the pot sit in the dish for several minutes, then dump out any remaining water in the dish.
Fertilize in the spring with a cacti/succulent fertilizer and bring into a brighter room for the summer months.
Normal room temperature is fine for most of the year, but keep the plant slightly cooler in the winter (50-55°F / 10-13°C) to replicate the natural dormancy cycle.
During winter, don’t let the plant sit too close to cold windows at night, as it can be severely damaged by freezing temperatures.

Repotting a Ponytail Palm

Ponytail palms will remain small if kept in a small pot. They can go for many years before needing to be repotted. Repotting every other year at the most is all a ponytail palm needs.
Moving the plant to a larger pot will give it room to grow in both height and girth. However, older plants may become difficult to manage due to their sheer size and weight if not kept on the smaller size.
When selecting a new pot, pick one large enough to leave about an inch or so of space between the ponytail palm’s trunk and the rim of the pot.
Note: Use caution when handling a ponytail palm, as its leaves have tiny serrated edges.

Pests/Diseases

Overwatering can result in stem rot. If you withhold watering, the plant may be able to internally remedy the problem. Signs of stem rot include yellowing leaves and a caudex (the plant’s base and stem) that is soft or squishy.
Spider mites occur on the leaves, but can be dealt with by rubbing a cloth of dish soap and water on the stems. Spider mites are evidenced by the presence of spider-like webbing on the plant.
Brown tips on leaves can be a sign of overfertilizing or underwatering, so adjust your husbandry practices appropriately. They can also be a sign that the plant is getting too much direct sunlight and too little water.

Harvest/Storage

Propagation

Rarely, a ponytail palm may produce an offset—a small baby plant that stems from the base of the adult plant. These can be cut off at the base when they reach at least 4 inches in height and planted in a succulent potting mix. Before planting, allow the cut wound to heal, then apply a bit of rooting hormone (available online and in nurseries) to encourage the offset to root.

Wit & Wisdom

The plant’s unusual shape and coloration has granted it another strange nickname: the Elephant’s Foot Palm.

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Reader Comments

My cat seemed to want to chew

My cat seemed to want to chew on the leaves. I moved it to a higher location but still wonder if she would get to it would it make her sick?

No, ponytail palms are not

No, ponytail palms are not toxic for cats (or dogs). See: http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/...

I have a pony palm that I

I have a pony palm that I have had for 5 years and its grown beautifully. My grandson played in the leaves and now they are limp against the trunk and I am not sure what to do to save it?!

Your palm should perk up. You

Your palm should perk up. You could add some fertilizer to the soil and give it a nice watering for some TLC.

I have three big ponytail

I have three big ponytail palms outside in the ground.One has started to flower.What will happen to the plant afterwards if anything.thankyou for your time

The plant will be fine, but

The plant will be fine, but thick its foliage may be reduced while the flower matures If that bothers you, can you can cut off the bloom.

My Mother-in-law gave my wife

My Mother-in-law gave my wife and I a ponytail palm about 3 years ago it is an indoor plant it was doing really well, as it grew we repotted it using mulch and potting mix, now the palm looks really sad leaves keep falling off in bunches and even one of the tops fell over, it sits about 10 feet from indirect sunlight, maybe replant in cactus potting mix?

you just said the magic word

you just said the magic word that is killing the plant. IT SITS ABOUT 10 FEET FROM INDIRECT SUNLIGHT. That what is killing the plant. They love the sun, even if it's an indoor plant, make sure it gets plenty of direct sun.
It doesn't matter the soil, the palm is not very fancy about the soil, but it requires a lot of sunshine.
mine is next to a windowsill, less than a foot, very close, get sunshine from 12:00pm to sunset. And if for some reason I move it to the left or to the right for few days, the leaves start changing the color to lighter green, and obviously to brown if I do not move it back to the sunny place.
Trust me on this one, just give it a lot of sun and you're going to see amazing results.
regardless what type of soil you're using, or how big the pot is.
good luck.

I have this kind of succulent

I have this kind of succulent "the pony tail" plant for little over 10 years. It's a very slow growing plant, which I love about it,it became family, and does not require too much of attention.
Very easy to grow. Just put it next to a VERY SUNNY window, and forget about it. It LOVES the sun. Water it once in a while when the soil is really dry. For mine, I guess I water it once in a month. I do not have a schedule, but I know I do forget to do so. It has been in the same planter since day one.
I bought it as a baby, and now it's a beautiful big one.
It's easy to grow, just remember that it loves the sun. Just 5 inches to the left or to the right with less sun and all the lives are going to yellow. Mine is indoors all the time.
I hope my experience with that plant is helping you.
Good luck.

the pot my poinytale palm is

the pot my poinytale palm is in is only about 12" in dia. is that too small? does it need a bigger pot? it does not seem to be growing very fast, even though it seems healthy.

Can this plant be kept

Can this plant be kept outdoors during the summer ? Just recieved the plant a month or so ago and planted them and put them outside, but the tops of the leaves are turning brown. Wondering if the heat of the summer is too much ?

It depends where you live.

It depends where you live. The Ponytail Palm's natural state is being outside in dry, sunny Mexico and Central America. In fact, indoor plants will rarely flower. If you live in southern California, you're all set! These plants can't get too cold (below 25 degrees F). Otherwise, you need to bring indoors in the winter. With a potted plant that spends some time indoors, you just need to gradually move it from sun to shade to sun to avoid "sunburn."

thank you so much ! We live

thank you so much ! We live in Pa and have been getting a very varied mix of weather this summer - nothing cold though. We have been getting heavy rains and high temps. Sounds like we may have probably too much of both extremes though. I will try to put it in a more shady spot that doesn't always get sun through out the day. Sounds like that may work ? thanks again !

I have a triple ponytail that

I have a triple ponytail that I just repotted but did not break up. I am in Palm Springs, CA. So now it is loving being outside and just the long shadows of afternoon sun. Your previous answer gave rise to my question though...your answer would seem I could still leave it outside through the summer if I just shade it more? August will bring 115 temps often. It is a little too big to bring inside and no where inside has sunny windows.

I got my Ponytail plant from

I got my Ponytail plant from Wegmans; it is in a pot with stones over the "soil" which appear to be glued somehow. It's about a foot high and seems to be doing well. I've had it about 6 months now. My question is how do I water it because I can't see the soil? I give it a light watering down about once a week but most of the water seems to run off because of the stones. Should I re-pot it? As I say it seems to be doing very well as it is but I don't like it that I can't actually see what I'm doing when I water it.

Remove the stones and repot

Remove the stones and repot the plant in light fast-draining potting soil (a bonsai mix works well). Water thoroughly once every 1 to 2 weeks. Let the soil dry up in between waterings.

I too have a ponytail palm

I too have a ponytail palm where the stones are glued in. I was going to try to replant it but I'm afraid that if I pull the plant too hard, I'll lose the roots. Will the roots grow back?
Thanks for any advice.

Hi there. The top of my pony

Hi there. The top of my pony tail plant broke off during moving it. We have now planted the bottom in the garden and hope it will take. Is there a way I can try to get roots from the top tuft? Shall I stand it in water or put in in the soil for it to maybe develop roots? Thank you.

The base often survives and

The base often survives and grows back again if properly replanted so hope it takes! We've never tried re-rooting a tuft. The usual practice is to take the suckers or offsets shooting up from the trunk and reroot. Cut with a sterile, sharp knife and coat the base of the cutting with rooting hormone and plant in a sterile, well-drained potting soil (such as that sold for cacti). The optimum time of year to remove those offsets is spring, but yours may still root at some point.

I live in SETexas and my

I live in SETexas and my ponytail palm lives outdoors year round. I've had it about 25 years and the total plant is about 8 ft tall. It is beautiful.

Browning leaves

i have just bought my ponytail palm, which came with four, i separated them and put two in each pot, I had some moisture stay soil and switched it out about 3 days later into cactus potting mix, but now my palm is browning rapidly, I have not watered it since I figure It was feeling over watered, what did I do and if I cut back the brown leaves will it continue to grow? Any advice would be great..
drazor02@yahoo.com

the ponytail plant

Be sure that your plant is not sitting in water.
The "moisture stay" soil, which from the sounds of it retains moisture, may not have been a good idea.
Propagation such as you described can be tricky; several methods have been recommended. The "baby" plant, or offset, could be given a dose of rooting compound and rooted in sand or a very well-draining potting soil. Another treatment would have been be to wrap/layer the offset in sphagnum moss and alternately moisten the moss and then allow it to dry. This would encourage roots on the baby; when those appeared you could remove it from the mother plant and pot it separately in well-drained potting soil.
This plant like to be watered deeply but does not like to sit in water; the water must be allowed to drain out. (Too much water can/will cause root rot and drown it.) Allow the soil to dry between waterings.
About the browning leaves: this could be from excess salt in your water. Repotting into cacti soil is recommended. However, some sources say some browning of leaves is normal; new leaves should appear from the center.
By the way, this plant is not a true palm; it is a succulent.
We hope this helps. Best wishes!

Brown leaves

Left my ponytail out a couple winters ago & she almost died. I cut off most of dead leaves--she was almost bald. She has since grown all & then some back & her bulb is nearly triple in size.

ponytail palm

My palm seems to have lost all its leaves an the onion looking thing is sort off mushy on top , so I put it in the sun, took all the leavea off, do you suppose it is dead now? Iam not normally a plant killer but with this one Iam not sure what happened, maybe to much water?

It does sound like you did

It does sound like you did give the palm too much water. Let it rest for a bit and give it water only if the soil is very dry. Then water it thoroughly once every 10 to 14 days.