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Ponytail Palm Care Guide: How to Grow This Easy, Long-Lived Houseplant

Poneytail palm indoors by a window. The Beaucarnea Recurvata, also known as Ponytail Palm, or Nolina is a houseplant with a swollen thick brown stem and the long narrow curly, green leaves flow up from this base.
Image Credit:
Renata.Ka/Shutterstock
Botanical Name
Beaucarnea recurvata
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Partial Sun
Soil pH
Neutral
Flower Color
White
Yellow
Plant Type
Houseplants
Written By: Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Ponytail palms, or elephant foot palms, are unique-looking, long-lived indoor plants that thrive on benign neglect. They are straightforward to grow—provided that 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. As the plant ages, one or more rosettes of long, green, leathery leaves develop from the top of the stem. Indoors, the leaves can reach up to 3 feet long, but outdoors, they may be double that length.

In its native environment of eastern Mexico, the plant can reach up to 30 feet in height. However, ponytail palms grown in gardens as landscape plants typically don’t reach more than 10 feet tall. 

Kept indoors, they are rarely taller than 4 feet. However, as Susan Mahr of the University of Wisconsin-Madison explains, “In containers, ponytail palms will grow slower than if in the ground, and the plants will remain small if kept in a small pot. They can go for many years before needing to be repotted. Moving your ponytail palm to a larger pot will give it room to grow in both height and girth. They can be very long-lived and can easily outlive their owners. However, older plants may be difficult to manage because of sheer size and weight if not kept on the smaller size.”

Care of this plant is simple; the most common difficulty is adapting your watering habits to its needs.

Planting

Choosing a Growing Medium and a Pot

  • Use a fast-draining potting mix, such as one for cactuses and succulents. If you already have potting mix, sand, and perlite on hand, you can create your own desert mixture using equal amounts of each
  • Select a pot with a hole in the bottom so that excess water can be drained off. Ponytail palms do not like to sit in moisture for long.
  • Use a clay pot if possible; the porous material will absorb some of the water, drying out the growing medium more quickly (a good thing for cactuses and succulents).

Growing

How to Care for Ponytail Palms

  • Ponytail palms prefer bright indirect light.
  • Keep growing medium fairly dry. Water from spring through fall, allowing the top inch or two to dry out completely before rewatering. During the winter, water only occasionally.
  • To water, soak the potting mix 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 cactus/succulent fertilizer and bring into a brighter room for the summer months.
  • Average room temperature is acceptable for most of the year, but to replicate the natural dormancy cycle, keep the plant slightly cooler in the winter (50°–55°F / 10°–13°C).
  • Don’t let the plant sit too close to cold windows at night during winter, as freezing temperatures can severely damage it.

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 allow it to grow in height and girth. However, older plants may become challenging to manage due to their sheer size and weight if they are not kept at a 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 pot’s rim.
  • Note: Use caution when handling a ponytail palm, as its leaves have tiny serrated edges.

Harvesting

Propagation

  • Rarely, a ponytail palm may produce an offset—a tiny 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 some rooting hormone (available online and in nurseries) to encourage the offset to root. 

Pests and Problems

  • 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 and scale insects may find their way to 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 practices appropriately. They can also indicate that the plant is getting too much direct light and not enough water.

Wit and Wisdom

  • The plant’s unusual shape and coloration have granted it another strange nickname—elephant’s foot palm.
  • Are ponytail palms poisonous to cats? While the leaves of a ponytail palm are not toxic to feline (or canine) companions, their foliage does have abrasive edges that could irritate a pet’s mouth, so we suggest keeping the plant out of reach. 

Houseplant Guides

About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana.

Read more from Catherine Boeckmann

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Comments

<span>Than</span> Thu, 06/21/2018 - 15:03
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?
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Fri, 06/22/2018 - 16:54

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!

 <span>Than</span> Sat, 09/01/2018 - 07:48
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.
<span>Diane</span> Wed, 06/20/2018 - 15:19
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.
<span>Tiffany</span> Thu, 06/07/2018 - 09:13
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.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Fri, 06/08/2018 - 11:38

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!

 <span>Joe Hogan</span> Sat, 05/19/2018 - 09:01
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!
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 05/21/2018 - 15:42

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.

 <span>Glenn Leonard</span> Fri, 05/11/2018 - 11:34
My pony tail is putting out branches, or clamps of leaves, several places along the main stalk, should these be pruned off?
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 05/14/2018 - 11:08

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!