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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>Ashley</span> Tue, 05/01/2018 - 12:12
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?
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 05/01/2018 - 17:01

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.

 <span>Jenna</span> Wed, 04/25/2018 - 11:03
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!
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Wed, 04/25/2018 - 16:39

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.

 <span>Jenna</span> Sat, 04/28/2018 - 09:49
Thank you for the advice and info! I did repot the plant a couple of days ago. I took the little pot out and had my husband drill holes in the clay pot. I added a layer of rocks so they do not get clogged, then repotted the plant with succulent soil. It is still a little yellow, but the soil is completely dry at each level. I checked with a hydrometer. I will wait at least a week to give it anymore water, hopefully that will spruce it up! Thank you again for the advice!
<span>Ingrid Dasilva</span> Tue, 04/24/2018 - 16:39
My mom gave me her ponytail palm. She is now deceased and this palm means so much to me. My mother grew this from a baby. It ij s now at least 30 years old and stands 6ft high. It is potted and I bring it outside here in NY for the warmer months. I noticed that I have lost many leaves this past winter. What is the best thing to do to get new leaves to grow back? It looks very odd with such a small amount of leaves on top of a 6ft high trunk. Thanks for your help.
<span>Sandy</span> Sat, 04/21/2018 - 09:53
I have had my pony tail plant for 44 years (yes 44!). It has gone from pot to pot but we eventually planted in our backyard (zone 12) about 4 years ago. It loved it, grew about 10 feet more, and survived Irma. All the sudden I noticed it was leaning. I went out and the base is basically rotting away. I'd send a picture but don't see that option. Is there anyway to save it?
<span>John Schnorbach</span> Sat, 08/11/2018 - 17:13
This happened to my Ponytail after Hurricane Charlie. It had been flooded by salt water for several days when our canal overflowed. I moved the entire plant to a dryer part of the yard and it responded nicely . I have now moved the plant again when I moved and the rotted base had healed. It's doing beautifully in full sun .
<span>April Polley</span> Tue, 04/10/2018 - 23:40
Hello! I have a ponytail that has two growing off of the base. The plant itself is at least 6ft min. The starts on the base are at least 2ft. How can I safely remove one to grow another? O read above the cut needs to heal but what does that mean?
<span>Jenn</span> Tue, 04/03/2018 - 22:37
I just lost all the leaves on my ponytail palm. It's been perfectly healthy for the last six months but then all of a sudden the leaves started to fall over. I didn't water it much so I watered it some more hoping to perk it up but that didn't work. I also used some liquid fertilizer but that didn't work either. The trunk is solid. I'm really not sure what do to. Do you have any advice? TIA