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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

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 02/10/2015 - 14:07

I'm assuming that you are in plant hardiness Zones 10 to 11, where these plants can thrive outdoors. (Some have had success in Zones 8 or 9, or 12.) If not, it could be that your plants are uncomfortable in the outdoor growing conditions. But any ponytail palm that has been transplanted from indoors to outdoors might be subject to transplant shock. When transplanting, its best to get your plant used to outdoor conditions gradually, keeping it out for an hour one day, then increasing each day for several days. When transplanting, it helps to water the soil before and after planting. Provide shade cloth (available at garden centers) to protect the plants from too much sunlight until they become established, at which point, you can remove the cloth. Avoid adding fertilizer in the beginning, until plants get established. Make sure that your new site has good drainage, although sandy loam sounds good.

 

If your plants were already outdoors in pots and then you had just planted them in the ground, it might also be that they are just getting used to their new environment. Water a tiny bit more than usual for a while (but be careful not to overwater, which will encourage rot), and provide shade cloth to help their transition.

 <span>Jeffrey Danielson</span> Sun, 02/01/2015 - 13:07
I'm not sure what kind of fertilizer to use. House plant spikes or..... Please advise. Thanks for your assistance!
<span>Bev In Nj</span> Sat, 01/31/2015 - 13:25
I have my ponytail since 1971, 44 years, she is close to 5 feet tall. I've kept her in a bright north window since I rescued her from the 25cent bin when she was a fledgling. The issue is that she's grown tall and very skinny with not as many leaves as I think she could have ... she never produced off shoots. I've been advised to cut her trunk in half to encourage a thicker trunk with more leaves. After all these years together I'm apprehensive ... advise please!
<span>David A</span> Mon, 01/18/2016 - 01:27
i know where you are coming from! i had mine for 25 yrs and it was only 2inches around when i bought it. and it got sick. i cut off main stock..it killed me! but it took some time but she came back so i now have a 5 stock 35 yr old great plant! some ppl love it some ppl so what the #$%^# kind of plant is this?! i say this is my baby! i mean how many plants live thru all that?....i wish u luck and please let me know how it gose...send me a pic too
<span>Sunny Dryden</span> Sat, 05/16/2015 - 19:38
I would recommend giving your pony more sunshine. It is growing tall and skinny looking for sunshine. Every summer my pony is taken outside and given full sun. He is happy and full.
<span>Doris De'jesuss</span> Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:05
My Ponytail Palm is only a few years old (I'm guessing). Bought it from a clearance erack at a grocery store. It is in a 4" bonsai pot. It also gets Northern exposure.i am hoping to keep it small.i water it once a week and is ten for it to stop slurping up the water, drain out any remaining filtered water and she's good for another week.
<span>Cheryl Scarbrough</span> Sat, 01/10/2015 - 12:35
My 6 ft., triple ponytail is in a large pot, indoors in an east window. It has been happy for years, but lately is "drooping." There are no noticeable pests, and the leaves appear to be plump and glossy. They will come off with very little resistance, and are hanging close to the trunk. The trunk is not mushy. Please advise.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 01/12/2015 - 11:05

Usually, drooping leaves just means the ponytail palm is thirsty.

 <span>Benita</span> Mon, 12/29/2014 - 01:48
I just bought a curly ponytail palm.. Brought Home from the shop, it was in a small pot that just fit the base of the plant. I transplanted it to a larger but still shallow bonsai pot to bonsai it. I gave it a good water and accidentally left it where my Labradoodle could get it.. The next day I found the pot where I left it but the plant was on it's side a few metres away lying in the sun with roots drying out . I was mortified and immediately repotted the plant and let it sit in soggy wet soil for some time to hopefully re lubricate the roots.. It is now another day later and some of the lower leaves are not looking happy. Turning very curly n withered looking. The soil is still damp but I'm wondering if I should water again or just leave it to dry as usual.. Should I cut off leaves that are struggling.. Do u think it will live?? How can I help it live? Thanks :(
<span>Adrien G</span> Tue, 12/16/2014 - 12:29
My mom has a ponytail plant that I loved, so she bought me one for my birthday. I have had it for only a month. The top of the soil is mostly roots and the tops of the plant are light green in color compared to the rest of the plant. Should I repot? Does the light green color mean I am doing something wrong?