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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, 08/15/2023 - 10:17

It sounds like your issues stem from overwatering your Ponytail Palm. A squishy trunk and brown spots on the leaves are both signs of too much water. Ponytail Palms are tough succulents designed to withstand dry and hot conditions and only require water every week or two and allowing for growing medium to dry out inbetween waterings. Their root systems are designed to absorb and store water and too much moisture can oversaturate the roots. If the problem persists, root rot can develop and can spread up, causing the trunk to become mushy.

Your issues can also be a result of poor drainage, using the wrong growing medium, or the incorrect container. You want to ensure that your container—which it is best to use an unglazed clay or terracotta pot as both are porous and allow the growing medium to breathe—has plenty of drainage holes. As far as growing medium, it is best to use a cactus or succulent mix combined with sand or perlite. Improper light can also be an issue.

From the sounds of things, your Ponytail Palm is not improving so it might be time to remove your plant from its container and check the roots for signs of rot. If the roots look healthy, you can simply repot it. If there are signs of root rot, you will want to cut away any dead, dying, or affected roots. Then rinse the remaining roots and allow them to dry out before repotting in fresh growing medium. Unfortunately, if the roots are all dead or affected, there is a good chance your Ponytail Palm is too far gone and should be discarded.

 <span>Sandra Garza</span> Sat, 07/08/2023 - 15:06
My pony tail palm has little white dots on the leaves. how do I fix that
<span>Kim Moyer</span> Fri, 07/21/2023 - 20:44
Hi Sandra, If it were mine that had white spots and I didn't know what they were, I'd start with a good long thorough shower. Making sure to get the areas where the leaves come out of the stem. If it comes back I'd put it outside of in the tub and spray it with Neem Oil. (I bought mine on Amazon). I hope this helps.
<span>Ron</span> Tue, 01/10/2023 - 11:36
Here in southern Florida pony tail palms can grow outside and can get quite large. Some people call them "Hooville palms" because they look like something that Dr. Seuss would draw.
<span>Crystal Johnson</span> Fri, 01/06/2023 - 14:44
How should a ponytail palm be pruned, it has several brown leaves and drooping stalks.
<span>Irma Dickerson</span> Fri, 05/19/2023 - 19:20
How to prune my ponytail plant
<span>Helen</span> Tue, 03/29/2022 - 16:55
Is ponytail plant poison for my cat. I have to put it up high for him not eat it. Please tell me. Helen Simpson
<span>Mechee</span> Fri, 04/08/2022 - 20:45
No, it's not. I had researched this because my cat likes to play jungle kitty in the leaves and munches on them now and again 😹
<span>Linda Curley</span> Mon, 03/28/2022 - 15:28
one of the shoots on my plant broke off the top of the plant when I moved. Do you think it will grow back it's been 3 months and no sign of any growth
<span>Glenna Jones</span> Tue, 01/03/2023 - 14:55
Yes it will given time. Slow but sure.