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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>Bryon</span> Sun, 07/14/2013 - 13:47
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?
<span>Latifa Bennacef</span> Mon, 07/22/2013 - 04:16
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.
<span>Latifa Bennacef</span> Wed, 07/10/2013 - 00:00
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.
<span>S.p.</span> Mon, 07/08/2013 - 14:01
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.
<span>Lynnpncst</span> Sun, 06/30/2013 - 14:11
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 ?
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 07/02/2013 - 12:21
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."
<span>Alan Hollister</span> Sun, 04/06/2014 - 20:16
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.
<span>Lynnpncst</span> Mon, 07/08/2013 - 15:43
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 !
<span>Eugenie</span> Fri, 06/21/2013 - 05:46
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.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Fri, 06/21/2013 - 12:30
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.