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Ponytail Palm help

hostaholic2 z 4, MN

17 years ago

I "inherited" a very sick looking ponytail palm. I know nothing about them and very little about bonsai. The person who gave it to me said it hasn't been repotted in a long time(about 4 years). Can anyone give me some suggestions. Light needs, watering, repotting, soil etc. I have heard that you should submerge the pot in water to water the plant. Is this correct? Thanks for any help you can give me.

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Comments (5)

lucy
17 years ago
Hi, unfortunately submerging is not right for various reasons, and watering from above like nature does is correct - just tap water, not distilled, or bottled or from a 'softened' system (too salty!). If you could post a picture of the tree on this forum's gallery (with a note here to alert us) it would go a long way to helping it.. something showing the interface of the soil and plant (but not TOO close-up). Four years is a long time without repotting, but not knowing more makes it hard to advise. One thing for sure is that they are better off almost drying right out between waterings than otherwise, and the most usual problems arise with too frequent waterings. They also need a lot of sun all day, however 'bonsai' anything is pretty irrelevant now as it's a plant that needs help first, and they are not really traditional bonsai subjects anyway despite being sold as such all over!
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hostaholic2 z 4, MN
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks for your input. Unfortunately my digital camera is on a trip with my daughter right now. I'm thinking maybe I should repot it into a regular pot in a well draining mix( Maybe using a cactus/succulent mix and not try to keep it as a bonsai specimen. I guess I'd have nothing to lose. The potting medium it's in now appears to be grit. Thanks again!
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take it out of the pot. remove as much of that soil as you can. push and or squeeze the caudex with your fingers. is it squishy? does your finger go through it? if not there may be hope. Get an airy fast draining soil mixture, i grow mine in miracle grow but there are many soilless mixtures you can do as well. and or cactus potting soil. use that when you re-pot. Also check the roots on this guy and make sure they're not all mush. as long as the caudex is intact and free of rot it can produce new roots. You can actually take more of the caudex out of the soil when you re-pot as well. I've done that to all of mine, makes them look like they have a bigger 'foot'. if in the even the roots are rotted but the caudex is in good shape bury it only deep enough to allow new roots to form on the bottom. if the stem is still firm pick a place you'd like to cut the top off at. Remove all those dead leaves on the stalk itself(keep it as tall as you'd like) and clip above where you'd like it grow new heads from. Get it outside. These guys can take full sun no problem. Now the next part is important. Dont water it for awhile. Let it try to heal itself. If the caudex and stalk are still firm there is hope that it will come back and thrive. Id say wait a week after you put it in new airier planting media. Also make sure the pot your using isn't huge. You could probably stem down into a smaller planter since im thinking there is going to be some root rot. The smaller the pot, the quicker the roots will fill it and the faster you'll see new growth from the stalk. I wish you luck with this guy! i hope it comes back for you. If in the even the stalk is mush and the caudex is mush. I'd state the above. Put it in the garbage, theres no hope
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As one of my favorite plants, I usually have a Ponytail Palm in my container collection... though, I'm sad to say that mine got hit by a frost this past autumn and turned to mush. It couldn't be salvaged. Honestly, I'm not sure if you can save it... it doesn't look good to my eye, but... Perhaps someone who knows these plants better than I will come along. I wish you the best with it. They're really nice plants.
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Cats ❤️ Ponytail Palms! I don’t see why it wouldn’t survive, but to help its chances find a spot away from your kitty.
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Hello! I have a lovely ponytail palm that was doing quite well for about 4 years. I moved into a new apartment a couple of years ago and didn't have a great window spot for it so noticed it wasn't as happy but was still doing ok. However, things took a turn for the worse in the past couple of months. I think I may have overwatered it during the winter months and I'm pretty sure it has root rot. I repotted it and haven't watered it in about 2 weeks, but the base is feeling hollow. I took it out of the soil today and cut into the caudex - it's mostly white but some spots are light brownish and it's very moist. Goopy liquid comes out of the holes whenever I push on it. I'm not sure what the inside is supposed to look like so not sure what is normal. Take a look at the photo below. This is a very special plant to me - any help would be appreciated. Hoping its not too late.
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lucy
17 years ago
No, grit is good! Peaty potting soil (cactus or otherwise) is definitely inferior for any plant that needs fast drainage and a sick plant will only be stressed further in any case by repotting now.
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hostaholic2 z 4, MN
Original Author
17 years ago
So maybe I should just leave it in the pot it's in for now and put it under my lights in the basement. Maybe it just needs a good dose of light.
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Tori7K
11 years ago
I bought a 6 inch ponytail palm about 5 years ago. I've had to repot it 3 times. Including pot it's about 3 feet tall. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area.
For 5 years its been on my kitchen counter which is a southern window in the morning. I just moved it. Only about 6 feet away but not as much sun there. I don't know if I will keep it there. It's in the way.
My question is, will it survive outside on my patio in a pot? In the summer it can get up to 95 degrees here. Winter....it might get to freezing.
I love this plant. It has grown fast. It now it putting out a baby on the side of the trunk.
Any suggestions? I'd hate to hurt my blessed ponytail.
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