Ponytail palm re-pot?
darcydeuce
10 years ago
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10 years agodarcydeuce
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My potted ponytail palm
Comments (16)That's a pilea, common name is probably variegated artillery plant or something close to that. Look it up under Pilea microphylla 'Variegata'. I found another one this spring and have it in a similar container. I'll try to take a pic once it fills out nicely. If you like it, I can send it to you when it starts to cool off. I don't have room to over-winter, though I've over-wintered the green species plant. I wouldn't let it loose in my garden though, if I was considering that option. ;-) Al...See MorePonytail Palm
Comments (2)thats one massive and hell-a-tall ponytail you got there!!! i've had luck both ways. i've got two large (though not as large as your) pontytails. one i went ahead and whacked the head off when it got to tall for my porch. its been a year since then and i've now got three nice full branches. the other ponytail i inherited from my grand mother. it had been in the same pot for nearly ten years!! the pot was huge and i was low on space so i just tipped the plant out of the pot and whacked a third of the roots off the ball with my trusty kitchen knife and re-potted. its been a little over a year since then, and its thriving on a south-facing enclosed porch. i'm sure others will be able to get a little more technical about it. but my ponytails have seemed to thrive on the very little attention i give them. i only water them maybe once a month. and if i put them in the shower to get the dust off the leaves, i just count that as my watering. i only feed them twice a year, and that's if i remember too. good luck, that's a gorgeous palm, and hopefully you can get many more years of enjoyment out of it....See MoreSad Ponytail Palm... Need Help!
Comments (3)The soil is all wrong. Gravel at the bottom of the pot doesn't improve drainage, and actually makes things worse. The same goes for sand. Remove the plant from the pot and toss the old soil. Get all the old soil off the roots and let the rootball dry out for a week or two. You want it completely dry. Don't worry, this won't hurt the plant. It stores a lot of water in the trunk. Next, the soil. There are a couple ways to approach this. Since you're growing indoors, the "gritty mix" is ideal if you can find all the ingredients (see here: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/2842847/container-soils-water-movement-and-retention-xxii?n=99). If you cannot find those ingredients, mix potting soil with perlite (or pumice, whichever you can find) in a 50/50 ratio. Finally, planting. The pot you're using looks about the right size. Repot the plant with whatever soil mix you chose. I'd plant a bit higher than you have it in the photo, with the roots just below the soil line. Do not top-dress it with gravel (holds in moisture) and don't water it for another two weeks. Even then, water sparingly until you see new leaves emerging, and in the future don't water until the soil has been completely dry for at least a couple of weeks. Indoors these plants don't use a lot of water. I have one outdoors in a pot here in CA and I water it *maybe* once a month. Final note on soil. People will come along after me and say you have to use the gritty mix and you should not use soils based on organics under any circumstances. That's not exactly true. The advantage of the gritty mix is that you have less risk of overwatering, which is the biggest danger for people new to container plants. So if you can make the gritty mix, I would do it. If you don't have time or the ingredients aren't available, don't worry, just use the soil/perlite mix, water very infrequently and you should be fine....See MorePonytail Palm - Extra Long Leaves, Normal?
Comments (60)Fabulous now that we can see Cher in all her glory! Oh my, Maria, you took the leaf of faith, Cher looks great! I bet with the trim and repot, her elegant ballerina like figure (caudex ) will plump up a bit. She looks very elegant with her long slender look! I love that we can now see her in full :) You must be so happy to have accomplished this! I found the same with Harry when I repotted him, most roots where on the outside. Having only chopped Harry's heads off once... Here was my thinking: Cut them off in fall, allow him to sit in a low light area and water once a month at most. Let him gather strength for spring. Come March he had new sprouts starting. At first they were little bumps, then fully fledged sprouts and then by summer, he was on his way to his new stout look. I think late fall may be best as you will want to stop watering her due to her having no leaves, plus this will give her time to re-establish her roots between now and then. Harry did fine with watering him once a month in winter. I only started watering him once a few of his sprouts were about an inch long and green. If you look at the photo above of him with his heads cut off and the one before it, you will notice that his caudex is plump in the one with his heads and then it is more wrinkly in the one with the new sprouts. We do this same routine each winter. He looks dehydrated early spring from the lack of water in the winter but by spring he's re-hydrated and plumped up. Have you thought about how much you want to cut off? I look forward to the next update on Cher!...See Moredarcydeuce
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