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Ponytail Palm center leaves broken....

15 years ago

Hello all, I have a ponytail palm that I purchased at my local nursery, about 1 year ago, and it was an extremely great deal ($20.00) because it grew strangely to the side, but I did not mind. It is large and approx 1.5ft at the base and about 3 feet tall (grown to the side and now up). It is healthy and growing well. My "palm" is an outside plant, and is thriving, however, the last two sets of leaves/shoots have broken off in the middle. The plant is green and looks great, but I have no idea why this happened. I re-potted it into a wood barrel and it has plenty of room when I first got it. o

So my 2 questions are...

1. what are normal causes of breakage on new sets of "leaves".

2. what can I do about the broken sets? There is now a middle section that has broken off leaves. Will it continue to grow correctly?

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Comments (8)

amccour
15 years ago
Do you have any pictures of what the breakage looks like, or the plant in general?
pattirose4
15 years ago
Mine did the exact same thing after transplanting it, except it was all the new growth, at least 10 leaves that broke, then the ball started shrivelling up. I'd had it 10 years in the same pot so I thought I had to transplant it, big mistake. Sorry I can't help - only sympathize.
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Polly, you're right. While working at HD, one 5-6' long-very curly leaf PT was shipped to our store..It was the second prettiest PT I'd seen. 40.00. If I had more room, it would have moved in w/us. :) Country..PT's are full-sun lovers, but I doubt your PT is without light. When foliage grows 'x' long, leaves start to bend..bend isn't the correct word..When you first described your PT, I thought the leaves were lying down, or creased in the center. Your PT looks great to me. Larry...Pregnant Onions foliage is thicker than PT's. Country has a B. Pony Tail. Toni
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In my experience, pony tail palms are really sensitive to too much water and/or having too much mulch near their trunks. Have you mulched them recently? Have they gotten more rain than they need? That might leave them vulnerable to bugs/slugs. I had one in a pot for several years and put it out into the yard about a year ago. One of the three stems went great guns. It's four-feet high now, from six inches. The other two did not like their conditions and I think both have died. I do think they're really sensitive to getting too wet or having mulch too close to their trunks/being planted too deep.
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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!
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Thanks for the suggestions. Actually she's in a nice very sunny window all year and the stalk shot out when I moved her to a less sunny spot for a few months. Now she's back in the sun. My question isn't why is she growing so slowly, it's about this vigorous stalk in the center. Is this just how these plants grow?
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bunnygurl
15 years ago
My Ponytail's middles leaves are a light green compared to the dark green of the older outer leaves. Is this normal or is it a cultural defect?
pattirose4
15 years ago
that's just new growth, they will turn a darker green as they age
amccour
15 years ago
My new growth usually comes out bright red if I give it full sun (Not sure if that's a cultivar difference or not). Try it!
birdsnblooms
15 years ago
Amccour, there's a Red Pony Tail called, 'Red Beaucarnea Recurvata' sold at Trio Nursery.
I bought a PT from Trio, I think in 2000.
The info on his site says: 'This is a selected cultivar from the common green form.'

I have 3 PT's...all were in the same, south window, summer outdoors, yet the Red PT's center has light red, dark pink hue, the other two don't. (in summer.) We don't get enough sun to make a difference in winter.
If you get a chance, take a peek at Tion nursery, type in pony tail in the Seach box..It's beautiful..wish mine was as red..

SpOng, a picture would help. It's not normal for new growth to break.
One reason would be rot. Is the bulb firm? Soft?
Since your PT is kept outdoors, it's possible wildlife is chewing away, but that's a long shot. Like I said, a pic would help. Toni
PS. How's your PT doing now? Almost a month after you started this thread.
Valarie Crawford
4 years ago
To the entire leaf stalk fell off the ball and the center is soft almost mushy....is the bulb dead or will the leaves regrow? Also if I put the leaf stalk in soil will it reroot?
Matt z5b - Greenhouse 10a
4 years ago
please post a pic so we can better understand....

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