Help for Ponytail Palm - Needs green on top
lindalo5032
12 years ago
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Help with Ponytail Palm
Comments (13)Yeah, that's a fun pun, "weed in the pot." When I repotted, I separated 1 (of 4) individuals to put by itself, put the other 3 still in a clump in a 'mini garden.' The individual one has sun shining on it all day. The mini garden has sun hitting it all afternoon. The leaves on these plants are a little more upright than Jenny's plant. From that I might say Jenny's plant could use a little more sun, if possible. It's normal for the older leaves to be discarded. That's part of how the trunk forms. Trimming any brown tips so they look more like a point instead of straight across is more attractive, to my eye, but certainly not required....See MorePlease help my Ponytail Palm!
Comments (1)Well, I might have just solved my own mystery. On further inspection, I found a powdery mildew like substance on the bottom leaves. I have removed most of the sickly leaves and sprayed the entire plant with fungicide and will hope for the best. If anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know. Thanks....See MoreHelp with Ponytail Palm
Comments (2)So you are saying, forget it, chop it off and let it regrow from the base with no hope of re-starting the top as a second plant. So be it. I know that it will regrow with multiple new shoots. Should I let it grow, then select one to be the new top or let it be a multiple? Any advice?...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 Morelindalo5032
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agozzackey
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agorhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoLoveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agolindalo5032
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agogreenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agorhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agogreenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agomeyermike_1micha
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agomeyermike_1micha
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoLoveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agolindalo5032
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agogreenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agomeyermike_1micha
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agogreenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agolindalo5032
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agopoorpalm
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agolarrymarie1982
8 years agoandy_e
8 years agothursdaydog1920
8 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agothursdaydog1920
8 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
8 years agothursdaydog1920
8 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
8 years ago
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)