Do ponytail palm flowers weaken the plant?

13 years ago

I have a beautiful ponytail palm as a centerpiece of my yard and it is starting to flower. I think the flowers are beautiful but does anyone know if the flower, like some other palms and/or agaves, ends up damaging the plant. Many other types of tropical plants die after they flower, and I'm hoping this in not the case with the ponytail palm. Any advise would be helpful.

Thanks,

Don

Featured Answer

lzrddr

13 years ago

Beaucarneas are not palms, first of all. Nor are they monocarpic (die after flowering). Your plant will be fine. But the thick head of foliage will be significantly reduced while and some time after the flower matures, so if you don't want to see that, cut off the flower now.

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Comments (9)

tropicalzone7
13 years ago
While there is no doubt that your plant will be growing its foliage less vigorously during flowering because it takes energy, your plant will not die after flowering, unlike agaves, and some types of palms.
Good luck!
-Alex
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milly lacy
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Mine bloomed five years ago and it devided which I DIDN,t like with two tops and I DIDN,t like the flower...now it's starting to bloom again and I think I will cut it off and hopefully it won,t devide again and make three separate tale,s
palmbob
6 years ago
not sure cutting off a flower will keep one of these from dividing, but have often considered the possibility. Let me know how it works out (early cutting off of flowers does not seem to adjust the ultimate outcome of most other Agavaceae plants), other than keeping from suffering through a slowdown period when all energy seems to be put towards reproduction).
milly lacy
6 years ago
Five years ago mine bloomed and the it decided into two instead. Of one plant making two different set of leaves hanging down....I DIDN,t like it...so it was starting to bloom again and today I cut the blossems off hoping to keep. It making another set of leaves
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SeedsRUs.Etsy
6 years ago
You should get some ramification from the inflorescence. This will cause some dieback on the original single trunk foliage. We have one in a 50 gal squat and it pushed 4 new branches after flowering for the first time.
milly lacy
6 years ago
Mine devided five years ago when I let. It bloom...doesn,t look near as nice as it did...I cut the bloom off this time hopeing it won,t decide again...bloom Isn,t pretty and makes a mess....looks like it will bloom every five years..mine is in a pt also not quite a gallon
HU-893065486
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My ponytail flowered 6 months ago (Aussie summer) and sprouted 3 flowers off 3 heads.

The foliage seems to be growing up these flower stems so over time I'll wait and see what happens. They say it can take these plants 30 years to flower but this plant is less than 20 years old. Is that normal? Plant is on 100% sand (Perth coastal strip) Never gets a feed and is Bore watered 3x times a week in summer and loves it. It has fresh shoots popping out the base. This plant was once on a fence line and was basically starved for space. Now in the open it has bloomed. I have another to shift which is also fenceline material.

Don't know whether to sell it or keep it. They look amazing. Almost prehistoric.

I call my free one Cousin It.
ninam
last year
I was given a pony tail palm 5 years ago - it was 18”. Now has 4 shoots about 5’ tall and two bloomed. This is in sandy Central Florida soil - partial shade.

Do ponytail palm flowers weaken the plant?

lzrddr

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