Hi Porshfan, I also love Ponytail Palms and I recently bought one (a few months ago). I had one before, and I really loved it, but it was killed when I had someone else care for it while I was away. I still had the bonsai pot it was in, and I really liked the way it looked, so I wanted to buy the same sized tree and put it in the bonsai pot. Now, please note that I am NOT an expert on plants, and I know nothing of bonsai. I'm just speaking of MY experience and just giving you my opinion. I trimmed the roots of my ponytail just like you did (a little trim, about 1/3rd of the roots)....I did this mainly so that it would fit in the bonsai pot (I initially bought the plant in a pot similar to yours). The root trimming did no harm to it, and I plan on trimming more this summer. I also gave mine a very similar haircut. Why? Because I wanted to! I didn't like the "stragly" long leaves, so I cut them. I don't think you did anything wrong by giving it a haircut. If I saw a plant in a store that I've been wanting or that I liked, but wanted to "fix it up" a little, I would still buy it. Some of my tips get brown, but I don't mind...I just trim the brown tips. Just make sure you don't trim ALL the brown off...leave a tiny bit because if you don't the brown will grow back. But I must say, I'm not sure if cutting the "leaves" makes them turn brown (but again, I'm no expert)...the reason I say this is that all my spider plants have brown tips and I haven't EVER cut them, nor do I do other things that would make tips turn brown (overwater, underwater, use tap water). I'm sure you also realized that cutting the "leaves" will make the edges blunt instead of pointy, but to me that looks a lot better than long unruly leaves. In terms of humidity, I have mine on a humidity tray, and I mist it also (misting does no harm...it may be a waste of time, but I like to do it - however, that alone won't add any real humidity). I have 3 "shoots" on mine. Chopping the trunk causes these offshoots to develop. I'm not sure why yours has 5 and mine has 3 and others have 2. But if you like it, keep it. If you don't like all 5, that's another story. I don't know what kind of growth it would force if you cut any of them off. I personally like the way your 5 offshoots look, but it's your plant! Anyway, best of luck with your plant. Here's some pics of mine...it's pretty similar to yours.

Don't put it in 'dirt', but a mix of grit (perlite, a little coarse soil - no peat - and a lot of ~ small aquarium gravel or chicken grit from a farm feed store. just water it once (the mix should be halfway up the bulb, no more) and give it lots of light. It'll make its own roots, but get it out of the water now.

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!

They call for old uncle a lot - I've kept the phone number - and when I tell them that he's not available, can I, his nephew, help them, they tend to get a bit skittish. Will call later, etc. Usually eventually I tell them that he inhabits a box underground, didn't leave forwarding address/phone No. ... and I don't think that he's much interested in credit card, avoiding bankruptcy, participating in a survey, subscribe to a magazine, getting super-duper long distance service, etc. ... ... telephones can do some wonderful things, these days, but I haven't heard of them being able to get through to uncle ... or my Mom, Dad, brother, etc. ... ... well, not up till now, at least ... ... but who knows what they may be able to arrange in future (or claim that they have). By the way ... didn't some of those TV evangelists give us the impression (if not almost the assurance) that they had a direct line to heaven?? Oh? ... They still do? Well, fancy that!! And some of the politicians tend to agree with them? Well, fancy that!! Enjoy what's left of your weekend, everyone. ole joyful