Bob does sound cool! When reading info, it can sometimes be difficult to tell if it's coming from the house plant realm, or in regard to where the plant is hardy in the ground outside. Since these plants can grow in the sun all day where hardy, "as much light as possible" is a good rule for indoor plants. It's difficult to acclimate plants to a lot of direct sun when they have to spend winter inside to escape cold.

The bulbous trunk of PT palm can store moisture for times of drought, so letting it dry out between waterings is usually a safe plan. Picking it up to see if it's still heavy should help you gauge when to water while you get to know your plant. Nobody can know how fast it might dry out, which might also vary as the seasons change. If so, a schedule could do more harm than good.

Hopefully your plants' bulbous trunk is visible above the soil level? Does the pot have a hole in the bottom?

Yes, Bob came in a shallow 6" plastic azalea pot with good drainage. He is quite pot- bound, so I'm looking for a shallow 8" pot. I want to stick with shallow pots due to the top-heavy nature of the plant, for stability. His bulbous stem is sitting flush with the soil level, not buried, with a few root tendrils poking out. Large roots visible at the drainage holes, too.

Of course, common-sense watering, varying with the seasons and relative humidity, you're right! Sounds like the Popsicle-stick test would be in order? I have Miracle-Gro cactus and succulent potting mix for when I find an appropriate pot.

Thanks for your advice! I will try to get a photo uploaded soon.

During the warm months, I grow mine outdoors in full sunlight. When they're actively growing, they do best in as much sunlight as you can provide for them. If they don't get it, their newer leaves will droop and look limp. In full sunlight, they arch up and out, with a perky, graceful curve to them.

When the temperature starts to drop in the fall, I scale back on watering. If the days are still warm enough, I'll place them outside, bringing them back in at night when the temperature gets below 50ºF. When the days get too cold, I just keep them inside fulltime from then on. I also cut back significantly on watering, letting them practically dry out completely. Don't get any water in the central crown of the leaves, this could lead to them rotting out. Outdoors, I don't worry about this at all. Only when they're indoors. If you water it too much during the winter months, your ponytail palm will try growing new leaves, which will become limp and flat because of the lower light levels. They'll do just fine in a shaded location. I keep mine on a glass table that only gets minimal light and it doesn't phase them one bit. Just remember to keep them on the dry side, or else they will try growing. Other than that, they'll gladly tolerate a low light, shaded location during the winter.

In other words, during the summer months, I keep them in full sunlight and water them quite often. During the winter months, I bring them back indoors, place them on display on my glass table and practically forget about them until Spring. You can see in the photo, the table isn't even next to a window. They only get minimal indirect light all winter long and they do just fine. Oh yeah, one more thing, the tips of the leaves sometimes turn brown. If they do, don't trim them, because it'll just die back some more again.

Wow, that's a beautiful Beaucarnea! Thank you so much for the tips. Sadly, as an apartment dewller, I have more space indoors than out for plants, so it's unlikely that Bob will be getting much, if any outdoor sun. Hence the sun lamp. Thanks for letting me know about not trimming the leaves, I guess sometimes the hardest thing about houseplants is being able to just let them alone, LOL!

This is Sideshow Bob, underpotted I would say, in the pot he came in from IKEA. I am currently searching for a suitable pot one size up (8").

This is the actual Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons, my plant's namesake. A striking resemblance, don't you think?

Whammytap, there is school of thought that treats an indoor plant as a 'living sculpture'. The plant is allowed to grow out only so much. Thereafter, it is maintained at that size and form - by pruning, watering and fertilizing - judiciously. I have seen one Beaucarnea in a cubicle; and it was quite overwhelming. Other employees made espaliers on the walls out of Pothos and thumb tacks.

Ronalawn82--I love topiary! Part of the reason that I selected this plant is that I read Beaucarnea grows very slowly. Once Bob gets past "tabletop" size, I am going to have to pass him on to another owner, and I'd like to enjoy him for as long as possible. That said, I don't want to starve him in the process.

Tapla--Would Miracle-Gro potting mix for cacti and succulents be an appropriate medium, or should I amend it? I do try to water all of my indoor plants infrequently and deeply.

Thank you both so much!

When I grow mine outdoors, I water them quite frequently. During the hottest months of the year, I water them almost daily. It's just when I bring them back indoors for the winter that I scale back on watering them. But only to prevent them from trying to grow during that time of year.

As for the soil, I use the MG Cacti & Succulent potting soil for mine. I didn't even mix in any perlite or other amendments. Tho you can if you want to, but I've never encountered any problems.

The best way to water plants, when you do water them, is to flush out the pots. If the soil mix has become too dry, I'll place the pot in something without any drain holes and fill it up and let the whole pot soak for about half an hour. Then I remove the pot and flush it out with more water until the water draining out of the bottom begins to run clear again. I let that finish draining completely away and then move my plants back to where I keep them.

When people "overwater" their plants, it's not about giving them too much water, but rather they're using a soil mix that stays over-saturated. When soil stays over-saturated, the natural flow of fresh air is cut off and the plant's roots can't breathe. Causing them to rot. As long as the roots can breathe, you can't actually overwater them.

Getting back to you ponytail palm, they do grow very slowly. So plan on keeping Sideshow Bob around for quite a while. :)

LOL, that's one of the best plant look-alike comparisons! Bob's a nice-looking specimen. :+)

My post was given based on an assumption that the plant is likely currently in potting soil. If so, keeping it moist could cause problems. The question about how it was riding, high or low, was asked to check to make sure a conversation would happen. When they never come back, it feels like wasted time. Definitely not the case this time, excellent!

Good vibes to Bob!