Ponytail palm

About Ponytail palm

The ponytail palm is not a palm but a slow-growing desert plant from the rocky hills of eastern Mexico, with a swollen water-storing base (the 'elephant foot') and a fountain of long, narrow, curling leaves. It is one of the easiest houseplants for a sunny window: it tolerates heated winter air, needs water only now and then, and can live for decades in the same pot (NC State, Wisconsin Horticulture). The ASPCA lists it as non-toxic to cats, dogs and horses.

Hardy outdoors only in zones 10-11 (NC State); it is grown indoors everywhere and can summer outdoors on a protected patio, moved into sun gradually, once nights stay above 50 F, which NC State gives as its cold limit.

When to plant

Timing is counted from your average last spring frost (and first fall frost). Sow & Tell works out the actual dates for your ZIP code.

Bought as a nursery plant; seed is the only way to raise a new one, and seed is rarely sold (Wisconsin Horticulture).

Growing it indoors

• Light: It is a desert plant adapted to bright light, so give it the brightest, sunniest window you have (NC State, Wisconsin Horticulture); MU Extension says filtered to bright light will do.
• Water: In summer water deeply but infrequently and let the mix dry out completely between waterings; in winter cut watering back sharply, since it prefers a dry winter and winter overwatering rots the roots (NC State, Wisconsin Horticulture). Overwatering is the most common cause of failure, and a pot without a drainage hole is asking for it (UGA).
• Humidity: It tolerates the dry heated air that stresses most houseplants (NC State).
• Temperature: Hardy to 50 F (NC State); move it outdoors only when nights are above that, and adjust it to temperature changes gradually.
• Feeding: Feed once or twice during the growing season with a houseplant fertilizer, and not at all in winter (Wisconsin Horticulture).
• Repotting: It can go many years in the same pot; repot only when you want it to grow bigger, since a larger pot lets the trunk thicken and the plant gain height (Wisconsin Horticulture).

Soil

A well-drained cactus and succulent mix, or regular potting mix with sharp sand or fine gravel added, in a pot with a drainage hole (NC State, Wisconsin Horticulture, UGA).

Pot in a cactus and succulent mix, or potting mix with sharp sand or fine gravel added, in a container with a drainage hole (Wisconsin Horticulture, NC State, UGA).

Feeding

• Growing season, late spring and summer: houseplant fertilizer. Feed once or twice during the growing season (Wisconsin Horticulture); water first.
• Fall and winter: none. No feeding while it rests dry (Wisconsin Horticulture).

Excess fertilizer and salt buildup brown the leaf tips; flush the pot with plain water now and then (Wisconsin Horticulture).

Pests to watch for

Mealybugs, Scale insects, Twospotted spider mite

Diseases and problems

Root and crown rot, Stem rot, Leaf spots

In the kitchen

Safety: NC State lists no poison hazard and tags it pet friendly; the only caution is that the fine-toothed leaf edges can cut skin, so handle the leaves with care (Wisconsin Horticulture).

Pets: Non-toxic to dogs, cats and horses (ASPCA, listed under bottle palm, Beaucarnea recurvata).