With everything that's gone on today, as discussed in two previous blog entries today (here and here), I needed something to bring me back down to Earth, so I thought I'd share one of my favorite plants with you.
The ponytail palm (Beaucarnea recurvata; Figure 1) is indigenous to Mexico but is not a palm at all. Instead, it is a succulent more closely related to yuccas and century plants than to palms.
Figure 1.
It is also a caudiciform, a plant that has a swollen base where it stores nutrients and water. Its swollen base with a trunk topped by long, thin leaves, makes it a popular houseplant, and it is often sold in nurseries and grocery stores throughout the country, at all times of the year. It is very adaptable to interior conditions: too little light, too much light, lack of watering, air conditioning drafts, window drafts, and interior air pollution. Unfortunately, even though it does extremely well inside, people still tend to overwater it, and overwatering is the major cause of killing this plant since it is very susceptible to rot.
The ponytail palm is also a very slow grower, so it's highly unlikely that it will outgrow your home. The ponytail palm in Figure 1 is in my home office and is now 15 years old, with three branches, and takes lots of neglect due to my dedicated blogging here at Active Rain LOL.
Other common names include elephant foot palm and elephant foot tree, and you can see three elephant's feet in Figure 2.
Figure 2
It can grow up to 30 feet tall if grown outside, but since it grows slowly, only your grandchildren will be around to see it get that tall. LOL.
It needs sandy, well-drained soils, and is susceptible to frost, so in climates where freezing temperatures are likely, they should be planted in pots that can be brought inside.
If you plant it outside, that large "bulb" should not be planted in the ground because it will rot from being too wet. Instead, cover only about 25% of it with soil so that most of it sits above ground. That large "bulb" is not the root, or a "bulb"; it is simply the lower part of the trunk. It has many roots underneath that "bulb."
Here in El Cajon (pronounced el cuh-hone) in East County San Diego, there's a nursery, J. Vic's Palms Nursery (1146 E. Chase Avenue; no web site), that has not only thousands of these ponytail palms, but the biggest, tallest, and fattest ones, with the most branches, that I've ever seen (see Figure 3 and Figure 4). It usually grows a single main trunk, so you have to force it to grow multiple branches by basically damaging the main trunk.
Figure 3.
Figure 4.
In addition, J. Vic's has the only one I've ever seen that blooms (Figure 5), and it is always blooming regardless of when I drive by.
Figure 5.
(Readers who find inspiration in nature should feel free to join my new
Many years ago I had a ponytail plant and loved it because it was so unique. I think I bought it from the same shop that I got my big grandfather cactus. That was a great place to find unusual plants.....they had bromeliads when you could hardly find them around here.
Russel, I have one of these lovely Pony tail plants. And over the years it has GROWN! I have to keep it indoors because it would freeze in our cold winters but my two kids together can't transplant this again!
Hey Russell - Keep America Green! In sub-tropical Naples, Florida, we just stick it in the ground and 6 months later we're already pruning! Things get a little wild here. Greetings from Paradise.
I will have to have one to add to my collecion of hibiscus and plumeria. I love a plant that does not have to be re-potted every year, due to out growing the pot! Thanks for the tip!!
Hi Russell ~ I have a ponytail palm that is really getting hugh (over 5') in my family room. Would one of these live outside in the Missouri weather? I put it in the shade outside in the summer but always bring it back in (on a moving dolly) in the late fall.
Generally, no. It would get frost bitten during the winter. Keep on moving it in and out on the dolly (same thing my wise old grandmother used to do), but in your area you shouldn't have to put it in the shade. Down here in the South, if we move them outside in the summer they can get sunburned. If it's doing okay, though, and it's doing fine in that shade area, and you don't want to experiment with a sunnier spot, keep it in the shade.
They are very adaptable, though, both inside and outside. We have them outside here that are 20 feet tall and blooming.
Russel, that's the kind of plant I need. I don't give my indoor plants much attention anymore. I do love them though. The trunks of those are phenomenal! Thanks for the great pics!
I repotted due to what I thought was rootbound and the roots were very dry when I took it out of the original pot. The base was also very dry on one side of the palm and has always leaned to the healthier side. I guess the roots are not healthy on the dry side. I either got the soil wrong or too big of a pot because some of the fronds came out as if they were rotting at the base of the "stalk". I tried putting it outside in the southern sun but that hasn't helped either. I have put it back inside to the spot where it was thriving but it is not growing any new shoots. Will this change? Do I need to change the soil? The soil I used was for houseplants and holds moisture. I found several mushrooms growing around the plant after I repotted. HELP me save my palm! What do I need to do to get it back to health? Please send a return email. Thanks so much!
Hey, Nancy - It sounds like you have two problems.
First, I think you planted it too low in the soil, which is the cause of of the rotting fronds at the base of the stalk. Many people think the big bulb is the root and so they cover it with soil. Cover no more than a third of the big bulb with soil.
The other thing I think is causing problems is the soil. If it was growing mushrooms, the soil is entirely too wet. Switch to some cactus/succulent soil for this plant.
If you do those two things, I think you'll be okay. However, they are very slow growing plants, so as long as that big bulb is firm, it's still growing.
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Figure 5.
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Russel - Figure 1. ahaaaa, so you feed your Beaucarnea recurvata kitty treats!!!! That special something something. ~Rita