Find Your Ask the Expert: Babies on my ponytail plant
I inherited a pony tail plant about 20 years ago. Recently, It had three babies, growing between the middle and top of the plant. Do they have to be removed? Will they hurt my plant if I leave them be? If I did remove them, can I root them? If yes, how? Thank you, I really love this plant!
It wont’ hurt to leave the babies on your ponytail palm. The only place I have ever seen the babies is at the base of the ponytail palm. So I’m not sure what this grow in the middle is structured. But, you can try to remove the babies and root them to form new plants. I would dip the bottoms in a rooting hormone and place in a lite soil mixture (you can use cactus and succulent potting soil). Keep it moderately moist and in a few weeks it should have new roots. I’m not sure how successful this type of propagation for ponytail palms is since I have actually perform it my self. I do know that in commercial growing operations ponytail palms are propagated by seed which is a very long process. Good luck and keep me posted.
I have a 15′ Pony tail palm growing in my front yard in Florida. If I cut it off at about 2 feet will it grow a new bunch of leaves or will it die?
You have a 50 to 50 chance of it surviving. Unlike Lucky bamboo (Draceana sanderiana), ponytial palms (Beaucarnea) will takes months to produce new leaves. I would recommend using a little Vitamin B1. You will mix it with water and pour it around the base of the tree. Then it is all about waiting. Watch for blackening of the trunk which will indicate that the plant is dying. Good luck and keep me posted.
Related to the above question- I have my aunt’s bonsai sized ponytail palm and it is very sick/dying right now. Do I feed it B1 and cut it off and hope for the best, too?
Are the houseplant sized ones (this one is about a foot tall and the stem has maybe 5 segments) subject to damage from softened water?
Depending on what is casuing the plant distress, feeding it B1 would be a good thing. Cutting off the ponytail palm at this point won’t help the plant. The chemicals used to soften the water could be casuing damage. Start watering the plant with distilled water or pplace your tap water in a container with a large opening and let it sit 24 hours before you use it.
I have a ponytail palm that is flowering. It has a 12 inch shoot coming from the top of the plant that has many small flower like branches.
what will this do to the plant besides change its appearance?
It should do any thing to change the plant.
I have a question. Do only young (perhaps 10″ high including the ponytail)ponytail palms reproduce with multiple bulb-like offsets? IF I BUY A MORE MATURE (like 15″ high, 1-gal) individual palm, will it sprout more bulb-like plants?
If you want one that will produce offshoots, you don’t want one that may have been removed as an offshoot itself. A more mature ponytail plant would more than likely be best.
My pony tail palm is about 8 years old(3ft tall, 4-5″ bulb), and someone fell on it and broke the top out – I have the top in the dirt with the bulb, but of course it is dying…..will the bulb survive or should I just give up on it and get started growing another one?
If the plant is basically intact and just the top broken off, it should put out new growth.
My ponytail palm froze on top a few years ago and in spring it put out little shoots all the way up the trunk. It is about 6 feet tall and looks like cousin it . Is this something normal? Can I cut some off and root them?
Chet, because your plant froze at the top and these little shoots started forming then, I don’t think these are offshoots and could be the upper foliage of the plant coming out in an alternative place. Because these could be offshoots and not true suckers, they may not propagate. If you could take a picture and share it with us, we might can give you a better diagnosis. Hope this helps!
I have two pony tales out the front next to my drive one on the right is very close to the driveway ,and worried as it gets taller it will crack the drive.They are both around 20 years old now. I Cant get anyone to remove the one on the right hand side,so the only choice i have is to cut it as low to the bulb as possible. will it still grow if i do this .can anyone advise me.
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Alan,
I don’t think the root system will crack the driveway. However, you might want to check with a local nursery garden center that sells them to see what issue and solutions are possible.
I have a ponytail plant I received 35 years ago as part of a group of small potted plants. It is now 10′ tall. In the summer I have it outside on the deck where it thrives. In the winter I move it inside and it still does well. It is becoming too large to move! It has never grown any offshoots, so I was wondering if there was a way to make it grow one – so that I might start over with a small one. I would donate the large one to a local science center. Or, is there a way to trim the plant to make it smaller and easier to move? Can I simply cut it off just below the lowest leaves?
Karen,
I don’t know of any way to force a Ponytail plant (Beaucarnea recurvata) to produce pups. You can cut the top off and seal it. This way you can control the height of the plant.
What is the best way to propagate a PonyPalm….I have one large plant in the ground with two new arms, with the original arm with two new shoots….the plant has flowered one time but continues producing more arms….your advice please…..and thank you
You can try to remove the ‘arms’ or shoots to root them and form new plants. I would dip the bottoms in a rooting hormone and place in a lite soil mixture (you can use cactus and succulent potting soil). Keep it moderately moist and in a few weeks it should have new roots. Hope this helps!
Hello, I have a 9′ pony tail palm that is about 32 yrs old. It has a large baby at the base. I put it out in the summer which it loves but my problem is that I don’t know if it will fit in the house this fall after the summer new growth. I see above that Jamie said you can cut the top and seal it. Could you explain that in more detail?
Thanks.
Charlene,
First remove the baby and plant it in a container by itself. Then you can top the plant. You will need some cactus and succulent soil, root-tone or rooting hormone, a very sharp serrated knife. Cut the top off making sure that you have a t least 4″ of stem. Dip the cut end into the root-tone powder and stick about 2″ of the stem in the cactus soil (make sure the soil is moist, but not soggy when you stick the cutting into it). Then leave it alone unless the soil becomes dry then give it some water. It will take 2 to 4 weeks for the roots to form. As for the existing plant, new shoots should appear on the sides of the cut area. You can lightly mist the cut until the new growth appears.
My mom has a Ponytail Palm it has new growth on it this year, will it hurt it if I remove the
new growth?
Donna,
It should not be a problem as long as the piece is big enough to insert some of it into soil and still leave a good amount above ground level.
You have a very brief answer to the ponytail palm flowering. I want to know…should I trim the flowering off the plant. It seems to be having a negative effect on the plant.
Donna,
Is the new growth an offshoot of the plant or new growth out of the top. If it is an offshoot, you can remove it without any harm to the plant.
If it from the top, you can still remove it, but it will need to develop roots. So you will need to use rooting hormone to get the cutting to take root. Where are the off-shoots many times have some root already.
Joyce,
Yes go ahead and trim the bloom off.
I have a question about some faded growth. I recently moved my plant from inside an east facing window, to a northern deck outside. I think the leaves grew, and there are new leaves on the little guys (my plant has a 4 or 5 little guys) and they’re coming out yellowish. There’s even a bit of browniah-purple on them. What happened? I put them inside and seem to be gaining some green. The worst of the plants is the biggest, the little ones seem to be recovering. Was it too much sun? Is fog bad for them? I live somewhere with lots of fog. I’m not sure that I overwatered either. Is the actual change of location any stressing factor for the plant?
Feedback much much appreciated
Raul,
Anytime you move a plant it will go through stress. This could be the issue with this plant especially if the light or temperature changes significantly from one area to another. However, your plant could have spider mites. Take a magnifying lens and look at the backside of the leaf — can you see any insects? If so you will need to use a houseplant spray for spider mites. Hope this information helps.
I have a Ponytail Palm that has a broken stem due to moving. Can I wrap it with some sort of tape and will it heal itself?
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Cheyl not a problem simply cut the top off where it is broken. Make sure the cut is at a alight angle. The plant will form new leaves from this spot. It will take several weeks for this to occur so be patient. You can take the top and try to root it
To do this make a new cut straight across and dip in rooting powder then place moist soil and wait ages weeks to see if roots appear. Good luck and keep me posted.
Hi,
I have a pony tail plant that is 37 years old and has always been in the house. I have recently gotten 2 shoots coming from the bulb, which is a first for this plant. I’m curious about the blooming I’ve read about. This plant has never bloomed. Are there some that don’t bloom?
Kit,
Beaucarnea recurvata aka Ponytail can bloom up to three times a year in the spring and summer. I, too, have had a ponytail for several years and have never seen a bloom. It rarely blooms as a houseplant. The most likely culprit is the fact that the plants are dioecious and need the help of another plant to produce blooms. In this case only the female plant will bloom.
When propagating, how important is it to use a rooting hormone ?
Melba,
You can propagate without rooting hormone with great success. So for plants that root easily, you can forgo the rooting hormone. However, the rooting hormone will give you a better chance and faster results. In the greenhouse, we always use rooting hormone.
I have a ponytail that I replanted into the ground from a pot. It is about six ft tall and the growth is very green and the plant looks healthy. However the bark on the bulb is cracking and coming off and today I noticed the bulb is cracking Its growing very fast. Is there something I should be doing
I dnt want t loose the tree
As long as your plant continues to look green and healthy, you shouldn’t be concerned. It is a desert plant, so it shouldn’t be over watered. Once very 7-14 days. Make sure the soil is dry to the touch 1″ to 1 1/2″ before watering again. If you live in an area with more consistent rainfall, you may need to move the plant back into a pot. Hope this helps!
Ed
Hello I have had this ponytail palm for about seven years my new dog chewed all the greenery off of it can I get it to sprout again or what should I do
Hi have a ponytail in the ground it has flowered. Around the base of flower stem there are 5 new shoots but they don’t have any roots that I can see. If I cut these off will it stop the original shoot from growing.
And do you cut the flower stem off.
Thanks Tracey
Tim, if the palm is going to survive and bounce back, it just will. My advice would be to continue to care for it as you have for the last 7 years, and keep the dog away!
Tracey,
There’s no need to cut off the shoots. Also, most people don’t prune ponytail palms.
I recently bought a ponytail palm that I probably about 5 feet tall. We repotted it in new soil and slightly larger pot and have watered it consistently. It started sprouting this tall stem from the top the has other branches off of it and small flowerlike bulbs. If I cut this off will it affect the growth of my palm, and can I plant this stem? If so where should I cut it?
Thanks!
Hi emergency here, I have a 11 year old bottle palm I think she has been through so much, a vindictive caregiver who thought bending off the leaves or shoots trying to destroy her, didn’t work she survived with three shoots and I finally got her to start growing and a young shoot was coming up. Now the shoot it was coming out of was bent now if I tie it up to the trunk and keep it straight will it survive?
I have new off shoots off the trunk of my inside/outside potted ponytail palm, I want to know if I remove them as I would prefer it to stay tall and skinny for easier mobility, do I need to seal the area where the new growth was?
Sherry,
As long as the cuts do not appear brown or tattered after the fact, sealing should not be necessary.
Ed
David,
With a plant that’s been so abused, it is hard to say but it sounds like you are doing the right things. Keep doing what you’re doing and hopefully she will pull through!
Ed
Jeanette,
Trimming it off shouldn’t be a problem, but replanting it is a gamble. It should be possible, plants are amazingly resilient and good at reproducing themselves, so it’s worth a try if you’d like. I’d trim it as close to the bottom as possible.
Ed
I have had a ponytail palm for about 2 years now. It has no trunk and the foliage has grown quite well. I recently potted it in a bigger pot. How can I force the trunk to grow? Also if I cut the foliage off, will the foliage multiply? Is it better to wait until it has a trunk to cut the foliage or can I do so now? How old does this plant look to you?
Dee,
All of the growth will come from the top of the plant and the trunk will occur as the plant ages and the lower leaves are shed. If you want more of a trunk look now, you can remove some of the lower leaves. Normally, cutting the foliage on this plant does not stimulate more foliage growth. From the look of the plant it is very young and very healthy. Hope this information helps.
I purchased a Ponytail plant and it has three oofsprings at the bottom. How would I remove them and try to grow the cuttings