Order Your Almanac Today!

How to Care for Ponytail Palms

Poneytail palm indoors by a window. The Beaucarnea Recurvata, also known as Ponytail Palm, or Nolina is a houseplant with a swollen thick brown stem and the long narrow curly, green leaves flow up from this base.
Photo Credit
Renata.Ka/Shutterstock
Botanical Name
Beaucarnea recurvata
Plant Type
Houseplant
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Part Sun
Soil pH
Neutral
Flower Color
White
Yellow
Hardiness Zone
9
10
11

Growing Ponytail Palm Houseplants: Watering, Lighting, Repotting, and Pests

Catherine Boeckmann
Print Friendly and PDF
Almanac Garden Planner

The Almanac Garden Planner - Use It Free for 7 Days!

Plan your 2025 garden with our award-winning Garden Planner.

Try Now

Ponytail palms, or elephant foot palms, are unique-looking, long-lived indoor plants that thrive on benign neglect. They are straightforward to grow—provided that you don’t overwater them! Here’s how to grow and care for a ponytail palm in your home.

About Ponytail Palms

Despite its name and palm-like appearance, the ponytail palm is not a true “palm.” In fact, it is more closely related to desert plants in the Agave and Yucca genera (such as Joshua trees).

The typical ponytail palm consists of a large, domed “stump,” which tapers off into a thinner stem. As the plant ages, one or more rosettes of long, green, leathery leaves develop from the top of the stem. Indoors, the leaves can reach up to 3 feet long, but outdoors, they may be double that length.

In its native environment (eastern Mexico), the entire plant has been known to reach up to 30 feet in height! However, ponytail palms grown in gardens as landscape plants don’t usually reach more than 10 feet tall. 

Kept indoors, they are rarely taller than 4 feet. However, as Susan Mahr of the University of Wisconsin-Madison explains, “In containers, ponytail palms will grow slower than if in the ground, and the plants will remain small if kept in a small pot. They can go for many years before needing to be repotted. Moving it to a larger pot will give it room to grow in both height and girth. They can be very long-lived and can easily outlive their owners. However, older plants may be difficult to manage because of sheer size and weight if not kept on the smaller size.”

Care of this plant is generally simple; the most common difficulty is adapting your watering habits to its needs!

Read Next

Planting

Choosing Soil and a Pot

  • Use a fast-draining soil, such as a cacti and succulent potting mix. If you already have potting soil, sand, and perlite on hand, you can create your own desert soil mixture: Mix 1 part potting soil, 1 part perlite, and 1 part sand. 
  • Select a pot with a hole in the bottom so that excess water can be drained off. Ponytail palms do not like to sit in moist soil for very long.
  • Use a clay pot if possible; the porous material will absorb some of the water, drying out the soil more quickly (a good thing for cacti and succulents).

Growing

How to Care for Ponytail Palms

  • Ponytail palms prefer to have as much light as possible, so place the plant in a bright location. Bright, indirect sunlight is best.
  • Keep soil fairly dry. Water from spring through fall, allowing the top inch or two of soil to dry completely before re-watering. During the winter, only water occasionally.
  • To water, soak the soil and allow the excess water to drain through the bottom of the pot into a dish. Let the pot sit in the dish for several minutes, then dump out any remaining water in the dish. 
  • Fertilize in the spring with a cacti/succulent fertilizer and bring into a brighter room for the summer months. 
  • Average room temperature is acceptable for most of the year, but to replicate the natural dormancy cycle, keep the plant slightly cooler in the winter (50°–55°F / 10°–13°C).
  • Don’t let the plant sit too close to cold windows at night during winter, as freezing temperatures can severely damage it.

Repotting a Ponytail Palm

  • Ponytail palms will remain small if kept in a small pot. They can go for many years before needing to be repotted. Repotting every other year at the most is all a ponytail palm needs.
  • Moving the plant to a larger pot will allow it to grow in height and girth. However, older plants may become challenging to manage due to their sheer size and weight if they are not kept at a smaller size.
  • When selecting a new pot, pick one large enough to leave about an inch or so of space between the ponytail palm’s trunk and the pot’s rim. 
  • Note: Use caution when handling a ponytail palm, as its leaves have tiny serrated edges.

Harvesting

Propagation

  • Rarely, a ponytail palm may produce an offset—a tiny baby plant that stems from the base of the adult plant. These can be cut off at the base when they reach at least 4 inches in height and planted in a succulent potting mix. Before planting, allow the cut wound to heal, then apply some rooting hormone (available online and in nurseries) to encourage the offset to root. 
Gardening Products

Pests/Diseases

  • Overwatering can result in stem rot. If you withhold watering, the plant may be able to internally remedy the problem. Signs of stem rot include yellowing leaves and a caudex (the plant’s base and stem) that is soft or squishy. 
  • Spider mites and scale insects may find their way to the leaves, but can be dealt with by rubbing a cloth of dish soap and water on the stems. Spider mites are evidenced by the presence of spider-like webbing on the plant.
  • Brown tips on leaves can be a sign of overfertilizing or underwatering, so adjust your husbandry practices appropriately. They can also indicate that the plant is getting too much direct sunlight and too little water.

Wit and Wisdom

  • The plant’s unusual shape and coloration have granted it another strange nickname: the Elephant’s Foot Palm.
  • Are ponytail palms poisonous to cats? While the leaves of a ponytail palm are not toxic to feline (or canine) companions, their foliage does have abrasive edges that could irritate a pet’s mouth, so we suggest keeping the plant out of reach. 
Houseplant Guides
About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana. Read More from Catherine Boeckmann
 

More Like This
Gardening Club

Comments

Sandy (not verified)

6 years 12 months ago

I have had my pony tail plant for 44 years (yes 44!). It has gone from pot to pot but we eventually planted in our backyard (zone 12) about 4 years ago. It loved it, grew about 10 feet more, and survived Irma. All the sudden I noticed it was leaning. I went out and the base is basically rotting away. I'd send a picture but don't see that option. Is there anyway to save it?

This happened to my Ponytail after Hurricane Charlie. It had been flooded by salt water for several days when our canal overflowed. I moved the entire plant to a dryer part of the yard and it responded nicely . I have now moved the plant again when I moved and the rotted base had healed. It's doing beautifully in full sun .

April Polley (not verified)

7 years ago

Hello! I have a ponytail that has two growing off of the base. The plant itself is at least 6ft min. The starts on the base are at least 2ft. How can I safely remove one to grow another? O read above the cut needs to heal but what does that mean?

Jenn (not verified)

7 years ago

I just lost all the leaves on my ponytail palm. It's been perfectly healthy for the last six months but then all of a sudden the leaves started to fall over. I didn't water it much so I watered it some more hoping to perk it up but that didn't work. I also used some liquid fertilizer but that didn't work either. The trunk is solid. I'm really not sure what do to. Do you have any advice? TIA

Could the plant have been hit by a cold draft? Perhaps it’s near a window? Sudden leaf-drop can be caused by cold damage. If that’s not the case, the best you can do is keep it in a warm, partly-sunny place and let the soil dry out as usual. Let the top inch or two of soil dry out before watering again. Without its leaves, the plant can’t get rid of excess water as easily, so be careful not to overwater. Avoid fertilizing until leaves appear again. If the trunk and roots aren’t rotted, then the plant should recover.

Just following up on my post. I left it as is, moved it into better light, and watered it very little but the leaves still haven't grown back. I repotted it, where I noticed the roots were in good condition, gave it some water, and then fertilized a month later but there's still nothing. The base got soft for a few weeks but seems to be returning to normal now. Do you have any more suggestions please? Thanks again.

Stephen Davis (not verified)

7 years ago

I had a friend with a large 4 trunk 15' high specimen that was moved to my backyard last year. It was blown over by Irma and we noticed the root zone was very soft and it progressively got worse till the next wind event broke off the trunks from the base. The upper plants are still green and the trunk is firm a foot or so up from where they broke off. Is it possible to stand up and plant these trunks together to save them?

Sorry to hear that your ponytail palm didn’t survive the storm. Unfortunately, the bare trunks are very unlikely to grow roots if replanted. However, if the base survived (and is not totally destroyed by rot), then it may produce new growth if replanted in a drier area. 

Lu Jean Dengler (not verified)

7 years ago

I have a large 30 year old plant. Height about 8', it also has a few shoots growing lower on the stalk. Question: This past winter in Texas we had some severe cold nights. The tip of my plant fronds fell off. The lower ones had some damage but are surviving. Do I cut back this tall stalk and hope it gets new growth? I worry about cutting 6' off. the stalk is firm and solid. Thanks!

Frankie (not verified)

7 years 1 month ago

Hello-

I am so glad I found this page. I have always wanted a Pony Tail plant and bought one today at Sams Club...it came in a pot with rocks not dirt..and it is pretty much cemented in there....the instructions say to water once its dry an inch or so down....but it is in and cemented in the pot. Also,there is no hole to drain. I am kinda confused how to care for it? Any help would be so appreciated. TY Frankie