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Ponytail Palm Care Guide: How to Grow This Easy, Long-Lived Houseplant

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
Houseplants
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Part Sun
Soil pH
Neutral
Flower Color
White
Yellow
Hardiness Zone
9
10
11

A Beginner-Friendly Guide to Growing and Caring for Ponytail Palms Indoors

Written By: Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

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 of eastern Mexico, the plant can reach up to 30 feet in height. However, ponytail palms grown in gardens as landscape plants typically don’t 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 your ponytail palm 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 simple; the most common difficulty is adapting your watering habits to its needs.

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Planting

Choosing a Growing Medium and a Pot

  • Use a fast-draining potting mix, such as one for cactuses and succulents. If you already have potting mix, sand, and perlite on hand, you can create your own desert mixture using equal amounts of each
  • 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 moisture for long.
  • Use a clay pot if possible; the porous material will absorb some of the water, drying out the growing medium more quickly (a good thing for cactuses and succulents).

Growing

How to Care for Ponytail Palms

  • Ponytail palms prefer bright indirect light.
  • Keep growing medium fairly dry. Water from spring through fall, allowing the top inch or two to dry out completely before rewatering. During the winter, water only occasionally.
  • To water, soak the potting mix 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 cactus/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 practices appropriately. They can also indicate that the plant is getting too much direct light and not enough water.

Wit and Wisdom

  • The plant’s unusual shape and coloration have granted it another strange nickname—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

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann is the Executive Digital Editor of Almanac.com, the website companion of The Old Farmer's Almanac. She covers gardening, plants, pest control, soil composition, seasonal and moon c...
Read More from Catherine Boeckmann

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Comments

<span>Tiffany M</span> Wed, 12/10/2014 - 14:57
I have one that is doing that too! I would love to know an answer to your question.
<span>Gay Lawson</span> Wed, 08/27/2014 - 01:52
Hi , I just bought 3 elephant foot palms from IKEA in other clearance section. They intrigued me and I had to have them. I have never owned one before so these posts are very helpful. They look healthy except one of them has what looks like tightly bent and curling leaves. What is wrong with it? Also, if I repot them in a slightly bigger pot than they need, will that hurt them? And lastly, I intend to put them in our weekend home which when we are not there gets pretty warm during the week. Will higher heat hurt them? I am talking up to 90° in the house.
<span>Avas Grammy</span> Sun, 08/24/2014 - 14:58
I purchased a ponytail palm about 5 weeks ago. It was full with long beautiful narrow leaves. It has a large base..no roots growing outside. It has a few brown leaves at bottom...I just cut them off...no problem. When we got home today, the limbs were just limping almost pulled away. At that point I could see that it appears to have had the top cut off....no growth at the end...just flat area where it was obviously cut off at that point. It has one segment and it is leaning as if being a part of what was! I have tied up the all the leaves. What could have happened and could it have been that someone just cut off the top of the plant and the growth from the side became too heavy? What should I do now? I have never seen a plant where it appears to have collapsed. Thanks.
<span>Alicia Mceachron</span> Thu, 08/21/2014 - 21:44
I have two mini pony tails I rescued from being possibly tossed at a florists I occasionally work for. One has nice long leaves, the other only has about 1/4 inch. In the 6 months ive had them ive seen no new growth, but they dont neccissarily look dead, wilted, or brown at all. They get great sun, and from reading above need new soil. Is there anything I can do to stimulate new growt, or did my attempted rescue come too late?
<span>Mary Keele</span> Sun, 08/17/2014 - 16:48
I have a beautiful double pony but have just bought a new one. How much of the base should be above the soil? The new one is far more exposed (maybe 6 inches) Is that a problem or should more of the base be imersed in dirt? thanking you in advance for a reply.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Fri, 08/22/2014 - 17:35

Hi Mary,

The base of the plant should have half or less than half of its surface below the soil- never more. If it is buried deeper there is a chance that the roots will rot and the plant may die.

 <span>Vicki Brejla</span> Sat, 08/09/2014 - 18:57
I got my pony tail palm in the lower 1980's and it is a beautiful 6 ft plant. However for the 1st time I have mealy bugs a lot of them What should I use. It has always been an indoor plant but has never produced shoots or babies or flowered It is is a south green house. Is it better to be outside for the summer in direct sun?? Thank you I use Dyna Grow high Nitrogen once a month and Dyna Grow protect for strong roots. Thank you
<span>V,</span> Mon, 08/04/2014 - 14:41
I have a Pony Tail Palm that is planted in the middle of a Golden pothos. The pothos was doing great at first, but now it seems to be getting alot of yellow leaves, & the palm is growing good but some new leaves are starting to sag some. My question is are they fighting each other for water? Ant tips will help, thank you
<span>V,</span> Mon, 08/04/2014 - 14:53
That is suppose to be (Any tips will Help) not ant tips
<span>Jullian Otto</span> Sat, 08/02/2014 - 13:25
Split in the trunk. My ponytail palm has a 1" split in the trunk right at the soil line. I can actually stick the tip of my finger into it like it is dented. I usually water it every 2 weeks and it has alot of new light green growth and looks beautiful and healthy otherwise. My concern is that either the trunk is shrinking and has split........or this open wound is caused from something else. When I water it, this split in the trunk seems to feel soft to the touch. So it worries me that it is rotting.