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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>Vic</span> Fri, 11/14/2025 - 11:48
I was given a pony tail two years ago and it seems happy. It is indoors in indirect light in a plastic pot that is sitting inside a bigger metal pot. I noticed that a root had grown out of the bottom of the plastic pot. Should I trim the root, repot in a bigger container, or leave it alone. Thank you.
<span>Sheri</span> Sat, 01/11/2025 - 10:16
I have a10+ year old ponytail palm. It is leaning severely. I have repotted it to try to get it to stay upright, with limited success. Suggestions?
<span>Sheila</span> Thu, 12/19/2024 - 11:54
I have a pony palm that is 50 years old it was left in my office when i took over. I have repotted twice, it has grown four feet or more since 2019 and recently there was an offset so i cut it and potted it and now I have this long stem with flowers. male i do believe because they are ivory. These are my babies and love these plants so much.
<span>Anthony</span> Fri, 10/18/2024 - 17:24
My daughter just gave me one. I love it... had one while in college 40 years ago. I live in South Florida. Can I keep it outside on an east facing porch that, in the summer, gets direct sun light for 5 hours... or on a covered south facing porch where it gets direct sun for about 5 hours? Does it need more sun light.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/joe-bills">Joe Bills</a> Mon, 10/21/2024 - 11:05

Ponytail palms are tolerant of a pretty wide range of conditions, so I wouldn't hesitate to give it a try in the locations you've mentioned. Ponytail palms thrive on direct, all-day light, but even so, five hours of continuous Florida sun might prove stressful. Watch for curling leaves or leaves turning brown, two possible indicators of too much direct sun. The University of Wisconsin extension service offers some helpful ponytail palm advice: https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/ponytail-palm-beaucarnea-recurvata/  

 <span>Linda Bok</span> Fri, 10/04/2024 - 10:52
I’ve had a ponytail palm for over a year. It was doing well and now it is totally brown and no green whatsoever. What do I do? Can I trim it back? Do I repot it or is it dead?
<span>Ruby Charles</span> Tue, 10/01/2024 - 19:52
My palm was beautiful about 6fttall) 20plus years) THEN it bloomed. This is the first time I had bees all over the place (plant is on porch). After the bloom died it left a brown stalk and now the Palms droop and the plant is not the same
<span>Ruby Charles</span> Tue, 10/01/2024 - 19:50
My palm was beautiful about 6fttall) 20plus years) THEN it bloomed. This is the first time I had bees all over the place (plant is on porch). After the bloom died it left a brown stalk and now the
<span>Carol</span> Thu, 09/12/2024 - 19:40
I have a 30 yr. Ponytail plant it,s in my patio and is probably 15 ft. It too tall for patio and I,m afraid it will harm if I put in direct sun direct sunlight. This summer has been slot 90-100 dg. Any ideas ? Someone said I could cut half way down and replant the top and create 2 plants? Carol in cal.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Fri, 09/13/2024 - 11:21

Hi Carol,

Your ponytail palm sounds incredible. It performs best with as much light as possible and since it is native to semi-desert areas, it can thrive in direct sun, but you would just need to be mindful of the summer months you described when it is extremely hot. It is winter hardy in Zones 10 and 11. Since it needs a new home you could certainly move it to another area of your property (if there is a good location for it) and just keep a watchful eye on it after moving to see how it responds to the conditions. It may take some time to find the right place for it.

As for cutting the trunk and making it two plants, it is not something that is typically done. If you must cut it, you can certainly try to replant the top in a new container filled with fresh growing medium, but there is no guarantee that the top part will root. You will definitely want to dip it in rooting hormone. As for what remains, when the top is cut off, it will expose the open trunk so you will need to find a way to protect it from the introduction of diseases and keep it dry.

Hope this helps!