How To Grow Ponytail Palm? If you want to introduce a touch of tropical uniqueness to your house, a Ponytail Palm, Beaucarnea recurvata, would be the smart option for you.
Despite the fact that it is not, considering its name, a palm but rather a succulent, it is a robust as well as easy to maintain enhancement to any interior environment.
The key major focus of this article is to enlighten us here on the approach to Grow, Care And Propagate Ponytail Palm as well as other relevant matters stated inside it.
Ponytail Palm Fast Facts
- These little trees develop to a peak of 6 feet, with an expanded base, as well as feathery or dangling green fronds which might develop to be 40 inches long.
- Several plant specialists believe that your ponytail palm will begin flowering around the age of 10 years.
- To survive in dry, hot regions, ponytail plants retain water within their enlarged trunk bottom.
- Unlike its name, a Ponytail shrub is neither a palm variety, nor a tree. It has always been a succulent that is related to the agave species.
- Due to the obvious bark structure on their gray cylindrical trunk, the Ponytail Palm has been occasionally identified as the Elephant’s Foot.
- You could use these amusing species throughout your outdoor spaces or arrange them along your terrace areas inside pots if you live in a region with less than normal rainfall as well as warmer climates throughout the year.
- Ponytail palms that have been well for could very well recompense you with a beautiful cluster of white and perhaps even cream blossoms which cover the tree all through the summer.
- Ponytail Palms have a modest growth rate, making them excellent for indoor applications. This is especially exciting for individuals who live in chilly or wetter areas, as this shrub prefers a warm, dry environment to grow.
How To Grow Ponytail Palm From Seeds
You should sow your ponytail palm seeds when it’s spring when the temperature is getting warmer and the days are getting longer. Growing ponytail palm seeds where the growth circumstances may be controlled like indoors is ideal.
- Use a fingernail file to smooth off a pale patch over one part of your ponytail palm seed. Your palm seed will never sprout if you smooth the part completely and beneath the seed covering.
This process is necessary and it’s called sacrificing the seed. Scarifying the seed reduces the thick, impenetrable outer shell, allowing for better sprouting.
- Lay a dishcloth or moist rag on top of your ponytail palm seed to keep it submerged as it gets wet. Allow 24 hours for your palm seed to soak inside the bowl of water. Just prior to planting, rinse your ponytail palm seed.
- Mix a ponytail palm soil requirements of; Milled peat, sterile potting soil, Coarse sand and perlite in the ratio 2:1:4:1 respectively Inside a 3 inches container.
The upper half-inch of your container should be left unfilled. Allow a few moments for the water to evaporate after moistening the upper few layers with it.
- In every container, place one ponytail palm seed over the top of the developing material. Push the seed softly into the material till it is partly submerged.
Cover your seed with a ⅛ inch thick coating of gritty sand. To help the sands sink, moisten it using water.
- When the growing medium seems fairly dry, hydrate the ponytail palm seeds using a spray bottle. Although the seeds are sprouting, avoid keeping the growth material waterlogged, but don’t let it entirely dry up.
- In around one to two months, look for your ponytail palm seedling growth. You can hydrate your seedlings anytime the growth medium is largely dry, but do so at the base instead of splashing water from top.
Ponytail Palm Care Step by step
Your Ponytail palm plant care includes;
Nutrients (Fertilizer)
Throughout the developing season of your ponytail palm, administer liquid fertilizer every 7 days (weekly).
Even throughout the spring, utilize a slow-release pellet nutrient for your palm tree. Throughout the cold season, cut back on your palm tree feeding.
Soil
Ponytail Palm tree thrives excellently in naturally enriched soil especially when grown outside.
Being originally from Central America, the semi-desert parts, ponytail palm also thrives in somewhat sandy soil.
Much like a growing vegetable or a houseplant, ponytail palm trees will develop in succulent garden soil supplemented with peat.
Sun Exposure
Ponytail palms prefer bright ambient light or complete sun exposure. If you’re growing your palm plant indoors, place it near a window at the brightest spot you could find.
Particularly if the window receives a lot of direct sunlight or oblique light(indirect sun exposure)
Temperature And Humidity
The appropriate environment for ponytails to thrive is dry, hot climates with over 15.5°C (60°F). This doesn’t mean they wouldn’t survive in lower temperatures.
If the temperature is as low as 10°C(50°F), ponytail palm plants will survive only if this temperature is not maintained for an extended period of time.
Water
If you have fairly frequent downpours at your location, your ponytail palm inside your garden hardly ever demands to be irrigated.
A light watering every two weeks is perfectly adequate throughout hot weather or during droughts for an outdoor ponytail palm.
When it’s the developing period, water your indoor ponytail palm periodically for 1 week to 2 weeks in accordance with ponytail palm care indoors.
It’s important not to overwater the bulbous stalks of your ponytail palm because it holds water. Reduce watering to once a month all through the cooler months.
Other Important Caring factors on Ponytail Palm
- Ponytail palm outdoors prefers medium-dry ground and will not thrive in wet conditions. Their growth period is from springtime to autumn, and watering is given every 1-2 weeks, but only after the ground has dehydrated to a depth of 1-2 inches.
- They enjoy strong exposure. As a result, place them in an area that receives a significant quantity of filtered light from the sun; this is ideal for them.
- These ponytail Palm plants can thrive and survive average indoor conditions. During the colder months, keep them in a far less chilly environment with temperatures ranging from 51 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit (⁰F), as they may be resting or inactive.
- Organic matter is required mostly in springtime to assist them with the important minerals. It is recommended to utilize a cactus as well as succulent potting mix as ponytail palm soil mix, they help effectively.
- If you’re raising them inside, choose a place that gets enough sunlight mostly in summer. Also, perlite should be used in the growing medium for enhanced water runoff.
- Kindly utilize favorable pests cleanser to clear out bug infestations induced by two of the most well-known bugs, mealybugs as well as spider mites. The first deposits white powder on plant foliage, while the second induces spiders.
- Cold weather may be difficult for this species, so avoid placing it next to a window as it would be exposed to cold air. It has the potential to harm your tree as well as its development for weeks.
- Your ponytail Palm container ought to have adequate water runoff openings to allow water to escape. Large amounts of moisture, as you are aware, promotes root damage.
- Should you ever incur the misstep of drenching your ponytail Palm soil, allow for the moisture to evaporate and you can switch to removing the water with a mug or whatever.
- When the Stems of your ponytail Palm cover more than 80% of the growing medium, it’s time to switch the Container. It is critical to do just that so that this ponytail Palm somehow doesn’t experience root-bound difficulties. It is simple to repot, and in doing so, you may propagate.
- While repotting, choose a container that is 1 to 2 inches larger than your prior container. This allows the root systems of your ponytail palm to fully settle into the growing medium.
- These pony palm tree could be developed inside your house within a south-facing window with 3-5 hours of full exposure each day.
Ponytail Palm Concerns
The Palm Upper Half Of A Ponytail Had Fallen Off
When the upper section of your ponytail palm plant has been severed, all that remains is a half-trunk as well as the bottom caudex.
Therefore, coat the incision with candle wax immediately, then below the root part, apply a cactus plus succulent potting mix.
There will be fresh roots or young palms growing. You only have to wait a couple of months because this is a slow procedure, then you will have a complete ponytail palm within one to one and half years.
All Of The Foliage On The Ponytail Palm Had Fallen Off
It’s possible that you’ve overwatered your big ponytail palm, or that you’ve placed them somewhere chilly than they could ever withstand for lengthy periods of time.
If this is the situation, you might well have noticed that all of your palm foliage has fallen off. You could really remedy this by placing them within warmer areas or perhaps inside the sunshine and providing them with moisture every three days.
Ponytail Palm With Unnecessarily Lengthy Leaves
Genuinely, this is usual; the fronds of your ponytail palm can develop overly lengthy in certain circumstances. This is an indication of good maintenance which has hardly anything to link with any problem.
Numerous individuals have inquired concerning this issue, but the leaves appear to be beautiful and thriving, so there should be no issues. Simply lessen your plant food if you desire shorter foliage.
On A Ponytail Palm, Ways To Develop Many Trunks
If somehow the primary stem is removed off the upper edge, several young trunks could really develop. However, your ponytail palm houseplant would require time to recover and would only grow towards the close of cold weather.
Utilize a trimming sealer and perhaps candle wax to seal the snipped spot immediately, as this might lead to viral or bacterial disease.
These exact items have been utilized in numerous trees once they have been removed from a disease-prone area.
Overwatering
The above occurs when your ponytail Palm receives frequent moisture but does not receive adequate sunshine to evaporate. Always ensure that it receives adequate exposure and reduce irrigation to the number of days it is needed for the palm’s soil surface to dry up.
Spider Mites
These are bugs that could very well devour the cells of your tree foliage, causing white patches on diverse parts of your tree, and yet this insect will never cease consuming your tree parts till it has eaten all of them.
Underwatering
Underwatering could become a problem, causing your palm tree ponytail to become yellow and afterward brown. Following that, your ponytail would then begin to wilt.
Mealybugs
This is an insect that may be plainly identified if white powder appears on ponytail Palm foliage. These insects can take all of the fluid from mature ponytail palm foliage, causing them to pale, fall, and perhaps become yellow.
- Also read- How To Remove Spider Webs From Plants
Conclusion
It would be simple to maintain your ponytail palm healthful if you become familiar and comfortable in taking proper maintenance of it.
You’ll be successful in establishing a care regimen that suits you given that you’ve got the necessary ponytail plant care instructions.
These ponytail palms are lovely and would look wonderful in any room. If you implement the guidelines in this article, you would be able to truly appreciate your ponytail palm for quite a lot longer.
My name is Olivia, and I live in the United States and love having plants in my garden. Lots of plants are there on my balcony, indoor and outdoor garden also. Here I am trying to share useful gardening tips, how to grow and care for various plants, etc.
