i got it about a week and a half ago. they had them at the hardware store, and i've been wanting one for a while but was unsure about if i would be able to provide the proper care. i've read about the general process of growing one and caring for it for a while though, and decided to take teh chance.

i busted all the glued down rocks off the surface, and i took it out of its pot and gave it a mild root haircut. i also trimmed some of the leaves (or w/e they are called on a ponytail palm) as they were hanging down really far.

its currently by a south facing window. the directions said it should get indirect light.. is this true, or should i put it outside to get full? i've also heard they bloom. is this true?

ive read about these often having 2 shoots coming from the stem... mine has 5. should i cut any of them out to make it less crowded and to free up growing energy for the others?

soon i'll probably try and find a more normal ceramic bonsai pot to transfer it to. until then, do you guys see anything else i need to do?

thanks a lot
-Jon

it is getting a few brown tips... not bad though. i'm on the east edge of Kansas, so with summer coming, humidity will be on the rise and hopefully it will be satisfied. i gave it a mild dose of superthrive too to help reduce shock from all the adjustments.

i'm not sure on the root trimming... i'd just always heard of it being done and thought i'd do a little bit here. it really was a very small amount, and i mostly wanted to just get the root ball about a half inch lower in the pot. looking back, it probably was not necessary, but atleast i know now.

trimming the leaves kinda went with trimming the roots... with the space i freed up by doing so, what i want to do is get some fine white sand, fill in the new space, and then put in a little doll-house sized umbrella and some lounge chairs to give a beach scene. accordingly, i'll probably try and find an ocean blue pot to complete the look.

i probably won't have time to do it until summer break starts (i'm in college), so hopefully by then it will be recovered from any stress caused by myself or the store i got it from, and ready to go.

i have a desktop oscilating fan on low on a timer in the room to give it (as well as some veggie cuttings that i'll be planting outside soon) a breeze. is this a good idea or should i discontinue it? it runs from about 10am to 8pm.

any thoughts on my 5 shoots vs. the more common 2 or 3?

thanks again
-Jon

I also love Ponytail Palms and I recently bought one (a few months ago). I had one before, and I really loved it, but it was killed when I had someone else care for it while I was away. I still had the bonsai pot it was in, and I really liked the way it looked, so I wanted to buy the same sized tree and put it in the bonsai pot.

Now, please note that I am NOT an expert on plants, and I know nothing of bonsai. I'm just speaking of MY experience and just giving you my opinion.

I trimmed the roots of my ponytail just like you did (a little trim, about 1/3rd of the roots)....I did this mainly so that it would fit in the bonsai pot (I initially bought the plant in a pot similar to yours). The root trimming did no harm to it, and I plan on trimming more this summer.

I also gave mine a very similar haircut. Why? Because I wanted to! I didn't like the "stragly" long leaves, so I cut them. I don't think you did anything wrong by giving it a haircut. If I saw a plant in a store that I've been wanting or that I liked, but wanted to "fix it up" a little, I would still buy it.

Some of my tips get brown, but I don't mind...I just trim the brown tips. Just make sure you don't trim ALL the brown off...leave a tiny bit because if you don't the brown will grow back. But I must say, I'm not sure if cutting the "leaves" makes them turn brown (but again, I'm no expert)...the reason I say this is that all my spider plants have brown tips and I haven't EVER cut them, nor do I do other things that would make tips turn brown (overwater, underwater, use tap water).

I'm sure you also realized that cutting the "leaves" will make the edges blunt instead of pointy, but to me that looks a lot better than long unruly leaves. In terms of humidity, I have mine on a humidity tray, and I mist it also (misting does no harm...it may be a waste of time, but I like to do it - however, that alone won't add any real humidity).

I have 3 "shoots" on mine. Chopping the trunk causes these offshoots to develop. I'm not sure why yours has 5 and mine has 3 and others have 2. But if you like it, keep it. If you don't like all 5, that's another story. I don't know what kind of growth it would force if you cut any of them off. I personally like the way your 5 offshoots look, but it's your plant!

Anyway, best of luck with your plant. Here's some pics of mine...it's pretty similar to yours.