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grullablue

Pony Tail palms

grullablue
12 years ago

So I bought a "cluster" of pony tail "palms" (I know they are not palms) yesterday. I don't know if it would work, but I thought it might be suitable for having out on my deck in the summertime, and in the house in the cold weather. I've always loved the looks of these plants/trees.

What I bought was actually four plants clustered together. I suppose their thinking was that they would become a larger, multistemmed plant.

Can I separate them, do you think? I think I'd rather have a single ponytail or two, and then maybe keep two of them together. I don't know how to separate....or if it would kill them if I did so, but thought I would ask. This cluster of four nice looking plants was only $5 where I got it.

Angie

Comments (30)

  • kaktuskris
    12 years ago

    I bought a group of over a dozen in a 4 inch pot last year. Yes, they can be easily separated, but I would wait till Spring to do so. Then, I would take them out of the pot, remove as much soil as I can, and gently pry them apart. Of course I would repot them in a clay pot with fast draining potting mix, if they were mine, and put them in a sunny window. Good luck with them.

    Christopher

  • cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5
    12 years ago

    Angie,

    And after you repot them a la the fashion Christopher describes, wait a few days before watering your baby Beaucarnea recurvata plants - this will give time for any root / caudex wounds to heal over.

  • grullablue
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks for the replies! LOVE this plant, but would love it even better if they were single specimens.... I will take the advice, and wait until spring!

    Angie

  • whip1 Zone 5 NE Ohio
    12 years ago

    I bought mine a few years ago. It was three plants in a 4 inch pot. I separated and potted them individually.
    {{gwi:68216}}
    This pic is from early summer. I repotted them since.

    Rob

  • deburn
    12 years ago

    Whip, what size are those two pots, and how many years ago did you get the plants? Those trunks look huge!

    I have 4 small ones in a 4" pot and can't wait till spring to repot them

  • whip1 Zone 5 NE Ohio
    12 years ago

    The terra cotta pots are 4-5 inches. These guys were tiny when I bought them. I've had the plants 4-5 years. If I get a chance, I'll take some pictures of them in their new pots. Also, I was at Lowes yesterday, and they had one gallon size for about $12.00. Nice looking plants.

  • cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5
    12 years ago

    Rob,

    I didn't know how good a Lowe's (or Home Dodo) deal could be until I see y'all talk about the $5 Adeniums and $12 gallon-Beaucarneas - wow, I have one and would have bought two more.

    I'd encourage you to get a B. stricta, too, if you ever get the chance. - it's an awesome plant, too.

  • whip1 Zone 5 NE Ohio
    12 years ago

    Jeff,
    I thought about buying the gallon Beaucarneas. The ones pictured above are some of my oldest plants. Oddly, I feel like I'm cheating if I buy a bigger one.

    Deburn,
    Sorry for the poor pictures.... I was in a hurry. These are the same plants I repotted over the summer. There's a quarter on each plant for a size reference. When I bought them, there were four tiny plants in a four inch pot. They have grown incredibly well since I've had them.
    {{gwi:68218}}

    {{gwi:68220}}

    Rob

  • deburn
    12 years ago

    Rob, thanks for posting those - they look great. I have 4 in one pot, that I bought from Lowe's on clearance about 9 months ago, but didn't repot or anything, so they've stayed more or less the same size.

    I also wasn't giving them enough light. I'm definitely going to repot them in the summer.

    I got lucky and got 2 fairly large ones for 2.50 each from HD which are in much better shape. I love their leaves; they're almost springy

  • whip1 Zone 5 NE Ohio
    12 years ago

    Deburn,
    Post pics once you repot them. I keep mine outside in the summer. Slowly acclimate them to the sun. The more light the better they do.

    Rob

  • whip1 Zone 5 NE Ohio
    12 years ago

    Deburn,
    I found a pic of when I first got my Ponytail Palm. This was right after dividing and re-potting. This was maybe 5 years ago, and I believe that's the same pot I posted in the first picture.
    {{gwi:68222}}

    Rob

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    12 years ago

    "I thought about buying the gallon Beaucarneas. .... Oddly, I feel like I'm cheating if I buy a bigger one."

    I get it .... thought I was the only one. ;-)

    I very often purchase small plants and grow them through several repots before passing them along to someone and moving on to something different. With bonsai, it's just the opposite. I buy or collect something very large ...... in relationship to the very small it eventually becomes after some manipulation and a considerable amount of reduction.

    Best luck!

    Al

  • Smurfishy
    12 years ago

    I just wanted to say that I have had a cluster such as yours for 5 years more or less. It was pretty small, the bulbs where maybe the circumference of a quarter. Up until last year I kept them in the arrangement, bad idea. Some bulbs grew bigger than others and stunted some growth. One ended up dying altogether, that was when I decided to separate them last year. The three that survived remind me of the three lil bears. The biggest has a bulb the size of a softball, the smallest is the size of a golfball, and the middle is right inbetween. It is a very hardy lil plant. I also at times have left it in low light conditions for months without a problem, but when I put them outside in the summer they flourish! So obviously more light is better but they will survive with very little light. In case you didn't know their bulb is made to suck up water and it stores it there. It prefers to live in dry soil, I believe it is indigenous to desert like conditions. It can go 2 weeks without water but I water it when the top of the soil is near bone dry. This usually takes a week and a half in non summer months.

  • whip1 Zone 5 NE Ohio
    12 years ago

    Smurfishy,
    If you have one that's softball sized in 5 years, your doing something right. I've had mine about that long, and the biggest caudex is just a bit bigger than a golf ball.

  • DizzyBlueBaby
    10 years ago

    I wanted to share my pictures of the "ponytail palm" that I bought as a cluster of 4 small bulbs at Walmart about 5 years ago. Dumb me, I never separated the bulbs, and just kept transplanting the whole thing to larger and larger pots over the years. The other morning I was at the computer and heard a "clapping sound" several times. For a moment I thought it was my husband greeting the morning in some weird, new fashion, but as I turned, no one was there-he was still in bed. My cat however, was peering intently at the ponytail palm. I went over to investigate and low and behold, the clapping sound I heard had actually been the sound of the large plastic pot finally cracking apart under the stress of growing plant! I guess its time to finally separate and re-pot!

  • Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
    10 years ago

    Wow! That's awful, and really cool, all rolled into one! Hey, it might be an interesting discussion to start - what plants can break a pot? Sounds like that poor thing needs some new soil (and kitty needs a time out.) Aren't you glad you were there? It would have been so much less fun if you just found the pot that way after being away from home. How funny the pic before yours has a cat!

    I just bought the same pot a couple weeks ago, the babies!! Only that pot had 4, I separated one and planted the other 3 in - yes, you can laugh, so get ready - a mini garden. The planter is wood, so I don't know which will come first - the bottom rotting out, or the tri-tree cluster squashing the other plants and pushing them out? Of course it couldn't be permanent, being wood, but that may be an objective mistake.

  • js_plants
    10 years ago

    Hi every one,
    I think I have one of these plants it said it was on the pot and tag but it look like the leaves but not the round ball thingy. it just looks like a straight base. weird huh and I water when dry and clip off the dried up leaves but I just dont know what I have...at the top of the stem it has a 4 separate leaf growing system sorry I just dont know how to word this plant. maybe it has to much soil on it because it looked like it may have toppled over and the store put some soil back in the pot. right now I trimmed the dead ones and moved it to get more light. I am in the deep south and we have had a weird summer it has been rainy and humid and not hot. I have had to keep all my plants inside this summer due to the weather everything would be soaked and dead.

    Well I hope it gets better were not even getting much sun light and my poor plants are under my grow lights and have to move them around a lot. O could this plant NOT be a pony tail palm?

    Thanks all for listing I try to explain so you understand sorry so long.

  • Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
    10 years ago

    Hithere, JS, welcome to Gardenweb! It could be a Dracaena or Cordyline, maybe something else. If you look at images of those two and can't decide, or it's definitely something else, feel free to start a new discussion, preferably with a pic. Somebody will know what it is. (The form at the bottom of the house plant forum is for starting a new discussion. Click the browse button to include a pic from your computer.)

  • grmadarr
    9 years ago

    Hi everyone
    I'm not new to the gardenweb site but am new to the ponytail palm gang! All the threads are helpful but I need advise. My ponytail palm has 4 large balls that I am going to repot now that I have read some of the threads. I have a real problem with mealy bugs on my pony tails. Had one and lost it to the mealy bugs. Please Help!!

  • pommomx2
    7 years ago

    I bought a small container of ponytail plants with 4 together at Walmart and replanted them in a larger pot about 10" diameter and about 11" high and also put in a self watering reservoir system from gardener supply so the roots will go down to get the water. My question is, have I planted it in too big of a pot and will this system work for this type of plant, or should I put in smaller pot without watering system and just water as needed??

  • Ohiofem 6a/5b Southwest Ohio
    7 years ago

    I find that my pony tail palm needs very little water. The base holds water like a camel and it needs to dry out between waterings. I've had it for at least 25 years and it is almost seven feet tall. The base is about 15 inches in diameter. It has a very sparse root system near the bottom of the base. It seems to do best when it is in a pot of fast draining soil that is only a few inches wider than the base. I only water it about once a month during the half of the year that it is inside. During the half of the year it is outside, I hardly need to water at all. A couple inches of rain a month is enough to keep it thriving. For those reasons, I would say you'd be better off putting it in a smaller pot without a watering system.

  • pommomx2
    7 years ago
    Thank you Ohiofem, I'm going to separate them and put in small pots according to their size.
  • pommomx2
    7 years ago

    One more question, I have been reading more on separating my ponytail cluster and they are saying wait until spring. Has anyone separated them in the fall and did they survive?

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    7 years ago

    There are several perspectives re whether or not it makes a difference when you repot a plant. Some people think you should be able to repot whenever you feel like it, with impunity, others feel that working with the the plant's natural rhythms so as to take advantage of the plant's strengths and avoid unnecessary stress by performing heavy work (repotting, root pruning, heavy pruning) not when the plant is in the weaker portion of the growth cycle, but when it's more robust. Unfortunately, Mother Nature doesn't much care what we think is fair, choosing instead to force the plant to pay a penalty in terms of longer recovery periods and higher susceptibility to insects and diseases during that longer recovery when appropriate attention isn't paid to timing.

    Spring (as in early spring) isn't a good time to repot your PT or most other succulents and houseplants. In most cases, plants are at their weakest in early spring, which is more than enough reason to avoid repotting until they've stored some energy reserves and longer/brighter days ensure maximum food-making ability. Father's Day is easy to remember, or the summer solstice. Both are good target days around which to plan heavy work like hard pruning and repotting, with its root work.

    I regularly run into folks who are very quick to tell you how much difference 'when you repot' DOESN'T make; but their reasoning tends to center on the idea that because their plants didn't die after they repotted over Christmas vacation, there is no reason not to take advantage of that time frame (or something similar). That's faulty reasoning. Strong people in good general health recover much faster from surgeries than weak people whose health is questionable. To think that plants are different in that regard isn't logical.

    So, in the end, I can say with a great deal of confidence that when you choose to repot DOES matter. It may not determine life or death, but it's hard to envision any justification for levying unnecessary stress on a living thing of value unless it was required to ensure it's continued viability. Learning to work with your plants natural rhythms not only benefits the plant, it also helps the grower feel more in tune with the needs of the plant. We all have that nurturing bone, and one of our greatest rewards comes from knowing we're being good nurturers. Learning about timing is a step toward increased rewards.

    Al

  • liz303303
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    I am in Australia and there is an enormous one growing outside at the bottom of the front steps where I rent. It is growing wonderfully strong and beautiful. It would be about 6 foot tall, taller than me. It has two large pups growing high on the plant at about the 4-5 foot mark, out each side, no roots on them. Could I cut them off and expect them to survive as they have no roots? Its spring here. Thanks Liz

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Image please?

    Al

  • Ohiofem 6a/5b Southwest Ohio
    7 years ago

    I've had one for decades and it developed side shoots after many years. I think these are more like branches than pups. They never develop roots. I think you will just kill them and risk killing the larger plant if you cut them off.

  • MsRed Byrd
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    I think this is a pony tail palm. We had to repot it about three years ago and now, it needs repotting again. It's about 20 years old ... in zone 8.

  • Rhonda Smith
    6 years ago

    Hi - I know this is an older posting, but it kinda fits what my question is. I have what I was told is a ponytail palm out front of the new house we just bought. It's tall, has a single top of thin palm leaves, and a very large ball / bulb that is half in the dirt, half out. (trying to attach an image here). I've read this posting and see about the pups being cut away from the parent bulb, very similarly to what is done with bananas. My palm does not have any 'pups', it only has new palm leaf growth on the stem. I've cut those off today, and i'm trying to start them in pots. About 20 years ago I had one of these, about the same size, and my then husband would just cut the new growth off and toss it in the trash can.

    So, my question is - does anyone know if these starts taken from the stemp will be, or should be, viable? Or is this a type of growth from the PTP that should just be trashed? Any and all help is greatly appreciated!



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