I would go ahead and repot them. You can probably run a knife along the sides to loosen those rocks from the pot. Then the whole plant can slide out much easier. Even though the rocks are glued together, I doubt that they're really stuck to the plant itself, so you can probably pull them off carefully in small chunks until you remove them all
When I repotted my little ponytails, the roots were all tangled up. I just worked my fingers into the soil, breaking up the soil and loosening up the roots somewhat. Knocking away as much soil as possible. After that, I held on to the trunks of each plant and kinda wiggled them back and forth while gently pulling them apart, until their roots came free. Then you just go about repotting them like any other houseplant. Preferably using a fast draining potting mix. Ponytail palms are pretty resilient and don't mind their roots being disturbed. Just try not to break them, if you can. They're pretty forgiving, so don't fret about that.

My little ponytails were crowded in their old pot, and the trunks were pressed right up against one another too, which flattened the sides of them where they were touching. But once they were repotted and had more room, their trunks rounded back out into their natural shape.

Well, good luck on your repotting. Your ponytails will enjoy having more room to grow and will thank you for it.

Thank you tommyboy, that was very helpful! I will get this guy in his new home this weekend.

Wow what beautiful plants! They really are resilient! No wonder mine lasted as long as it did in my house. I don't even remember how I acquired this one, but it was when house plants were new to me and I killed just about everything. This one lasted however! Well now I'm curious to see how it does in some new soil and bigger pot. It lasted 5 years with little attention and lots of moves with varying light exposure, I'm a little scared to give it too much attention! Do you ever give yours a "haircut"? I trim mine from time to time because the fronds (?) break under too much weight. Other PT's I've seen are more wild and free.

I don't trim the leaves themselves. Their ends tend to naturally turn brown, and if you trim those tips back, the trimmed edges will just do the same. So it's best to just leave them as they are. Looking at your photo, you can pull off those lower, older leaves that are pruned back. They'll come right off very easily, and won't affect your plant one bit.

Ponytail palms do best with lots of light. When I put mine outside, they get full direct Sun all year long with no problems. If they don't get enough light, their newer leaves will be limp. Mine sat on this glass table all Winter with no direct light, and do just fine. I don't water them as much when they're inside and they don't seem to mind that either. Yours look happy and healthy already, so just keep doing whatever it is that you're doing.

This post was edited by ToMMyBoY69 on Thu, Mar 27, 14 at 20:28

Excellent, thank you so much for all the great info :)

This is kinda an old thread but haven't seen this particular problem discussed. I live on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I have a very tall pony tail - prob 10 fee that has always been in a pot. I have had it since it was a very tiny plant. it has gotten too big for its current pot and in order to transplant I would have to use an even larger one. This will make moving it around to protect during winter difficult.

I have transplanted it recently but, due to its height it is very top heavy and wants to continually fall over.

I am considering just putting it in the ground as it is getting so unwieldy.

My house generally has sandy, well drained soil but also a lot of shade due to many live oaks.

If I plant it on the protected south side of my house, it will be in deep shade most of the summer but would get a lot of sun during winter months.

Hope someone sees this soon and gives me some input. Thanks !

Hi Sranger! I'd be hesitant about grounding it without first confirming what other specimens in your immediate area are doing, if any.

There are LA/MS, gulf coast, and tropicals forums where someone might have some input:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/lagard

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/gulfgard

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/tropical

You could also consider repotting instead of potting-up. Trimming the roots/removing the old soil, putting back into the same pot. Are you able to add a pic of your plant?

I've seen them in ground in So Cal, but it is much dryer there. I would be afraid that the humidity and rains would cause it to rot down there. They are from the dryer ares of Mexico. Soil would have to be of absolute best drainage. sand would not do that very well.