Beginner Gardening: Ponytail Palm (Beaucarnea recurvata) with Issues, 0 by jewelsbyshari

jewelsbyshari wrote:
I got this poor thing for $1 at Lowe's, three weeks ago. All of the long curly leaf ends were crispy and brown and I did notice right away that it was both very wet, had no drainage in the little soup-bowl shaped pot it was in, and that the caudex (if that's right) was very dry-looking and 'shriveled' starting about halfway to the top. The top had been cut off, and four heads have grown from it. The base of the plant had completely filled the dish, and the plant was in the dish lop-sided. For $1, I figured it was worth bringing home and giving it a 'go', keeping it alive until early spring at least, so I could cut off the heads and repot them, gaining four new plants from the one, and new heads forming below where I cut it, which would have been just below the dried up area.

That night, I took it out from the little dish, and put it into this plastic one, in the 'gritty mix'. When I removed it from the original pot (dish), right away I noticed that the entire inside of the 'bulb' was gone. I didn't know if that was normal at the time, so I filled in the empty space with some of the mix, sat it in the new pot, and then filled it in with the mix. Some of the leaves have been turning a funky yellow/brown and wilting.

After doing some reading, I realize that it's likely not supposed to be hollow inside the 'bulb'. There isn't much I can do about that, but I won't be using the bottom portion, like I had planned.. booo.

Yesterday, I noticed that there is a little bit of 'give' to the caudex when touching it.. like if I push on it very hard with my finger, that my finger will go right through.

Today, I took it back out, and noticed that not all of the water was draining from the pot, so I put bigger holes in it, and reset it back in there, with the inside of the 'bulb' still filled with the mix, and covered up the roots. I'm still hoping to keep it going until the days are longer and it's a better time to cut the heads off.

Now I am wondering if I need to give it a try now, before the plant gets worse.. I won't feel like I lost a bunch of I have to give up on it, but since it's a learning experience, I would like to see what I can get away with, and what the likely outcomes will be in the future. I have two other young ponytails sharing a pot, but I think the girl that gave them to me repotted them after she got them, and buried the caudex.. because they have no bulbous look to them. They are about 8 inches tall.

Thank you!!