Specialty Gardening: Questions about my palm, 0 by tapla

tapla wrote:
Hi, Cassandra. I JUST replied to a post about B recurvata over at Garden Web. I'll copy/paste what I left, with the hope you find it helpful. There is no rush to repot your plant, but I'd definitely put it on my list of things to do next summer after Memorial Day, when the timing better favors the plant. From the plant's perspective, there really are no plants that prefer to be grown with tight roots - they only tolerate the condition to varying degrees.

The copy/paste: The attributes that account for most of the ponytail's popularity are its ability to tolerate neglect and its ability to survive inadequacies much better than excesses. In the face of too little water, not enough nutrition, and cramped quarters for its roots, it remains stoic and ready to rebound when conditions improve. It doesn't tolerate excesses of water or fertilizers well, and responds to small pots by a growth rate that decreases as root congestion increases, as has already been noted, but tolerates tight roots much better than most other plants.

Growing it tight (keeping it root bound) restricts growth and vitality, but also reduces the probability of negative effects associated with over-potting - a plus for those using water-retentive soils. Fastest growth and best vitality can be had by siting in full sun and potting in a pot large enough for roots to have plenty of room to run, but that requires a soil that doesn't have a tendency to remain soggy to avoid that 'over-potting thing'.

If I wanted to grow this plant as close to its potential as possible, I'd grow it in a very large pot and a very fast (draining) soil.

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Al