I purchased this plant for my nephew for Christmas. I know nothing about it but thought it would be a nice addition for his apartment as he had wanted some plants. Now he is writing me asking if it should be repotted and I haven't a clue. It has grown larger but I didn't think it would need to be repotted. Can anyone help me here? Thanks!
Shirley
You've got yourself a nice Pony Tail Palm there. I have two of these and they are very easy to care for. Mine are on my deck in the shade and get just a little water every few weeks. I have seen these as huge trees planted in the ground down here in Florida. Here's the link to this plant in Plant Files: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2312/
Thanks so much. There is a plethora of information on the plant profile page.
Shirley
I read on one of the forums, that you only repot into a container with no more than two inches from edge of bulb base to edge of pot. My pony tail started out as a very tiny houseplant that I purchased for 25 cents, more than 20 years ago. It has been transplanted many times, and now it is too large to transplant again. It's too heavy.
Beautiful ponytail palm there ima. That's one of the nice things about them, they are very long lived and, as stated, easy to care for. Hubby gave me mine as a small plant 24 years ago for Valentines Day. It's also too big to be repotted again. I couldn't afford a pot that big anyway, lol. Wyldflwr, be sure to tell your nephew that he needs to either put it in his shower or take it outside every so often and gently hose all the dust off the leaves. Because of the dull color of the leaves, it's hard to tell when they are dusty until it's too late.
I went outside today to check out one of my Pony Tail Palms ... and found two small ones amongst all my plants. One larger one is in desperate need of repotting. I've had this one for about 15 years and can't remember the last time it was repotted. I had to take a hammer to the pot to get the thing out, it was so root bound! It's just laying out of the pot on my deck and I will do some root pruning and repot it tomorrow. I love the looks of the Pony Tail Palms but hate that the fronds are like razors ... have sliced my hands a few times on these plants when I forget to put my gloves on!
Thanks ladies, for all the information! It seems like he would not need to repot it yet and from all your experiences, it should live a long time for him. I wish I had room for larger house plants. However, I don't think I would like the razor edges. It sure is a great looking plant though.
Shirley
