Planting the ponytail palm … Spray weekly to create humidity, fertilize monthly, keep indoor temperatures around 60°F to 85°F and situate in bright light. A slow-grower that can reportedly live for decades, or even centuries, it’s no wonder that the ponytail palm is a popular houseplant choice. It a succulent and is a close relative of the agave plant. The ponytail palm needs mostly dry soil. Despite their palm-like appearance, Ponytail palms have little in common with palm tree and they’re more closely related to agave plants and yuccas. How to Care for a Ponytail Palm. Ponytail palms … Well cared for ponytail palms will reward you with a fragrant bouquet of white or cream-colored blooms that crown the plant during the summer. Here’s some info about this “really cool” plant, care tips both as a houseplant and in the garden along with the steps I took to repot my 3-headed Ponytail Palm. At this point, it should have developed a small root system of its own. The base of each ponytail palm tapers up to a slender, graceful trunk, which is why a common name for this plant is “bottle palm.” Ponytail palms are native to Mexico, and gardeners in zones 10 and 11 can grow them outside in well-drained, sunny areas, where they can reach up to 20 feet tall. An offset is a baby plant that is attached to the base of the parent plant. But growing a ponytail palm outdoors is actually more common, believe it or not! It’s a beginner friendly plant that doesn’t mind a bit of benign neglect. You can plant a Ponytail Palm in potting soil (with a good amount of pumice or perlite added in) but you have to be very mindful not to over water it. With time, it can reach a height of 18 feet and spread of 15 feet. The Ponytail plant despite its name is technically not a species of the palm nor is it even a tree. This is a unique succulent Learn the definition of a succulent plant and why they are called a "fat plant. How to Care for Your Ponytail Plant. However, this plant is so forgiving that it will be perfectly happy if you give it low light half the year and bright sunlight the other half. 1. The care instructions for the ponytail palm are pretty simple. Ponytail palm (Beaucarnea recurvata) is not a true palm at all, but a succulent plant with dramatic, elongated foliage that sits atop a trunk-like stem with a bulbous base. A member of the agave family, the ponytail palm (Beaucarnea recurvata) grows readily outdoors in the ground or in containers. I am a very bad ponytail palm mom. Water the ponytail palm only during periods with temperatures of 90 degrees Fahrenheit or higher or when there is little to no rainfall. Alternatively, you can buy the seeds from specialty garden stores and nurseries. Planting a ponytail palm is something that you can do first by growing it in a pot until it is ready for other locations. Remember, that bulbous base rots out easily. With its bulbous trunk, cascading ponytail of leaves, and endearing proportions, the ponytail palm is a cute plant that happens to be pretty low maintenance.