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tinypixiexoxo
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advice for a sad ponytail palm

Now I find it ironic that I'm posting this especially since I got some people curious about Ponytail Palms...

I have many many healthy babies, and one healthy 4-5 year old one, but I have an older ponytail palm, probably about 10 years old (judging by the length of the trunk), that has been going downhill since the beginning of the winter.

I repotted him and noticed that the soil down deep by the roots was just sopping wet. So I switched out as much soil as I could without disturbing the roots with more sandy soil.

But Most of the leaves have turned brown.

There are a few new growth leaves coming up, but they are growing sooo slowly, I'm not sure what to do.

Should I cut of all the brown, dead leaves or leave them be?

I am watering him about once a month... mostly because I am scared of the root rot, but I also wonder if the dead leaves mean UNDERWATERING?!

Also, he's tilting and I need to repot him so his trunk stands straight up...
I don't expect any miracles, but does anyone have any suggestions for getting this guy back to green and back to health?? :oops: :oops:

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tinypixiexoxo
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Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:46 pm
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Shoot I also meant to note that you can see I have trimmed some of the leaves in the past, when they were brown up to the cutting point... Now you can see the brown has traveled much further....

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Kisal
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I would recommend that you remove the dead leaves. They could have already been dying from overwatering, before you repotted the plant. Overwatering and underwatering produce the exact same symptoms in a plant.

Push against the side of the base of the plant, until it's straight in the soil, then place something around it to keep it straight. You could insert 3 or 4 popsicle sticks into the soil around it, right up against the 'foot' to hold it straight. Or you could set some largish rocks around it to support it. Anything like that. Just something to hold the base of the plant in position.

Ponytail palms ... which I prefer to call by their other common name of Elephant Foot plants, because they are not at all related to the palm family ... are sensitive to chlorine and fluorine that are added to many water supplies. They are also sensitive to hard water, as well as artificially softened water that has been run through a water softener. That can add a lot of salt to the water. You may have the best luck just using distilled water on your plant.

Another thing they need is high humidity. You can mist the plant several times a day with a sprayer, or you can set the pot on a humidity tray. I find the sprayer too messy, so I prefer a humidity tray. That is just a shallow, watertight tray filled with pebbles, to which you add water until it's just at the surface of the pebbles. You don't want the bottom of the pot touching the water, so I just set the pot inside a standard flower pot saucer, and then place the saucer on top of the pebbles in the humidity tray. The humidity tray should be as wide as the top of the plant, so the entire plant is surrounded by humid air.

Allow the soil in the pot to go dry down to about 1/3 the depth of the pot. I like to heft the pot in my hand right after I've watered it, and each day thereafter, to learn what it feels like when the plant does not need to be watered. After about a week, I dig my fingers down in the soil to see at what depth the soil is damp. When you get down to 1/3 the depth of the soil in the pot and still haven't hit damp soil, you know it needs to be watered. Heft the plant in your hand before you water, so you can learn what the weight of the pot feels like then. Eventually, you won't have to dig into the soil anymore, but will know whether it needs water, just by the weight of the pot when you lift it.

I would grow these plants in azalea pots, which are broader and shallower than standard flower pots. They would give the plant greater stability and less chance of tipping over as the plant grows taller.

HTH! :)

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tinypixiexoxo
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Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:46 pm
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Thank you!! All of what you gave is very helpful.

Wow- I need to get working. I had no idea about the humidity! I do, for some reason, spray virtually every other plant I own except this one! Boy did I miss the boat!

And, I will trim the leaves.

Do you think my pot is too deep? I'm thinking, heck yes it is, that is why the water just sits there!! It also does not provide any support, which is partly why he is tilting. I very much like the Popsicle stick idea.

I def. need to find a shallower pot. But as I recall, the roots are pretty deep down in there. The pot is a foot (12 in) deep. I would judge that the pot is deeper than the trunk (elephant foot part) is tall.

I shall tend to him asap and I will update you soon!



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