Hi. I've had a pony tail for 3 years now, and until about 6 months ago, I never had a problem with it. I watered it once a week, a generous amount, too, but the soil was always dry when I did it. I think I must have neglected it for a couple of weeks about 6 months ago and it lots (1/4th probably) of the leaves turned brown throughout. I'm going to cut those out this week. After reading a lot of forums/threads about ponytails, I'm still not sure how often to water it. Nothing new has ever grown on it, but the leaves are longer. The base looks more narrow than it used to. I think I'm going to repot it and leave a lot more of it out of the soil. Does it matter what kind of soil I use? My memory is terrible and I can't remember what I used before...probably just a generic bag of soil. I added used coffee grounds to the soil about a week ago because I read that the acidity is really good for plants. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I love this spunky plant.
Beaucarnea are desert dwellers. The soil mix and watering regimine should be similar to most arid-climate plants. The caudex (bulb/trunk) is for water storage and therefore can go quite a while without water. Smaller plants with smaller caudex's will need more watering, but a plant with a caudex a foot or more in diameter can usually go for months without water. My Beaucarnea recurvata does just fine if I only water it once or twice during the winter, when indoors, and dormant. It is outdoors right now and I don't water it. I let "Mother Nature" take care of the watering. My smaller arid-climate plants, though, I do have to water. Check out the "Caudiciform and Succulent Culture Guide" in this forum. It should give you more than enough information.
Thanks so much. That helps a lot. I trimmed all the brown out of it yesterday, repotted it so most of the caudex is out of the soil, and I'm putting it outside after I read your response. Thanks again.
