I have a ponytail palm that lives inside during the fall/winter/spring and outside in the summer. When I brought it in for the fall in September the tips of the leaves were browning due to underwatering. So i gave it a good soaking and now water it every 1.5 weeks. The leaves had been browning so last week i did some trimming and gave it a good watering. When i was trimming two large sections of new growth pulled out. I noticed that some ladybugs had decided to make the plant their winter home. Would they be the cause of the new growth dying? Usually i would increase the watering to deal with the browning leaves but i'm not sure if that's the problem. If it helps i can post some pictures. Thanks for your help.
Hi T, I have a ponytail palm who often spends time outside when temps permit. She is about 32 yrs old, now that I count it up -'78. The only times I have had any trouble of the sort you are describing is when some leafy matter had fallen into the crown and area of new tip growth. That held too much moisture there and she seemed to develop what looked similar to virus I had seen in greenhouses on dracenas but it came round very nicely once cleaned up and kept dry at the tip. It did have scarred leaves at that point but the new ones afterward, did not. The foot of this palm acts as a reservoir and as far as I know it is impossible to dry it out, thus the 30+. Perhaps you are over-watering it? I trust that you are keeping it nicely root bound? That's what it likes. They do seem to have some leaf die back every year but it is at the base where they regularly have a few leaves turn brown. Sometimes we just worry too much. Plants have a marvelously strong will to live. They live with many bugs in the wild. Ladybugs look after plants, do welcome them but they ought to be going dormant somewhere cool right now (I think) or they will die. Watering of house plants changes with the heating of houses and time of year. Let it dry out and check that it is and has been dry for more than 5 min.;) before you water again. They really require very little care to do well. This is one of those plants that thrive on neglect, as far as I know. Good luck, D
Thanks for the advice Dana. It is 3 years old now and only repotted when I brought it back from the garden center. I checked the soil with the moisture meter when I got home and it was very wet. Which was interesting since I hadn't watered it for over a week. I think the issue is my mom, occasionally she uses my house as her lunchroom. Being the wonderful caring mother she is, she waters my plants before leaving. She's notorious for overwatering, I gave her a jade cutting over summer and it didn't do so well. So i've put a sign on the plant and moved it to a sunnier location in the house. I'll check the moisture before I (or anyone else) gives it a drink. I hope that mine survives to 32. Thanks Again.
Nice to have some sun in the winter as they will turn toward the light and become one sided. They do better with light. In summer, I am not sure if they prefer shade but that's where she goes and does well. D
