My ponytail palm (about 2 1/2' tall) didn't do well with the cold spell that we had. Almost all its leaves turned brown. A couple of weeks ago however I saw new green growth from the center. I was going to allow that to grow for awhile and then remove just the dead leaves. Last week I came home and my garderner had chopped off all the leaves, only leaving the main shoots totally bare. Will my palm come back? What can I do? Cornelia
Cornelia, I read your post with some interest, and wonder what has happened to your ponytail palm. I have a 30+ year old ponytail that is now about 9 feet tall, and is too tall to bring indoors. I keep it outside in the summer here in North Carolina, but it is too cold to leave out in the winter. I am considering cutting it off, leaving it about 4-5 feet tall. So I would like to know if yours survived your gardeners "trim" Thanks, Mike
Cornelia....your ponytail should come back over time as a lot of the "life" of the plant (for want of a better word)is in the swollen base at the bottom. I regularly trim the top of mine and re plant it to produce another plant and over time multiple new growth starts again. Good luck Ed
Dear Ed, Thank you very much for your information about the ponytail palm. But I have some questions... When you say you trim the top, about how much do you trim? Mine is 9 feet tall, and I would like to keep it under 6 feet. Is taking the top 3 feet off OK? And are you replanting the top part with the leaves, or replanting the bulb into a larger pot? How about how much water and/or fertilizer to give it after the trim? Thanks for any help. Mike Raleigh, North Carolina USA
G'day Mike...if you want your plant at 6ft I'd trim at 5ft to allow some growth. Just cut it off at the desired height and maybe put some commercial sealant on the top of the cut. Within a month you should have some new growth.Spring would be the best time for this.You can then replant the top part with the leaves, maybe some rooting powder, and hopefully that will grow as well. I'd just water as normal. There is a lot of threads on the "Caudicforms & Pachycaul Trees" forum at the moment. It may pay to read some of them. Good luck mate Ed
