Hello, I am new to this forum and also to the art of being a plant mum. I recently acquired a ponytail palm after a lot of research as I live in an attic. With four fans and an air conditioner it averages 80F up here. So i got this ponytail palm on june 14th, had it about two weeks. My instructions said to water every 3 days. I have been watering much more frequently using the “does the soil look moist” technique. (My cactus is happy as a clam with this method). So roughly every day or every other day i water until i see it draining. (It is on one of those rock humidity trays). It is in the living room and gets lots of sunlight. I have noticed that several leaves are brown and some look split down the middle. I am at a loss because i have been reading that this means it is underwatered - but i have also read that this plant should be fine for weeks with water stores in the trunk. So i am afraid to water it more as i dont want it to rot. Anyone know what is going on? How much should i be watering this thing? Why are the leaves split? Should i cut out the brown leaves? If i do will they grow back? Will the brown leaves come back? Any advice is appreciated!
Welcome, lw. Yes, cut off the brown leaves. No, they will not come back. What do the newest leaves look like? There will always be old leaves that die. No plant keeps all its leaves. You really need to be concerned about the growth at the top. Re: watering, here is a page that says "Allow the soil to thoroughly dry out before watering. During the warm months you may need to water a Ponytail Palm every 7-14 days; in winter, only every three or four weeks. A Ponytail Palm stores water in its base and is very drought resistant. When in doubt, do not water!" I do water mine every week winter and summer, since it is inside and the temperature does not vary that much, but I feel how heavy it is. If it still weighs as much as it did when I watered it, then I don't give it more water. Now for my real questions. Is this really in a pot that is two inches deep? Where did you get this and how did it come to be potted up like this? Here is a photo of what I would expect the root volume to be: Roots of the ponytail palm I'm wondering how it came to even fit into your pot. Was it removed from where it was by just cutting around it and removing all the roots? I would pull it out of the pot and have a look at the roots, make sure there are some. It looks too large already to treat it as a bonsai. I do see that sites that say to keep it in a small pot to keep it a small size, but it's already quite a large size. I would think it should go into a pot that allows the roots to support it. I don't know, maybe that's a thing, the way it's been done, but it doesn't seem right. But if you repot it, you will have a lot more soil and will need to be a lot more careful about not watering it until it feels quite light.
