Beaucarnea recurvata (Pony tail palm)by brewbooks
One of my favorite indoor plants is the Ponytail palm (Beaucarnea recurvata). It does look like a pony tail with its long thin leaves arching from the top of the trunk. Though in nature it is a tree that grows tall, taller than some houses, indoors it can remain small for years if kept root-bound in a pot. I have had my Ponytail palm for at least 40 years and it never grew an inch because I had it in such a little pot- the same pot that it was in when I first got it. It likes some fertilizer during its growing season, but I have never fertilized my plant. This summer, I felt a little guilty about not giving its roots room to stretch in all those years, so I put it in a larger pot and used potting soil with slow release fertilizer. I hope I didn’t make a mistake.
Another nice thing about this plant is that it needs very little water. It has a trunk that is fat at the bottom, near the soil. This fat area stores water so it doesn’t want to be watered more than once a month during the winter. In its growing season, it doesn’t need to be watered more than twice a month. That is perfect for TheGardenLady who hates spending time watering indoor plants. But it does need soil with good drainage. It doesn’t want to stand in water.
They say the Ponytail palm likes bright light and can grow in sunlight. My house has lots of windows, but because my house is surrounded by trees and shrubs, the light I get isn’t very good for flowering plants. I do not have grow lights because my house is too small for grow lights. So only the hardiest plants tolerate the light level in my house which is not that bright. I do keep my Ponytail palm near a window and it has been content all these year.
Also any plant to survive in my house during the winter has to be able to adjust to my house conditions which includes hot, dry forced air and temperatures that range from 65 to 75 degrees. I like to keep the house cool, but if I do not feel well I will raise the temperature to 75degrees. So if you like your house cooler or warmer, I feel certain that this plant will be happy with you so long as the temperature is usually above 60 degrees. It will survive in temperatures down to 50 degrees.. The Ponytail Palm grows naturally in hardiness temp. zones 10A-11.
This plant does not want to be pruned. Mine has never had any insects or diseases- though some chewing insect may disfigure the graceful leaves.
This is a great plant for a dorm, if you don’t want flowers. (It does have flowers if allowed to grow in its natural state as a tree.) It would make a nice plant for a hospital patient because it is interesting without needing the nurse’s attention. And it would be a good plant for an elderly person.