Question
Ponytail head
The ponytail (pictured) appears to be in decline. It is planted in a garden and is currently about 1.5metres high. The base and the roots appear intact. The surrounding soil feels dry but has moisture in it. The top has been growing lighter over the last few months until the new shoots appear to have no colour. The top leaves are also starting to brown. Thoughts were too much water leading to rot, but this is not the case. Fertiliser - there has been nothing other than some pelletised chicken manure put around at times. I would appreciate some advice.
AnswerDear Tony, You have a very interesting problem, but it is one I have seen before. I believe that your palm is getting too much water. Ponytails are native to Mexico where it is very bright and dry. The first thing I would do is move it out of the garden. You are probably using good landscape mix for your garden and since you have other plants there, they are probably being watered fairly frequently. The ponytail will prefer to be in a drier, sandier mix, like perhaps cactus mix and should be watered only once every week or once every two weeks. The soil should be watered thoroughly and then allowed to dry out until the top inch or two is dry. This should help bring it around. Of course the top of the plant still looks pretty distressed. I would cut off the brown part of the leaves (I realize that is a lot), and wait for a few weeks to see if it recovers. If that doesn't work, and the top of the plant still looks miserable, I researched another method to perk it up. Apparently, you can actually cut the entire head off, and in about 2 to 3 weeks, the top of the palm will sprout several new heads. It obviously works, because I found that same information in various locations. I probably would only do that as a last resort. First get the ponytail to a drier location (a pot is good too), with drier soil, and water very infrequently. I hope this helps. Let me know if you need more assistance, and I would be interested in hearing that it is recovering. Good luck, Melissa
