Question
I think its a ponytail palm ; Its about 24" tall; In a 10" pot 7" deep, not sure of the age; window faces north; water it about every 2 weeks with filtered water. My husbands grandma gave it to us about 3 weeks ago.  She had it outside so im pretty sure it already had bugs.  Ive noticed some thick cottony webs on it and a lot of little brown spots on the leaves.  What is this caused from and how can i get rid of it?  Im also concerned about it spreading because i have another ponytail palm.  How can i prevent that from happening?  Im sending you some pictures.   Thank you very much

Answer
Lindsay,

Your beaucarnea recurvata (ponytail palm) has mealy bugs. If you have a handheld shower then set the plant in the shower and wash the insects and the white stuff (which is actually their eggs) off. Fill a spray bottle with rubbinb alcohol straight, not diluted. Then spray the plant well with it every other day for a month getting the tops and bottles of all the leaves. This will kill any eggs that hatch. Mealy bugs can be difficult to get rid of and persistance is the key. If you tackle them immediately  they shouldn't spread but you might want to also spray the other plant too just in case. The rubbing alcohol will not hurt the plants. It would be much better if you had them in front of a south facing window as these plants love the sun and do better with as much as possible.  Good luckk.

Darlene