Re-potting

16th June 2008

posted in Plants |

A long-awaited and much-needed re-potting took place yesterday. My mom came over and helped me re-pot my Ponytail Palm (Beaucarnea recurvata). It used to be HER ponytail palm, and it is older than I am. It’s a plant I have a great deal of respect for.

My dad keeps suggesting that I cut it off just above the caudex, and encourage the sprouts from there to grow, but I just can’t do it.

It has been looking less than healthy for quite a while, and the soil has not been draining as well as it should, so we took it out of the pot, put in new soil, and put it back in the same pot. When we took it out, I noticed that the poor thing has barely any roots. I am not really familiar with how its roots should look, but I am thinking that this is NOT it. In any case, it seems to be standing up okay, and hopefully, after I let it settle in, start watering it again, and maybe feed it once, it will grow a whole CLOUD of new roots. I neglected to take photos as we went (which I truly regret now), but I do have some pictures of it now that it’s back in its home corner. I will also be taking it outside as soon as it settles into its new dirt.

Here it is, very happy (I hope):

This entry was posted on Monday, June 16th, 2008 at 8:00 pm and is filed under Plants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On June 16th, 2008, J�rgen said:

Hi Katie,
good job!
But the stem length to caudex diameter ratio is really not Ok. Obviously all its 30+ years the poor plant was located in a relatively dark corner of a room. It should be kept near a window at least.
If you once decide to give it as much light and sun as possible then you really should follow your father’s suggestion to cut the thin main stem down to just above the branches near the base.

J�rgen

posted on June 16th, 2008 at 8:14 pm

2 On June 16th, 2008, barge said:

since WHEN do you NOT take pictures!?! i look forward to seeing it healthier…

posted on June 16th, 2008 at 8:23 pm

3 On June 16th, 2008, Borrego said:

This post reminds me of a friend who has one of these in her front yard. The caudex on it may be 15′ around……

posted on June 16th, 2008 at 9:10 pm

4 On June 17th, 2008, sonja sensenbrenner said:

There is a good article by Will Creed,
wcreed@HorticulturalHelp.com, who does interior horticulture. Just google Ponytail palm. This is actually an answer to the exact questions we had, but from another person. If you feel you want to follow his suggestions, I’ll be glad to help. All the best of luck with the project.

posted on June 17th, 2008 at 7:08 am

5 On June 17th, 2008, Janet said:

Yay ponytails! I always liked that plant. I’m glad you are giving it some TLC. Hope it happys up for you.

posted on June 17th, 2008 at 5:12 pm

6 On June 22nd, 2008, Caryn said:

It’s such a great plant. I hope that its new accommodations will help it thrive.

posted on June 22nd, 2008 at 9:05 pm

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Cactus Kate

Re-potting

Re-potting

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