Ponytail Palm Houseplant Dying
Judy, I inherited this plant when my Brother passed away a couple of years ago. It was very healthy at the time. I re-potted it and it seemed to be doing fine for the first year. Over the last year it has looked worse and worse. It’s fronds are going brown and they are not being replaced. It’s in one of my most sunny window, but has a Western exposure. What type of plant is it and what can I do to return it to health?
Scott
Hi Scott,
Your plant is called a Ponytail Palm. I think what happened is that when you re-potted the plant had more soil and it took longer to dry out. You probably kept watering the same as usual. Eventually the plant developed root rot from being wet all of the time and started to die. Take the plant out of the pot, get rid of all the wet soil, cut off the dead part of the plant. Allow the plant to lay out bare root for at least 24 hours. Re-pot using a soil for succulent plants. Only water when the plant soil has dried out. You can read more about a Ponytail Palm in the Popular HousePlant Section of the website.
https://www.houseplant411.com/houseplant/ponytail-palm-bottle-palm-how-to-grow-care-tips