Common Ponytail Palm Problems

Ponytail Palms are touted as easy to care for, but they are not without their problems. It is a unique looking plant and is generally pretty hardy. In this guide, I'll discuss the most common Ponytail Palm problems, how to identify them, and how to address the issue.

Overwatering a Ponytail Palm

Overwatering is probably the most likely culprit as Ponytail Palms don’t require much water. They hold moisture in their bulbous trunk and roots. How can you tell if you’ve been overwatering your Ponytail Palm? If leaves are yellowing or wilting or the stem us soft and mushy. In addition, if the soil remains wet or takes a long time to dry out, this can be a sign of overwatering. To be sure, you can use a cheap soil moisture meter to help you assess whether you have a problem with

How to Fix Overwatering

You need to allow the soil to dry out completely in between watering. If it is taking to long then you need to provide less water during each watering. Some other things to look out for are proper drainage. If water is not draining freely from your pot, then this will make it very hard not to overwater. In addition, if your pot size is too large the abundance of soil in the pot can dry out too slowly. Generally speaking, you pot should be no larger than two inches bigger than the root ball.

Insufficient Light

If your Ponytail Palm is not receiving sufficient light, then the growth will be stretched out of leggy. In addition the leaves may become pale lack springiness and vibrancy. All of these symptoms can appear when your plant is placed in a low-light environment for an extended period.

How to Fix Lack of Light

To fix insufficient light, you’ll just need to provide your Ponytail Palm more light. Move it to a location with bright, indirect sunlight. When changing the amount of light your plant receives it’s good to do so gradually to reduce shock or even sunburn. In addition, once you have moved your Ponytail Palm to a spot with good light, you should rotate it regularly to ensure it grows evenly on all sides. If you don’t have good enough natural light you can supplement with artificial grow lights as well.

Pest Infestation

Pest come I many shapes, sizes, and appearances. Spider mites are a common plant pest that are hard to spot with the naked eye. In fact, you’re more likely to notice their webs first. Aphids, thrips, scale, and mealy bugs are large enough to spot. Aphids and thrips are small bugs often spotted on the under part of leaves, especially newer more tender leaves. Scale and mealy bugs are armored insects, with scale looking like a scab and mealy bugs are fluffy and white. If you have pests, you might notice leaf damage, typically spotty yellow marks or just lackluster foliage first before you notice the bugs themselves.

How to Fix a Pest Infestation

Always quarantine your plant as soon as you notice pests. Pests can spread to other plants very easily. Once you’ve quarantined and assessed the damage you should begin trying to remove the pests from the plant as best you can. You can do this by wiping the leaves with a damp cloth to remove pests. You can also spray some pests (aphids, spider mites, and thrips) off with a strong water stream, like from a hose. Scale and mealy bugs have to be removed manually, you will not be able to spray them off because of their armor.

Once you have removed as many pests as you can, you can start to use insecticide. Insecticides come in organic forms like neem oil, or inorganic like insecticidal soap. Both work well and it’s more a matter of preference. Spray it on your Ponytail Palm as directed. The most important step is to repeat pest removal and insecticide application for several days to weeks. Make sure you continue to check for pests and only return your pest to its original spot after you haven’t seen pests for over a week.

Yellow or Browning Leaves

Yellow or brown leaves may indicate nutrient deficiencies, overwatering, or underwatering. First, one of the most common ailments of a Ponytail Palm is brown crispy leaf tips. This can be due to over or underwatering. If a lot of leaves are turning yellow and then brown on the full leaf and not just the tip then that may be a nutrient deficiency or overwatering.

How to Fix Yellow or Browning Leaves

First you really need to find the cause. Use a soil moisture meter to check the soil to see if it is overly dry or wet. This can help you determine if you have been overwatering or underwatering. Refer to the earlier section o overwatering for that fix. If you have been underwatering, you should gradually increase the amount of water you supply or the frequency of when you water and continue to monitor the soil moisture to keep a good soil moisture level.

If soil moisture does not seem to be the issue, you might assume it’s a nutrient issue. You can confirm with a soil rapitest, which test the levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and ph. These tests will confirm your soil’s nutrient content. If you do have a nutrient deficiency, it’s usually okay to start fertilizing with a balanced fertilizer even if you’re only deficient in one nutrient. Water soluble fertilizers will be absorbed the quickest. In addition, make sure to follow the dosage and dilution instructions on the fertilizer to avoid over-fertilizing.

Improper Pot Size

Improper pot size can also be a problem for Ponytail Palms. If a pot is too large, the soil will take too long to dry out and may result in overwatering issues. If the pot is too small the roots will become crowded in the pot resulting in slower growth and possible nutrient issues due to lack of soil.

How to Fix an Improper Pot Size

First you need to determine if the pot is the wrong size. Without taking the Ponytail Palm out of its pot, the best way to tell is by how quickly the soil dries. If it dries very quickly, the pot may be too small, if it doesn’t dry or dries slowly, then it may be too big. You can pull it out of its pot to check the root ball, which should be about one or two inches smaller than the pot. If you’re pot is not the right size for your Ponytail Palm, then repot it to one that the proper size and make sure that it has drainage holes as well as well draining soil.

These are the most common problems that plague Ponytail Palms. If you have questions post them in the Comments.