Ponytail Palm (Beaucarnea recurvata) is typically referred to as Elephant Foot due to its thick, grey trunk. Hailing from the Mexican deserts, this can be a rugged, thrilling, and distinctive plant that’s not a palm in any respect.
This desert succulent does fairly effectively as a big container plant or outside as a panorama plant in ideally suited settings.
On this article, we share suggestions that will help you preserve your Ponytail Palm outside. Learn on to be taught extra.
Start With the Proper Local weather
In the event you dwell in a heat local weather, it’s easy to develop Ponytail Palm within the panorama. These small bushes do effectively in USDA hardiness zones 9 by means of 12.
Beneath ideally suited conditions, they will develop to be 30′ ft excessive. They make a wonderful addition to your backyard as a specimen tree or a big out of doors container plant.
In the event you dwell in a tropical or desert setting and have an indoor Ponytail Palm that has gotten too giant, you possibly can transfer it to an outside container or transplant it into the panorama.
However, achieve this slowly and thoroughly. It would take time on your overgrown houseplant to regulate to out of doors lighting, temperatures, and air flow. The method can take a number of weeks.
These hardy succulents can be efficiently transplanted from one panorama to a different. They’re fairly resilient and can set down shallow roots and regulate to their new settings moderately enthusiastically.
10 Suggestions To Set up The Proper Tradition For Your Outside Ponytail Palm
It’s essential to do not forget that these vegetation should not palms in any respect. As an alternative, they’re extra carefully associated to Yucca vegetation.
They’ve thick, swollen trunks as a result of they retailer quite a lot of water. It makes them very drought tolerant and an ideal addition to a desert backyard or a xeriscaping mission.
To thrive, your Elephant Foot will want:
Loads of Room
When selecting a web site on your Ponytail Palm, you’ll want to give it loads of area throughout as a result of it doesn’t have particularly deep roots.
The mix of shallow roots and free, sharply draining soil can result in toppling in excessive winds. Give it loads of area to develop to its full peak with out endangering close by buildings or thoroughfares.
Glorious Drainage
The proper out of doors setting for Ponytail Palm consists of
- vivid, full daylight
- sandy/loamy well-draining soil
- deep, rare watering.
Mulch
To assist preserve moisture within the soil, encompass your small tree with a layer of mulch about 4″ to six″ inches thick. Be certain to not enable the mulch to the touch the tree’s trunk as this may trigger rotting.
Ample, Rare Watering
As a result of these vegetation are desert succulents, they thrive with a soak and dry watering. They can’t tolerate poorly draining soil or standing water, that are certain to result in root rot.
In scorching, dry climate, your tree may have extra frequent watering, however don’t overdo it. Make sure you examine the bottom surrounding it.
Whether it is fully dry to a depth of about 6″ inches, use a soaker hose for a number of hours to water to a depth of about 18″ inches. Don’t water in any respect throughout cool climate or the wet season.
Plenty of Solar
To assist your out of doors Ponytail Palm attain its full potential, you should present it with full solar. This desert tree likes a minimum of eight hours of full solar day by day.
Constant Heat
Do not forget that this succulent is simply winter hardy in USDA hardiness zones 9 to 12. It could actually tolerate quick intervals of freezing climate, however it is not going to dwell by means of a freezing winter.
Annual Feeding
Like most succulents and cacti, Elephant Foot isn’t a heavy feeder. You solely must fertilize it as soon as yearly, early within the springtime, with a balanced (10-10-10) slow-release fertilizer.
Apply the fertilizer in a circle surrounding the tree base about 6″ inches from the trunk all the best way round. Rake the fertilizer into the soil flippantly, after which water completely.
Occasional Pruning
As your plant grows and matures, some leaves and fronds will yellow and brown with age. When this occurs, use a set of very sharp, sterile pruning shears to trim them off a couple of 1/4″ inch above the joint of the stem.
Gentle Pest Administration
These resilient vegetation are pest resistant, however spider mites and aphids can change into problematic. In the event you see indicators of them, strive blasting them off with a robust stream of water.
Maintain watching the plant for a few weeks to verify they don’t return. In the event that they do, strive a therapy of insecticidal cleaning soap or neem oil.
Take a look at this text on Getting Rid Of Mealybugs on Ponytail Palms.
Optionally, a Mate
When your out of doors Elephant Foot is totally mature, the feminine bushes will produce giant panicles of wealthy, sweet-smelling pink flowers.
Male bushes produce smaller panicles of white flowers. If you’d like your feminine tree to have viable seeds, you’ll want each a female and male tree.
Ponytail Palm is a slow-growing succulent. It takes quite a lot of endurance to develop the plant to maturity. While you do, you’ll be capable of take pleasure in its clever branches and showy panicles of flowers.
What If You Stay In A Chilly Local weather?
Your Ponytail Palm can attain a formidable and towering peak of 30′ ft in an excellent panorama setting. Indoors it’s comparatively straightforward to manage its progress by controlling the scale of the container. Because of this, it’s potential to maintain this hardy succulent as a houseplant in nearly any local weather.
In the event you can’t preserve your Ponytail Palm outdoors year-round, you possibly can preserve it outside throughout the summer time and indoors throughout the winter.
Moreover, this hardy succulent is a superb selection as a bonsai.
