Ponytail palm in trouble

glitter

glitter

New Member
9
19/02/16
0
1
Lithuania
I need an advise from you, people. I got a ponytail a half a year ago. It was a bit overwatered, infected with mealy bugs and planted too deep into the ground. I replanted it into the cacti soil properly and treated from the bugs. After a while it showed a tiny bit of growth and then nothing. I was thinking it is because of the winter. Been watering it every 3-4 weeks. Now a half a year passed and the top of the trunk started looking as if it is drying out. I decided to take a look at the roots today. I pulled out the plant and noticed that it has not grown a single root in 6m! The ones that it has looks dry and wooden. I cut the very base with knife to see if it is not rotten. It’s firm and white. How do I make it root?? Maybe I need to cut all the old roots or what? I really need some smart advise here.
The palm is 5o inch tall and it's "foot" is of the size of kids head.
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Medicine for the plant? I've been at the plant store and all they offered was some stuff from overwatering (some white granules that needs to be mixed with the dirt). But can it be that this plant still has hope? Why didn't it produce any new root in a half a year? The roots that plat has are completely dry. Some of them even fell off when I was taking a plant out of the pot.
 
Hi Clitter, the pot must go, or have a bunch of holes drilled in it, gotta get a new pot, gotta have a couple of bricks or something under the new pot, cactus mix when you repot it, good luck, Ed
 
edric said:
Hi Clitter, the pot must go, or have a bunch of holes drilled in it, gotta get a new pot, gotta have a couple of bricks or something under the new pot, cactus mix when you repot it, good luck, Ed
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The pot does have one hole. It's not enough? And palm is planted in cactus mix :)
p.s. my nick is "glitter" :)
 
Hi Glitter - I have grown many of these - and I would say don't worry, they are hard to kill. I have told the story of the first one of these I "bought." It was in a neglected, going out of business, greenhouse. The plant was a little bigger than yours. It had been pulled from the pot and placed on a table. Almost all the dirt had fallen off over time. And it looked like it had been there for well over a year - with no water other than rain. And hardly any soil or roots left. And this was So. California - essentially a desert. And it was still alive.

You have not done anything wrong. These do not have large root systems. So, I would just keep doing what you are doing. Do not over water when the weather is cold. Every 3-4 weeks should be good. Perhaps a little more in summer. But Lithuania is colder than it prefers for half the year, and growth will be slow to establish. Give it all the sun and warmth you can.
 
glitter said:
Thank you for the answers and support. I guess I will be still waiting for the miracle and won't give up! :)
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The only thing I've seen kill these, and I have seen it twice, was something affecting the bulbous base and having termites/ants move in and/or a rot develop. So keep an eye on the bottom part for any weak or mushy parts developing.
 
Hello again, as my pony palm didnt show any signs of growth in almost a year and no spring viability was shown, I drasticly pulled it out of dirt, washed it, took a knife and went looking for trouble. And here it is.. My palm has a rot from being overwatered a year ago. It had some deep cut on a side on a trunk and thats where rot is found.
I started cutting the rot out and you can see that I was digging deep. There are still rotten areas left. Maybe thats why my plant didnt grow any new roots. Its sick.
Can I help it somehow or should just throw it away?
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Sorry, but it looks like what happened to my in ground 18' Ponytail a couple of years ago. I tried everything to save it but the rot continued.
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I think it's time to start over. A new healthy plant shouldn't be that hard to find, and watching something thrive is so much more rewarding than watching a plant struggle.

Fungus/rot are one of the hardest thing to stop or control once established. So, I would just get rid of all that dirt and plant material and shop around for a nice new plant. They are easy to ship bare root, so you can shop online - and maybe even get 2-3 because they are such rewarding plants to grow and don't take up that much room for many years.

I know it is hard to give up - but that is your best decision now.
 
I've read your story. I probably read all available info :) The difference is that my palm is not that huge and I think I could try cutting all the rotten part out. I just don't know is cutting that much of the caudex wouldn't kill a plant anyway :(
So I want to know if I should do it. If anyone succeeded treating rot that way.
If I do it, how can I treat the wound.. Should I leave it dry, put rooting hormone, soak in some fungicide or else.
Right now I just left it be on the top of soil.
 
Dypsisdean said:
I think it's time to start over. A new healthy plant shouldn't be that hard to find, and watching something thrive is so much more rewarding than watching a plant struggle.

Fungus/rot are one of the hardest thing to stop or control once established. So, I would just get rid of all that dirt and plant material and shop around for a nice new plant. They are easy to ship bare root, so you can shop online - and maybe even get 2-3 because they are such rewarding plants to grow and don't take up that much room for many years.

I know it is hard to give up - but that is your best decision now.
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Just read your answer. It is really hard for me to throw it away as I've been hoping it to recover for so long :( Just couldn't see the problems before. It's probably worth considering letting it go. I bought 2 baby pony palms this winter. They are thriving and growing everyday! Put it next to the sick one hoping it will keep it company and test if I do everything right.
I'd like to get same shaped pony tree palm, but it's really hard to find a nice adult one in affordable price. Shipping it? Maybe I should! :)
Thank you all. This forum seemed to be the only place I could get questions answered.
 
Two things:
1) If you look around, you may be able to locate a bigger one somewhere. These can be shipped and keep out of soil for long periods of time.
2) Plants are like people. So, you wouldn't put them next to someone with a contagious disease. And whatever is killing your sick plant could be spread to the others. So I would separate them and not share any soil or cutting tools between the sick plant and others.
 
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