How Quick Is Ponytail Palm Growth Rate?
Desire a low-maintenance houseplant in your home, which grows sans much effort? Well, ponytail palm should be your go-to pick. The ponytail palm growth rate is steady with beautiful plant and a bulbous base.
The plant loves the sun, so growing it in an area where it can naturally get direct sunlight makes your task all the more straightforward. A great thing about this spectacular-looking palm is that it can elevate the look and feel of any space, and the fact that they grow so effortlessly is only a plus.
More so, being one of the non-toxic houseplants, they are also good picks for homes with dogs, cats, or any other pets. Surprisingly for many, despite being called the ‘ponytail palm,’ they are not palms.
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- Are Ponytail Palms Fast-Growing?
- How Quickly Do Ponytail Palms Grow?
- Can I Speed Up Ponytail Palm Growth Rate Outdoors or Indoors?
- FAQs
Like the cactus, these are also succulent and are indigenous to Mexico, an area with lots of sun and arid conditions. However, when growing in natural, outdoor space, you can see them grow tall to about 30-feet, yielding some spectacular creamy white flowers.
But, the same may not be the case when planted indoors. Through this guide, we will discuss ponytail palm’s growth patterns and help figure out how fast do ponytail palms grow. So, let us get started!
You might also want to learn about the growth rate of Palm Trees, Pygmy Palm, European Palm, Areca Palm
Are Ponytail Palms Fast-Growing?
To understand the ponytail palm growth rate indoors and outdoors, you need first to know whether these succulents are fast-growing or not.
Typically, the ponytail palms will grow merely 12-inches or less in a year. Further, it may take the ponytail palms many years to acquire only a foot height. So, its growth is not very quick.
As a matter of fact, even when mature, the maximum growth they achieve is between 15-25 feet, with a width of about 10-15 feet. This gives the ponytail palms quite an irregular but upright shape.
A tropical ponytail palm grows significantly better. But indoors it is not as good; as a result, you’ll see them quite mid-sized.
How Fast Do They Grow?
Spring is the best planting time for the ponytail palms. However, you can literally place them anywhere outdoors, given how forgiving and tolerant they naturally are.
Well, as stated above, they are a long-lived but slow-growing species. So, if you have a foot-long plant, it will take about half a decade to double in size. Of course, the ponytail palm growth rate outdoors is better than indoors, but the natural growing speed is slow throughout.
Indoor
How fast do ponytail palms grow indoors? Well, for good indoor growth, you must plant it in a spot that receives abundant indirect, bright sunlight. Ideally, how quickly do ponytail palms grow depends mainly on the amount of sun and the living conditions the plant is exposed to every day.
Your plant must get at least eight hours of sunlight in a day to grow well. But, some indoor ponytail palms can grow fine, even in low-light conditions, especially if the plant is outdoors during the summers.
Also, during summertime, excessive direct sunlight is anyway not advisable as the plant’s leaves may burn. A mature indoor ponytail palm will grow about six feet three-foot width. However, most indoor plants do not ever grow beyond 5’.
Typically, these houseplants can be shopped in pots, which grow from 2”-14”. The bigger ones will generally be heavy, given their bulbous base, which is more prominent as the plant grows taller.
Moreover, as the indoor growth rate is relatively low, they will be costlier if you find tall plants in the market. So, if you find a ponytail palm that is about 4’, it will cost you about $250. Also, you wouldn’t have to repot it anytime soon, as the ponytail palm growth rate isn’t very high.
Outdoor
Of course, the outdoor growing pace for the ponytail palms is quite better than indoors. However, the natural growth percentage is still slow, and the plant will grow up to being 6-8 feet tall, with a 3-5 foot spread. Upon maturity, the plant can grow up to as tall as 25-feet.
How Can I Make My Ponytail Palm Grow Faster?
Now that you know how fast do ponytail palms grow, you must have understood they do not grow up too fast. So, if you wish to make the plant grow more quickly, you must offer the palm with the right living and care conditions. Here is the guide that you can follow:
Light
Typically, the ponytail palms love bright direct sunlight, but they can do fine in some shade too.
Water
Ponytail palm has a bulbous trunk, which it uses to store water like a camel. Consequently, even if you have watered it well once, it will hold it and then use the water from the trunk over time.
Also, before you water again, do check the soil. So, only once it is decently dry should you water again. Watering should majorly happen from spring through fall, wherein you let an inch or two of the soil dry out well before your next watering.
Finally, avoid frequent watering in winter. As a rule of thumb, twice a month in summer and once a month in winter works well.
Temperature
Your ponytail palms enjoy an arid, warm temperature, usually over 60-degrees. However, anything below 50-degrees can be discomforting for the plant, especially if prolonged.
Soil
Ponytail palm growth rate is regular in semi-desert areas; it thrives in sandy and organically rich soil. You can add succulent or cactus potting mix to ponytail palm soil to make it grow better.
Fertilizer
The kind of feed a plant receives also impacts how fast do ponytail palms grow indoors and outdoors. So, you can feed the plant with a liquid fertilizer during the growing season. You can also add a slow-releasing pellet fertilizer, especially during the spring, followed by the growing season. There’s not a heavy feed requirement in the winters.
Repotting
Since the ponytail palm is a slow-growing plant, you will not have to repot frequently. However, it is recommended every once in two years or anytime a plant outgrows its pot.
Humidity
Since the palms are native to Mexico, they can survive fine in dry air inside the homes.
How quickly do ponytail palms grow? Hopefully, if you follow the care guide to the T, you will see them growing quite fast.
Related: Ponytail palm types, How to care for ponytail palm
Frequently Asked Questions
Ques 1. How do you remove a pup from a ponytail palm?
Ans. Spring is the ideal time for you to divide the ponytail palm shoots. However, it would help if you were very careful, especially around the parent plant’s base.
Excavating the base will expose the pup’s base, and using a sharp, clean knife, you can cut the pup away from your parent plant.
Ques 2. How do you make a ponytail palm bushy?
Ans. If your ponytail palm is below 15 cm, it will yield greater heads. So, an attempt to make the ponytail palms bushy works best in the very young plants.
You’ll have to make curved cuts inside the main trunk, which facilitates better growth. Also, ensure that the plant is not exposed to high humidity. You can keep it in a dry spot to curtail rotting in the cut area.
Ques 3. Does a ponytail palm flower?
Ans. Yes, the ponytail palm does bloom. However, it is not very frequent and will not happen in the first year or even during the first decade. It will start blooming only after the plant has acquired some girth and size. The blooming season is summer, and after the plant starts blooming, you will see flowers three times a year.
Ques 4. Is it OK to trim ponytail palm?
Ans. Yes, it is acceptable to trim and prune them. As a matter of fact, you can trim them any time of the year, but it is advised to do so, especially in the growing season of spring through the fall. The idea is to cut out all the damaged and rotten leaves.
Ques 5. Do ponytail palms need fertilizer?
Ans. Yes, you should fertilize the plant at least once or twice a month during the growing season for a good ponytail palm growth rate indoors as well as outdoors. In the winters, once a month should suffice.
Before fertilizing, you must thoroughly water the plant. Also, it is best to get a soil assessment to know what your soil lacks. This will help you pick the right fertilizer.
Ques 6. What does a full-grown ponytail palm look like?
Ans. A mature ponytail palm has a bulb-like trunk, which it utilizes to store water. Further, it has long leaves, which grow from the trunk’s top and give a ponytail-like appearance. This is from where it gets its name, ponytail palm.
