Bananafan
I have grown a pony tail palm inside that was tiny when it started
now it has about 8 fronds it had about 3 before..
It has been about a year i will post a pic when i get home tonight.

Ponytail palms are not palms. Their scientific name is Beaucarnea recurvata and if you do a search you will find lots of information. If you are in zone 9b your ponytail should be fine outdoors all year. In my area of Florida you see massive ones in people's yards every now and then. In time (15-30 years), the rounded base of the plant will swell to the size of a Volkswagen bug. No lie!

topher2006: So, how tall is your ponytail palm now? Look forward to seeing your picture.

Plumeriafl: I heard the plant is a slow grower and needs very little watering. I just read that it will grow an inch a year. Is that true? The internet has some pictures of mature plants and some info says the base will grow to 12 ft wide. The size of a Volkswagon bug makes me think of the plant needing a parking space! :) So, I better be careful if I want to plant it in the ground--got to make sure it doesn't crowd out the other plants. Maybe I'll keep it in the pot and let it grow and see how it develops from there.

Your majesty palm, Ravenea rivularis, will not thrive indoors in a pot. In habitat these palms, as the name indicates, grow on river banks and require a lot of water. They also get massive trunks, which is why they won't be content for long in a pot, even if you supply them with enough water. Stores continue to sell these as houseplants but they clearly are not suitable for that purpose for the long term.

here is my pony tail it 's rootball was about as big as a pencil eraser when i got it. They realy are a joy to grow .

I agree with catkim a majesty is surely not a house plant.

Here is a link that might be useful:

here is my pony tail it 's rootball was about as big as a pencil eraser when i got it. They realy are a joy to grow .
I agree with catkim a majesty is surely not a house plant.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1123059}}

Sorry to say Majesty Palms die,they just die. Thats all they do. No matter how much love you give them they start dying the minute you put them in your living room. I've tried two of them and the second will not make it long enough to put outside once its warm enough...Sorry for being so morbid; its just frustrating.

I must agree with the majesty comments. I just bought 3 last week. They came home absolutely dripping wet and are now yellowing and soon to be dead. I too was hoping they would make it until they could go outside... likely not gonna happen.

topher2006: Aw... your ponytail palm is sooo cute.

cedardave, josh palm crazy and catkim: Sorry that your majesty palm died on you. I don't intend to keep it indoor, but outdoor in a pot because I'm not sure where I want to plant it yet. I know it will grow up to be a big tree. I have to find out what kind of light exposure or which direction it does best before I plunge it down into the ground. Question is how long can I keep it in the pot and whether it will die there soon (scary from the experience you all have had.) Thanks for any further comments.

Bananafan -- the link below is information for California (dry summers, cool wet winters, Pacific Ocean influence); zone 9b can be many things, depending on where you are. Perhaps the information will be helpful.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ravenea rivularis

Thanks, catkim, for the link. I'll go read more about it tonight.

Wow, xerophyte, thanks for sharing the story of your majesty palm. Incidentially, I got mine also from Home Depot and it's also a double-plant! Did you split them up and plant them in different pots? How big is your pot may ask? I like the idea of planting some flowers with it, but will that compete for nutrients with the palm? By the way, how tall was your plant when you bought it and how tall is it now? If you have a picture to include, that will be great.

Check this link for a previous post last summer.

To answer your questions, no, I did not separate the plants, that would mean sure death. The pot is about 2 feet across, I don't know how many gallons that is (around 25?). Technically, yes there is some competition for nutrients but with annuals it shouldn't really be a problem.

Since I bought the plant, I would say it has added about 6 fronds while losing about 3 old ones, the gain in trunk height is not really noticeable but the leaves themselves are progressively larger, except for the most recent one, I think that the indoor conditions and the limited sun and water have caught up with the plant and slowed it down (which is the goal during the indoor phase), but soon enough it will jump back into more active growth.

When I return the plant to my patio in the spring, I will take a new picture and post before and after for comparison.

When I first acquired the plant, I transferred it right away into a larger pot and kept it outdoors but under an awning away from afternoon sun for a week before I exposed it to full sun.

x

Bananafan

I think you are making a mistake putting one in the ground.
the fact of the matter is when these things grow they do it fast ! But they are used to growing on riverbanks you cannot over water them ! they are so hard to keep happy
the first good frost they will wither and then after that
they just start going downhill.. before you know it your temp drops below 28 and your left with a mushy stump
but you may know something i don't but i have 2 mushy stumps that i'm wondering do i pull out of the ground or will they come back. the sad thing is i was told they would not make it when i planted them , but sometimes i am hard headed
but i gaurantee you when it gets cold they will fold just like a sorry hand of poker !

If you treat them as annuals ...get the tropical look in your yard for the summer...bring them indoors in the fall and they survive most of the winter, than youve had a good ride. Dont get me wrong... I have bought and will continue to buy them for my yard and hope for the best. They are available everywhere and fairly cheap, so why not. Winnipeg is far from anything tropically so if I can create the illusion(even for just a couple months) and see how long the plants survive once they come indoors then so be it. I dont think the world will run out of low grade majestys anythime soon. Just my 2 cents worth

Hi everyone I deal with many tropical plants and are very successful with growing them. I have a Majesty Palm that i got and grew it from last early winter 2012 till Summer 2012 it is out side on the east side of the house it get a couple of hours of early morning sun I water it 1-2x a week during the winter i keep if just to the side of a south window it is growing nicely! It has grown at least 6 new froms from the time i got it to now. If anyone has any questions i'm sure I can answer them, I'll get a picture of my palm posted soon. "Hope to hear some questions"

As you can see by my username, i too hate majesties joshpalmcrazy. In minnesnowda all we have are majesties, the occational cat palm (which is great for indoors,but is too shrubby looking for me),parlour palms for rock bottom prices, and roebellini palms(ouch).*Bachmans sells palms in spring and summer* which hardly qualifies, Here is the inventory for spring and summer:1. cat palms. 2.malayan dwarf coconuts and 3. chamaedorea seifriziis (thank god!,finally a good indoor palm!). Ikea sells majesties and chrysalidowhatwhat lutescens (sorry that f**king name gets hard for me) in 1G pots for $13 each, probably infected with some lesion or fungus. I dont live in the best market for palms. This summer along with a HUGE palm order im placing in june or july for up to 10 palms (some are only hardy down to 40f),im going out to Bachmans to purchase some seifriziis and coconuts. Lutescens are also bad for indoors,too. I will also purchase some parlour palms at Lowes, they have em in 5 in pots for $5!?!

Majesty, don't worry about Chrysalidowhatwhat, that name is obsolete (dates back to 1878 - Ikea is just a bit behind the times). The right name now is (and has been for many years) Dypsis lutescens. And they are better outdoors, they colour up really well in the sun.

Follow up: My 6 footer majesty has now bit the bullet. My GF who bought it with me is weeping (not literally). I know I know theyre really BAD plants but whi could pass up a single 6 foot majesty for $15?! At lowes. I had to go to lowes to get some blue valspar paint for a drab room, so i picked 1 up. I am a at a moderate level on the palm tree growing, I recently went to IKEA and bought a parlor palm in a 6 inch pot, so that and 2 palmetto seedlings are what takes up my bedroom. IKEA didnt even offer a bag to protect it in 15f weather, but I was parked practically 1 minute away. So its all safe now i hope. I WILL NEVER EVER EVER buy a majesty again for the winter. The one at my work that i brought in is wilting because of being watered with COLD water and it was overfertilized (I thought majesties LOVED fertilizer). Anyway the leaves on that one are very fragile, chlorotic and tinted with white. They just put out 3 new fronds with another poking out, but it only lasts for like 2 months then the new growth browns up. It has 7 fronds total and looks very ugly, like queen palm ugly. I think it will perish by spring or if im lucky maybe june, it was only $10 for 5 plants per pot. Ive had my one at my work since October 2012. Going to try a seedling of Dypsis Lutescens, if that doesnt go well, it either goes out in the garden as an annual, or to my work where it will be finished off. Bye.

I got a 5 ft maj. at lowes for a dollar last week on clearance. they had some 8ft one for 13. I'm going to plant it out in the garden as an annual if it makes it that long.

Wow, I can't believe it's 6 years ago that I started this thread, writing about Pony palms and Majesty palm.

Here's an update of my three pony palms. They're doing very well. I really didn't pay too much attention to them and leave them out all the time, except watering them when the weather is dry and fertilizing them a 2 couple of times a year. It was 1 ft tall then and now they're between 2-3 ft tall or so with the tall pots they're sitting in, they look 3-4 ft tall.

The picture shows the tallest one at 3 ft height and with the pot a little more than 4 ft. So, as you all can see, the Pony tail babe really is a slow grower, but it is fun to have them. If you have pictures of your pony palms to share, it would be nice to see how yours have grown.

The Majesty Palm that I planted in the pot is still surviving. Over the years, there's virtually no growth in height, but the fronds look healthy. I think being potted has set it back from taking off. I just use it as a little screen along my fence line. It was about 6 ft in the pot then and it's still at its original height.

Majesty palms are not that hard to take care for. I have a majesty palm that's over 12 feet tall and has a few inches of trunk. Indoors I keep it in a sunny south facing window, and water once a week. Outdoors when its hot its impossible to over water. I keep mine in a dish of standing water, give it full sun, and lots of fertilizer.

statenislandpalm,

It's wonderful to hear that your Majesty palm is growing very nicely for you. Wow .. 12ft in a pot! That's amazing. I'm sure you're having a lot of fun with it. Do you have a picture to share?

After hearing of your experience, it makes me want to do more for my Majesty palm. Perhaps, I'll repot it and give it more fertilizer and hope it will grow a little more. In some ways, I also don't want it to grow too big as I'm afraid it may break the pot. I just like it to grow it to 10 ft or so just to decorate my fence line. I do have other palms grown in the ground like Christmas palm and Foxtail palm. I do not have space for a Majesty palm and that's why I have it in the pot, but I just love the look of the Majesty palm. It has nice fronds.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

I had a big majesty palm (not as nice as Dennis') but I got rid of it this winter because it wasn't growing as healthy anymore. i saved my 2 smaller ones and they are doing great indoors with lots of water and fertilizer. They grew 2 feet in height this year and will probably have to be repotted this year. I give it part shade and a lot of water all summer. They spend the winter in a humid room that has temperatures vary from 55F to 80F, with temperatures usually around 65F-70F.
-Alex

Here are some pics.

Last summer

Today

Its hard to get a sense of scale. Here is a picture of the trunk. The ruler in the pic is 6"

I forgot to mention is the soil I grow this tree in is just peat moss with lots of slow release fertilizer fertilizer. The peat moss retains water which this tree loves. I also add epson salt once a year to supplement magnesium.

I never had problems with this majesty but on a smaller majesty I had scale. Ethyl rubbing alcohol kills scale and makes it easy to wipe off without harming the tree.

tropicalzone7,

I'm glad your palms have grown 2 ft indoors. That's a lot of growth there! You must have fed them well. Do you have their pictures to share here?

I'm sure they're all looking forward to the warmer days ahead. I don't know if you're affected by the blizzard last week. Someone we know lives in MO and they have lots of snow there.

Thanks Bananafan, its hard to get a good pic of them, but this is the best I can do! Sorry for the bad quality, it's a cell pic...
({{gwi:1123067}}

This post was edited by tropicalzone7 on Mon, Mar 11, 13 at 14:43

statenislandpalm,

Thanks so much for all those beautiful pictures you posted. They say, "A picture tells a thousand words." Your Majesty palm is truly beautiful. The fronds are so lush, green and dense. It looks like it's starting to trunk .. not sure, but the chunky base makes it look very charming. The root system looks healthy and robust. Certainly, you must have been feeding it the right stuff and taking very good care of it. So, are you going to continue growing it in the pot? I've been reading more on coconut palm bonsai, so it looks like it's possible to keep palms in a cramped pot. You know having a beautiful palm in the house can add so much of a tropical feeling to your home, so I hope you'll enjoy your beauty--especially in those cold wintry days :)

I was going to take a picture of my Majesty palm to show you and then got side tracked. Anyway, here it is ... poor little neglected thing, but I will try to pull it out from the corner and pay more attention to it and see if it will do better. Your Majesty palm is definitely an inspiration! Thanks again.

tropicalzone,

I was able to get to your photobucket. Is it the palm with a huge cactus in front of it? When I pasted the link on, I was able to see many of your other plants beside that. Now that's what I call a botanical garden :) It's amazing that you have all the plants imaginable in your garden and all in a beautiful home and landscape too. Good job for making your plants so happy and taking nice pictures of them too. I was most impressed with your purple passion flowers, purple sedum (?) and the Red Eastern Cypress(?) among all the others as well. Now you know why my favorite color is purple .. lol.

Nature sure has its way to compensate those who can't have all year round nice weather with gorgeous vegetations. I heard that colder places produce the most amazing flowering plants although I don't know if they will also excel in the number of varieties than the tropics. My inclination is to say probably ..., but have to find out more about it.

bananafan I feed the palm with regular 10-10-10. I also give it some lawn fertilizer and Epson salt. Your majesty would grow much faster in full sun. I repotted the majesty last summer but once it gets too big for my house i will donate it to my local botanical garden so it can grow even taller in their greenhouse.

Thanks a lot for the compliment Bananafan! I appreciate it! I definitely try to make the best of my climate. Luckily there is a lot of moisture year round by me so that does give me the opportunity to grow a lot of vegetation.

Every year I get more and more species of plants, it's hard to keep up with them all after a while, but so far I've managed pretty well. Not sure what purple sedum you are referring to (is it the purple heat vine?), but that, the arborvitae and the passion vine are all cold hardy here so they are one of the easier plants for me to grow! Arborvitaes are a little bit overused here so I'd rather have something else in my yard other than them, but they look nice and are expensive (and just as expensive to dig up and replace) so I'll be probably be keeping them for many more years! The passion vine is probably my favorite bloom. Not only is it cold tolerant, but it's a fast grower too. I got it as a small plant for 2 dollars at a local nursery in July 2010. Now they cover a huge portion of my pool fence and there are seedlings popping up around my yard (they dont seem too invasive though).

I know that the Pacific Northwest has some of the best gardening in the country and it is definitely cool year round so I would agree that cool climates are actually great for a lot of flowering plants! It gets pretty hot by me in the summer so that does limit the number of flowers I can grow a little bit.

Does anyone know what these might be worth? Selling the house, and since its 50 years old, and Grandma was a smoker, good chance its going to be torn down.

Beautiful ponytail palm! It's worth quite a bit for sure, but since I'm sure the person will have to rent a few machines (including a crane) to take it out, you'll have to give them a bargin if you want to give it a nice new home. I (if I had the money and the climate) would probably pay around $3,500 dollars for a ponytail palm that size and consider it a great deal (if I didn't have to dig it up myself). In a nursery (they never actually sell them at that size though), it would be worth anywhere from $5,000 to $9,000 depending on where you live and how common they are. If you sell it for $2,000 you should hopefully get a taker!
Good luck!
-Alex

im sure the sagos could get a few bucks as well those are pretty big

That has to be a Florida or south Texas grown Beaucarnea. They never grow those deep green,long leaves in California.

Unless,its B. guatamalensis...a much less common plant. If you cant sell it,try to get some landscaper to take it. What a waste of half a century to just plow it under.