Ponytail palm
Beaucarnea recurvata
- Wants
- Bright direct
- Tolerates
- Bright direct down to medium
- Difficulty
- 1/5
- Pets
- Safe
Why it wants that
A semi-desert Mexican plant that stores its water in a woody caudex has no reason to economise on light and every reason to be built for full exposure.
Too little light
New leaves come out narrower and floppier and the fountain thins, leaving more of the bare trunk showing.
Too much
Leaf tips go brown and dry, and older leaves die back to straw-coloured strands hanging around the trunk.