Ponytail Palms

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flowerette Kerrville, TX(Zone 8a) Jul 24, 2009

My son has six of these trees. The top branches are turning brown, and there is black mold forming on some of the trunks. One tree has been left with just one green branch. He has an automatic sprinkler system, and I tend to think this is caused from over watering. I suggested he aerate around the trees if this is the cause. However, the person who planted these advised him they probably lacked nutrients. I have no pictures at this point but would appreciate any comments you might have. The lilies behind the trees have formed a red rust on their leaf surface. Thank you very much.

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pastime Waterman, IL(Zone 5a) Jul 25, 2009

I don't know much about Ponytail Palms planted in the ground. Mine has been in a pot for over 20 years. I only water it every couple weeks. The bulbous part of the plant stores water. So it may be over-watered by the sprinkler system.

The red rust on the lily leaves may be from your son's water. Does you son use well water? Too much iron in the water combined with overhead watering will cause a rust colored stain to form on leaves. You also didn't say what kind of lilies he has. If they are daylilies and the rust color is not a stain from the water, then the plants could possibly have daylily rust. Which is an entirely different problem. I think a picture of the leaves are in order to really identify the problem. Lets hope it's just the rusty water. If you can post on the Daylily forum you will find lots of people there who can tell you about daylily rust and what to do. It's not a big problem up here because we have such cold winters.

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flowerette Kerrville, TX(Zone 8a) Aug 08, 2009

Thanks a lot. They definitely aren't daylilies and will check on that. They have city water, but we have very high humidity and combined with too much water is more than likely the problem.

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