Question
I have a 35 year old ponytail palm that has a monster bulb and the stalk roughly 2" diameter but 12 ft tall now.  Lots of foliage at the top.  It seems very healthy.  

Problem is that it outgrew my house a few years ago, so it moved to my sisters sun room in the Detroit area where it has thrived.  My sister just sold her house and her new house will not accommodate the height of this wonderful plant.  The new owners of the house have agreed to letting the PTP stay until next spring, but then I've got to do something.  

I'm open to surgery if risks are low and I have good procedures for assuring that two PTPs will result.  Ideally, the 35 yr bulb will become a 4-5 foot new plant and the top portion will become rooted and can be established as a 3 ft PTP in a new pot.  Yes, if you do the math, I would eliminate a portion of the stem.  Is it possible that the stem could sprout both roots and leaves?

If there are special chemicals that should be applied, please recommend.  I'll appreciate your best advice.

Answer
Ron,

You can cut the top off your ponytail palm but it is best if you wait until summer when it can go outside in full sun. The original plant will easily sprout 2 - 10 new sprouts from the top of the stalk. You may want to let the sprouts get fairly large then  remove all but 2-3. The plant will not look good if you leave more than than 2-3 sprouts on it.

I have never propagated my ponytail palm in this manner but, according to the information on propagating Beaucarnea recurvata (the ponytail palm), it is easily propagated by rooting the offsets or the original top in the springtime. When you the top of the plant first, use a well-drained potting soil mixed 50 % with sand to root the cuttings. Application of a little rooting hormone to the base of the cutting would also help. Later when you remove any new excess offsets that grow on the old trunk you can basically follow the same instructions.  If you want to be somewhat more cautious, you can air layer the top of the plant off by placing some moist sphagnum moss at the point that you want to cut it off. Moisten this moss one or more times each day by spraying with water. You will probably not need to wrap the moss in plastic as is done in traditional "air layering" because this plant needs the root zone to be somewhat dry. Moistening and allowing it to dry should encourage root growth. When roots form in the sphagnum, the offset may be removed from the plant and potted separately in well-drained potting soil. Once again, the use of some rooting powder at the cut, though it is still attached to the parent plant, may help it form roots. Here is a website that shows traditional air layering but for this plant you should use a piece of panty hose to wrap around the sphagnum instead of plastic.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/ornamentals/airlayer/airlayer.html

The piece in the middle that you would like to root you can air layer it off or cut it off and dip it into rooting hormone then insert it in a pot of potting soil mixed with sand. You have a 50/50 chance it will root as long as you keep track of which end of the piece is the top and which is the bottom. If you mix it up and put it in backwards the top will not room. I would use a magic marker to make an arrow pointing down at the bottom of the cutting. If you have more questions feel free to write again. Good luck.

Darlene