I bought a ponytail palm about 2-3 months ago. I was inspecting it a little while cleaning the leaves with water, and I noticed there was this filling like substance put at the top of the plant. I removed it and was hoping not to hurt my plant. I was wondering has anyone else seen this or knows what I'm talking about? I bought it from Lowe's if that means anything. The first picture is what the substance looks like, the second picture was the location of the substance. (After me removing it). I was wondering is this put on here to control growth or something?

Thanks!

I think, at one time, your Ponytail plant was much taller. It was cut off (to force branching) and the cut was sealed with whatever that grey stuff is.

Thanks! You said to encourage branching, I'm relatively new to plants so do you mind elaborating more to me on what that means? Also, do you think it was okay for me to remove it?

Ponytail plants are called "palms" (even though they are not) because they have a tall stem with a single 'ponytail' on top. The nursery industry doesn't think that look will sell so they lop the heads off. The plant reacts by growing multiple new heads.

The gray stuff they used to seal the cut is actually a bad idea. Its a good way to trap moisture and cause rot.

Well that's not good, I removed it all because I figured it couldn't be good.