Several of my ponytail palms have a soft caudex which I think might be due to underwatering (I don't yet suspect rot but I honestly have no idea what's going on). I tried watering them profusely but haven't really noticed any change in the hardness of the caudex - there's still a general tension to the caudex when I squeeze it but it's not rock hard like it should be. I repotted several of them into taplas gritty mix-- which they seem to like, if the thick white roots suggest anything -- but nearly all of them have soft caudexes. The best way I can relate the softness is likening it to squeezing a rubber ball - there's tension and give where I feel like there should only be hardness.

If this is an issue related to underwatering, what should I do and how soon should I expect results?

What steps should I take if this is due to something else, and again, how soon should I expect to see positive results?

{{gwi:682043}} (from one of the younger plants recently potted into the gritty mix)

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