Dypsis decipiens

[K_Palm]

Potted up throwing a new spear, but the two other leaves look like they are dying pretty quickly.  Should I have any worries here?

Here is a pic a couple of weeks ago and as you can see no problems here:

[PalmsZA]

K_palm

It is "on its way out". Perhaps drainage?

Cheers

Dennis

[Jeff Searle]

I agree with Dennis, looks like your soil is very wet, and there could be a drainage problem. These palms can handle being a little wet, but the soil must have good draiage. The good news is that the spear leaf is still green. I would drench the pot with a good soil fungicide like subdue and then keep it on the dry side. And time will tell.....

[K_Palm]

Thanks gents...i am very new to palms and dont have a good grasp for how much to water yet the soil looked wet on that 2nd photo because i had just watered it

[Patrick]

Hey there

I read in a book once that D decipiens doesn't really like a lot of water. After losing 2 this year, (I know, you all think I suck)   I can honestly say that I don't like what I see. If it was me, I'd be spraying daconil or a copper fungicide on it, just in case. Try the daconil, becase all the copper fungicides I've used require you to mix it with water..... I'm not really certain here- maybe someone can add a bit to this...... ???

[SunnyFl]

Argg - I've had seedlings do that.  Re: the drainage in containers - does it help to blend the potting mix with sand (regular builders sand, not the questionable stuff dug out of the yard)?

[bgl]

Patrick,

I believe we touched on this in a different thread some time ago. From my experience (and we get 150 inches of rain a year), it's not the amount of water that will kill D. decipiens, but poor drainage. We just had 8.5 inches of rain over a 5 hour period this morning. All the palms, including the decipiens, look VERY happy!

Bo-Göran

[K_Palm]

After re-assessing the situation I found that the pot that I used has very small holes and too few of them.  So I took the palm out, put in a few more holes, threw in some rocks along with some dry potting soil and we'll see what happens.

I'll do a search for the thread that Bo mentioned to buff myself up on this palm and its care.

Karel

[DoomsDave]

Oh, dear [you know WHO] I think I've killed another, out in my garden.

Maybe Dypsis dyppies don't like clay . . .

d

ave

[PalmGuyWC]

What is this "THING" with D. decipiens??  I had a beauty growing in a 5 Gal pot for 2 years, came through winter and summer ok.  It had beautiful red highlights and I was about to put it in the ground.  Suddenly at the end of the 2nd summer it went into rapid decline and croaked in two months....very suddenly.  I was crushed because I valued it as a prize.

I'll probably try another, but next time.....on the dry side and excellent drainage.....half lava rock.  I had another smaller one with yellow highlights.  It went into decline almost as soon as I brought it home.  Very frustrating.

Dick

[deezpalms]

I've got mine planted in 3/4 cactus mix and 1/4 patio plus which is my standard potting mix for palms and cycads and mine has done great and grows well right through winter. I give it just as much water as everything else and no problems.

[paulgila]

i have 2 & 1 is doing well but the other is starting to look like the ones in k palms pics.i have added blood meal but to no avail.

[DoomsDave]

I've found Decipiens to be tricky, as well.

They seem happier in the pots than in the ground at my place.  I do think that drainage is probably a serious issue, as I have clay soil, which they do not appear to like.  It might be one of those types you have to plant on a mound in clay.

Dave

[Tyrone]

I've found decipens to be the sort of aplm that you need to get the sun/water ratio right. Too much water and not enough sun will make it sad. If you like watering a lot, put it into full sun and bake it. I plant mine in sand and standard free draining potting mix and I water lots, but there in full sun for many hours of the day. The soil surface dries off before they get rewatered. The same thing can be said for growing decaryi IMO.

regards

Tyrone

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

If you want a nice D decipiens in your garden, plant 10...maybe one will live...?

I put about 60 in my field about 2 yrs ago. Maybe 30 are left, and only 10 of those look good.

[deezpalms]

Wow , I'm surprised to hear all this about the decipiens. I've found mine to be a really easy palm to grow. Full sun, excellent drainage n' plenty o' water = happy decipiens!!

[paulgila]

anyone growing d.decipiens in the east county of sd?

the only ones i've seen are near the coast(dypsis deans

lovely & gi-mongous specimen comes to mind).

[Kathryn]

I germinated about 50 of these several years ago. After I potted them up and put the outside, they slowly died. I did some research on this site and found that this palm suffers from rot easily. Now I put more sand in the mix and 100% sand in the top few inches.

For planting in the ground, people on this site recommended adding sand to the planting area and using only sand and rocks in the upper 6 or so inches around the plant. I planted two like this in 2004 and two more in 2006. I get about 65 inches of rain a year and all these palms are doing great.

Here’s a picture of one just after it was planted. I think I got this plant from Kapoho a few years earlier.

I’ll take sine pictures this weekend to show the growth.

Kathryn

[K_Palm]

I think mine croaked...the new spear looks dry and green barely visible.  This could be my first palm death

[BS Man about Palms]

Sorry to hear that Karel. If you are a Palm addict, you can say it will be MERELY your first....  

I killed a decent 15 gal one over a year ago and since then I have always erred on the side of less water rather than more.  I now have probably 5 or so of various sizes.

[Zac in NC]

Yes, as a palm addict, you will kill more than your fair share of palms. Believe me, I have killed several small Trithrinax campestris over the 5 years I have been palming.

Zac

[MattyB]

I've had luck w/ Tyrone and Deezpalms methods; water regularly but keep it in full sun so the top soil dries out before watering again.  Also, mine is in a painted terra cotta pot that's about 20 inches deep so I can let it dry out real good and know that the deep roots are still wet.