Just dug up a huge specimen ravenea xerophila will it survive?

[Josh-O]

Hey peeps, Does anyone know if these palms are good diggers?? I just dug up a monster ravenea xerophila today? I was told these are a tough did????? I really had no choice and had to dug it up. We managed to get a really good solid root ball and all the dirt was intact. Over all height is about 7' tall and 3 of us barely could lift the dang thing up to place in a 30' box.

I took a few pic's to show the process. I root pruned all the big major roots including a HUGE Tap. I sprayed liquid aluminum sulfate all the exposed root ends with my sprayer to cauterized all the exposed root ends. This was a trick I was told to do.

once I put it in the box I soaked it with water to hydrate the dirt and roots

I'm hoping I did this right?? I would love to hear all of your feed back

I cant wait to here your feed back

[Stevetoad]

I hope it lives. That thing is a beast! I had a small one and dug it up because it was doing poorly. It had fat succulent roots that broke easy. It went down hill and died shortly after that. It was looking bad anyway so I don't know if it was the move or if it was just dying anyway. That's a beautiful palm you got. Nice score.

[Josh-O]

Thanks Steve for the input, the tap root was almost the diameter of a golf ball. I couldn't believe how fat it was. I sure hope it survives. It took a long time to dig that sucker up. I'm planning on keeping it in that 30' box for a long time so I can monitor the progress before I put it in the ground.

[DoomsDave]

Do let us know!

[Phoenikakias]

I had same experience as Steve did.

[waykoolplantz]

These have large tubers in the roots that appear 3 feet or more away from the palm...I can't see how unless you found them and wrapped them around the rootball..this will be successful . Best of luck tho

[Rafael]

I have a seedling i steped on last year, i think i broke some root, but it went on thriving, so far

[Moose]

These have large tubers in the roots that appear 3 feet or more away from the palm...I can't see how unless you found them and wrapped them around the rootball..this will be successful . Best of luck tho

Perhaps using a broad spectrum fungicidal drench and keeping the root ball damp but soggy may give it a slim chance.

[Alicehunter2000]

Not sure bought this particular species but my experience is that no matter how drought tolorant the palm.....when you cut a bunch of roots.....don't let that thing dry out. Nice palm....keep us updated.

[MattyB]

wow

[Josh-O]

I just soaked the heck out of it yesterday with plain water.I plan on waiting a couple of days and then drenching it with Daconil fungicide.

[Josh-O]

These have large tubers in the roots that appear 3 feet or more away from the palm...I can't see how unless you found them and wrapped them around the rootball..this will be successful . Best of luck tho

Perhaps using a broad spectrum fungicidal drench and keeping the root ball damp but soggy may give it a slim chance.

thanks for the pointer Moose

[BS Man about Palms]

I had to move mine only about 8" when it was about 30" tall.. It is now about 5' tall... so there is hope... Is that a Gary progeny?

[Josh-O]

That gives me hope Bill...who is Gary progeny?

[paulgila]

nice job. if that didnt do it then nothing could have.

[Josh-O]

I'm praying it worked

[akamu]

Nice score from victor He has some great palms in his garden "KEEP IT SHADED" lol nice seeing you ay the PSSC meeting

[Josh-O]

hahahahahah I know exactly what you mean. Even his sabals & Braheas are stretched out.

[PalmnutVN]

Whoa!!! Nice one Josh!

Every time I've tried to grow these babies from seed, I've failed every time....

Ohh...... to get my hands on one that size

[Josh-O]

I looked at it today and it seems to be doing fine. I know its still to early to tell but I remain hopefull

[BS Man about Palms]

That gives me hope Bill...who is Gary progeny?

Progeny = offspring, little one...

Gary = Gary LeVine

[BS Man about Palms]

I looked at it today and it seems to be doing fine. I know its still to early to tell but I remain hopefull

I go with my "3 inch rule here"... If you mark the spear and it pushes 3" it stands a great chance of making it.. I say this because I have seen a large amount of big palms moved that push 2"+ and then die... all from the remaining root reserves..

[Josh-O]

Thanks for the advice Bill. Ill keep my eye on it and report back with pictures

[Ken Johnson]

What? Tubers? I want to see them! Since monocots dont have tap roots you have got my attention.

[virtualpalm]

The fungicide drench is important. I would also apply a fast-acting high-phosphorous fertilizer to stimulate new root growth.

[waykoolplantz]

What? Tubers? I want to see them! Since monocots dont have tap roots you have got my attentio

You're not the only one who found this interesting...the next issue of Palms will have more info.

[waykoolplantz]

What? Tubers? I want to see them! Since monocots dont have tap roots you have got my attentio

You're not the only one who found this interesting...the next issue of Palms will have more info.

[Moose]

What? Tubers? I want to see them! Since monocots dont have tap roots you have got my attentio

You're not the only one who found this interesting...the next issue of Palms will have more info.

Dr. Zona certainly looks intrigued

[Josh-O]

If you look at the second picture you can see the giant carrot like root. They snap very easily. I'm going to do another fungicide drench today. I'll post more pic'c of the Rav, Z getting craned out. It was a huge project.

[waykoolplantz]

What? Tubers? I want to see them! Since monocots dont have tap roots you have got my attentio

You're not the only one who found this interesting...the next issue of Palms will have more info.

Dr. Zona certainly looks intrigued

Dr Dransfield too

[Mandrew968]

But surely they, of all people, would have known about these tubers before us, no? I think they both just love palms and or they are amazed at Mike's garden, most likely...

[Ken Johnson]

I think Mike is hinting that they did not know about the roots and that new research will tell us exactly what is going on.

[LJG]

Josh, I had one a little smaller dug from Gary Levine's place. It took almost two years but finally died despite my best efforts. In all fairness you got a much cleaner rootball so you will have better luck. One thing I noticed when I dug out my dead plant was that all the old, cut roots were dead and new roots did try forming. I have a feeling these really fat (almost cycad like) roots if cut into from a shovel have no way to heal so the plant aborts them. Also the huge roots when exposed provide a much larger target for disease. Mine finally died from some fungus.

[Josh-O]

I'm thinking that's the case. How often do we dig up Giant Rav X's to look at the root system?

[MattyB]

My instinct would be to allow it to dry out thoroughly between waterings. In other words, treat it more like an aloe than a palm.

[Josh-O]

Matt, would you recommend watering it once a week? I have it in a palm mix that retains a lot of moisture.

[waykoolplantz]

I can think of no one better than Gary Levine to ask...seems he grows his giants in rocks...and must have figured out what it needs to achieve great success

[MattyB]

I know they like water as long as they're in well draining soil, but for this transplant, due to the fatty roots being susceptible to rot, I'd let the mix dry out. Large box, moisture retentive soil, mmmmmm, water once every two weeks if it's warm. This is just my instinct, not fact. Ive had pretty good luck going with my gut in the past though.

[Josh-O]

thanks for the advice Matty. I'll follow your gut as long as you don't have acid re-flux disease..ha!

[Moose]

How is this palm doing? Showing any ill effects?