Satakentia Liukiuensis not looking well

[Missi]

3 hours ago, Orly said:

I marked the spear yesterday late afternoon and checked just this morning, 1/2" of growth overnight.  Well we know it's moving.  Maybe a result of all the extra watering from the past couple days?

Hooray!  This is awesome to see!! 

[Orly]

1 hour ago, Missi said:

Hooray!  This is awesome to see!! 

Yeah.  I'd feel a lot better if I start getting some new fronds that are hopefully better acclimated to the weather.  Getting a heavy downpour of rain right now.

 

[Missi]

On 7/21/2017, 1:42:32, Orly said:

Yeah.  I'd feel a lot better if I start getting some new fronds that are hopefully better acclimated to the weather.  Getting a heavy downpour of rain right now.

 

Those hearty downpours always soothe the soul 

[Orly]

That crazy S FL heat we were talking about.....it's here.  

Good progress with my Satakentia.  The main spear is now opening up.

 

The secondary spears is still growing well.

 

[dmc]

Keep watering looks dry 

 

[Orly]

I'm watering it plenty now I think.  Anymore and it might grow gills. 

[Missi]

17 hours ago, Orly said:

That crazy S FL heat we were talking about.....it's here.  

Wednesday and Thursday there was no rain for my area. It isn't forecasted to rain here today or tomorrow either. This heat with no rain really puts a hurting on my plants. And dangit! I forgot to turn the sprinkler system on AGAIN 

[Orly]

Update since last July.  After heeding the advice on increasing the waterings, my Satake plam is been doing much better.  The new growth sunburn resistance has been vastly improved.  Once the growing season starts soon I hope to see more growth.

 

 

[Moose]

Mine from 3 years ago

[Moose]

Crownshaft

[Orly]

1 hour ago, Moose said:

Crownshaft

Nice. Can't wait till mine gets there.  How old?

[Moose]

21 hours ago, Moose said:

Crownshaft

 

20 hours ago, Orly said:

Nice. Can't wait till mine gets there.  How old?

8 years from a three gallon container. I did punch about a three foot wide by 24 inch deep whole hole in the limestone when planted. Shaded by avocado until it grew into the sun. Still gets shaded from afternoon sun. At this stage it adds a foot a year to the trunk. No supplemental irrigation in years. It is heavily mulched.

[sonoranfans]

I bought 2 of these from Ken Johnson beginning of last august.  He said he had cut off 3 leaves of each prior to transplant to help the palm hold water.  All these plants lose water by leaf transpiration and part of the function of transpiration is to cool by evaporation of water.  If it has a small root system it cant take up much water and the sun will require the transpiration of water to cool the palm.  The other and often overlooked factor is soil.  If the soil dries fast, it can dry out the roots as well.  If the soil has lots of sand you have to prepare to ensure that it retains moisture.  It does little good watering if the soil is dried quickly thereafter.  This palm is a wet lover, it loves water.  I planted mine in 1/2 topsoil plus garden mulch mixed with native sand, and I put one right near(10' and downhill) a leaky spigot, a definite wet spot.  The other went in near the grass on the east side of the house which had been mulched for 3 years and was getting auto irrigation water 2x a week..  But I still watered/soaked them every other day as directed by ken.  I had one leaf start to brown on each from the tip to half way.  When temps dropped in late fall, I backed off with manual watering.  They each see ~4 hrs of direct summer sun now, but after they get over the house it will be more like 8hrs.    Since the beginning of august, 4 1/2 months, they have each opened a new leaf and spears rose to replace those that opened.  The partly browned leaves will remain on the palms until they are all brown.  The big lesson I have learned in my FL yard is that sandy soil is a pain in the A__ , regardless of humidity, and its the most difficult part of growing palms in florida.  If you have wet loving palms and want a robust palm, ammend and mulch the soil.  By the way, kens farm is limestone rock, he has to use a jackhammer like device to dig the palms up.  Every palm I have received from him has had a lot of limestone rock in the rootball, HEAVY.   My larger satakentia with just under 3' clear trunk weighed over 400lbs, probably 80%+ was in the rootball.  Kens limestone rock soil doesn't go dry the way sand does, it almost looks like the water table is just a foot or two below the surface.  I also understand satakentia like that alkaline rock, and the specimens on his farm seems to back that up.  I will use dolomite gravel and mulch mulch mulch around mine. 

[sonoranfans]

Here is one of my satakentia, throwing a new spear after one opened, all since august.  You can see the leaf that is almost all brown.  That happened after planting in spite of watering, probably due to roots not being able to absorb enough water.   This palm sees mid day sun for 3-4 hrs at most.  It seems to be adapting well, enjoying the rain.  So far so good.

[steve99]

I had mine surrounded by shade cloth when first planted as a seedling in 2014    The hot sun doesn't seem to bother it too much now.