Can someone give me some advice on thinning out clumps of Dypsis Lutescens? I have a few clumps that I want to clean up and thin out, but before I did, I figured I should ask if there's anything I need to know first. For example: do I make the cuts at or below the soil line, etc....

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

This is a little guy but I just trim as close to the trunk as possible. I try to keep it to 4 or 5 trunks. I've probably removed about 10 suckers in the last 2 years from this one. I haven't had any rot or other issues from it.

This is a little guy but I just trim as close to the trunk as possible. I try to keep it to 4 or 5 trunks. I've probably removed about 10 suckers in the last 2 years from this one. I haven't had any rot or other issues from it.

Little guy? You should see mine!

Wait....that didn't sound right....

I just noticed the random baby water logo in the right corner.... Kinda creepy.

I just noticed the random baby water logo in the right corner.... Kinda creepy.

I didn't want to say anything

Can someone give me some advice on thinning out clumps of Dypsis Lutescens? I have a few clumps that I want to clean up and thin out, but before I did, I figured I should ask if there's anything I need to know first. For example: do I make the cuts at or below the soil line, etc....

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

Hi Jason, make the cuts as low as you can to the ground level. Ask yourself what is the purpose of thinning them out ? Is it for a better look ? Are they planted for a screen/privacy ? Consider adding bromeliades into the areas where the thinning out is completed.

I thinned some of mine out about a year ago, there's a thread on it, I'll see if I can locate same.

Here it is

Thinning out Lutescens

Thanks Steve and Wal. I appreciate the advice, and Steve - thanks for the pics.

Wal - Only one of my clumps is really going to be used as some sort of privacy, but it doesn't need to be too thick to do the job. I'll probably leave 8-10 stems on that one as it was planted out from a large pot and has tons of stems, and new clumpings happening all the time. It just looks like a mess right now.

do these speed up at all when thinned? They're not real fast here in California, so it would be great to be able to speed them up a little bit with less competition in the roots.

Just got in from trimming up my 3 clumps of Dypsis Lutescens and thought I would post before and after pictures on here

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

This was the thickest to start with and I left the most trunks on this one since it will be used for the most privacy as it gets larger. I might thin it out more as time goes by.

And here's just a little guy that's the youngest and most recent of my Lutescens plantings.

Before:

After:

I'm really glad I thinned these all out. They were needing it pretty badly and I'm really happy with how they look now.

Looks really nice now. I know these are at the bottom for most palm growers but I love them! Well thinned out they look amazing. They can add some nice color to a rather green garden. Yours look great Jason !

That did turn out nice Jason. I think its a great looking palm if its kept up.

Thanks Steve and Chris. yeah, I really like these.

Edited February 25, 201214 yr by Cedric

Not sure if this just my own experience but the more you thin out when they are this size the more persistently they throw up shoots and the more damage you end up doing to the base.

These are very fast growing, and in my opinion best left alone to outgrow that thicket look cause eventually you will hit problems with fungus and or rot as they also love loads of water and mulch, not only that but you will get a much more balanced clump of many more thick "canes" if you leave it alone. The skinny ones eventually can be neatly removed when the main trunks are about six meters or so. The dwarf one sooner. Problem is the damage of removing shoots early often only shows up when the trunks are bigger.

Cedric is correct. These guys love water and they are very fast. Here is one of mine.

Okay, here's how mine look after 12 months from pruning. Noticeable are the new stems that actually look quite attractive with their feathery leaves (imo) at this point. In another 12-24 months, it might be prune time again, ah it's all good, anything to get me in the garden to observe palm trees is a good day. I've had rain in deluge quantities of late, so that helps with the appearance no doubt.

One of the commonest palms but also one of the most difficult to grow nicely. Im sure the yellow can be attractive but it also comes with necrotic leaflet tips (more often than not entire leaves) premature leaf drop and a rather messy overall look of scrawny crowns. Im convinced this works best as a shade or emergent palm because I have none of the problems in the shade but also none of the yellow....oh well there are bamboos for that.

'BigFrond' I love your Veltheimia they are doing brilliantly, that soft dusky powdery colour and crisp shiny leaf that when wet glisten and sparkle, something I used to love coming across in the deep dark forest floor of an ancient ancestral forest patch in the Eastern Cape Coast, stands out in often a more or less monochrome leaf litter so nicely. Makes me want to go on a long hike in the cool soft drizzle searching for jewels like these, monkeys huddled along branches odd robin flitting among the dry leaves .

A word of warning to those in Florida. I would not prune any woody canes at all on these, it only invites ganoderma. If you start when the clump is young and only cut out the green shoots, you can limit the clump to only a few desired canes, and eventually the bases flare out and it stops clumping. I think this palm looks better grown as a single seedling instead of how the trade usually puts several seeds in a pot.

As Jerry stated above, I cut about 25 large canes from an overgrown Dypsis lutescens and now I have ganoderma. In Florida, apparently this lives in our soil, but open wounds just invite the fungus to enter the root space and eventually kill the entire palm. It took about 10 years, but it happened. After the 25 canes were cut, I had 12-15 nicely trimmed trunks, now I have only 2 left. Additionally, ganoderma has spread to other clustering palms and they are now dying off.