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Pritchardia Repotting


Big Eye

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Aloha Everyone!

When do you know it's time to bump your 1 gal up?  And is it best to go to a 3 gal or 5 gal?  My little one has a couple thick roots creeping out of the drainage holes but doesn't seem to be pot bound.  I'd say it's about a foot tall with about 5 very healthy leaves (don't know if that makes any difference). Wondering if now is a good time to pot up or if I can wait a couple more weeks/months?  According to the tag, it's about 2 years old but not sure how long it's been in that pot.

Sorry if this is the wrong section of the forum.  Please feel free to move it to its appropriate location if it is.

Thanks for any responses in advance and have a great day!

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Photos? What species, i.e., which Pritchardia? In general do not move a very small palm into a large pot - you set yourself up for overwatering and rot. If you live in an area with significant winter weather better to wait until spring to repot. Some palms have sturdy roots and are not bothered by repotting, others are root sensitive and require great care. I'm not aware Pritchardias are exceptionally root sensitive but don't know for sure. But some of them, i.e., P. pacifica, are cold sensitive. You need to provide details.

Meg

Palms of Victory I shall wear

Cape Coral (It's Just Paradise)
Florida
Zone 10A on the Isabelle Canal
Elevation: 15 feet

I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade.

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From the description, I think I would go to a 2-gal pot. Pritchardia seedlings have a bunch of fine roots, which is good if they hold onto the soil, so that the whole rootball can be moved undisturbed.

 

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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25 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Photos? What species, i.e., which Pritchardia? In general do not move a very small palm into a large pot - you set yourself up for overwatering and rot. If you live in an area with significant winter weather better to wait until spring to repot. Some palms have sturdy roots and are not bothered by repotting, others are root sensitive and require great care. I'm not aware Pritchardias are exceptionally root sensitive but don't know for sure. But some of them, i.e., P. pacifica, are cold sensitive. You need to provide details.

Meg - Thanks for your quick response!  Sorry, I don't have photos on hand at the moment.  I can post when I get home this evening.  It's a P. arecina.  I live in Hawaii so winter is basically like summer.  Just a little bit chillier.

11 minutes ago, mike in kurtistown said:

From the description, I think I would go to a 2-gal pot. Pritchardia seedlings have a bunch of fine roots, which is good if they hold onto the soil, so that the whole rootball can be moved undisturbed.

 

Mike - Will do!  It's a good thing I asked before jumping in head first.  The seedling would have went into a 5 gal that I have lying around :blush:  Also, I've just learned how many fine roots they have and how delicate they are!  With the type of soil it's in (very coarse), I would think that a lot would get ripped out during the repotting... 

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3 hours ago, Big Eye said:

I live in Hawaii

Hence the Thunnus obesus or Ahi?  With the potting soil I use, I find it best to let the soil dry out a bit so it sticks together before removing a plant from a pot.  Good luck with your Pritchardia arecina.

33.0782 North -117.305 West  at 72 feet elevation

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Actually, the plant might do fine if put in a 3 or 5-gal, though Meg's comments apply. I like to up them in steps so that the roots fill each pot in succession, then the root mass holds together as it goes to the next size.

 

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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I have found that if I put my seedlings straight into 3-5 gallon pots, they grow much faster than bumping up along the way. and you donʻt get root disturbance. Plus I donʻt have to worry about watering as much if it is a dry period. Thats just my thought.

aloha

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On 12/5/2018, 2:07:22, Tracy said:

Hence the Thunnus obesus or Ahi?  With the potting soil I use, I find it best to let the soil dry out a bit so it sticks together before removing a plant from a pot.  Good luck with your Pritchardia arecina.

Tracy - The Eye is for "I"sland.  I live on the biggest island of Hawaii.  Speaking of ahi, I could go for some poke (raw fish) right about now!  Good deals.  I will keep that in mind!  Thanks!

22 hours ago, mike in kurtistown said:

Actually, the plant might do fine if put in a 3 or 5-gal, though Meg's comments apply. I like to up them in steps so that the roots fill each pot in succession, then the root mass holds together as it goes to the next size.

 

Mike - Thanks!  I looked at the roots closer last night, I think what I'm seeing is just the tap root poking out of the bottom.  Afraid that if I pot up now, all the soil will fall and take some roots with it!

 

10 hours ago, colin Peters said:

I have found that if I put my seedlings straight into 3-5 gallon pots, they grow much faster than bumping up along the way. and you donʻt get root disturbance. Plus I donʻt have to worry about watering as much if it is a dry period. Thats just my thought.

aloha

Colin - Good to know!  I'm the sort of person that bumps up the plants a couple pot sizes instead of up one.  Not sure if that's a good thing or not but knock on wood, I haven't lost any plants yet!

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I've been successful here on the Big Island when potting up more than one size pot at once. When I lived in California I was more cautious and took my time potting up from one size to the next because winters were a bit cold and I didn't want the roots sitting in too much cold, wet soil. But here on the Big Island, where palms grow so much faster I've had success jumping up a couple sizes at once. I guess it could depend on the species and I don't have a lot of experience with Pritchardia yet. 

I would advise mixing in some cinder here with your potting mix so it drains quickly and doesn't get too heavy and soaked with all of our rain. 

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34 minutes ago, Hilo Jason said:

I've been successful here on the Big Island when potting up more than one size pot at once. When I lived in California I was more cautious and took my time potting up from one size to the next because winters were a bit cold and I didn't want the roots sitting in too much cold, wet soil. But here on the Big Island, where palms grow so much faster I've had success jumping up a couple sizes at once. I guess it could depend on the species and I don't have a lot of experience with Pritchardia yet. 

I would advise mixing in some cinder here with your potting mix so it drains quickly and doesn't get too heavy and soaked with all of our rain. 

Jason - Thanks for the reply!  My soil consists of ProMix and black cinder.  Does that sound about right or should I be using more cinder?  Is it wise to add perlite to the mix as well or is that not needed?  I'm learning that loulu seem much more sensitive to soils than my other native plants.  There's something about repotting plants that calms the mind! 

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1 hour ago, Big Eye said:

Jason - Thanks for the reply!  My soil consists of ProMix and black cinder.  Does that sound about right or should I be using more cinder?  Is it wise to add perlite to the mix as well or is that not needed?  I'm learning that loulu seem much more sensitive to soils than my other native plants.  There's something about repotting plants that calms the mind! 

I'm not familiar with ProMix so I can't say for sure.  I don't use anything fancy, I get the Palm / Cactus potting soil mix at Home Depot and mix that and Cinder 50/50.  I don't think you need to worry about perlite.  

In the past I preferred to use various Fox Farm soils and mixed them up in a formula that Len posted about on his Married to Plants blog.  That was like black gold for me in California and I saw a big difference in my potted palms once I did that.   But Fox Farm is very expensive here so I'm just going with the cheap stuff and letting the climate take care of the rest, seems to be working so far.  

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Jason,

I do the same about 50/50 cinder, potting mix, no need to use perilite. I only use 3-5 gallon or so pots for Pritchardia seedlings. They grow like rockets here, it is their 

home, none the less, and the big seed ones have, good sized root systems and grow very.quickly. I use lots of nutricote Itʻs the only nursery fertilizer I use. I know Jeff  Marcus uses it also, so gotta be good. Many of the other palm seedlings you have to be careful and start out with small pottings and step up as the grow. 

Here is a very un-scientific comparison showing of one gallon Pritchardia planting vs. 3-5 gallon planting at seedling sizes at same date about a year ago. Clearly the larger potted one has grown faster, but its only two plants for comparison, of Pritchardia arecina. 

aloha

Colin

IMG_3091 4.jpg

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  • 3 months later...

 

On 12/7/2018 at 4:39 PM, colin Peters said:

Jason,

I do the same about 50/50 cinder, potting mix, no need to use perilite. I only use 3-5 gallon or so pots for Pritchardia seedlings. They grow like rockets here, it is their 

home, none the less, and the big seed ones have, good sized root systems and grow very.quickly. I use lots of nutricote Itʻs the only nursery fertilizer I use. I know Jeff  Marcus uses it also, so gotta be good. Many of the other palm seedlings you have to be careful and start out with small pottings and step up as the grow. 

Here is a very un-scientific comparison showing of one gallon Pritchardia planting vs. 3-5 gallon planting at seedling sizes at same date about a year ago. Clearly the larger potted one has grown faster, but its only two plants for comparison, of Pritchardia arecina. 

aloha

Colin

Totally forgot about this post.  It's a good thing it's still here! As a beginner, it's very helpful.

As for fertilizers, I've been using Osmocote Plus Indoor/Outdoor. Should I be using Nutricote instead? I've noticed my hardyi in 1 gal. pots have been getting yellowish spots as well as big brown irregular shapes on them. Possible nutrient deficiency or sunburn? Initially, I thought it was burn from the neem oil to deter the red spider mites so I took them out of direct sun and under the overhang to monitor. I'll try and get some pics of the leaves.

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