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Tilted Chamaedorea metallica


abdalav

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My Chamaedorea metallica. I don't if it's normal that this plant bend like this. Does anybody know if it straightens itself by its own or will it keep growing tilted?

20190110_161952.jpg

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I suspect it is probably reaching toward a light source. Do you let it sit in front of a window but never rotate the pot? If you want it straight stake it. You can find bamboo stakes at a garden center or go out and collect a straight stick. Use zip ties or hair clips to secure stem to stake. I stake many of my potted palms to support and protect them.

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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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Chamaedoreas are mostly understory shade palms but they are still green plants that need light to photosynthesize. If you have one sitting in a dark house, it will grow toward any nearby window in an effort to feed itself. It will grow straight up if its brightest source of light is above not off to one side. My metallicas growing underneath shadecloth outside on my back lanai grow straight toward the sky above them.

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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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I have about 10 in one pot in my house. I just let them lean and I think it looks cool. They do tend to grow towards a light source like a window but if you rotate it often it should stay straight. 

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34 minutes ago, Chris Chance said:

I have about 10 in one pot in my house. I just let them lean and I think it looks cool. They do tend to grow towards a light source like a window but if you rotate it often it should stay straight. 

Please, post some pictures, if possible!

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1 hour ago, abdalav said:

Please, post some pictures, if possible!

Okay it's actually 6 in the pot. They don't look perfect because the kids messed with them but growing well. Very low light situation so they're stretched out a thinner looking but it's a great house plant. 

20190110_142309.jpg

20190110_142348.jpg

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  • 1 month later...
On 1/10/2019 at 4:27 PM, Pal Meir said:

You have to repot it if you want it growing like these ones:

5c378e5f27231_Chamaedoreametallica2002-0

5c378e669600b_Chamaedoreametallica2002-1

How old were your metallicas when you took this picture in 1982? And are they still alive?

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2 hours ago, abdalav said:

How old were your metallicas when you took this picture in 1982? And are they still alive?

*1982 means »germinated in 1982« and 2002-07-14 is the date of the photo, so the 3 palms were 20 years old. I gave them away to friends in 2008, but don’t know if they are still alive …

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My photos at flickr: flickr.com/photos/palmeir/albums

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4 minutes ago, Pal Meir said:

*1982 means »germinated in 1982« and 2002-07-14 is the date of the photo, so the 3 palms were 20 years old. I gave them away to friends in 2008, but don’t know if they are still alive …

Do you know how long would they take to reach 2.5 meters high? 

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Mine had a lean years ago. It was in a big pot in cheap commercial potting mix, and did well for many years of neglect. I didnt turn it so it grew towards the window, I think that it was turned accidentally then I noticed the tilt. Then just last year the last two leaves were smaller than normal, I think that the potting mix finally collapsed and didn't drain well. I then replaced the soil with vermiculite and little round volcanic rocks and a bit of new cheap potting mix. The closest that I could get to the now recommended fast draining mixes. The latest leaf is still small but hasn't finished growing yet I think.

With 28 leaves not counting the spear, I'm pretty happy with it. Oh, and I have never fertilized it, but I might need to now.

 20190216_182703.thumb.jpg.4651a3f880bcd56ba029d9ac1710994d.jpg

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Cheers Steve

It is not dead, it is just senescence.

   

 

 

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On ‎2‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 10:45 PM, gtsteve said:

Mine had a lean years ago. It was in a big pot in cheap commercial potting mix, and did well for many years of neglect. I didnt turn it so it grew towards the window, I think that it was turned accidentally then I noticed the tilt. Then just last year the last two leaves were smaller than normal, I think that the potting mix finally collapsed and didn't drain well. I then replaced the soil with vermiculite and little round volcanic rocks and a bit of new cheap potting mix. The closest that I could get to the now recommended fast draining mixes. The latest leaf is still small but hasn't finished growing yet I think. 

With 28 leaves not counting the spear, I'm pretty happy with it. Oh, and I have never fertilized it, but I might need to now.

 20190216_182703.thumb.jpg.4651a3f880bcd56ba029d9ac1710994d.jpg

How old is it?

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I forget exactly how old it is but it must be about 8 or 10 years.

That brown leaf tipping has only just started very recently too, just when the new leaves started to bonsai.

I favor the old fashioned soil mixes with a high organic ratio and higher water holding capacity, because I often go away for weeks at a time,

However It does need to be changed more often than the high rock/fired clay mixes that don't break down and go soggy at the bottom.

I need the extra water holding and higher natural nutrients. 

I think that the plant can hold so many leaves because the big pot is full of roots; more roots in nutrients more leaves.

A smaller pot is generally preferred if you can can feed and water more regularly than I do.

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Cheers Steve

It is not dead, it is just senescence.

   

 

 

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Indeed, I see your plant is full of leaves. Most of the pics I see show only crown leaves. Do you know if metallica leaves fall naturally or do we have to trim them? I've read somewhere we shouldn't prune this species...

 

ps.: I have already cut three leaves of my plant.

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I only trim off old crunchy, brown dead leaves. Some nutrients are mobile and are reused by the plant taken out of the old leaves as it dies and used in the new ones.

I then crunch down and mulch the dead leaves back into the soil so that it has the immobile nutrients too.

"Mobile nutrients are nitrogen in the form of nitratephosphorus (P) in the form of phosphatepotassium (K), magnesium (Mg), chlorine (Cl), zinc (Zn),

and molybdenum (Mo). Calcium (Ca), sulfur (S), iron (Fe), boron (B) and copper (Cu) are immobile."

http://www.aqua-rebell.com/aquatic-plants/mobile-immobile-nutrients.html

 

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Cheers Steve

It is not dead, it is just senescence.

   

 

 

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