All my Cham tuercks - Spring 2019

March 25, 2019

Looks like spring is pretty much here to stay and I have a lot of work to do: spring check-ups, fertilization, insecticide and miticide treatments of my extensive container garden. This afternoon I decided to tackle my 15 Chamaedorea tuerckheimiis (Vera Cruz) which range from 2" pots to 3g. I got my first palms as 1g from Dale Holton in SE FL in 2011. This species is notoriously temperamental to grow but I've managed to achieve a cautious balance in keeping them alive and happy - most of the time. But in 2017 I repotted my 5 original palms and within months I lost two of them - they started dying leaf-by-leaf and nothing I did could save them. I've been leery of repotting ever since. I've managed to acquire a few more since, including 6 2-leaf seedlings that I germinated after a year-long wait. I've since moved them to their own 2" pots. But I am concerned that two of the medium palms had more leaf die-back this winter than I'd like but I'm hoping the work I did today will cheer them up. An unhappy potato chip palm usually ends up a dead one.

How did I manage the feat of keeping this testy little palm plugging along in SWFL? Well, with a lot of research, trial and error. First, I keep them all in pots. My soil literally kills some species of Chamaedorea and I don't experiment with a palm this valuable. Second, they stay outdoors year round (I keep no houseplants). This species has more trouble with my sweltering heat, esp. at night, rather than cold. And sun turns them into potato chip crisps. I keep my Cham. tuercks. in deep shade in my jungle sitting on slotted shelf units placed over mulch. There they receive rain and irrigation while dense canopy keeps ambient temps 10-15 degrees lower in summer. That means I don't use them as decorative eye candy to wow visitors or stick them in garden boxes with geraniums. "Grow them, don't show them" is a good motto. I check in on them every couple weeks or so but otherwise leave them to their devices. They seem to like it that way.

So, front and center this spring are my 15 Cham tuercks. I hope to still have all of them sit for photos next fall.