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To fertalize or not


palm789

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I am debating if i should fertalize my newly planted palms 2x trachycarpus and 1x butia.

The reason i am debating is that they are a dark green and planted into nice draining clay soil and dont want to over fert etc.

I was tempted to buy slow release fert but i gathered is there any point as clay is nutrient rich soil anyways.

What do you guys think.

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I tend to lean away from using fertilizer unless my soil has a deficiency (ex. magnesium or potassium) or when plants are new in the ground.  If you do, slow release is the way to go.

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Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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Give them time to overcome planting shock and establish root systems in the ground.

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 always wait to fertilize until a month or two after planting and then I fertilize palms aggressively (but do not over-fertilize) year round.

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I typically use humic acid and fish fertilizer for the first few months after planting, then I go with florikan palm fert plus humic and fish fertilizer(5-1-1).  the humic acid stimulates mycorrhiza in the soil for better root growth/recovery.   The florikan can be applied as infrequently as 2x a year and wont burn.   It actually takes about 1 month for it to start its release.  It delivers using an osmotic membrane, releases all nutrients uniformly over time and will only release in heat(not winter).   Most fertiliers lose potassium fast during rainstorms, this is a particularly problematic issue in sandy soils.  I do use florikan on my potted palms.  But after a transplant to the ground, I wait 2 months before applying it.  Some say it cost more and it does, but I use about 3-4x less fertilizer and dont get deficiencies in my palms as it doesn't rinse away in rain like other "slow release" fertilizers.  Less fertilizer is also less salts in the soil and groundwater.  In clay soil I had fewer issues with regular fertilizer, though it could still burn.   

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Formerly in Gilbert AZ, zone 9a/9b. Now in Palmetto, Florida Zone 9b/10a??

 

Tom Blank

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Thank you for advice they only been in the ground for a month there is spear growth but slow especially the trachycarpus considering its extremely leafy for a 6ft palm.the leaves not as dark as all others,still dont know if fert would help green up oldest leaves half way down trunk and speed up that spear growth though.

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On 5/24/2019 at 8:53 AM, kinzyjr said:

I tend to lean away from using fertilizer unless my soil has a deficiency (ex. magnesium or potassium) or when plants are new in the ground.  If you do, slow release is the way to go.

Interesting. I fertilize 4x per year because my soil (sand) has no nutrients. In rainy season I sometimes go monthly to every 1.5 months. I'll usually test my soil 2x per year. 

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Here in SoCal, unless you send in your soil for testing, in my case, fertilize heavily. And give them salt as well.... oh , wait: If they are not Cocos nucifera, do not apply salt, just fertilize accordingly.

5 year high 42.2C/108F (07/06/2018)--5 year low 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)--Lowest recent/current winter: 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)

 

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5 hours ago, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Interesting. I fertilize 4x per year because my soil (sand) has no nutrients. In rainy season I sometimes go monthly to every 1.5 months. I'll usually test my soil 2x per year. 

I have very different soil here.  It's relatively rich and dark, especially by Florida standards:

20190416_175233_DarkSoil_1600.jpg

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Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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11 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

I have very different soil here.  It's relatively rich and dark, especially by Florida standards:

20190416_175233_DarkSoil_1600.jpg

Very cool. I looked at a FL soil map and you appear to be in yellow...sand and loam. I'm in green...sand and sand. I am on the SE side of Orlando. 

20170226_140254.jpg

Screenshot_20190527-155218_Chrome.jpg

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42 minutes ago, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Very cool. I looked at a FL soil map and you appear to be in yellow...sand and loam. I'm in green...sand and sand. I am on the SE side of Orlando.

You pretty much nailed it.  I live in the "Lakeland Highlands" at this point - SE of downtown Lakeland.

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Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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On 5/26/2019 at 8:43 PM, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Interesting. I fertilize 4x per year because my soil (sand) has no nutrients. In rainy season I sometimes go monthly to every 1.5 months. I'll usually test my soil 2x per year. 

With a true osmotic timed release you dont need to fertilize that often.  My soil is like yours apparently, gray sand to 3' deep in many areas but some construction clay near the house.  Sand has ZERO cation exchange so heavy mulching to increase cation exchange and the use of an osmotic timed release makes things a lot easier.  It doesn't rinse away with rain (florikan>>>osmocote), UF tested Florikan for timed release and it was still delivering potassium 5 months later.  It stopped my K deficiency problems on my palms.   K deficiency is the most common deficiency in florida as its the fastest mineral to rise away in sandy soils in the rain.  An osmotic membrane fertilizer delivery cannot be rinsed away, like other coated tyytimed releases.  When I lived out in arizona the clay had such great cation exchange, I didn't need timed release fertilizer at all, it would have been a waste of money probably.

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Formerly in Gilbert AZ, zone 9a/9b. Now in Palmetto, Florida Zone 9b/10a??

 

Tom Blank

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Interesting post i noticed my clay is very fast draining when not compact its very 'grainy'. I not long found some slow release fertalizer in my shed a slow release npk 12-7-19 says micro nutrients and also includes iron,copper,magnese and zinc,is this good enough for palms?

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For the first couple of months I'll water them with seaweed and apply seaweed as a foliar spray.  After that I'll use Palmgain every 4-6 weeks for April-Sept.  During planting I add mychorriza to the hole.

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Palm789, Sounds fine for palms as long as you don't have high phos in your soil.  In florida we use 8-2-12 plus micros since we have  high phos soils.  The "slow release" part is tricky.  some use a coating that dissolves and then rain can wash away your fertilizer after a month or so.  I had some sulfur coated by lesco, just didnt work to keep my K deficiencies in check even though I spread it every couple months.  If you have clay, you very likely have a good cation exchange capacity.  Might be in the UK feeding by roots is limited by lack of heat.  

Formerly in Gilbert AZ, zone 9a/9b. Now in Palmetto, Florida Zone 9b/10a??

 

Tom Blank

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I've heard about Trachycarpus growing well in the UK but only when fertilized.

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On 5/27/2019 at 3:54 PM, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Very cool. I looked at a FL soil map and you appear to be in yellow...sand and loam. I'm in green...sand and sand. I am on the SE side of Orlando. 

Screenshot_20190527-155218_Chrome.jpg

I'm right on the yellow-green borderline just SW of Lake Monroe, that explains why part of my yard is rich and needs almost no fertilizer.  Bananas grow like mad there with just regular water.  The other side of the house is primarily coarse sand down 3-4 feet, and I have continual Potassium deficiencies in that area.  Last year I started dumping small amounts of burn pile ashes on a couple of palms, not enough to counter the acidity but hopefully enough to help deliver some extra K.  It seems to help, we'll see once the rainy season finally arrives.

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On 5/28/2019 at 9:05 AM, sonoranfans said:

With a true osmotic timed release you dont need to fertilize that often.  My soil is like yours apparently, gray sand to 3' deep in many areas but some construction clay near the house.  Sand has ZERO cation exchange so heavy mulching to increase cation exchange and the use of an osmotic timed release makes things a lot easier.  It doesn't rinse away with rain (florikan>>>osmocote), UF tested Florikan for timed release and it was still delivering potassium 5 months later.  It stopped my K deficiency problems on my palms.   K deficiency is the most common deficiency in florida as its the fastest mineral to rise away in sandy soils in the rain.  An osmotic membrane fertilizer delivery cannot be rinsed away, like other coated tyytimed releases.  When I lived out in arizona the clay had such great cation exchange, I didn't need timed release fertilizer at all, it would have been a waste of money probably.

I adjusted to the 4x feeding based on soil results. It seems to work. Last summer I had 35" of rain in 3 months. Even slow release will be consumed. I'm due for another soil test in a few weeks since I fertilized on 4/1. Potassium and boron shortages affect the coconut and manganese for the adonidia. If I don't put manganese down every 3 months I develop frizzle top. 

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