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Repotting a small Licuala peltata var. sumawongii


piping plovers

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After repotting my Joey, it was time to repot the L. peltata var. sumawongii. I adopted these both in 2017. The sumawongii was starting to need water more frequently than once/week, was pushing a new spear, and showing roots at the pot’s drainage holes.  Also, the sumawongii was likely getting jealous of its brother Joey’s new larger pot :lol2:.   As you will see in photos below, it has been 24 months since it was repotted.  First photo dated 2017 and the remaining photos are June 2019 repotting time.  At first I thought the new pot would be too big, but once the root ball was in the pot it seemed just right.  There was enough room to add fresh media below the root ball and about an inch around the sides of the root ball. I continued with my potting mix ratio of 1/3 each of leca clay; orchid/bark commercial mix; peat/perlite commercial mix.  I use a diluted houseplant fertilizer every other watering.  The last photo is a month after repotting, pushing its largest leaf ever.  So excited. 

1402193101_Sumawongiijune2017.thumb.jpg.d3d2324818f52e1aa5e7575d4d06ba1c.jpgWP_20190525_16_48_13_Pro.thumb.jpg.b0515c8b96fc1546c8976551ec1b0965.jpgWP_20190525_16_51_07_Pro.thumb.jpg.87274bfc8670141531f2d3c854c943f3.jpgWP_20190525_16_52_44_Pro.thumb.jpg.b181ff175f2e48b47a8dbbce210e7fb4.jpgWP_20190525_17_07_08_Pro.thumb.jpg.4ca4ac6801b4c71e70f568946fdd35cc.jpgWP_20190706_16_19_59_Pro.thumb.jpg.09504c1214b3aee48c0a4dab67cd8fd1.jpg

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I had five of these in the ground in a place where I needed to put a car port. I was going to try and dig them up and put them in pots to save them. They were a little bigger than the the biggest one you posted. The crew doing the retaining wall knew I wanted to save them. But while I attended to some other things first they decided to dig them up themselves.

These were not "plant people." The ground they were in was full of lava rock - so moving palms in this "soil" is difficult - resulting in mostly bare-rooted plants when I do it. I came back to find them crammed into small pots with roots out the top and native soil in the pots. I took care of them anyway expecting the worst.

Short story - they all made it - I just replanted them after about a year and a half. Apparently and surprisingly these are really tough palms - at least in Hawaii.

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animated-volcano-image-0010.gif.71ccc48bfc1ec622a0adca187eabaaa4.gif

Kona, on The Big Island
Hawaii - Land of Volcanoes

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Thanks for sharing that story Dypsisdean.  And I am glad to hear that they all survived that ordeal.  With a grouping of five I am sure they will be developing into an impressive focal point in your garden over time.

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Looks wonderful and I really like the ornamental pot selection!! I recently repotted mine as well, maybe 3 months ago. It was in a 1 gallon and the closest size up I had were 3 gallons so I just went for it. It's doing fine. I should order some 1.5 and 2 gallon containers to have on hand.

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Naples (inland), FL - technically 10a but more like 9b in the winter :hmm:

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5 hours ago, Missi said:

Looks wonderful and I really like the ornamental pot selection!! I recently repotted mine as well, maybe 3 months ago. It was in a 1 gallon and the closest size up I had were 3 gallons so I just went for it. It's doing fine. I should order some 1.5 and 2 gallon containers to have on hand.

Thank you Missi for the kind words!  I 'm sure that your Licuala will fill out that container with the abundant SWFL heat and humidity.  I picked up some 2gallon nursery pots at Home Depot, Lowes recently.  I like the pots with the straight sides; easy to remove the rootball when that time comes.  As for the one galls, I have staaaaacks of them.  I ran a small perennial nursery years ago (temperate, cool summer cottage garden types-hostas, foxglove digitalis, monkshood, delphiniums, balloon flowers, etc).  I don't think I'll use 'em all in a lifetime.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/8/2019 at 9:21 PM, piping plovers said:

I like the pots with the straight sides; easy to remove the rootball when that time comes. 

Whole-heartedly agree! For most of my potted plants, I pot them in a black plastic container then place that in a decorative pot if I feel like messing with the decorative pots! Most of my plants are just sporting their plain nursery pots! ^_^

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Naples (inland), FL - technically 10a but more like 9b in the winter :hmm:

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have a couple of similarly-sized Licuala Grandis in 1-3G pots, and the nursery (MB Palms) said that they really wanted to stay wet all the time.  The pots that they grew them in had 1/2 the normal number of holes, and the holes are a couple of inches up the side and no holes on the bottom.  This means they'll always hold 1-2 inches of water in the bottom.  I thought this was odd, but if I let them dry out even a little bit, I start getting browned tips on the leaves.  I'm not sure if the Peltata is the same as Grandis on water need, but I've read that they need to stay continously wet, not just moist.  Any idea if this is correct?

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Interesting pots, I never knew they made those. Would also be useful for my potted Papyrus plants.   If your nursery has healthy Licualas in those pots, then it is hard to argue against success.  A few websites I have visited mentioned Licuala species with the common name Swamp Fan Palm, making mention of some Licuala species that grow in swamps, or ground that is swampy part of the year.  I did not see any articles that mentioned L. peltata, specifically, being native to swampy areas; perhaps someone can share some info on their native environment.  There is a good article I just read on the Licuala species with info on their native habitats.  Suggests adequate water for faster growth.  The article may be of interest to you since the author mentions growing Licualas in Palm Beach County, just south of your location.  If you search for "growing Licuala in Palm Beach County - by Paul Craft, you should be able to find it. 

 

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I found the article, thanks!

http://www.palmbeachpalmcycadsociety.com/palms/documents/Licuala.pdf

He suggests that the peltata is one of the swampy ones too, "A few have developed specialty aerating roots, called pneumatophores, that reach up through the water of swampy habitats to absorb oxygen. Licuala ramsayi and L. peltata sumawongii are examples."  I looked at the pot yesterday, it appears the pot was molded with no holes and someone used something like a big hole punch to slice the openings.  MB had 100-200 pretty big Licuala Grandis and Peltata, but I didn't check the pots on the Peltata to see if they were the same.

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You are welcome and I am glad you found the article.  So interesting, the specialty aerating roots.  Are you able to grow these outdoors in the Orlando area?  Also, am always interested in visiting palm nurseries when I visit FL.  Is MB only in the Orlando area or do they have locations elsewhere in FL?  I'll be in vacationing in SWFL, Sanibel/Naples/Ft Myers area later this month.

 

On ‎7‎/‎29‎/‎2019 at 10:01 AM, Merlyn2220 said:

I found the article, thanks!

http://www.palmbeachpalmcycadsociety.com/palms/documents/Licuala.pdf

He suggests that the peltata is one of the swampy ones too, "A few have developed specialty aerating roots, called pneumatophores, that reach up through the water of swampy habitats to absorb oxygen. Licuala ramsayi and L. peltata sumawongii are examples."  I looked at the pot yesterday, it appears the pot was molded with no holes and someone used something like a big hole punch to slice the openings.  MB had 100-200 pretty big Licuala Grandis and Peltata, but I didn't check the pots on the Peltata to see if they were the same.

 

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I had luck with this one in the ground (well irrigated of course) in the Orlando area for a few years before I had to move.  Cold-wise, it was never really tested and couldn't have seen below 30-31F.  Still, it is not super cold sensitive and is worth a try in a moist, sheltered spot in Orlando.

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I have a Licuala Grandis in a pot in my "nursery area" in the backyard.  Last winter it hit ~33F in the backyard twice, but the nursery area is about 2 feet from the South-facing wall of the house.  So I doubt it got under about 35F or so at it's current location.  I've read that the Grandis can survive 28-29F but dies by 25-26F.  Leu Gardens had some Peltata var. Sumawongii that survived the long duration 2009 winter lows at 29F.  So they are reasonably tough but definitely not sub-25F survivors.

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I remember that 2009 cold snap in FL.  I was actually vacationing there in SWFL, and while in Everglades City / boat tour ride in Everglades/10,000 Islands park area I was surprised to see the cold damage so far down to the tip of FL, especially in close proximity  to the Gulf.  As I understand it, that area is the southernmost park entrance to the Everglades.   I think it was the Coconut palms mainly that I noticed with cold damage.  In the 15 winters I have vacationed in SWFL, that seems to be the coldest snap I had witnessed.

29 minutes ago, Merlyn2220 said:

Sumawongii that survived the long duration 2009 winter lows at 29F.

 

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