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What a Difference a Year Makes - Change in Fertilizing Regiment


joe_OC

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So I have some clustering  Dypsis that I have been growing for a while now.  They started to look straggly during our drought years.  I cut back on watering ( will NEVER do that again!).  Coming out of the drought, I started watering more, but they didn’t improve.  I switched over to Palm Gain last year.  The palms responded, but still did not look right. I continued the watering and fertilizer regiment.  I am VERY happy with the results. The fronds are now deep green.  More importantly, there is a lot more color and fuzz at the leaf base and petioles.  Palm Gain has a believer in me!

 

 

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Huntington Beach, CA

USDA Zone 10a/10b

Sunset Zone 24

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Nothing beats Palm Gain IMO. I've used it three times per year for the last three years and the results are spectacular. I have a lot of organic material in my soil as well but, since the use of Palm Gain, all my palms are healthier and growing at a higher rate of speed. Last feeding of the year is mid October. 

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Jim in Los Altos, CA  SF Bay Area 37.34N- 122.13W- 190' above sea level

zone 10a/9b

sunset zone 16

300+ palms, 90+ species in the ground

Las Palmas Design

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Las Palmas Design & Associates

Elegant Homes and Gardens

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Jim, where are you getting your Palm Gain from? I'm guessing you're buying the 50Lb bags? The only vendor I see around here, off BGI's website, is in the city. Thanks.

Oakley, California

55 Miles E-NE of San Francisco, CA

Solid zone 9, I can expect at least one night in the mid to low twenties every year.

Hot, dry summers. Cold, wet winters.

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19 minutes ago, Patrick said:

Jim, where are you getting your Palm Gain from? I'm guessing you're buying the 50Lb bags? The only vendor I see around here, off BGI's website, is in the city. Thanks.

Not Jim,

 

But, Home Depot has best deal.   Order their 10lb bags. If order is over $50, you get free shipping.  

 

50lb bag from Amazon costs you another $30-40 worth of shipping.

Huntington Beach, CA

USDA Zone 10a/10b

Sunset Zone 24

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Beautiful, thanks. I saw that HD had it but wasn't sure if there were better options. I'm just about out of Simplot Palm Plus so perhaps I'll make a switch...

Oakley, California

55 Miles E-NE of San Francisco, CA

Solid zone 9, I can expect at least one night in the mid to low twenties every year.

Hot, dry summers. Cold, wet winters.

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On 9/14/2019 at 10:06 AM, joe_OC said:

So I have some clustering  Dypsis that I have been growing for a while now.  They started to look straggly during our drought years.  I cut back on watering ( will NEVER do that again!).  Coming out of the drought, I started watering more, but they didn’t improve.  I switched over to Palm Gain last year.  The palms responded, but still did not look right. I continued the watering and fertilizer regiment.  I am VERY happy with the results. The fronds are now deep green.  More importantly, there is a lot more color and fuzz at the leaf base and petioles.  Palm Gain has a believer in me!

After reading your post, I guess I have a couple of questions and observations.  Given that you were conserving water during the drought years, I have to wonder how long it took for your palms to come out of the funk.  This last winter was wet (18/19 season) , the one before that dry and the prior winter wet (16/17) after 5 years of drought going back to 11/12 here.  After a long period of not enough water could part of your results be attributed to getting more water for three winters?  I'm assuming you were watering more during the dry year of 17/18 because of what you wrote above.  Bottom line:  you had some additional variables in there in addition to the fertilizer change.  The good news is that you are getting better growth whether its from the fertilizer, the additional water or the combination of the two.

33.0782 North -117.305 West  at 72 feet elevation

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Yes, as I mentioned, increased watering and fertilizing with Palm Gain were the two biggest changes.  I started watering normal in 2018 and through this growing season.  

Huntington Beach, CA

USDA Zone 10a/10b

Sunset Zone 24

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Same formulation as florikan nutricote but releases in 4-6 weeks vs 6 months release as florikan.  In high drainage sandy soil the florikan will work best but in rich soil or heavy clay soil the palm gain will provide the same delivery if you apply every 6 weeks or so.  I have sandy high drainage soil and have learned my lesson its a 6 month release that works best due to the washaway rain effect the shorter term fertilizers are not as consistent in florida rains(20" from mid july to mid august ).  I enjoy having that rain on my palms but it and the sandy soil dictate a longer potassium release time period.  Potassium is the fastest depleted nurtient(most water soluble) and in florida poitassium deficiency is by far the most common deficiency.   In my area there is no price advantage for palm gain over florikan nutricote.

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

 

Tom Blank

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7 minutes ago, sonoranfans said:

Same formulation as florikan nutricote but releases in 4-6 weeks vs 6 months release as florikan.  In high drainage sandy soil the florikan will work best but in rich soil or heavy clay soil the palm gain will provide the same delivery if you apply every 6 weeks or so.  I have sandy high drainage soil and have learned my lesson its a 6 month release that works best due to the washaway rain effect the shorter term fertilizers are not as consistent in florida rains(20" from mid july to mid august ).  I enjoy having that rain on my palms but it and the sandy soil dictate a longer potassium release time period.  Potassium is the fastest depleted nurtient(most water soluble) and in florida poitassium deficiency is by far the most common deficiency.   In my area there is no price advantage for palm gain over florikan nutricote.

Which formulation are you using?  I couldn’t find one when similar NPK

Huntington Beach, CA

USDA Zone 10a/10b

Sunset Zone 24

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8-2-12 plus micros is the recommendation for palms in florida by USF research and this is what I buy from a local landscape store.  I was under the impression that the 2% phos was spec'ed for florida due to our high phos soils.  It might be that florikan does not sell 8-2-12 in CA, there are a number of formulations based on the soil/climate .  The parti I like is that as a chemist, an osmotic membrane will now allow rain to rinse it away or dissolve it rapidly.   They put in a more restrictive membrane for the more soluble materials(in their own prills) so they last longer as well.  And the membrane pores close up in cooler weather so less wasted fertilization in the cooler season.  And last but not least all that washed away fertilizer contaminates our waterways in florida.  

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

 

Tom Blank

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2 hours ago, sonoranfans said:

Same formulation as florikan nutricote but releases in 4-6 weeks vs 6 months release as florikan.  In high drainage sandy soil the florikan will work best but in rich soil or heavy clay soil the palm gain will provide the same delivery if you apply every 6 weeks or so.  I have sandy high drainage soil and have learned my lesson its a 6 month release that works best due to the washaway rain effect the shorter term fertilizers are not as consistent in florida rains(20" from mid july to mid august ).  I enjoy having that rain on my palms but it and the sandy soil dictate a longer potassium release time period.  Potassium is the fastest depleted nurtient(most water soluble) and in florida poitassium deficiency is by far the most common deficiency.   In my area there is no price advantage for palm gain over florikan nutricote.

This is exactly the kind of different local requirements that I was asking about...

Butch

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I thought the 8-2-12 was a little low in phos for CA.   if CA is 3-1-3 that would be like 12-4-12.  I have also heard that Florida also uses higher K than N because of the rain which washes K away faster than N.

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

 

Tom Blank

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