Crownshaft on King Palm

[mxcolin]

I have my Archontophoenix cunninghamiana King Palm installed in my yard, it's all looking good but I'm looking for tips on getting and maintaining a clean and green crownshaft. In terms of maintenance/pruning or any other treatments what would you do to keep it looking well?

[James B]

Looks like it gets full sun. Cunninghamiana seems to turn yellow in direct sun even when well taken care of. At least inland. Myself and other members have had success with Palmgain as a good fertilizer. If you plan on keeping it in a planter you might be able to try out different locations to find which it likes best. 

[Jim in Los Altos]

Water water water is all I can say. King palms are almost aquatic plants. Some of mine are growing in my pond and love it. Hot dry weather in full inland sun will likely burn some of the leaves on your’s even if well watered. Frost is their enemy as well and I imagine you get a bit of that in Sacramento. PalmGain, as already mentioned is an excellent fertilizer. Home Depot has it online. 

Edited March 7, 2020 by Jim in Los Altos

[mxcolin]

Very little frost where I live. Haven’t seen any in 2 years. I hear you though. Will probably cover it the handful of nights each year it gets below freezing for a few hours. 

How often would you water and for how long? What about pruning?

[PalmatierMeg]

Does that planter have drain holes? I can't speak for certain about your location re watering, except to say if the potting mix is dry more than a couple inches deep, then water. You don't prune palm trees like you would dicot trees. All the king palms are self-cleaning palms and should not require pruning unless a frond is broken by a wind storm. Older fronds naturally turn brown and will be shed. The palm withdraws nutrients from its old fronds and reuses them. Resist the urge to cut off living fronds because the palm needs those nutrients. Ideally, all you have to do is pick up and discard the dead fronds and let the palm go its low maintenance way.

[Jim in Los Altos]

20 hours ago, mxcolin said:

Very little frost where I live. Haven’t seen any in 2 years. I hear you though. Will probably cover it the handful of nights each year it gets below freezing for a few hours. 

How often would you water and for how long? What about pruning?

I have groves of King palms (over 50 King palms) here in Los Altos, the oldest being 30 years old. The most robust ones are in the wettest soil. It's impossible to overwater them. I even have three going in what used to be a pond and with no drain holes and always nearly full of stagnant water to the top (the sunken fiberglass pond is gravel filled and always brimming in water) and that LOVE it! The ones I have in freely draining loam get thoroughly watered three times per week. 

No pruning necessary. Old leave will drop off on their own. If one doesn't fall soon after dying, you can trim it off and its boot (attached to the crownshaft) will eventually fall away.

Edited March 8, 2020 by Jim in Los Altos

[dalmatiansoap]

No wonders why they are called Kings palms

[mxcolin]

On 3/7/2020 at 2:00 PM, PalmatierMeg said:

Does that planter have drain holes? I can't speak for certain about your location re watering, except to say if the potting mix is dry more than a couple inches deep, then water. You don't prune palm trees like you would dicot trees. All the king palms are self-cleaning palms and should not require pruning unless a frond is broken by a wind storm. Older fronds naturally turn brown and will be shed. The palm withdraws nutrients from its old fronds and reuses them. Resist the urge to cut off living fronds because the palm needs those nutrients. Ideally, all you have to do is pick up and discard the dead fronds and let the palm go its low maintenance way.

Yeah there are drain holes. Looks like I'll just leave the fronds will they drop off.

[mxcolin]

On 3/8/2020 at 1:25 AM, Jim in Los Altos said:

I have groves of King palms (over 50 King palms) here in Los Altos, the oldest being 30 years old. The most robust ones are in the wettest soil. It's impossible to overwater them. I even have three going in what used to be a pond and with no drain holes and always nearly full of stagnant water to the top (the sunken fiberglass pond is gravel filled and always brimming in water) and that LOVE it! The ones I have in freely draining loam get thoroughly watered three times per week. 

No pruning necessary. Old leave will drop off on their own. If one doesn't fall soon after dying, you can trim it off and its boot (attached to the crownshaft) will eventually fall away.

 

Dude those trees are beautiful!!!

[DoomsDave]

@mxcolin nice to meet you!

 

Hate to be a wet blanket but I think Kings and all the other Archontophoenix are marginal where you are.

If you’re in a seriously frost free area that will help a lot. They are Swamp Things as @Jim in Los Altos noted. If in doubt drown em’ out. 
 

If you can keep yours happy it will be very much worth it as Jim and I can both attest!

[Tyrone]

Put a tray of water under the planter and keep a couple of inches of water in it. To see them explode with green growth fill the tray up with fish and seaweed emulsion whenever it dries out a bit. They love food and water.

[mxcolin]

14 hours ago, DoomsDave said:

@mxcolin nice to meet you!

 

Hate to be a wet blanket but I think Kings and all the other Archontophoenix are marginal where you are.

If you’re in a seriously frost free area that will help a lot. They are Swamp Things as @Jim in Los Altos noted. If in doubt drown em’ out. 
 

If you can keep yours happy it will be very much worth it as Jim and I can both attest!

 

Yeah I will be very much on guard during December/January next year. The container is insulated and I'll invest in other items to keep them warmer over those months. What do you think is more important, insulating the trunk or covering the fronds?

[DoomsDave]

45 minutes ago, mxcolin said:

Yeah I will be very much on guard during December/January next year. The container is insulated and I'll invest in other items to keep them warmer over those months. What do you think is more important, insulating the trunk or covering the fronds?

Good question 

Aside from praying for mild winters it’s hard to say 

I’ll ask around 

[enigma99]

Colin, you live in Rocklin like I do. I wouldn't be suprised if you're walkable distance from me lol. Like Dave said, keep it soaked. Also, that looks like a standard king from Lowes, etc. They are extremely hardy for this area--more than Maxima, Alexandrae, Tuckerii etc. With that said, I'm able to grow the less hardy ones just fine. My oldest king has been in the ground for 10 years.

[enigma99]

Here is some photos of mine (I have about 95 in total) and hopefully give you some confidence in planting. I am a little concerned about the pot not staying wet enough as they actually prefer swampy conditions

 

Edited March 10, 2020 by enigma99

[DoomsDave]

4 hours ago, enigma99 said:

Colin, you live in Rocklin like I do. I wouldn't be suprised if you're walkable distance from me lol. Like Dave said, keep it soaked. Also, that looks like a standard king from Lowes, etc. They are extremely hardy for this area--more than Maxima, Alexandrae, Tuckerii etc. With that said, I'm able to grow the less hardy ones just fine. My oldest king has been in the ground for 10 years.

THAT is informative!

Always glad to furl up my stinky wet blanket!

[jamie23]

Hi! New here and to palms! I came across your post while researching what kind of palms I wanna put in my backyard. I’m thinking of the King palm too and would ideally want to start with 2 along my side fence.  I’m in west Roseville, not too far from you. Where did you get your king palm and what size is it? I’m trying to get a visual idea of which size to get. Thanks!