Need guidance on nursing Sabal Minor

[WildDonkey]

I have what I believe is a Sabal Minor that I brought home from South Carolina.  It was in our friends backyard... he said they grow wild there.  It looked like it had been weed wacked a few times, and didn't have much foliage (see photos).

Here's it's history:

1.  Dug it up around July 30th 2019 and planted it in a large terracotta pot.

2.  Brought it home and kept it indoors in a "sunroom".

3.  Seemed to do well until around February 2020 when it started to slowly turn light brown.

4.  I stopped watering it at that point and basically assumed it was dead.  

5.  The first week of June some "weeds" sprouted in the pot... and being a plant nut, I decided to grow those out :-)

6.  After 5 weeks or so of tending to these "weeds" I noticed a nice sprout coming up out of the palm!

 

So... now the question.  What (if anything) can I do to maximize it's survival chances?   Just trying to make sure if it does manage to come back this summer I don't loose it again in the winter.

 

 

Thank you!

J.R.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kinzyjr]

@WildDonkey Hello and welcome to the forums!  With Sabal minor, make sure they soil stays moist and that it gets dappled light while it is recovering.  The photos didn't show up, unfortunately.  Could you retry posting them?  If it does not make it, there are plenty of us on here who can help you get whatever variety of Sabal minor (or almost any other palm) you desire.

[WildDonkey]

Sorry, I was stuck in "Awaiting Approval"  :-)

 

Here are the pics.  In hindsight I may not have been watering it enough last summer / fall.   As I said in the original post, I noticed this little weed starting in the pot and I thought I'd water it and see what happens.   After 5 weeks or so of keeping the weed watered, up comes the Sabal Minor (I think) again.

I would really like to do what I can to save it and give it the best chance I can this winter.  I felt like it browned / died because of either lack of sun... or possibly my transplant method / time of year / etc, but now I'm thinking maybe it just needed more water.

Is it reasonable to keep this as a house plant, indoors for the winter?

Thank you for the help!

 

[Rickybobby]

That palm has more than likely root rot. That pot is massive one thing I’ve learned with palms in pots is the smaller the better to get the drainage and that excess water out of there 

[kinzyjr]

11 hours ago, WildDonkey said:

Sorry, I was stuck in "Awaiting Approval"  :-)

Here are the pics.  In hindsight I may not have been watering it enough last summer / fall.   As I said in the original post, I noticed this little weed starting in the pot and I thought I'd water it and see what happens.   After 5 weeks or so of keeping the weed watered, up comes the Sabal Minor (I think) again.

I would really like to do what I can to save it and give it the best chance I can this winter.  I felt like it browned / died because of either lack of sun... or possibly my transplant method / time of year / etc, but now I'm thinking maybe it just needed more water.

Is it reasonable to keep this as a house plant, indoors for the winter?

Thank you for the help!

Thank you for the photos!  It's definitely recovering from whatever has affected it in the past.  Some growers have seen them spear pull for no reason only to put out another almost immediately.  I agree with my neighbor to the north, @Rickybobby, that the pot is probably a little too large, but since it is recovering, I'd personally hold off on repotting it for now. 

Best thing to do is just keep the ground consistently moist so it can recover.  Stick your index finger in the growing medium.  If it isn't dry when you get to your first knuckle, then don't water it again.  That should keep you from overwatering it. 

If it makes a recovery this year, you could grow it in the pot indefinitely.  At some point, you might even have luck with it on the south side of your house outside.  Your climate is fairly similar to Cincinnati, OH and they have had some luck growing them outdoors there.  It will like being outside in your hot summers, but just be careful to acclimate it to the sun progressively so the fronds don't get sunburned.

[WildDonkey]

I'm going to monitor it closely and I'll do my best to remember to post some updates to this thread in a month or two.  As of now, the sprout seems to be coming up fairly quick (1/8" or so daily).

Thank you all for the feedback! 

 

[Antti]

Nicely recovering young palm. Hold it all warm season outdoors and in very light not very warm place in the winter. The pot and soil are nice. Hope the worst times over. 

Edited July 25, 2020 by Antti