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Small, potted windmill palms


Ruby

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I have been reading this forum for days! My goal was to learn what I could to support my love of palm trees. However, I have come to the conclusion that my palms may or may not be in appropriate pots. These are two windmill palms. They spend summers outdoors and come in when it gets cold, along with my other house plants. I had planned on repotting one come spring, as there are roots visible on top of the soil.  She (Nixon) was a gift from a friend, and I am really attached to her for that. She came with the name. She is in a ~12 inch self-watering pot (round, beige in pics). She came that way, so I don’t know about soil. I’ve just been staring at the roots of top thinking I must repot, but typically repot things in spring. Reading here, I see palms like small pots, so maybe she is OK as is?

The other is in a square, green pot that I now know is probably too large. This one has no name, but is younger. It is in a palm soil, but straight from the orange bag. No perlite or anything mixed in.  I feel like this pot is too big and the wrong shape. It was what we had around last spring when I got it.

Both are in a south facing dining room right now, for another 6-8 weeks.

i hope to someday put these in the ground. I’m zone 7a, just south of Baltimore, Maryland.  But, they will be potted for the foreseeable future. Hopefully moving a few miles away, and that will be 7b.

So, do I repot? One or both?

thanks for any advice! I’m here to learn. 

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Hi Ruby, welcome to the forum.

If this was a Physics or Maths forum you would get one answer that would be right and all others would be wrong. But this is more of a Biology (plant) forum where there are a lot of variables which mean that there is no, one right answer.  I have found that finding the right combination of potting mix, pot size and watering and fertilizer schedule is tricky to get right for some palms, while other palms grow wonderfully for me in pots and soils that would not be recommended in another environment tended by another person.

I notice that both of your plants are in vastly different sized pots (in relation to the plant size) and very different potting mixes, and yet they both seem healthy enough. I think that you can use a small or big pot as long as the mix and water match that size for your conditions. I have not grown Windmill in a pot, but my main point is that you probably don't need to worry too much about pot size as long as it is a well draining mix and you water it appropriately for that mix.

So yes, I would repot into a fresh well draining mix into a pot size between the two that you have, or at the size of the big square one although some would consider that too big.

I am also interested in other opinions and would like to see the plants in their new pots.

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Cheers Steve

It is not dead, it is just senescence.

   

 

 

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Ha! The irony there is my degrees are in math and engineering. There must be a *right* formula LOL

Thanks for the feedback! I will post pictures when I repot. Still feeling like it’s better to wait until spring though. Maybe right as they go out for the summer. Repot before the summer growing? Or maybe during winter dormancy is better? This is my first foray into palms, and houseplants other than a corn plant. I’ve been more landscaping until corona. Now I want all things palm 

BTW, It’s snowing today.

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Wait until spring to repot. Certainly not before April. It is still full bore winter up there. Palms do not go dormant like dicot trees. 

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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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13 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Wait until spring to repot. Certainly not before April. It is still full bore winter up there. Palms do not go dormant like dicot trees. 

Yes, yes it is. More winter this month than Dec and Jan. I’ve tried, but I cannot will it to be spring. 

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My self I woukd go into a bigger pot for tge one showing roots. .they shoukd be covered..as far as Spring coming..I've been getting a lot of snow as well here in upstate N.Y. but must be coming soon..days are getting longer and my vanilla orchids are starting to grow lije crazy..and my bop is still blooming with new buds swelling to open..my howeas never seem to stop putting out new fronds..as soon as one has opened another is already coming up..but all of my palms seem to be doing quite well..so I guess not so bad for dark..dry..dreary N.Y.S..thanks Mark

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I had two of these palms in pots for quite some time, before being planted out and they were fine during the three years they were in pots. Some palms actually like being a bit pot bound, but this is a palm that in my experience actively appreciates being potted on and shows spurts of growth soon after its 'upgrading'.  I potted mine on each year as routine during the Spring to make the most of the growing season with weekly feeds and regular watering especially in hot weather.

Usual rule of thumb with most palms - good drainage important and also as suggested already, better to wait for the end of the winter (in terms of weather type) before re-potting. These are very hardy and responsive palms and can put up with more than many other species, but that said they are also one of the quickest to show appreciation of rewards in my experience. 

Edited by petiole10
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Interested in this too, as I live in Washington, DC proper.  I picked up a Trachy in Wilmington, NC last October, and I am trying to determine the right pot size for this one.  It's been outside, situated on a Southeast facing balcony all winter long (along with 3 other Sagos we've had now for about 5 years) They all look as they did prior to winter, to be honest, and they typically get a little protection only on the coldest nights.  

The Windmill is currently in a 3 gallon planter.  Any suggestions on a good pot for something about that size?  Anyone have a recommendation for the best soil or mix of soils when potted?

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well, it’s been 70 the past few days and trees are starting to bud, so I declared it spring a repotted the pair. I was so right about how root bound Nixon was. I had to root prune to get her out of her pot. But she looks happy in her new pot!

And i took the one out of the square pot while I was at it. I was going to put them in matching pots, but thought it was too big for the baby. 

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You will find that fairly quickly the palm will become pot bound once more as the new pot, while certainly better than the old one, is still a similar size to it.   These particular palms enjoy the space to grow into - and if it was me I would give them the bigger room they need.  Much as I did previously with my own when they used to be potted.

Longer term they benefit most from planting out, but if that is not possible or practical,  then so as to reduce the occurrence of becoming pot-bound, a bigger pot which is still not too heavy to lift and move around would be of benefit. See how it does heading into the summer first of all so as not to disturb further especially as it has been root pruned:)

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Although they may look similarly sized in the pictures, I went from <12 to 16 inch.  Slightly over half the pot is new soil underneath the root ball.  I’d like to think it’s good for at least another year. 

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