Increase drainage

[ZPalms]

My washingtonia filibustas are growing great but i've noticed the bottom half of the bags stay soggy for a very long time, Is this just from me over watering because the top inch is always pretty dry/moist after it dries or is it because drainage is bad?

I would think it's fine? since they seem to be growing along with no visual issue, I've cut back on watering them though but I'd hate to have to disturb them to add more stuff to their mix

 

Edited July 16, 2021 by ZPalms

[JohnAndSancho]

How's the drainage on those bags? 

[ZPalms]

10 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

How's the drainage on those bags? 

Water seems to drain out of them fine I think but the bottom stays very moist, I'm just unsure if the mix I'm using is draining good enough and I feel like I should of added sand

[PalmatierMeg]

Make sure if you add sand it is very coarse and pebbly. Do not use fine sand like for a kid's sandbox which will pack into a solid mass. You could change potting medium to a coarse, loose garden soil and add extra perlite. I've switching potting mixes to a combination of coco coir, coarse garden soil and perlite to cut down on muckiness.

[ZPalms]

5 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Make sure if you add sand it is very coarse and pebbly. Do not use fine sand like for a kid's sandbox which will pack into a solid mass. You could change potting medium to a coarse, loose garden soil and add extra perlite. I've switching potting mixes to a combination of coco coir, coarse garden soil and perlite to cut down on muckiness.

Very fine play sand is all I have and I'm not very sure what I should buy when it comes to different soils and stuff because theirs so many options and it all confuses me and what is the best!

[PalmatierMeg]

Myself, I don't use any kind of sand in my potting mix. It never helps anything grow better and is way too heavy. I've also steered from the countless Miracle Ground formulations and that's hard to do at most garden centers.

This is the garden soil from Lowe's I am currently using: "Sta Green" brand in yellow bags. It is often on sale @ 4 for $10. I am constantly on the lookout for something better

I buy from Amazon 11 lb blocks of compressed coco coir when it is on sale. Each block makes 18g of reconstituted coir. You may be able to find coco coir in smaller amounts at some garden centers.

I buy perlite in 1 cu ft or 2 cu ft large bags but it can be found in smaller amounts

Or you can leave the seedlings alone. Filibustas are tough, fast growing palms and will probably do fine the way you have them.

 

I do have a suggestion for you. Start writing down what you are learning and experimenting with your palms in a notebook for your own future reference. We can't remember everything we see, read and hear. Keeping records is one way of organizing what you are learning and creating a foundation of your growing knowledge.

[ZPalms]

42 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Myself, I don't use any kind of sand in my potting mix. It never helps anything grow better and is way too heavy. I've also steered from the countless Miracle Ground formulations and that's hard to do at most garden centers.

This is the garden soil from Lowe's I am currently using: "Sta Green" brand in yellow bags. It is often on sale @ 4 for $10. I am constantly on the lookout for something better

I buy from Amazon 11 lb blocks of compressed coco coir when it is on sale. Each block makes 18g of reconstituted coir. You may be able to find coco coir in smaller amounts at some garden centers.

I buy perlite in 1 cu ft or 2 cu ft large bags but it can be found in smaller amounts

Or you can leave the seedlings alone. Filibustas are tough, fast growing palms and will probably do fine the way you have them.

 

I do have a suggestion for you. Start writing down what you are learning and experimenting with your palms in a notebook for your own future reference. We can't remember everything we see, read and hear. Keeping records is one way of organizing what you are learning and creating a foundation of your growing knowledge.

Thank you, I only use the sand for my coconut and I'm not a fan of miracle grow products and I try to steer away from them but it's hard to find anything else at my lowes thats made for potting but I'll check out sta green and I've been looking at coco coir but i've seen people say they hold water so I didn't know what to believe and I do have big bags of perlite but If the filibustas will be ok for now then I'll just leave them cause I really don't wanna disturb them but when it's time to repot them then I can put them in better mix but when I did plant them in these bags I poured a lot of perlite into the miracle grow cactus and palm mix

I do have a journal that I wanna start writing in but I'm just not happy with a lot of the stuff I've just had to buy because I needed stuff quickly because how fast I came into all this stuff

[jimmyt]

@ZPalms  if you are buying at Lowes buy the bags of concrete sand(Quikrete).  It is coarse grade.  The Play Sand is typically fine-medium grade.  Paver sand is also coarse grade.  I also use Crushed/Decomposed Granite rock(comes in bags) to get really good drainage.  It is very coarse.  I usually find this at HD along side the bagged sand and pebbles.  Also started using Turface MVP for drainage purposes even though I can’t find it to close home.  Make sure those potting bags have bottom holes and not just side drainage holes.  Just my 2-cents worth.  

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

Filibustas will grow just about anywhere. So im guessing the more you neglect them the less you'll have to worry about them. These are hands some of the toughest palms around. Like @jimmyt I use turface to amend most garden soils. I never use any potting soils unless I'm just in a bind haha 

T J 

[ZPalms]

You can use regular soil for pots? I just assumed if its in a pot then it needs specific soil for pots lol, If i were to give them better drainage would they get root shock? or can I water in granules of these sand?

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

12 minutes ago, ZPalms said:

You can use regular soil for pots? I just assumed if its in a pot then it needs specific soil for pots lol, If i were to give them better drainage would they get root shock? or can I water in granules of these sand?

Yes garden soil drains much better then potting soil. Garden soil is meant to be an amendment to your current soil. I would leave the seedlings alone unless you had just potted them. 

T J 

[ZPalms]

23 minutes ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

Yes garden soil drains much better then potting soil. Garden soil is meant to be an amendment to your current soil. I would leave the seedlings alone unless you had just potted them. 

T J 

Wow It's time for me to ditch potting soil then cause I had no idea, thanks! They've been in the bags for over a month and a half so I don't think its worth it as well

Edited July 16, 2021 by ZPalms

[JohnAndSancho]

31 minutes ago, ZPalms said:

Wow It's time for me to ditch potting soil then cause I had no idea, thanks! They've been in the bags for over a month and a half so I don't think its worth it as well

This is just my opinion, and I've only been growing palms for a year and a half or so - but i wouldn't worry too much about repotting them until they're bigger and stable, just water them less until they're more established. I've got a washy Robusta named Dirty Sanchez, and I give him less water than any of my other palms because he's a desert-ish species and they don't need tons of water to get by. When I do water him, he gets a whole gallon but it's rained here so much the last few weeks it's unnneccessary. I do mist him on (lololol those rare) low humidity nights here in SETX the same as I mist everyone else (see my thread Patio Squad under Palms in Pots), but washies generally aren't thirsty water hogs like queens, kings, and chamaedoreas like the rest of my Patio Squad. 

 

Having said that, don't take this as gospel as Dirty Sanchez is very much established and is probably 4 or 5 years old at this point. I have zero experience with Washy seedlings. 

[ZPalms]

1 hour ago, JohnAndSancho said:

This is just my opinion, and I've only been growing palms for a year and a half or so - but i wouldn't worry too much about repotting them until they're bigger and stable, just water them less until they're more established. I've got a washy Robusta named Dirty Sanchez, and I give him less water than any of my other palms because he's a desert-ish species and they don't need tons of water to get by. When I do water him, he gets a whole gallon but it's rained here so much the last few weeks it's unnneccessary. I do mist him on (lololol those rare) low humidity nights here in SETX the same as I mist everyone else (see my thread Patio Squad under Palms in Pots), but washies generally aren't thirsty water hogs like queens, kings, and chamaedoreas like the rest of my Patio Squad. 

 

Having said that, don't take this as gospel as Dirty Sanchez is very much established and is probably 4 or 5 years old at this point. I have zero experience with Washy seedlings. 

This is very encouraging to me and makes me feel good,  I like that you named your washie I should do that too cause it's funny and I also believe that it will be fine if I just let it dry out because the soil in the bottom of the bags isn't purely mushy but they are constantly moist so I could leave it a couple days and they would be fine and thrive I think! Much appreciated!!!