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Separating Kentia, now or wait until spring


Keys6505

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I searched for Kentia topics in this forum but found mostly sick palm posts.  I have a pot of about 20 young H. Fosteriana and want to split them up.  My question is how root sensitive are they and can I do it now or should I wait until spring?  I'm in the Houston area and they will be outside with the exception of any emergency cold spell evacuations.

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It'll be easier to do it now. 

 

I've split up a 2gal and a 1gal in the past and ehhh it'll be easier now. 

 

Don't expect 100% survival rate, take your time, keep the root ball wet. The roots are only gonna get crunchier and harder and more tangled. Ymmv. 

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John is right, but I have not found Kentia to be root sensitive. I did the experiment. I pulled up a couple of dozen self-seeded volunteers out of the garden for the compost bin, then took a few of the ones with the least roots left on them and repotted them to see the survival rate.

In the past I have yanked out seedlings and decided to pot them later to give away, always with surprising high survival rates.

Here it is, pulled up 7th may and 3 months later 15 Aug I had only lost one.  They were pulled out with no intention of keeping them.  I just put them in compost from the bottom of the compost bin.

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Cheers Steve

It is not dead, it is just senescence.

   

 

 

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Also, if I'm wrong, someone please correct me 

 

But if they're indoors, what are seasons? Fwiw I have a 1g pot that i *didn't* split up and have lost 3/4 of them so totally conflicting info. Kentias are moody af. 

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Take's why I have avoided purchasing them as multiple plantings.  By nature they are solitary, and I understand that growing them as multiples slow them down, so I get why you would want to divide them (although there are many fine specimens of multiples around).  If it were mine, I wouldn't necessarily aim to divide them in hopes of achieving 100% individual specimens.  When you toss them out of the container, some of those will be much easier to establish as solitary specimens but some clusters may be too tight to tamper with without some loss. I'd settle for greater success with fewer solitary specimens and also be content that I had some multiples in my collection.

My question though is, do you see Howeas being grown outdoors in your area? Howeas are notoriously problematic in Florida, I think because of high, minimum temps. I realize Houston is not Miami but your summers are probably worse than Miami's.  They probably would be helped by a position out of the sun.  

P.S., 

"But if they're indoors, what are seasons?"

i.) The OP said that Kentias would be grown outside.

ii.) The indoors also experience seasons; throughout the year such factors as day length, light intensity, humidity, ventilation, and changes with cooling and heating systems.

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I paid $25 for a pot of about 20 small plants so if I get a 50% success rate I'm happy.  I'd rather do it now so if I somehow managed to lose too many I can just buy another community pot while I have a source.  No, there aren't any I know of around here but I have a bunch of plants in the yard I don't see anywhere else locally.  I'm the guy the neighbors watch wrap trees in blankets and Christmas lights when we have a cold spell.  But I'm probably not long for the TX life anyway, I will most likely be in central-ish FL next year so these would be container ranch residents until then.

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I broke these up today.  Roots came apart pretty clean.  I didnt have a pile of root scraps after I was done so I think I did ok.  This turned out to be 2 clumps of super root bound starter cells repotted into a 6" pot.  Got 20 plants out of it and 1 seed that was still solid and sank in water so I stuck it on one of the pots.  We'll see how they make out.

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Given my experience, I would be surprised if you lose any.  :)

Cheers Steve

It is not dead, it is just senescence.

   

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

One month in and I'm still 20-for-20!  Some are leaning from getting knocked around in the wind but no biggie.

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They should do well. Howeas will hate Houston as much as SFL. I've found the key to keeping Howeas alive outdoors in FL is to plant them/place them under deep, shaded canopy trees/palms. Summer temps under deep canopy can be 10-15 degrees F cooler than ambient air temps. Those degrees lower are just enough for them to survive summer here. Little sun. Come Oct. temps drop from mid- to upper-90s to 80s and 70s. Even better, nights start dropping below 70F down to normal lows of 55F or lower. Howeas love cool/chilly nights. Once mine survive summer I know they will be happy until perhaps April when temps start to soar again. If you can cater to their needs at least partway you have a chance they will survive.

I've had my trunking forsteriana since it was a seedling in 2004 and my belmoreana since it was a 1g in 2005. Belmoreana comes from higher altitudes in habitat and are harder to grow in FL than forsteriana. They have been in the ground about 12-14 years. It's been a balancing act all these years. I had a 2nd forsteriana sibling that succumbed after wilt took out all my canopy queens and it was exposed to sun. The biggest drawback is that both of my in-ground Howeas are so deep in the jungle they are almost invisible but I can't dare plant one in the open yard.

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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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8 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

They should do well. Howeas will hate Houston as much as SFL. I've found the key to keeping Howeas alive outdoors in FL is to plant them/place them under deep, shaded canopy trees/palms. Summer temps under deep canopy can be 10-15 degrees F cooler than ambient air temps. Those degrees lower are just enough for them to survive summer here. Little sun. Come Oct. temps drop from mid- to upper-90s to 80s and 70s. Even better, nights start dropping below 70F down to normal lows of 55F or lower. Howeas love cool/chilly nights. Once mine survive summer I know they will be happy until perhaps April when temps start to soar again. If you can cater to their needs at least partway you have a chance they will survive.

I've had my trunking forsteriana since it was a seedling in 2004 and my belmoreana since it was a 1g in 2005. Belmoreana comes from higher altitudes in habitat and are harder to grow in FL than forsteriana. They have been in the ground about 12-14 years. It's been a balancing act all these years. I had a 2nd forsteriana sibling that succumbed after wilt took out all my canopy queens and it was exposed to sun. The biggest drawback is that both of my in-ground Howeas are so deep in the jungle they are almost invisible but I can't dare plant one in the open yard.

Great info, thank you!  What kind of symptoms do they exhibit when it's too hot for them?  Just a general slowing of growth or do they actually show physical signs like browning, discoloration, etc?  

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