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Summer watering!


teddytn

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May be a good topic to touch on, at least in the U.S. temps are on the rise! :shaka-2: New to planting palms or an old head that maybe just planted a palm for the first time in a few years, good to touch on the basics. Any palm Sabal family, windmill family, butia, Jubaea etc etc. summer is when we can make up for some winter damage, setback, or at least slow down. What’s everyone’s watering schedule look like? 

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3x weekly. Once after sundown, and again a couple hours before sunrise. 4x weekly during higher triple digit stretches. My palms are on drip line, so I have different gph emitters for different sizes and species’ needs. 

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90F+ means every day drip system for me using well water.   I usually water about 1-2 times week at 70F+ temps, every other day at 80F+ and up to every day at 90F+.  I use Rainmachine which adjusts for rain and daily transpiration.  Water in the morning.  Big palms get a slow hose soaking every now and then in addition.  Remember I have all tropicals mainly.

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Edited by Allen
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YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@tntropics - 60+ In-ground 7A palms - (Sabal) minor(7 large + 27 seedling size, 3 dwarf),  brazoria(1) , birmingham(4), etonia (1) louisiana(5), palmetto (1), riverside (1),  (Trachycarpus) fortunei(7), wagnerianus(1),  Rhapidophyllum hystrix(7),  15' Mule-Butia x Syagrus(1),  Blue Butia capitata(1) +Tons of tropical plants.  Recent Yearly Lows -1F, 12F, 11F, 18F, 16F, 3F, 3F, 6F, 3F, 1F, 16F, 17F, 6F, 8F

 

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I try to water in the early morning as early as I can, I always water around 8 PM. My Sabals are loving the 94°F heat while I soak them, lots of noticeable growth. 

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PalmTreeDude

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Apartment life means my watering consists of me filling up gallon jugs. We've been in the high 90s with triple digit heat indexes for a minute, and it's only getting hotter. 

 

I've got ~25 plants on the patio, most are in 2g pots, 4 5g, a couple 7g, and whatever size Dirty Sanchez is in. I had been divying up 2 gallons between all of them a couple times a week when it was cooler and we got rain. Now I'm up to 4 gallons 3x a week, just waiting to see when the saucers are full, and obv the large plants getting more. They seem to be happy, everything is growing. 

 

Is this enough for Texas heat though? Could I be doing more? My soil drains incredibly well and all of my pots have no problem puking water if I overdo it. We have no rain forecast any time in the near future, and I do have 2 palms in black pots in full sun (queen and butia x Lytocaryum Weddelanium) - should they get extra? Daily? 

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I check the forecast daily like all of us do…kind of go off feel at that point. When the blast furnace heat is on pretty much can’t water enough though. If there’s no rain and 90’s I try for every other day. I’m a hose guy, but have a few tricks up my sleeve! 

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Potted palm trees in the sun, at least sabals want water every day or every other day. 

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I heard this is what plants crave. 

 

In all seriousness I'll start hitting them up nightly before I go to bed. It's freaking hot. One of my favorite baseball players (Jon Lester if anyone cares) used to measure heat on how many undershirts he'd go through in a day and we're at 3 undershirt levels 

download.png

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1 hour ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I heard this is what plants crave. 

 

In all seriousness I'll start hitting them up nightly before I go to bed. It's freaking hot. One of my favorite baseball players (Jon Lester if anyone cares) used to measure heat on how many undershirts he'd go through in a day and we're at 3 undershirt levels 

download.png

Nope,this

Screenshot_20220613-213133~2.png

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We're watering all our pots every day, except for the desert plants. We've got fast draining mix as well and and we're full sun dawn to dusk. 

And that's one of favorite movies ever:greenthumb:

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Best way I’ve found to multi task is lay the hose down like this and then I can get some weeding done. 6A9FDD25-14D1-4E19-BBCA-F527BBFD1AA0.thumb.jpeg.120b700d529e19bef03e75285ec71dab.jpegI do like to water the palms and catch some sun too, while sipping an ice cold drink! FC80BBB3-D564-44A0-BED8-45C2D156E2FF.thumb.jpeg.bbb45aa2d7b95e4b26d8fec6c6923ab8.jpegIf long dry spells hit or I’m short on time I’ll set up the oscillating sprinkler, the dogs love it too.9D471EBC-228C-4CB6-98CF-50865DDCD92B.thumb.jpeg.91de407a665d8472d89ef9e3e4cf8ae6.jpeg

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No need to water in the PNW, we're drowning in the stuff.    Still cold here.  We have to wear jackets.  Last night while I was watching TV I had to grab a blanket.

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34 minutes ago, Fallen Munk said:

No need to water in the PNW, we're drowning in the stuff.    Still cold here.  We have to wear jackets.  Last night while I was watching TV I had to grab a blanket.

Ya, my lawn is still green where as usually now, it would be browning up without supplemental watering. 

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I water based on the sun situation and the soil.  My backyard has very different conditions throughout.  I have hot and dry spots where I have drip irrigation that runs every other day in summer and the wetter and shadier spots get it every 3 or 4 days.  Each zone gets 1 hour per watering session and have tried to tailor the different styles of emitters and drippers to the plants.  

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3 hours ago, Fallen Munk said:

No need to water in the PNW, we're drowning in the stuff.    Still cold here.  We have to wear jackets.  Last night while I was watching TV I had to grab a blanket.

I feel you, I use a blanket at night watching tv also, but because the AC is on al night 

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In the South East we get lots of rain but I still give my palms a deep watering pretty much everytime I go outside, usually just the sabals and needles. The rest I water at least once or twice a week. 

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I usually only water plants that are establishing and strive for the vast majority to be on their own for the most part after 2/3 years (unirrigated). If they can't... well, than they don't belong in the garden!

As for palms, water does obviously speed growth so, if I feel like I can spare the time/effort, I may give them each 3G of water (usually once a month). Sometimes I'll water more if they seem stressed during a drought spell.

In my area, this philosophy also helps in that our tap water is not the best for growing (in some cases, appears to directly contribute to plant death).  

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My palms are pretty much on their own as far as water goes. If we had a bad winter, then I will supplement water them so they fill out quicker. But I am just loading the soil with sodium if I use tap water. I collect rain water, but that goes pretty quickly.

I have a container ranch of potted palms that will go hopefully into the ground in a year or two. Those are really the ones getting the special attention right now. They get hand watered almost daily with liquid fertilizer.

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Current Texas Gardening Zone 9a, Mean (1999-2024): 22F Low/104F High. Yearly Precipitation 39.17 inches.

Extremes: Low Min 4F 2021, 13.8F 2024. High Max 112F 2011/2023, Precipitation Max 58 inches 2015, Lowest 19 Inches 2011.

Weather Station: https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KTXCOLLE465

Ryan (Paleoclimatologist Since 4 billion Years ago, Meteorologist/Earth Scientist/Physicist Since 1995, Savy Horticulturist Since Birth.)

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Potted palms are watered at least once daily, even though everything has been moved under canopy.

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I have everything on a drip system but I love to hand water on a nice summer evening when the sun's just about to go down! I soak the crap out of my thirsty palms once a week usually.  Sabals, Livistona's, Queens, Mule, etc.

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Hesperia,Southern CA (High Desert area). Zone 8b

Elevation; about 3600 ft.

Lowest temp. I can expect each year 19/20*f lowest since I've been growing palms *13(2007) Hottest temp. Each year *106

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Actually I've been soaking them since April :D

It's been a nice warm/hot spring here.

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Hesperia,Southern CA (High Desert area). Zone 8b

Elevation; about 3600 ft.

Lowest temp. I can expect each year 19/20*f lowest since I've been growing palms *13(2007) Hottest temp. Each year *106

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13 hours ago, Jubaea_James760 said:

Actually I've been soaking them since April :D

It's been a nice warm/hot spring here.

 I thought it was summer already, the real feel temp is 105 today here in south Alabama with the humidity factored in. I’ve been sweating through my underwear 

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22 hours ago, Jubaea_James760 said:

Actually I've been soaking them since April :D

It's been a nice warm/hot spring here.

We have very different concepts of the word "nice" lol 

 

East Texas just skipped spring and went full summer minus the rain. Palms are happy, I'm going through socks/drawers/undershirts on a biblical level. 

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So what y'all are saying is, I should flood the holy hell out of Patio Squad?

Screenshot_2022-06-16-20-45-52-687.jpg

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19 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

So what y'all are saying is, I should flood the holy hell out of Patio Squad?

Screenshot_2022-06-16-20-45-52-687.jpg

Flood flood flood flood!!!!!!! Now those are Texas temps! 

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2 minutes ago, Jtee said:

Flood flood flood flood!!!!!!! Now those are Texas temps! 

Easily add 10-20° for heat indexes

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It’s raining now but looks like we get a break from the water for a while, I doubt it though, I’m sure it’ll rain at some point. 
we have some hundreds coming up, we don’t hit those temps too often in the Deep South, although with the heat index its felt 105 for the past couple days. At my daughters t ball game tonight I sat and watched as the humidity coated me in sweat with it dripping in my eyes while the gnats landed on my face, oh and I hate damp jeans. 
but my new Sabal minors are pushing up its second frond, they seem to be growing decently fast. I’ve heard they are slow. 

6D4194CC-99FD-4B85-9B30-EAD6BE138854.png

Edited by Jtee
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What I wouldn't give for a good deep rain right about now. We have been so dry this spring. Seems like every time we get a storm system moving through it parts in our area and goes north or south of us. 

I bought a rain barrel earlier this year to utilize for watering some things (carnivorous plants, orchids, and heliconias) and its only been filled twice in 3 months. 

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Shawn, I would have said the same thing earlier today. With these high temperatures things dry out really quickly. Then the pesticide company came to give my house its annual treatment and I had asked them if they would treat one of my moth damaged wool rugs. Well, I had to spread it out on the lawn, so of course it rained! It was a heavy but brief downpour. It will hold us for a day or two.

Edited by Manalto
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1 hour ago, Dartolution said:

@Manalto Maybe I should go wash the car... that always used to do the trick! :floor:

Honestly bro, up until April it would storm right after I watered the plants. Ummm that ain't working anymore. I'm flooding the piss out of them and it seems like everything is dry 10 minutes later. 

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Oh yeah, if anyone knows a rain dance get to it! I won’t complain, but even hand watering and using the sprinkler is running out of effectiveness. The rest of the dry ground is sucking the moisture away from where I water. Older established palms I’m not worried about in the slightest, but I planted at least 20 new palms this year, can’t go long without water….

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46 minutes ago, teddytn said:

Oh yeah, if anyone knows a rain dance get to it! I won’t complain, but even hand watering and using the sprinkler is running out of effectiveness. The rest of the dry ground is sucking the moisture away from where I water. Older established palms I’m not worried about in the slightest, but I planted at least 20 new palms this year, can’t go long without water….

I'm obviously on a much smaller scale than most, but 2 gallons of water amongst the Patio Team twice a week has turned into 4 gallons a night. Would giving them more Stink Water ®* boost growth, or am I just wasting money? I literally see noticable growth on everything every day right now. But I also don't want swarms of fungus gnats. Already dealing with them in my office. 

*Stink Water is a propietary blend of Alaskan Fish Stink and SuperThrive 

 

As a side note, I had a friend over and she asked why I had fish fertilizer. I deadpanned and told her I wanted to grow more fish. Anyway. 

 

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18 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

 

As a side note, I had a friend over and she asked why I had fish fertilizer. I deadpanned and told her I wanted to grow more fish. Anyway. 

 

That is the correct response to such a question. Saying you want to grow bigger fish is also an option.

My guess is if the plants are putting on growth, fertilization will help support the process. Given the frequency, it might be a good idea to mix the stink water half strength.

Edited by Manalto
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I know it's not recommended but I use a lawn sprinkler.  Too much stuff crammed into one place to run drip tube everywhere.  I leave it on for 30 minutes every day in the summer. I know "they don't penetrate deep", but if you pile enough water on top of the soil it surely has to soak in. 

I think our rain turned off finally, within the past two days.  Won't rain here until probably October.  Just set up the sprinkler.  It gets higher and higher every year to clear the Butias and Trachy's.  

And it's pretty if you run it at sundown. 

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7 hours ago, Manalto said:

That is the correct response to such a question. Saying you want to grow bigger fish is also an option.

My guess is if the plants are putting on growth, fertilization will help support the process. Given the frequency, it might be a good idea to mix the stink water half strength.

That fish emulsion fertilizer always burns my plants, I believe its a bit acidic! Although large trees/palms can probably take it better, I'd still mix in limestone and dilute it though.

As for watering I usually don't water much this time of year especially in-ground plants.. since it rains so much.. but since this heat wave with little rain I've watered a couple times

August through November are the months I got to water consistently. Usually there's a mini drought for a few weeks in early fall, on top of high heat.

Edited by 8BPalms
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Being in Oklahoma we are already extremely hot and getting hotter with temps 101-104 this Friday-Saturday. 

all are palms in pots ( queen, pindo, livistonia, foxtail) I am watering daily 

the things we have planted (windmills, Mexican fan and sabals i water a couple times a week and the sabals a little more. The Mexican fan and sabals are putting on lots of growth as this heat get even hotter. I have the sabals on drip, (recently) but how long are you all that run drip running it?

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Edited by WattsZ

Youtube - Okpalms 

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I was all ready to water my patio palms, but the weather says we're supposed to get thunderstorms and ~.40" of rain tonight. 

 

So when it doesn't rain, it's my fault for not watering my thirsty palms. 

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59 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I was all ready to water my patio palms, but the weather says we're supposed to get thunderstorms and ~.40" of rain tonight. 

 

So when it doesn't rain, it's my fault for not watering my thirsty palms. 

I'm pessimistic, but I have up to an inch of rain in the forecast this week. If it does, I don't know what I'll do with all the free time.

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7 minutes ago, amh said:

I'm pessimistic, but I have up to an inch of rain in the forecast this week. If it does, I don't know what I'll do with all the free time.

Unless there's freak wind along with it, I'll still have to water half of my Patio Squad. If there is freak wind, I'll end up picking up half of Patio Squad and sweeping dirt off my porch. Plus the 20 or so indoors 

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