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Here is a picture of my "loved one" in better days... My beloved Kentiopsis piersoniorum. PS- I thought of making this a poll, but seeing it bumped without a post in 2 years might bring back bad mammries.

I am new to growing palms and am still learning the best methods. I have used both compost and wood chips as mulch and an organic fertilizer made by Agrow winn. Most of my palms have been in the ground for less than one year and some are not as green as I would like. I would like to stay with organics, but ultimately I am going to use what makes my yard look the best. I would like to know what everyone is using and how is it working for you? Please list the name of any products as well. Thank you, Aaron

Here is another fan palm, again a livistona spp probably but the petioles are completely smooth and lack spines throughout. Any ideas ?

this thread is for official updates and guidelines only here is the official guidline from the united states department of agriculture usda link: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/manuals/emergency/downloads/nprg-redpalmweevil.pdf (only post updates here, no 'corn ball" or "knucklehead" comments please)

Dropped by Ventura, California yesterday and saw this in Pauleen Sullivan's yard. Been watching here Dypsis decipiens yearly, but first trim I've seen in flower... er.. fruit.

Today 10/13/10 MINERS RESCUED! Did anyone notice that the date today equals 33? Karolyn

I was browing the Member list and noticed the 'Reputation' on the right side of the member list. What is it and why is it there? How is it effected? Enquiring minds want to know... and finally, Does asking inconvenient questions affect my rep?

John, I gave you tons of good reputation votes. I did it for Californians for the hell of it. You will notice that one person can effect the reputation of a region of the world! Reputation is a joke! You can vote for yourself so what good is it! My 2 cents Randy

When I started this thread I was using an organic fertilizer and was having a lot of nutrient deficiencies. I have now been using Apex Palm Plus for about a year and a half and there is a dramatic difference in my yard. Everything is greener, growing faster and holding more leaves. I am also using fish emulsion and liquid kelp about once a month while maintaining a layer of mulch. So the organics may be helping as well, but the difference has been the slow release fertilizer.

What kind of fungal problems were you experiencing? I was having root issues in a few areas soon after an appIication of the fish emulsion. Although it may be a drainage issue, it only showed up after the fish. I usually mixed it in a 5 gallon bucket & poured some around the base. It may just be a coincedence, as I know others who use it without any problems. I do use seaweed though. I forgot to mention I need to use K-Mag, a potassium/magnesium combination. Randy

Southern Italy was full of phoenix canariensis latest news: in a house next to mine, I saw a phoenix canariensis that had not yet been attacked by the red weevil, the owner Phoenix canariensis good,phoenix canariensis cut ,because he was afraid of red weevil and instead planted a Syagrus romanzoffiana Panic broke out because the government does not help to inform people

This is now officially the worst thread ever.

Thanks Angel and Tyrone, I think that might be my issue with a couple of palms.... Jv

Geoff, You are assigned to collect seeds and send them to me! Thanks.

I have just run the depth and breadth of emotions....from despair to anxiety to over joy at the beginnings of a new relationship! WOW....im spent! Thanks BS man. I needed that.

If you took a ladder and climbed to the top of those trees, they would just be oozing with larvae and buzzing with mature weevils. We easily lost 90% of our CIDP's and at least 2/3 of those are still standing. At least in California you can be reasonably certain somebody would come from the city and cut them down. I just wish all the Californians the best of luck.

Here's a biro for scale. Fully-grown adults can definitely exceed 1" - not including the snout. In metric, 30mm x 14mm would be fairly accurate dimensions for an adult weevil. The body length is very slightly twice the body width from my estimations.

Try using the "help" option. It is rather extensive, and can answer many questions concerning the nuts and bolts of the Forum.

Here's a snap of some I caught last year, Charles. Perhaps the black spots dictate the gender?

Here is one of them, I found it no more than one km from my place, actually a beautiful bug and luckily not such a good flyer it dropped right in front of me The preferred treatment at the moment is an application of a mix of insecticide and nematodes every three months in summer; the insecticide will kill the mature bugs that visit the tree and the nematodes will finish the larvae that are already present. The bug seems to have a preference for palms with a lot off loose fiber around the petioles(Phoenix,Washingtonia,Trachycarpus) so it has plenty of material to make cocoons for its secondary stage, imo this is one of the reasons it does not (yet?) palms with a crownshaft It also seems to have a preference for male trees, this could be a hormone thing

VERY exclusive club...ONE member only

No. It's a plant.

When are you going to plant it Bill? Gary

It may be insensitive, but did she go quietly?

That's my philosophy too, Dave. "Feed" the soil, not the plant. Healthy soil equals healthy plants. The one exception I make is to my big queens that only thrive with larger amounts of slow release palm food stakes. But that's the only exception to the rule. Otherwise the "rule" is lots of compost, mulch, and water period.

Bret, There's a MUCH smaller one growing to its right a couple of feet that was planted at the same time and was the same size at planting time a few years ago. With marginal species, I usually buy several in the hopes that one or two will be somewhat vigorous. I originally had ten Licuala peltata and seven lived (but didn't grow) for three years before dying. I still have one that's tiny and still potted, the small one that's next to the one in the picture, and the one in the picture that's doing so well so far. Having the right gene's is important.

Nice to be able to reciprocate the info. Years ago, I had folks recommend using some stuff called Palm Plus and Palm Special (for the Phoenix's) made by Apex. Then Simplot bought it out but kept the Apex name- for a while. NOW it's called Best, still made by Simplot. In Northern California I get it from a company Called Crop Production Services. There MIGHT be a store in your region. This stuff is THE BOMB for my queen palms- and all my other palms for that matter. I just always over fertilize my palms because I originally learned how to "fertilize" on queens- my first palms. It's great stuff and I'll stand by it. Everyone else has pretty much said this and I just looked at the date on most of these posts, but oh well. I'm going to take some notes on what others are using.

Keith, I think you are right. At the end of the day there is nothing that can tell you the perfect way to do things. You have to just be as informed as possible and do what you think is right. For me it is going to be an ongoing process. Fortunately I have the next 50 plus years to try and figure it out. I do really appreciate your and everyones imput as there is a ton of experience and knowledge on this board. Aaron

It does seem like there is no one best way to care for your plants, but the one thing that appears to be very important is adding organic material to your soil whether you use a chemical fertilizer or not. I have done some searches on organic vs chemical fertilizers and it is hard to find many people saying that chemical fertilizers are better than organic. The shipping is a consideration, but all of the organics I have used have been from a local source while most of the chemical fertilizers are not made localy. Joe switched from chemical to organic and has not noticed any difference. If there were no difference or minimal difference I would definately stay with organics. Has any one else switched from one to the other? If you did was there a difference?

we're using Apex/Simplot 13-4-12 Palm Special for one reason .............IT'S FREE Actually my brother in law is an engineer at their Modesto factory and they can get a few bags a year free.

Gonzer - Where do you get that stuff? (I'd rather not drive up to OC to buy Apex.)

Gro Power Plus w/humic acid. I use the turf blend (don't have the NPK right off hand), throw out handfuls around the bases and watch it work wonders. The absence of tip-browning on my lutescens is due to using it. Fact is, everything but the bromeliads get it. Those? They go Hung-Gree!

I think the bag was like $ 30, and I was buying two a month.... But it made a really big difference. Everything greened up really nice... and the aroids and musas really went crazy.... and the hibiscus flowered more than ever before... so even though it was more $$ it was worth it.

Holy CRAP, Dave... That's a lot of fertilizer you go through in a year. I hope you get the stuff in bulk, because the price for that stuff is not cheap...

I was doing a terrible job using spikes and blood meal and whatever I had,... until I switched to drip and bought an injector. Now I use Peter's Cal Mag 15-5-15 with the EZ-FLo injector on the lowest setting... I have three zones using about 6 lbs/ week in each zone. It seemed to really make a difference this year. And I don't have to think about it much.. which is important!

Hey Aaron, I switched because I wanted to be more environmentally responsible. I chose to go with humic acid because it makes the nutrients in the soil more available to palms/plants to take up. It also adds a lot of organics. I have a friend that goes fishing quite a lot. He would bring home trucks full of fish when he went on his weekly fishing trips with his buddies to Mexico. He is also into palms. He told me in preparation for his garden, he dug up his soil four to six feet deep and buried six ft tunas into the soil. Anyway, his yard looks great. Fish as a fertilizer was something I always believed in, but since I don't fish, I looked for a fish fertilizer. I have heard of bad experiences where the stuff was not stable and burned my friend's plants. Most of the stuff out there is cooked, which makes it smelly and unstable. When I was doing research, I found out that if the fish was cold processed, it would be much more stable and wouldn't stink as bad. I liked what I heard so I have been using it since. Seaweed is supposed to help build the cellular walls of the palms/plants so that they can handle more adverse conditions. Anybody that buys from Jeff Marcus will here him preach about the benefits of seaweed. I can't say that the palms are doing any better, but more importantly, I do not see them doing any worst. I will say that I have A LOT more worms, big worms, now than ever before, and greatly improved soil drainage.

6:3:2 incidentally

pigeon sh*t - I have a buddy who races and now I'm dialed into the local scene the less concentrated formulas we use, the better in the long run - if you have any regard for future generations of palm lovers and can look beyond your own garden

Thanks for the replies everyone. I figured a lot of people would use a combination of fertilizers, but wanted to know the main fertilizer people are using so only allowed checking one option. If I do start using a chemical fert i am still going to add lots of organics. Joe what made you switch to organics and why do you use what you use? Have the results been any different since you switched? Thanks, Aaron

Most of the above, but I have probably used more liquid than anything else (powder or granules mixed with water) so I voted for that. I like to be sure my palms get their micronutrients.

Oh yeah, the basic lutz palm spikes are 6-0-6 with minors like sulfur, iron, magnesium and manganese. I thought I had lost my palms in the 07 freeze. I put these spikes out the following spring and had good results by fall. They are now dark green and growing like weeds.

Terry, We have a place here called Orange County Farm Supply that is offering Apex Palm Plus (now called Best) for $39.99

Hey Aaron, When I first started, I used Apex Palm Plus, but I decided to go organic... I've been using 12% Humic Acid (there is a product that has 15%, but I haven't tried it yet), hydrolyzed fish (cold processed, very stable and less smell than fish emulsion), and sea kelp. I also mulch (4-6" thick) with organic horse manure compost. I did it twice this year and plan on keeping that regiment. HTH's, Joe

I used the Apex PalmPlus for a couple years, but the last time I went to buy it, the price had doubled. It seems like it was $60-75 a bag, but my memory might be off. I passed and went with some palm fert at Lowes for $10 a bag.

I use palm spikes from www.lutzcorp.com . They have done wonders on my queen palms.