Palm Maintenance Work.Yr_2008

[Kris]

Dear Friends

i take this oppurtunity to meet you all in another intreasting palm maintanence work,this time its the foxtail palm _ 'Wodyetia bifurcata' And i had bought this palm a year ago from a local nursery.it has grown so tall that i suspected that this palm will tip over during our cyclones..So i made few arrangements for placing this palm on the ground.that would include clearing many branches of dicot trees in that area..

the place where iam placing this palm is a clay soil area and i have not dug out the original soil too much since iam of the belief that they will not rot that easily during our rainy seasons.

And more importantly i had the assistance of male ranch hands to get this palm on the ground and till now the palm seems to do fine !

And all the following posts are all with images and are self explinatory...And those with fast internet connection can enjoy the most !

thanks & love,

Kris

[Kris]

Here is a still of our ex-gardner and also my very close friend & well wisher,he is the one who maintained our garden for so many years and he is been with us from the time i was a baby.i.e whenever i was crying as a baby he used to carry me around and see to it that i am happy.but now he is nearing 70 years of age and recently had his catract eye operation,got both his eyes operated in a span of 3 months after that he is in rest in his village.since he felt that he is growing old very fast..due to weakness.but till before that operation he often considered as he is no older than 45 years of age ! And he is popularly called as GrandPa by all of my age group.And one quality that i noticed is that he never likes to stay idle...

And by the way he is the one who provides me with the borassus fruits collected from the wild,from the regions of marakannam(pondicherry).And he is a very respected elder of his village.And he is the one who brings me workers & assistants for heavy palm or garden maintanence work !

So this thread goes out specially for him..

Love,

Kris

[Kris]

Here is the still of that foxtail palm,which is in the cement pot..

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[Kris]

And i wanted some washed river sand coarse grade to fill up the dug up pits for this palm..so i decided a place and got some sand delivered as our work commenced !

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[Kris]

Now to the digging operation...

Some roots from the neighbouring dicot trees..

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[Kris]

up to his knee deep we removed the clayee soil..

Here's a still of the dug-up clay soil !

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[Kris]

Now to the palm removal process...i.e getting this tall baby out of its old cramped up home...And initially we watered this cement pot heavily so that the roots do not give us a resistance while we try to pull it out.

Some slight digging of the pot's soil was needed,to get that palm sliding out of that pot freely !

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[Kris]

Finally the palm started moving...away from the cement pot !

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[Kris]

At that time i brought in a bucket of coarse grade perilite to use in this pit...

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[yachtingone]

Kris, Very nice work! That palm is sure ready to be put in the ground. Post some pics of it planted. Regards, Randy

[Kris]

Dear Randy

Nice to hear from you...

Okay lets have some visuals,Now the palm is lowered into the pit...

here you can see our gardner adjusting the straightness of the trunk,and was asking should they use plumb line or spirit level for accuracy...

The top crown was tied together for easy movement & less damage while carrying this plam from one point to another !

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[Kris]

Now after putting enough quantity of perilite on the sides of the root ball we decided to fill this pit with washed river sand that has just arrived...

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[Kris]

we filled the pit with coarse grade sandy soil,till all those poped-up roots were covered..And dusted the sides with Ant-Buster powder.since while digging we encountered with red/fire ants in this area.

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[Walt]

Wow, Chris! That foxtail was really root bound. Yes, that baby needed to get into the ground.

Please explain why so many (or all) of those palms are in concrete pots? Seems to me it adds uneccessary costs and labor (to handle extra weight). Although the dead weight of the pots and low center of gravity should help the palm (somewhat) from blowing over as easily.

I bought a butiagrus palm years ago that was in a concrete pot and I didn't think I'd ever get it out, it was so root bound. I didn't want to break the pot, so that I could reuse it. I planted an anthurium in it and now it's root bound. This time I may need to break the pot.

In any event, good luck with your foxtail palm. They are relatively fast growers and yours should grow very well for you.

Best regards,

Walt

[Kris]

Here are the stills of that palm taken after a span of a week's time..

We have untied the rope which we had put while transporting the palm manually ! It does look nice now..

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[Kris]

Few more stills from different angles...

Lots of love,

Kris

[Tampa Scott]

Kris, Nice to see it going into the ground. I planted one that size from a pot about 5 yrs ago. The palm was root bound in the pot when I purchased it. I also purchased a 1 gal. that same year and planted in ground. The 1 gal is as large as the the largest one is now. I have noticed this type of growth rate on some other palms as well. It looks like it is better to get in ground at a young age , before the palms become pot bound. Anyone else ever notice this with palms?

Edited November 8, 2008 by Tampa Scott

[osideterry]

Real nice work there Kris. I've never dug a square hole before... you seem like an expert. That foxtail already looks great, and will look even better as it fattens up!

[Cemunnos.nl]

Hi Kris!

What a wonderful garden and grat work on the palm tree!

Most hardy palmtrees over here (Netherlands) have even a bigger rootsystem, so we dig holes wich are even a lot bigger, but the soil is easier to work with (mostly).

Regards form Holland,

Dennis

[ariscott]

Kris, Nice to see it going into the ground. I planted one that size from a pot about 5 yrs ago. The palm was root bound in the pot when I purchased it. I also purchased a 1 gal. that same year and planted in ground. The 1 gal is as large as the the largest one is now. I have noticed this type of growth rate on some other palms as well. It looks like it is better to get in ground at a young age , before the palms become pot bound. Anyone else ever notice this with palms?

With foxtail, from my experience, they appreciate good start in their life. If you can get them in the ground fast, and feed them and water them heaps when they are young, they will get thicker than root bound in pots. They seem to develop their thickness when young. Correct me if I am wrong.... but I have grown one (before this house) and it was not trunking yet and I found it thicker than any other mature ones around the place.

Regards, Ari

[paulgila]

it looks really good there,kris! makes a wonderful addition to yer garden.those concrete pots are cool!

wonderful step-by-step photography,also.

[Walter John]

That's a beauty Kris, thanks for the photostory, wasn't that gardener in the original "Jungle Book" movie ?

"a plumb line or spirit level for accuracy" , ha ha

[niftinfiftin]

That looks great Kris, truly a labour of love, it's great to hear a little history as well.

Thanks for the step by step photography, it makes the whole process very clear.

Regards,

Nathan

[fiji jim]

Good work Kris.

I am sure that it will love to get to expand its roots now.

I have been amazed at the difference in growth rates of foxtail in the ground compared to ones that I have kept in containers.

About 3 to 4 times faster when planted in the ground from about 1 year old.

Jim

[Kris]

Dear Friends

Thanks for your feedback & your suggestion all fully taken..

Dear Walt i keep all my plants & palms in big sized pots & containers since i do not have sufficient real estate space to accomidate all my collection of palms...!

Dear Wal,i laughed my lungs out reading your comments...that was a good one

Dear Nathan _ Namasthe to you,And glad you liked my presentation

Dear Paul _ those cement pots are dead cheap.it works out to 9 to 10 u.s dollars for each.and its rock soild and has steel mess frabicated into concreate..and its around 12 years old.its so heavy that the palms in it have never tip over !

Thanks & love to all,

Kris

[BS Man about Palms]

I love your picture thread stories Kris, keep it up!

[realarch]

Thanks Kris, it's surprising how well the palm did in that small container for so long. It will be interesting documenting it's future progress.

Too bad those guys aren't in Hilo, they'd make good money digging perfectly square holes for me.

Tim

[PalmatierMeg]

Kris, good photostory. That foxtail was climbing out of its pot to reach earth.

[MattyB]

Way to go Kris! That looks great. Thank you for the story in stills and captions.

[paulgila]

kris 9 or 10 usd is indeed cheap here. how affordable is that for the "average joe" where you live?

how common are foxtails there now? again i enjoyed yer story & followed it with interest from 1 step to the next.

thanks again for the most enjoyable post!

[Kris]

Dear Bill thanks for the encouragement,this is the reason why i keep comming back to our forum time & again....

Dear Tim i must give you a small background of these workers..they are villagers working in their agricultural lands,and when once their harvesting work is over there,they usually come to cities to work for construction companies.where their primary work is to dig huge pits for laying the foundation pillers for the construction of Apartments etc..since these men are basically farmers in their lands,they love to do garden work too in saturdays & sundays for outsiders.

And these guys are from the same village of that of our Ex-Gardner,all i have to do is to inform them a week ahead of my work schedule..!

So now comming to your question on the perfect square pits...they are trained to carve the earth in that fashion by their construction companies.

Dear Meg its a pleasure to have you in this thread since i always respected artist & mugicians in my life..And yes as you have pointed out the roots have started to lift this palm and the trunk is growing lean day by day ! iam shure this palm would have started to feel more relieved now in its new home.

Dear Matty thanks for your sweet comments...

Dear Paul

I must say you have asked very thoughtful & intreasting question...i will answer that in stages.

first of all in india people want cash crops growing in their gardens & houses..like coconuts,areca nut(betel nut),rubber,tobacco,teak,palmyra,palm-oil & fruiting trees only.no boday wants to spend money on heavy pots to place the above plants.and so the market for exocitic palms,cycad or cactus is very small or megar..

And now comming to the real estae space...due to over population and less of nice real estate zones has resulted in cramped-up cities with people resorting to live in apartments,which ususally have trees like margosa,drumstick,rubber tree and few areca palm(dypsis).and cramped-up parking lots.so one will not invest funds on concretised pots in those places and also grow palms in it.

And people virtually have no time here for gardening or for palms...it will be evident that for a country of such huge population only very few are members here..

And past 8 years or so what has grown here is avaiation industry,BPO's,software companies,hotel industry and real estate(apartments) and the streets are over crowded with motor bikes & cars..& internet companies !

while the villages ares still in a bad shape ? health care for poor,sanitation & hygine.So what iam telling here is the poor are poorer,only few have made fast bucks before this global finiancial meltdown..

So any one can buy those pots but will not have a space to place it in a neat presentable fashion,so their sales are always down..

Love,

Kris

[Exotic Life]

Nice work you have done there, it's almost unbelievble that the palm has growing in that little pot. That the palm is in the ground now, must be feeling as freedom for her of he

Robbin

[Kris]

Here's an update !

As i have told before,this year we did not have proper rainfall.And we are now in hot summer season.So the palms & plants seen around are dull & lifeless.This foxtail palm has grown tall and the trunk is now putting on weight !

http://youtu.be/EhyVh19KDQQ

Thanks & Love,

Krisachar.