Seedlings Arriving Soon

[carolinapalms]

I have ordered several seedlings, which will be arriving soon. Because it reaches temps here in the 20's, I plan on pottings these and growing some in my garage (which is insulated) and perhaps some inside my house. I believe that this will work for most of these palms, but tell me if you see any problems with any of these:

Rahpidophylum hystrix-Neele palm

Sabal Minor v. Louisiana-L. Palmetto

T. Fortunei-Windmill palm

Sabal Mecicana-Texas Sabal Palm

Phoenix Roebellini-Pygmy date palm

Sereno repens-Saw Palmetto

[HKO2008]

Dear Tim,

i think you will be potting them up because of winter setting in? In any case, apart from Phoenix Roebellini, the rest of the palms you can plant in your garden in spring. Should be no problem. Be carefull not to disturb the roots, because they are not in their growing season and placing them in the garage means less light. So they are not able to recover quickly.

Henri

[Mark Heath]

I agree w/ Henri,

unfortunatly now is not the time to bare-root any palm seedlings. If they survive they will take all year to recover and grow very slow for you. I have bare-rooted Mule palm seedlings too late in the year and the ones that i did'nt mess w/ surpassed them by leaps and bounds. Please don't let this discourage you, just please don't over-water them and be sure and take them out into the sun every chance you get. A fungiside won't hurt either, Subdue is the best bet!

[JakeK]

You should be able to over-winter every palm on your list in your garage since it is insulated, just don't over-water them.

[MattyB]

I agree, not overwatering them is the key. All of the palms mentioned should do ok indoors if given a nice light mix and ample light. Sometimes next to a south facing window is the best. The full sun through the window should be fine for all of those species. Similarly, I'm growing a Washingtonia as a houseplant for several years now. It does fine if given bright light and allowed to dry out between waterings.

[kahili]

If they were mine, knowing that they were seedlings, I would pot them up and bring them inside (assuming that they get more light there) and put them near a window and when the nights get over 40, I would bring them out to full sun (before the summer sun's strength happens) and fertilize them. I am not sure that I would plant them in the spring as they may still be too small for our winters. I get better results with planting established 2-3 gallon palms. Less worry and hassle, although waiting means that you would have to bring them in sometimes the following winter -or cover them for the night outside when it gets really cold, but they should be able to handle the cold better the following winter (except nights that fall below anywhere around 25 or below). I have two butias in 3 gallons that I never got around to getting in the ground this fall, and I brought them in last night as it was going to get around 25. I don't like leaving some palms that are in containers outside when its that cold.

If you did plant them in the spring, I would really watch that they don't dry out over the summer and be prepared to wrap them if/when you get really cold temps the following winter. They may do fine without much of a root system, I may just be overly careful.

[carolinapalms]

Thanks for the advice. How often should I water these seedlings? I was thinking every three to four days. Would this be too often?

[surgeon83]

I don't have indoor experience with anything you listed, but I wanted to add that I gave my parents a Phoenix canariensis seedling a couple of years ago and it has done fantastic in their house. It sits by a south-facing window and probably only gets watered every 2 weeks from what I hear, although surely it could stand more. To put it in perspective, they have killed every other palm they've owned in that house in warp speed. Maybe give on a try.

[kahili]

I water mine as needed. If they look dry at the surface, they can probably wait a few more days before watering. The key is to have them in a well draining medium-not sure what you are going to use, but I would stay away from anything that is marked "soil" on the bag. I use a peatbased soiless mix, with a bark mix and lots of perlite in mine.

[Mark_NoVA]

The watering frequency will depend on what kind of potting soil you have (better draining=more frequent watering), how much of the pot the roots take up, how much sun the plants are getting. Remember overwatering indoors is more dangerous than underwatering, but you still want to fill the whole pot with water, so roots everywhere get water. Let it dry out, then fill with water. So you'll have to learn on your own how your individual plants are doing!

[Kathryn]

All of the plants listed will do fine outside this winter except for Phoenix roebelenii. I would pot them up and put them in a sunny location on the south side of your house. I would only bring them inside if they were getting too much rain when the temperature is lower than 60ºF.

[DanInBigEz]

All of the plants listed will do fine outside this winter except for Phoenix roebelenii. I would pot them up and put them in a sunny location on the south side of your house. I would only bring them inside if they were getting too much rain when the temperature is lower than 60ºF.

Howdy, Kathryn.

I'd like to join the local Palm Society in New Orleans. Any info available regarding that organization?

Regards,

Dan S.

[Kathryn]

Hey Dan,

Welcome to the forum! Send an e-mail message to LaPalmAndCycad@cox.net and you will get on the mailing list. I'm not sure what the next event is, but there is usually a meeting in March. How about starting a thread about your palms?

Kathryn

[DoomsDave]

Carolinapalms!

As you can tell, you have found a convivial place!

I add that the more light you can give your plants, the faster they'll grow and the better they'll reestablish. Do you have a sun room? Or a large window without curtains?

If you have a home office, with flourescent lighhts, they'll like that, too.