secret soil forumulas for palms.................

[trioderob]

what are your secret palm soil formulas ?

[Breadfruit Bill]

Rob, if we told you, then they wouldn't be secret formulas would they?

BTW, Welcome to the forum!

[Palm Guy]

Welcome! I don't know but when you find out please tell!

I think incorporating coarse sand is the magic ingredient for most mixes. But alas, can't find any bags of coarse sand on the island. I have to substitute the sand with perlite. In general increase the sand percentage for the more dry loving species and decrease the sand percentage for water loving species.

Contrary to what most people say, I found that the palms I have with some native soil incorporated into the mix (about 40% -sandy rocky soil) have done alot better than some of my peaty- bark mixes. I mean ALOT better.

Hope this helps.

Mike

[epicure3]

Plaster sand+native soil+kelp meal. Shhh....don't tell anyone.

[Jose Maria]

Palms can grow in just about any soil, that´s what I have seen in the forests of Costa Rica. From red tropical soils, (very acid) to volcanic sands, to limestone outcroppings, .........everywhere there are palms and doing fine.

Important is they are not in waterlogged soils, or else in a very dry spot.

Fertilizers, they make a difference. To get good growing results , the soil itself is not that important, but give them all the plantfood they need.

[BS Man about Palms]

Jose has it. Its easier to say what doesn't work than what does!

[Jeff Searle]

Jose has it. Its easier to say what doesn't work than what does!

AND......even weeds grow in all types of soil too, huh Bill?

Jeff

[Moose]

Jeff - that is not very nice .

Funny but not nice.

Weeds need love too, and they love Bill !

Ron

[BS Man about Palms]

Jose has it. Its easier to say what doesn't work than what does!

AND......even weeds grow in all types of soil too, huh Bill?

Jeff

Listen here Pal......

I'll have you know I was out diggin a hole tonite for some big Teddy Bear cross I'll have you know...

Oh yes, I have also noticed the taller the pot, the less weeds...!

[Tassie_Troy1971]

I had narurally deep sandy loam add

lots of pulverised cow manure

grass clippings

fruit and vegetable scraps

mushroom compost

shredded twigs and leaf matter

i did this for 9 months and the soil is fantastic now .

I also use a a slow release pellet fert called dynamic lifter twice a year around each palm

How It Works

Adds nutrients and organic matter to the soil which improves moisture retention and promotes microbial and earthworm activity.

Ingredients

Composted chicken manure, Blood and Bone, fish meal and seaweed

(NPK analysis: 3.2 : 2.6 : 1.3).

THIS STUFF SEEMS TO WORK REALLY WELL !!

[bayside mike]

Welcome! I don't know but when you find out please tell!

I think incorporating coarse sand is the magic ingredient for most mixes. But alas, can't find any bags of coarse sand on the island. I have to substitute the sand with perlite. In general increase the sand percentage for the more dry loving species and decrease the sand percentage for water loving species.

Contrary to what most people say, I found that the palms I have with some native soil incorporated into the mix (about 40% -sandy rocky soil) have done alot better than some of my peaty- bark mixes. I mean ALOT better.

Hope this helps.

Mike

You live in Bermuda and can't find any sand?

[Kris]

Hi

For me the cactus soil or desert plant soil mix works wonders with palms...but i have to water those pots on daily basis..And mostly my soil mix is predominently sandy soil with lots of humas added to it.And i do not use much of organic mannure,since it brings with it lots of weeds and ants too.

Love,

Kris

Here are few stills of our potting soil preparation :

1) Here is the humas,that i was speaking it consists of mainly dried neam tree leaves collected from our trees,Now all fragmanted,dried & decayed

2) Here we have mixed that humas with pure sandy soil course grade

3) Finally this how it looks..after mixing them properly together !

Love,

Kris

By the way the only down side to the above potting soil is if you use this kind of soil in big pots you cannot lift it up single handedly !

[edric]

I used, Expert Gardener-Perfect Mix, for more years than I can count, it's the Wal-mart brand, NOT NO MORE, they got bought out by Miracle Gro, and the bag says, Expert Gardener-Potting Soil, now, DON'T BUY IT, I bought a bag, and it's top soil, with a little Perlite in it, now I've bought some of those Coco coir peat bricks, ten pounds dry, you soak them in water for a couple of days, then you break the stuff up when it's re-hydrated, what a job, then mix the coir peat with perlite, amount depending on the plant, anybody else using coco coir peat? Ed

[DoomsDave]

what are your secret palm soil formulas ?

Welcome to our merry band!

You've come to the right place for palmophilia . . . . .

Are you planting palms in the ground or in pots? Indoors or out?

In the ground, as a group, palms are not fussy about soil. As long as you avoid extremes of acidity or alkalinity, and as slong as the soil is reasonably well-drained, but still holds water, it's fine.

That said, palms that like lots of water seem to be happier in soils that hold water better, such as clay. A few kinds need to have sharp drainage, but not many.

Potting mixes should be a large amount of humus (not hummus! ) combined with sand, perlite or vermiculite. DON'T use pure humus, though. The reason is that humus deteriorates after a while and evaporates, and needs to be replaced. If you're going to be keeping a palm in a pot for a long time, you will need to plan on replacing the soil mix every year or so with fresh. Otherwise, you end up with roots in a pot of sand . . . .

Tell us more about your situation!

Hope this helps!

[DoomsDave]

I must disagree with Jose about chemical fertilizers.

I don't use any, and you shouldn't have to, if your soil is good enough.

Why not use chem fert? Because it can pollute aquifers with runoff, and it's no substitute for good soil. Kind of like getting good health from pills . . . . . (or trying to)

[bayside mike]

Welcome! I don't know but when you find out please tell!

I think incorporating coarse sand is the magic ingredient for most mixes. But alas, can't find any bags of coarse sand on the island. I have to substitute the sand with perlite. In general increase the sand percentage for the more dry loving species and decrease the sand percentage for water loving species.

Contrary to what most people say, I found that the palms I have with some native soil incorporated into the mix (about 40% -sandy rocky soil) have done alot better than some of my peaty- bark mixes. I mean ALOT better.

Hope this helps.

Mike

You live in Bermuda and can't find any sand?

HA HA Just pulling your chain.

[trioderob]

what are your secret palm soil formulas ?

Welcome to our merry band!

You've come to the right place for palmophilia . . . . .

Are you planting palms in the ground or in pots? Indoors or out?

In the ground, as a group, palms are not fussy about soil. As long as you avoid extremes of acidity or alkalinity, and as slong as the soil is reasonably well-drained, but still holds water, it's fine.

That said, palms that like lots of water seem to be happier in soils that hold water better, such as clay. A few kinds need to have sharp drainage, but not many.

Potting mixes should be a large amount of humus (not hummus! ) combined with sand, perlite or vermiculite. DON'T use pure humus, though. The reason is that humus deteriorates after a while and evaporates, and needs to be replaced. If you're going to be keeping a palm in a pot for a long time, you will need to plan on replacing the soil mix every year or so with fresh. Otherwise, you end up with roots in a pot of sand . . . .

Tell us more about your situation!

Hope this helps!

all the palms I will add to my lawn shall be planted in the ground.

Bismark , Jubea and ???

I live in San Diego and own a house 10 miles inland.

from what I can tell the soil is the typical hard compacted clay type soil

as described below:

Poway Conglomerate of southern California

Alluvial-fan conglomerates of the Eocene Poway Group are composed largely of exotic rhyolite and dacite clasts derived from far to the east of their Eocene depositional site. Remnants of the Upper Jurassic bedrock source of the Poway rhyolite clasts may yet be exposed in hills in Sonora, Mexico. For this study, pieces of bedrock were taken from hills 13 km west of El Plomo in Sonora. Clasts texturally and mineralogically similar to the Sonoran bedrock were collected from the apex of the Eocene alluvial fan in San Diego County, California Nine couplets of bedrock and conglomerate clast samples (textural twins) were analyzed for 16 trace elements selected for their wide range of behaviors during magmatic and alteration processes. Statistical comparisons of the trace-element data, by using the standard error-of-the-difference method, show that there are no significant differences between the two populations. These data strongly suggest that the rhyolitic bedrock hills west of El Plomo were part of the source terrane for the Eocene conglomerate in San Diego. The latitudinal separation between bedrock source and the site of deposition is only the 2° created by the opening of the Gulf of California This implies that any boundary separating a paleomagnetically efined, Baja-Borderland terrane from the craton since Eocene time was at least 100 km east of the Gulf of California in northernmost Sonora.

Edited May 14, 2009 by trioderob

[Jose Maria]

Hi friends,

I agreed with Dave from so-cal in his first posting. But no longer in his second post:... about how "bad "chemical fertilizers are.

The only way plants absorb their food is ions from salts diluted in the water that´s in the soil.

Every "organic fertilizer" or organic matter in the soil , first has to be decomposed by microbial action in these chemical components, these ions,before plants can use it as "food".

Pollution is a problem with just about everything( cars, computers, etc...) you can think of, but our palms do fine with chemical fertilizer, why deny them from it ?

If we are careful and use only the correct amounts of fertilizer, there should be no pollution from chemical fertilizer???

Back to the secret soil mix.

I guess sand is easier to use instead of mixes with clay etc.. in it, because once they ( the clay) get wet , such mixes cannot be handled any more since soil structure( pores for air and water )is destroyed. But sand needs to be watered all the time, so organic matter , etc ...helps solve this problem.

Sand is not a necesary ingredient per se, just needed so the mix can be handled.

Edited May 14, 2009 by Jose Maria

[sonoranfans]

There is no perfect soil for all palms, it likely depends on your climate and the palm. Research your palms cultural requirements before planting. Bismarckias must have good drainage to be healthy, this is especially true if you sometimes have wet winters as in socal. I have come to appreciate my clay soils, they hold water better than sandy soils in the hot and dry desert. I add sand and some compost and vermiculite to my 100% clay soil depending on the palm type. Queens and royals dont need much sand or vermiculite, they like being wet, but butias, braheas and bismarckias want some sand to help drainage. Dig a big hole in your clay and backfill with ammendments, your palms will appreciate it. The two species that I have that seem to require the most sand are the hyphaene and the parajubaea torallyi. The hyphaene in particular hate winter moisture and dont like alot of compost in the mix. Parajubaea also dont like moisture or compost near the trunk. If you buy a palm, google it and read on as much as you can. Remember that requirements for the inland socal desert is different than coastal socal or florida. Oh yeah, we dont have wells here and NPK spikes easily work the best for good growth. In clay soils, a fertilizer spike is the best way to make sure that your palms root zone will see the nutrients before they wash away. As I write this my bismarckias and sabals are throwing spears with vigor 3-4 weeks after I spiked them.

Edited May 15, 2009 by sonoranfans

[Xavierdlc61887]

micro nutrients!!!!

[epicure3]

Alluvial-fan conglomerates of the Eocene Poway Group are composed largely of exotic rhyolite and dacite clasts derived from far to the east of their Eocene depositional site. Remnants of the Upper Jurassic bedrock source of the Poway rhyolite clasts may yet be exposed in hills in Sonora, Mexico. For this study, pieces of bedrock were taken from hills 13 km west of El Plomo in Sonora. Clasts texturally and mineralogically similar to the Sonoran bedrock were collected from the apex of the Eocene alluvial fan in San Diego County, California Nine couplets of bedrock and conglomerate clast samples (textural twins) were analyzed for 16 trace elements selected for their wide range of behaviors during magmatic and alteration processes. Statistical comparisons of the trace-element data, by using the standard error-of-the-difference method, show that there are no significant differences between the two populations. These data strongly suggest that the rhyolitic bedrock hills west of El Plomo were part of the source terrane for the Eocene conglomerate in San Diego. The latitudinal separation between bedrock source and the site of deposition is only the 2° created by the opening of the Gulf of California This implies that any boundary separating a paleomagnetically efined, Baja-Borderland terrane from the craton since Eocene time was at least 100 km east of the Gulf of California in northernmost Sonora.

Wow. I need my Thesaurus for this one.

[Palm Guy]

Welcome! I don't know but when you find out please tell!

I think incorporating coarse sand is the magic ingredient for most mixes. But alas, can't find any bags of coarse sand on the island. I have to substitute the sand with perlite. In general increase the sand percentage for the more dry loving species and decrease the sand percentage for water loving species.

Contrary to what most people say, I found that the palms I have with some native soil incorporated into the mix (about 40% -sandy rocky soil) have done alot better than some of my peaty- bark mixes. I mean ALOT better.

Hope this helps.

Mike

You live in Bermuda and can't find any sand?

HA HA Just pulling your chain.

LOL. Its actually quite sad. Lots of construction grade sand and beach sand available. I'm not sure which sand is considered coarse and beach sand is illegal to take. I'll just stick to perlite. It makes the pots lighter!

[Tassie_Troy1971]

I must disagree with Jose about chemical fertilizers.

I don't use any, and you shouldn't have to, if your soil is good enough.

Why not use chem fert? Because it can pollute aquifers with runoff, and it's no substitute for good soil. Kind of like getting good health from pills . . . . . (or trying to)

Whatever you are doing Dave is certainly working Swoon swoon > no substitute for mother nature !

[peachy]

what are your secret palm soil formulas ?

My place is on heavy black clay....dreadful stuff !! Like concrete when its dry and like chewing gum when its wet. However with a bit of work....okay a lot of work....it can made into a really good garden soil. I dig in gypsum every 3 years or so, use tons of compost, organic fertilisers like chicken manure pellets or decayed horse manure. I mulch everything with lucerne hay and when it needs replacing I dig that into the ground as well. I have a few messy trees here that shed leaves by the barrow load so they get raked up and put into the compost as well as shredded paper. Are you confused yet ? It took me a few years to work out a successful formula and I am happy to pass it on.

Peachy

[Gan Eden]

Mushroom compost, sheep dung and Kalgoorlie red dirt, oh and a handful of slow release palm fert.

[Moose]

On ‎5‎/‎13‎/‎2009‎ ‎1‎:‎26‎:‎58‎, trioderob said:

what are your secret palm soil formulas ?

Triode Rob and secrets from his very first post

 

 

[kinzyjr]

Native soil and water when planting outdoors.

[Palmsbro]

50 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

Native soil and water when planting outdoors.

Our soil is mostly sand, so that helps. 

However, not all palms thrive in it, so there is definitely some variation.

[greatsoldier]

On 5/13/2009 at 4:47 PM, epicure3 said:

Plaster sand+native soil+kelp meal. Shhh....don't tell anyone.

What are your thoughts on coffee grounds? 

Edited June 28, 2022 by greatsoldier