Transplanting plams

[amazondk]

I have read several of the old threads on transplanting palms and I think I understand the basic operation of this procedure.  I have some palms on my lot here and I want to move a few over to my new back yard project.  I have

2 - Adonidia merrillii that have about 50 cms of trunk

1 - Euterpe precatoria - with about 50 cms of trunk it is already a beautiful tree.

1 - Euterpe olearcae

1 - Syagrus inajai - I moved this palm earlier in the year from a nearby location with no problem, it had been root pruned 4 months earlier.

3 - Licuala elegans - with a little trunk

1 - Oenocapus bacaba - this one is growing right next to a tree and has no trunk, but already has very large fronds.

1 - Mauritiella armata - this one I also root pruned and moved earlier in the year and it has at least not died.

I dug up a clumping Euterpe olearcae on Sunday and put in the ground at the yard. It seems so far to be doing fine.  The fact that it has been raining quite a bit and more overcast than not I am sure helps.  One time I tried transplanting some big Oenocarpus bacaba and it did not work.  But, I did not root prune them properly either.  I would love any expert advice I am get from any of you.

Thanks for any help.

dk

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Don,

I would not bother root pruning the Adonidia or Syagrus, just dig them and move em.  When I dig something with a little trunk I dig a root ball one shovel head wide away from the trunk.  With a 6" trunk the root ball would be about 24" wide.  You can often get by with less, especially in benign or optimum conditions.  I would suspect that the Euterpes would move just as easily.

Root prune anything you are not sure of and move after a couple months.  The Licuala might move without a root prune but they have a weak root system and Root pruning couldn't hurt.  I have no experience with the other two.  Ken Johnson is the guy you should really ask.

Jerry

[amazondk]

Thanks Jerry.  I think the Mauritella should be ok as well.  I dug it up in the woods when smaller and have since transplanted it once and it made it ok.  I noticed that the Euterpe that I moved did suffer some from the move this week.  On the one stem with a little trunk the lower leaves turned brown. The other stems, seem to be ok though.

dk