Misting palms

[amazonman]

I water my palms and mist their leaves too, is misting  beneficial for palms or it really doesn't matter and watering their pots is good enough.

[Kris]

Dear Amazon Man  

I recommand only root watering,misting &

spraying method is nesassory onely in areas

with heavy dust & pollution due to vehicular

movement.

even in this case overhead watering should

be done only fortnight or once a month only.

and do this operation in the mornings,so the

sun's heat & sunlight will dry the leaves from

excess water staying in between the trunk &

leaf areas_which will otherwise encourage

fungas grouth or mealy bugs etc.  

Love,

Kris.

[amazonman]

(krisachar @ Dec. 02 2006,02:40)

QUOTE

Dear Amazon Man  

I recommand only root watering,misting &

spraying method is nesassory onely in areas

with heavy dust & pollution due to vehicular

movement.

even in this case overhead watering should

be done only fortnight or once a month only.

and do this operation in the mornings,so the

sun's heat & sunlight will dry the leaves from

excess water staying in between the trunk &

leaf areas_which will otherwise encourage

fungas grouth or mealy bugs etc.  

Love,

Kris.

Thanks Kris, i always thought leaves need watering too  :laugh:

How is your lipstick palm doing?

[Neofolis]

I think again it's a question of species.  Species from arid climates may not be too keen on misting.  I remember reading on a previous thread, which compared misting with drip irrigation, that Jubaea's tend to rot with misting and they are probably not alone.

[Gileno Machado]

Amigos:

I do the opposite:

I have separated the species from arid climates in a drier place at the small nursery I have on the beach. All the other species (under shade cloth or in the open) take a daily long hose shower at 5 PM, no matter the season, unless it is raining. Well, they love this in my climate, where it doesn't ever get either very hot or cold, but where transpiration is always high. I try to avoid having them misted in the morning with direct sun, but when it happens it doesn't seem to harm the leaves anyway.

If you don't have a fungal/pest problem, I would recommend a daily mist during your summer for most tropical and warm temperate species, late in the afternoon.

Let's see what the others think, especially the most experienced professionals in nursery business.

[Phil]

AmazonMan,

It certainly depends on the species.  Daily misting of Brahea armata would rot it for sure.  A tropical Geonoma would probably love it.  Ideally you'd try to mimic what the species sees in the wild.  And, remember that misting might best be done on a seasonal basis.  Also, if you are giving frequent overhead watering, have good draining soil.  And, such watering can leave salt deposits on the leaves if using municipal water.  I've seen many a collector install overhead misters to reproduce cloud forest conditions for their tender understory palms.

Phil

[Kris]

Dear Amazon Man

my lipstip palm is recovering from that

unknown stress.And its very kind of you

to remember & ask about is well being.

And i must add the beauty of misting might

work for potted plants(palms & cycas).but

once in ground/dirt they will have adverse

effect,since god created rain with pure oxy rich

water,while we only use either bore,well or

metro water supply which will have some

mineral & salts which make the plants realise

that it is artifical & not natural.they have more

brains that human beings when it comes to

nature.

And when it is raining or about to rain or after

raining just see how the climate & the sun light

changes,this activates certain metabolic functions

in plants,which cannot be duplicated by over head

showering made by human beings.

So do try various methods & stick which suits your

plants & your taste.And be ready to buy lots of pesticides

& fungicides if you are in for overhead watering & sprinklers.

Sprinklers are strictly for lawn where we give urea(amonia

sulphate Fert).this needs rainfall like watering preferable

daily in certain locations.

Love,

Kris(to all my friends).

[merrill]

Chamaedorea cataractarum grew like gangbusters when we misted it.  It is an exception, though, as others have said, this is very species specific,

[BS Man about Palms]

The only time I "mist" my palms is when a "Santa Ana" is in town....(Humidity drops to @ 10% or less with warm/hot winds)

[Walter John]

(BS, Man about Palms @ Dec. 03 2006,00:30)

QUOTE

The only time I "mist" my palms is when a "Santa Ana" is in town....(Humidity drops to @ 10% or less with warm/hot winds)

That's the time to mist and the reason. Humidity supplement.

[chris.oz]

I "mist" palms in the rainforest section of my garden, paticularly on the days of hot norherly winds. I dont mist the Brahea armata or the Butia capitata in the dry sections,  I pour water into tubes in the ground.   None of the palms in the rainforest section has died .