When should I repot a palm that will never.....

[SubTropicRay]

....outgrow the container it is in currently?  Some  Licuala, Linospadix, Chamaedorea and Reinhardtia for example, can be potted up in a 3, 5 or 7 gallon container happily for the rest of their lives.  Roots are likely to never emerge from the container holes so when should you freshen up the potting medium?  I'm guessing every 2-3 years or should it be more often?

Thanks in advance,

Ray

[Jeff Searle]

Ray,

    This can be alittle hard to answer. IMO, I think like you said,2-3 years would be about right. It all depends on the ingredients of the potting soil. Some soils will start breaking down in a year or so. Where as some really good mixes will last up until say 5 years or so.

    I can tell you all this, if a palm has been in the soil for a long period of time and the palm starts to decline in growth, even though it's got fertilizer in the soil, or leaves might start to reduce in size, check the root system. Tip it over and pull the plant out of the container. There should be visible white roots. More importantly, if there's a a few inches of soil from the bottom up, that looks very compact and even has a shiny look to the soil, this area of soil has begun to break down and your getting root rot damage. Once the roots start to rot, you will get very little or none at all, top growth out of the palm. This is when you need to repot your palm into some fresh soil. I hope this makes some sense.

Jeff

[cfkingfish]

Ray-

I agree with Jeff. I had an L. grandis with a few feet of trunk in a 10 gallon pot. It was extremely happy and for 2 years just thrived. It then went downhill and eventually I took it out of the pot, but it was too late. The soil was so decomposed it took its toll on the roots. I miss that palm....

As a caution, I change any plant that can stay in a pot forever every 24 months or so.

[DoomsDave]

Potting soil deteriorates over time.

If it's high in humus (NOT hummus!) the humus decomposes, and even evaporates.  Peat does the same.

You'll need to repot add new media peridically.

dave

[SubTropicRay]

Thanks all for the advice.