how do you super charge palm growth ???

[trioderob]

lets say I wanted to super charge the growth of my palms this summer.....

(which is a true statement by the way)

what the heck would I need to do ?

Edited January 28, 2011 by trioderob

[paulgila]

move to hawaii.

[George Sparkman]

That will do it !

or

raise your nighttime temperatures by 20f and water,water,water.

Happy growing,

George Sparkman

Cycads-n-Palms.com

[_Keith]

Here early spring vegetable growers use exposed black landscape fabric to absord more sun heat during the day, and to help retain that heat in the soil during the night. Has anyone in San Diego tried that. And along with abundant water and fertilizer, of course.

[aussiearoids]

move to hawaii.

Or better still move to the real tropics in north Queensland .

[ariscott]

hhhmmm.... that is still not tropic enough... come up a bit to Darwin, NT...

[Really full garden]

When the rainy starts I give my palms a blast of urea.Its about 45% nitrogen so I get explosions of new leaves.

[Patricia-CR]

Or maybe, you can travel less and come down to Costa Rica

Besides urea, what other kind of fertilizer do you guys use and how often?

[Gallop]

Where can you buy pure urea ? Do you have to find a fertilizer that has a high content.

[Really full garden]

Urea is a commonly used fertilser here.It costs about $22 for 100lbs.It is potent stuff / Never apply when soil is completely dry and always water well after applying.

Guatemala is an agricultural country so all kinds of mixes are available.In the wet season I use the cheaper mixes like triple 15 or 20 with minors.

In the dry season I use the much more expensive slow release brands like multikote or osmikote.All the fertilsers I have mentioned are granular.

I use liquid foliar fertilser on my small seedlings.

I fertilse small amounts monthly.

[Patrick]

My first thought was water, water, water also.

[sonoranfans]

You can overdo it with urea, and then you will have a problem . A continuous wet feed with a little urea at a time between drying cycles(do you know what your drying cycles are??), and heat, heat, heat. If you want the best passive solar heat, paint large rocks black, they will hold the heat better as large rocks, and trap it better being black. Or you could just use lots of large rocks or better boulders that are brown if black puts too much ugly in your yard. The passive solar heat sink must be in full sun of course. A movable solution might be large black(but ugly) water bladders that can be later removed... The upside of San Diego is great summer weather, not too much heat. The downside is that palms want heat, as much heat as possible. Also if you have lots of fog as in near the coast, you will not be able to use passive solar effectively on those days, as the light must get through the air to hit the passive solar heat sink and heat it.

[LJG]

Did you try Red Bull? It might give them wings!

[Patricia-CR]

Thanks a lot Scott and Tom. Got it.

Scott, CR is close to Guatemala in terms of climate and being agricultural, and it's also easy to find all of the granular or liquid fertilizers you use. Once a month sounds good, do you use the recommended strength or less?

[Tyrone]

Urea is great every now and again, but remember, your palms need more than Nitrogen.

A good NPK granular with sufficient trace elements and good regular watering is all that is needed to give great growth. If your palms have a steady supply of this through the growing season it would be hard to push them any harder than that. A bit of high nitrogen is great to boost foliage a bit, but you need strong foliage, not week foliage that can't handle dry air or cold drying winds and frost. Good potassium levels help with that, and in my experience you almost can't get enough potassium to Dypsis in my area on sandy soils as it's highly leachable but needed by tropical plants in less than tropical climates. Potassium holds the cell structure of the leaf together, creates stronger cell walls, and helps stomata open and shut when the going gets tough outside. When the air dries out the stomata will shut the cell walls preventing moisture loss. When potassium is low, they stay open and you get shrivelled leaf tips. The palm can move potassium through the plant a bit, but it will move it from the older foliage to the newer foliage. Once the tips have shrivelled, there's no getting them back.

The other element needed in abundance is Magnesium. It is needed at the centre of every chlorophyll molecule in the plant. Though not a macro element like NPK, it's not really a microelement such as iron, it's sort of in between. Calcium is another one needed in the plant to build cell walls, but in high pH soils that is rarely an issue and normally doesn't need adding. I think So Cal is mainly high pH clay?????? so not an issue.

Hope this helps.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Really full garden]

Thanks a lot Scott and Tom. Got it.

Scott, CR is close to Guatemala in terms of climate and being agricultural, and it's also easy to find all of the granular or liquid fertilizers you use. Once a month sounds good, do you use the recommended strength or less?

Patricia, I use less.I know you get incredible rains in CR like Guatemala.The fertiser just washes away. I think steady moderate growth is ideal.Minor elements are needed in almost all soils.The urea is just a boost not to be used exclusively.

[Walter John]

Organic chook pellets with trace elements and plenty of water and heat and good drainage and mulch.

[Moose]

Thanks a lot Scott and Tom. Got it.

Scott, CR is close to Guatemala in terms of climate and being agricultural, and it's also easy to find all of the granular or liquid fertilizers you use. Once a month sounds good, do you use the recommended strength or less?

Patricia, I use less.I know you get incredible rains in CR like Guatemala.The fertiser just washes away. I think steady moderate growth is ideal.Minor elements are needed in almost all soils.The urea is just a boost not to be used exclusively.

In your area, heavy nitogen is not necessary. With the amount of rains your countries get, plenty of disolved nitrogen found in rain water which is readily available for absorbtion for your palms.

[Turtile]

Do a soil test to find out which nutrients your soil is low in. Like already mentioned - Nitrogen is usually most limiting to plant growth but if you want to really see fast and healthy grow you need to provide a complete fertilizer. The most important nutrient other than NPK is Magnesium. Sulfur is a part of proteins much like nitrogen so it is also important. Calcium, manganese, iron, copper, zinc...

[mlovecan]

in Greece we have a couple products from an Italian company called Velegro.

The one I tried ( not on palms ) is called Glutaxin. The results are a bit crazy.

Many Greeks use Glutaxin on their palms. one friend transplanted a Date palm, injected with Glutaxin, and in one year it grew more than my transplanted one did in five.

regards

Maurice

[Patricia-CR]

Thanks for all your input!

[Tyrone]

The best way to see what your soil is likely to have available to plants is a soil pH test. Ideally for most palms you want the pH to be slightly acidic around 6-7. If your pH is very high (8-9+) you will have iron lock up problems, essentially immobilising the iron in the soil chemistry. In those cases you must drop the soil pH with sulfurous materials. Too acid and you'll lock up other trace elements. There are charts on the net that show what gets locked at what pH. Just google "soil pH nutrient lockups" or something like that and there will be one out there.

Here in Oz we have pelletised chicken manure, sometimes called dynamic lifter. I use it here on my slightly acidic 6-6.5pH sandy substrate soil. Don't use these sorts of substances on high pH (alkaline) soils as they are alkaline and will push the pH higher, and cause lockup after lockup and then you'll likely get secondary fungal issues from dead material. Foxtail palms are particularly upset by very high pH soils around 8-9.5. They yellow out, put out lousy new growth, then rot.

Best regards

Tyrone

[amazondk]

hhhmmm.... that is still not tropic enough... come up a bit to Darwin, NT...

It think it tropical enough here. And, fertilizer is important.. I think I will try some urea to see what it does.

dk

[Patrick]

I just had a thought...... (look out!)

since you're in San Diego and you have such nice draining soil you should really set up a drip system with soakers at the base of your palms. Since everything drains straight down down there (that's how my bro's soil in Poway is, anyways), you should have like two to five bubblers per tree, two for the small ones- heck, even one if you're that worried about the flow. Have them run several times per day, every other day, for like five minutes, ten in July till summer ends. That would help with the "water" end of things. I just don't have any faith in my government "standard" sprinklers. The bottom line here is even, steady moisture at the root zone.

Buy the "stab in the ground" little black bubblers found at the big orange store.

[Tyrone]

I just had a thought...... (look out!)

since you're in San Diego and you have such nice draining soil you should really set up a drip system with soakers at the base of your palms. Since everything drains straight down down there (that's how my bro's soil in Poway is, anyways), you should have like two to five bubblers per tree, two for the small ones- heck, even one if you're that worried about the flow. Have them run several times per day, every other day, for like five minutes, ten in July till summer ends. That would help with the "water" end of things. I just don't have any faith in my government "standard" sprinklers. The bottom line here is even, steady moisture at the root zone.

Buy the "stab in the ground" little black bubblers found at the big orange store.

Very good advice there.

[greekpalm]

in Greece we have a couple products from an Italian company called Velegro.

The one I tried ( not on palms ) is called Glutaxin. The results are a bit crazy.

Many Greeks use Glutaxin on their palms. one friend transplanted a Date palm, injected with Glutaxin, and in one year it grew more than my transplanted one did in five.

regards

Maurice

hi Maurice !

does Glutaxin more damage then good in the long run ?

[Nigel]

Products that contain NAA will supercharge growth.

In the USA you can buy Superthrive, use it at 1ml per litre fortnightly.

This will cause massive rootgrowth of the smaller roots responsible for uptake of nutrient and water.

I ran a test with syagrus. After 4 months here is the results, the two on the left were treated with palmbooster a similar product here in Europe containing NAA.

[koch]

Urea is a commonly used fertilser here.It costs about $22 for 100lbs.It is potent stuff / Never apply when soil is completely dry and always water well after applying.

Guatemala is an agricultural country so all kinds of mixes are available.In the wet season I use the cheaper mixes like triple 15 or 20 with minors.

In the dry season I use the much more expensive slow release brands like multikote or osmikote.All the fertilsers I have mentioned are granular.

I use liquid foliar fertilser on my small seedlings.

I fertilse small amounts monthly.

Has your foliar feed been giving good results on palms?

Koch

[koch]

The best way to see what your soil is likely to have available to plants is a soil pH test. Ideally for most palms you want the pH to be slightly acidic around 6-7. If your pH is very high (8-9+) you will have iron lock up problems, essentially immobilising the iron in the soil chemistry. In those cases you must drop the soil pH with sulfurous materials. Too acid and you'll lock up other trace elements. There are charts on the net that show what gets locked at what pH. Just google "soil pH nutrient lockups" or something like that and there will be one out there.

Here in Oz we have pelletised chicken manure, sometimes called dynamic lifter. I use it here on my slightly acidic 6-6.5pH sandy substrate soil. Don't use these sorts of substances on high pH (alkaline) soils as they are alkaline and will push the pH higher, and cause lockup after lockup and then you'll likely get secondary fungal issues from dead material. Foxtail palms are particularly upset by very high pH soils around 8-9.5. They yellow out, put out lousy new growth, then rot.

Best regards

Tyrone

Interesting comments. But can we generalise that all plams prefer moist soil. Here in Chicago we have about 4 months of good winter and about 2 months of short days. Our tropical indoor house is the palm house with over 70 Genuses of palms. We have over 100 palms growing indoors under controlled environment. How do you add magnesium to your soil ? straight or in combination with oter Macro and micro nutrients? Please see the photos of our double coconut which is showing some problems. What do you think of that?

Koch

[vincentmolino]

great thread

[vincentmolino]

just bought some Superthrive at Lowes yesterday for my bananas

[vincentmolino]

anyone ever try grow lights? also seems like a good source of heat in the winter

[Tomw]

I don’t know about your area, but around here a good palm specific fertilizer with all the minors every 2 months (from the beginning of spring thru end of fall) with regular irrigation works wonders!!!

[dp92651]

anyone ever try grow lights? also seems like a good source of heat in the winter

I have been using a growlight since dec.- put 4 of my most tender plants in the garage. I really notice the growth w/ my B. Condapanna- the one that has been under the growlight is substantially larger than the one in the ground. I am worried what will happen when I put it back outdoors, think it will get terrible sunburn.

I am a strong believer in superthrive- its amazing what a kick it will give your palms.

[Gonzer]

I am a strong believer in superthrive- its amazing what a kick it will give your palms.

In my 40 years of raising plants I've never seen any conclusive proof that Superthrive does what it's touted to be. A very expensive placebo IMO. Unless you live in the tropics growth rates are gonna be pretty standardized, there are no magic tricks beyond what sensible feeding, mulching and temperatures provide.

genus; plural > genera

[vincentmolino]

what kind of lights do you use? i have extra Metal Halide bulbs and ballasts in my machine shop I was hoping to use. They are also cheap on ebay

[Hammer]

Metal halide lights are great for corals under water so I would imagine they are good for palms as well. Perhaps someone else has direct experience. Be careful of their proximity to the plants so you don't fry them with too much heat. I don't use them, but recall that they are inefficient...meaning they generate a lot of heat.

[LJG]

I am a strong believer in superthrive- its amazing what a kick it will give your palms.

In my 40 years of raising plants I've never seen any conclusive proof that Superthrive does what it's touted to be. A very expensive placebo IMO. Unless you live in the tropics growth rates are gonna be pretty standardized, there are no magic tricks beyond what sensible feeding, mulching and temperatures provide.

genus; plural > genera

I disagree and have put a lot of time into testing this. Many people that come to my greenhouse know I always have Superthrive on hand. I have found that ST when used in small doses every few waterings has produced larger and healthier plants for me - in pots. I ran this test on a few different Dypsis and NewCals over the course of about 5 years that I have now had my greenhouse. Some plants respond much better then others with ST. Does it do what is claims? Probably not. Does it help in plant growth? Yes, from what I have tested. Just remember it is not fertilizer so it must be used with a normal fertilizing regiment.

I have found using ST outside with plants in the ground has shown no difference for me, but I have also not been religious about use outside. I do however use it when transplanting.

[Jastin]

When I took a soil science class we tested this. ST does work. I planted a palm from a 4" pot and gave it ST every watering. It put out 5 leaves in the first year. I stopped watering it with ST and it has slowed way down. Yes thats just one palm but the observations from the class on hundreds of plants showed the same thing.

[BS Man about Palms]

As Matty has observed I deprive my palms of all but the minimum care to keep them alive. Like a palm concentration camp. THEN when I get around to planting them with "average" care, they usually grow at a really fast pace !!!!

shhh that's a secret.....