Hey all, I have 2 (still alive) B. condapannas.  They are in pots and showing signs of root rot.  They weren't over watered.  Other self inflicted wounds are the cause.

Point is, I need to repot these palms into new pots, completely replace the soil and treat the roots with a fungicide. 

Is this a death sentence?   How sensitive to root disturbance are Bennies?

While I am at it, I have a R. baueri "Cheesemanii" that needs the same TLC.  Is this advisable for this palm as well?

Thanks in advance for the advice.

What did you do.........

Composted mulch plus a heavy organic fertilizer in the pots.  Great stuff but WRONG place.

14 hours ago, Hammer said:

Composted mulch plus a heavy organic fertilizer in the pots.  Great stuff but WRONG place.

Oh no …… !!!!

Adam!

Come on and visit, I still owe you.

Fast draining soil is best, I've found, just have to water, too. A PIA, but come feast thine eyes on my nice specimens.

1 hour ago, Pal Meir said:

Oh no …… !!!!

For these plants, alas, must agree.

19 hours ago, Hammer said:

Hey all, I have 2 (still alive) B. condapannas.  They are in pots and showing signs of root rot.  They weren't over watered.  Other self inflicted wounds are the cause.

Point is, I need to repot these palms into new pots, completely replace the soil and treat the roots with a fungicide. 

Is this a death sentence?   How sensitive to root disturbance are Bennies?

While I am at it, I have a R. baueri "Cheesemanii" that needs the same TLC.  Is this advisable for this palm as well?

Thanks in advance for the advice.

Go ahead and repot in fast draining soil, you have nothing to lose! The bennies that is.

Won't hurt for the Cheesies, either.

10 hours ago, Pal Meir said:

Oh no …… !!!!

 is right!!

8 hours ago, DoomsDave said:

Go ahead and repot in fast draining soil, you have nothing to lose! The bennies that is.

Won't hurt for the Cheesies, either.

Will give it a go tomorrow.  Gonna drench the roots in some H2O2 for good measure too. 

8 hours ago, DoomsDave said:

Adam!

Come on and visit, I still owe you.

Fast draining soil is best, I've found, just have to water, too. A PIA, but come feast thine eyes on my nice specimens.

You don't owe me DD.  But a visit needs to get set up soon.  We've got a little South County PRA posse that seems to be gaining some steam.   We're headed down to the Darian auction Saturday. Maybe we can organize a trip up to La Habra soon?  I really want to get back and see the jungle of doom!

Welp I did the deed and repotted the Bennies. Didn't take any pics.  

Both Bennies have a shot still.  There were some healthy roots left.  But a fair amount of damage had been done. 

Came to learn Bennies are aggressive root growers. Had them a little over a year from Jeff Marcus and they were almost pot bound.  I think that unseen issue may have been part of the problem. 

Treated the roots with  Hydrogen peroxide. Replanted in cactus mix amended with sand. Now we wait and watch.

Cheesemanii is up later this week.  Will take pics of that one.

7 hours ago, Hammer said:

Welp I did the deed and repotted the Bennies. Didn't take any pics.  

Both Bennies have a shot still.  There were some healthy roots left.  But a fair amount of damage had been done. 

Came to learn Bennies are aggressive root growers. Had them a little over a year from Jeff Marcus and they were almost pot bound.  I think that unseen issue may have been part of the problem. 

Treated the roots with  Hydrogen peroxide. Replanted in cactus mix amended with sand. Now we wait and watch.

Cheesemanii is up later this week.  Will take pics of that one.

How much sand in the mix did you use Adam?

Guessing 1 part sand to 7 parts cactus mix.  Ish.

10 hours ago, Hammer said:

Welp I did the deed and repotted the Bennies. Didn't take any pics.  

Both Bennies have a shot still.  There were some healthy roots left.  But a fair amount of damage had been done. 

Came to learn Bennies are aggressive root growers. Had them a little over a year from Jeff Marcus and they were almost pot bound.  I think that unseen issue may have been part of the problem. 

Treated the roots with  Hydrogen peroxide. Replanted in cactus mix amended with sand. Now we wait and watch.

Cheesemanii is up later this week.  Will take pics of that one.

Do let us know how it goes.

We're still learning about B. condapanna, so you're adding to our body of knowledge, even if in a way you don't like. (You may make a great discovery!)

 

Condapannas are profuse rooters. It's insane how fast and how many roots they grow. I had to keep potting one up from 1g to 5g to 15g in the course of a year as roots came out from the bottom. In the process, the palm expanded very quickly from 1" to 3" diameter at the base, causing leaf bases to literally crack and tear on their own. Of course with me being stupid, I had torn off an old leaf base as it was hanging on during repotting last summer. As I found out recently, this caused an injury, and as the crown expanded quickly, this injury grew to a noticeable crack. Then came winter with prolonged cold and all the rain, and rot killed it. As I emptied the 15g container, the roots had almost filled it. In hindsight I should've put this straight into the ground as a 5g.

In my experience, it's not the roots that I would worry about. It's the health of the crown and trunk that matters, especially at the growing point. The plant is comparatively soft and very open at the top, so the quality of water that gets in there matters a great deal.

18 minutes ago, Pando said:

Condapannas are profuse rooters. It's insane how fast and how many roots they grow. I had to keep potting one up from 1g to 5g to 15g in the course of a year as roots came out from the bottom. In the process, the palm expanded very quickly from 1" to 3" diameter at the base, causing leaf bases to literally crack and tear on their own. Of course with me being stupid, I had torn off an old leaf base as it was hanging on during repotting last summer. As I found out recently, this caused an injury, and as the crown expanded quickly, this injury grew to a noticeable crack. Then came winter with prolonged cold and all the rain, and rot killed it. As I emptied the 15g container, the roots had almost filled it. In hindsight I should've put this straight into the ground as a 5g.

In my experience, it's not the roots that I would worry about. It's the health of the crown and trunk that matters, especially at the growing point. The plant is comparatively soft and very open at the top, so the quality of water that gets in there matters a great deal.

Great info Ando. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

 

Thanks for sharing. I have about 20 of these in 5 gals and all of them need to be shifted up to 15 gal's asap.

1 hour ago, Pando said:

Condapannas are profuse rooters. It's insane how fast and how many roots they grow. I had to keep potting one up from 1g to 5g to 15g in the course of a year as roots came out from the bottom. In the process, the palm expanded very quickly from 1" to 3" diameter at the base, causing leaf bases to literally crack and tear on their own. Of course with me being stupid, I had torn off an old leaf base as it was hanging on during repotting last summer. As I found out recently, this caused an injury, and as the crown expanded quickly, this injury grew to a noticeable crack. Then came winter with prolonged cold and all the rain, and rot killed it. As I emptied the 15g container, the roots had almost filled it. In hindsight I should've put this straight into the ground as a 5g.

In my experience, it's not the roots that I would worry about. It's the health of the crown and trunk that matters, especially at the growing point. The plant is comparatively soft and very open at the top, so the quality of water that gets in there matters a great deal.

Pando, fwiw, I think it's both roots and crown that are prone to cause issues. For different reasons of course. Roots were absolutely the reason mine are in trouble.

These things root faster than Alfredii based on my limited sample size.  I was shocked.

Welp...of the two Bennies I repotted...had a spear pull tonight.  Only one left.

8 hours ago, Hammer said:

Welp...of the two Bennies I repotted...had a spear pull tonight.  Only one left.

On 2/25/2016, 9:26:09, Hammer said:

Welp...of the two Bennies I repotted...had a spear pull tonight.  Only one left.

douse with peroxide down the pull-hole

On 2/10/2016, 8:49:13, Hammer said:

Composted mulch plus a heavy organic fertilizer in the pots.  Great stuff but WRONG place.

My experience has taught me not to use mulch in pots , or coffee grounds.

15 hours ago, rprimbs said:

My experience has taught me not to use mulch in pots , or coffee grounds.

Yes.  A hard lesson learned. Won't be repeated. 

15 hours ago, rprimbs said:

My experience has taught me not to use mulch in pots , or coffee grounds.

I tossed it.  The entire based was soft when I squeezed it gently.   It was gone.