All my Cham tuercks, March 2016

[PalmatierMeg]

It's not easy working in the yard on a chilly, blustery day. When temps warmed a bit, I decided to work on the back lanai out of the wind. I fetched my five Chamaedorea tuerckheimii from the nook in the shade garden for their spring check-up: trimming, fertilizing, treatment with Merit and detailed inspection. A bit later I will treat them for spider mites with Avid/Ardent. I've decided to document their progress with a set of photos. I think they look especially healthy & happy this time out. I suspect they may like my winters more than sweltering summer. That's why I keep them in cooler deep shade rather than displaying them prominently. It's a tradeoff that works. These guys brighten up any day.

Photo #1 - all 5: one large, two medium, two small

Medium left

Medium right

Large palm, center

Smaller palms atop overturned pot

Overhead views

[comic097]

Beautiful palms 

 

[Pal Meir]

I hope my 5 tuerckheim babies too will look similar in a couple of years …

[Palm Tree Jim]

Looking great!

[Steve Mac]

Lovely little palms, but is that mottling and variegation normal?

[PalmatierMeg]

13 minutes ago, gtsteve said:

Lovely little palms, but is that mottling and variegation normal?

It is for these guys, esp. the largest. They may also be ready for their spring feeding. I think this variety usually has some degree of mottling. I've seldom seen them solid green all over. They aren't the easiest palms to maintain. In particular, they are red spider magnets and those critters will suck the life out of them. Now that I found a decent miticide I'm not as paranoid about mites but I still have to be vigilant.

[Steve Mac]

OK  Meg, and since that there is a miticide, (I did not know about that)

I assume that a systemic insecticide is not effective for red spider mite, is that correct? 

[PalmatierMeg]

Correct. Most insecticides (mites are arachnids, not insects) are ineffective against mites, despite what they claim. Miticides are very expensive but for $115 I hope I've bought enough to last me the rest of my life.

[Palmaceae]

Still looking great Meg!

[XYZ]

Meg:

Sorry to inject a sour note here, but you should be aware that spider mites develop resistance to most ag-chem very quickly, even to the newer products. They are well-known to develop resistance to Avid quite rapidly if used as sole agent. For good control, you should use at least three different products with different chemical compounds and modes of action in strict rotation.  In Guatemala I use Abamectin (=Avid), Forbid and Floramite with generally good results, but there are new generation miticides that are even better. Note that I do not endorse the use of any of these products. Rose, and indoor marijuana growers are on cutting edge of spider mite control, so useful to check out their online fora for tips. If you don't spray other pesticides in your garden, predatory mites can work well, but are costly and require regular restocks.

All ag-chem has a finite shelf life. You can usually go a year plus past expiry if storage conditions are good, but many lose their efficacy several years post formulation, so buying volume for discount is false economy unless you are a commercial grower.

J

[Josh-O]

wow! they look amazing!!!

[PalmatierMeg]

3 hours ago, stone jaguar said:

Meg:

Sorry to inject a sour note here, but you should be aware that spider mites develop resistance to most ag-chem very quickly, even to the newer products. They are well-known to develop resistance to Avid quite rapidly if used as sole agent. For good control, you should use at least three different products with different chemical compounds and modes of action in strict rotation.  In Guatemala I use Abamectin (=Avid), Forbid and Floramite with generally good results, but there are new generation miticides that are even better. Note that I do not endorse the use of any of these products. Rose, and indoor marijuana growers are on cutting edge of spider mite control, so useful to check out their online fora for tips. If you don't spray other pesticides in your garden, predatory mites can work well, but are costly and require regular restocks.

All ag-chem has a finite shelf life. You can usually go a year plus past expiry if storage conditions are good, but many lose their efficacy several years post formulation, so buying volume for discount is false economy unless you are a commercial grower.

J

Thanks for the info, Jay. I have heard of Forbid, will check on Floramite. I don't spray insecticides all over my gardens. I spray the Avid only on select potted palms. I don't expect total and lasting victory over mites. They almost killed my Areca hutchinsoniana last fall.

[XYZ]

No problem. I would suggest you stop spraying Avid until you get other compounds in hand and on the plants. You will only bolster the resistance of your mite populations to this product, making it of little or no value down the road. Many adenium (desert rose) growers learned this the hard way about a decade ago. It works great on its own for a while until - suddenly - it doesn't work at all.

J

[PalmatierMeg]

Thatnks. Will do. Forbid is expensive but Floramite is out of sight.

[Palms4Steve]

They look good. They are a real favourite of mine. I have planted mine out into the garden and they are growing very well. We would be cooler here though. My largest 3 flowered this year, but they were all males.

Steve

[PalmatierMeg]

1 hour ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Thatnks. Will do. Forbid is expensive but Floramite is out of sight.

I got them reversed. Forbid the very expensive stuff.

[PalmatierMeg]

1 hour ago, Palms4Steve said:

They look good. They are a real favourite of mine. I have planted mine out into the garden and they are growing very well. We would be cooler here though. My largest 3 flowered this year, but they were all males.

Steve

My soil is way too alkaline for them.