Repotting advice

[palm789]

Hi I'm about to repot my chamaerops vulcano,it's currently in a 50liter pot,now I'm not sure what size to buy as I got a choice of 60 or 70 or 80 litre,I also bought john innes no3 and perlite advice needed,thanks

[petiole10]

I would wait a few more weeks before re-potting and until risk of cold temperatures and frost is reduced and the longer days and stronger sunshine start to off-set any chilly nights. Its been a mild winter, but that can lead to starting new season activity too soon. There is still time for late cold snaps and transplanting them too soon in these circumstances could aggregate shock to the plant..

As for the re-potting itself, my own experience shows that the larger option is advisable for these palms as the new season and feeding will see strong root growth as well as the obvious acceleration of growth of the above ground part of the plant.

I have chamaerops that were re-potted from a 50 to 75 litre pot in Spring and became pot bound again by mid/late summer!   Quite a few palms like being constricted, but I find that CIDP and chaemerops, are two palms that show rapid root expansion and appreciate the space to move and become pot bound very easily..  Probably why so many are generally planted in the ground.  As they get into larger and larger pots, moving and transplanted them becomes more and more difficult. Mine are at that stage and at this rate will need some mechanical lifting and digging to get them into the ground!

The John Innes No 3 plus perlite is a good mix. I also add just a little medium grade bark chippings to my pots during Spring, as a mulch, which nicely breaks down and add some longer term nutritional value to the palm. Placing these on the top of the compost is sufficient and also adds as a means to keep it moister longer during the warm months and in the strong sunshine of summer. Grass cuttings (Just a thin top layer) is another option which worked well for me when I tried it last summer.

[palm789]

  On 3/1/2020 at 12:52 PM, petiole10 said:

I would wait a few more weeks before re-potting and until risk of cold temperatures and frost is reduced and the longer days and stronger sunshine start to off-set any chilly nights. Its been a mild winter, but that can lead to starting new season activity too soon. There is still time for late cold snaps and transplanting them too soon in these circumstances could aggregate shock to the plant..

As for the re-potting itself, my own experience shows that the larger option is advisable for these palms as the new season and feeding will see strong root growth as well as the obvious acceleration of growth of the above ground part of the plant.

I have chamaerops that were re-potted from a 50 to 75 litre pot in Spring and became pot bound again by mid/late summer!   Quite a few palms like being constricted, but I find that CIDP and chaemerops, are two palms that show rapid root expansion and appreciate the space to move and become pot bound very easily..  Probably why so many are generally planted in the ground.  As they get into larger and larger pots, moving and transplanted them becomes more and more difficult. Mine are at that stage and at this rate will need some mechanical lifting and digging to get them into the ground!

The John Innes No 3 plus perlite is a good mix. I also add just a little medium grade bark chippings to my pots during Spring, as a mulch, which nicely breaks down and add some longer term nutritional value to the palm. Placing these on the top of the compost is sufficient and also adds as a means to keep it moister longer during the warm months and in the strong sunshine of summer. Grass cuttings (Just a thin top layer) is another option which worked well for me when I tried it last summer.

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Any bark clippings? Or a certain type? I will upgrade from 50liter to either 80 or 90liter as this year I will water once a week with liquid seaweed for insane root growth and hopefully put on a bit more height? What you think?

[petiole10]

  On 3/1/2020 at 2:44 PM, palm789 said:

Any bark clippings? Or a certain type? I will upgrade from 50liter to either 80 or 90liter as this year I will water once a week with liquid seaweed for insane root growth and hopefully put on a bit more height? What you think?

Expand  

I have used small amounts of fine/medium bark chippings provided free of charge by a local tree management company who had a lot going spare - and so having asked them to deliver a supply for landscaping which simply had to be raked across the ground once it was unloaded. But I also used at one stage before this some commercial decorative bark product from a store - its simply obviously not the cheapest way. But for purposes of potting a palm only a handful is required anyway so cost will be minimal if you get a bag for general decorative purposes

The requirement for watering really depends on the weather itself. I have two water butts collecting rainwater, which is much better than using tap-water that builds up salts in the soil within a pot. So if the summer weather is dry and very warm this collected rainwater comes in useful for very regular watering. But try to locate the butt collecting rainwater in a shaded place out of the sun to keep the water fresh and as cool as possible. I use the back of my house close to a gutter and pipe to quickly re-fill as used.

Pots dry out very fast in this type of weather obviously. Its important to use any feed, including seaweed on a moist and not dry compost as they risk burning the roots. if applied to a dry medium So emphasis is on regular watering according to the weather and then feeds on top. Fortnightly for feeding (not in the peak sun/heat period of the daytime) in the growing season is better for reasons given above - the priority is not to let the compost or soil dry out too much in warm weather.  With supplement mulch there is no need to go mad with feed anyway as the nitrogen level is increased this way over time as it breaks down - and also over feeding can cause harm at least as much as not feeding enough.

Edited March 1, 2020 by petiole10