Bottom watering indoor palms?

[sashaeffer]

Just curious if any member on here waters their potted palms by sitting them in a container larger than their pot to let the palm absorb water from the bottom up and if it's overall a better way to water at least the palms that aren't to big.

[kinzyjr]

Good question.  I haven't actually done an experiment myself, but curious about the effects - especially with desert or Mediterranean type palms such as Washingtonia filifera, Jubaea chilensis, Medemia argun and Nannorrhops ritchiana.

[sashaeffer]

I'm doing this with a Lady palm Rhapis excelsa   I've had them in the past based on the fact they were supposedly a great indoor palm but for what ever reason it died. Bought another when in San Diego last fall and after doing some reading on that species read their roots tend to bunch up at the bottom of any pot so a lot of times top/down watering doesn't get water to them.

When I put it in a container of water it really soaks it up quickly and seems to prefer it that way so got me to thinking how watering that way would work on other varieties of palms.

[Steve Mac]

I did this a few times (soaking in another pot of water) to dozens of my smaller outdoor pots when I had them. Also to the indoor pots that I used to have. I added surfactant too.

I wanted to ensure that there was no 'tracking' of water through the pot before it was all evenly wet. The big pots outside I added surfactant from the top in normal watering.

I was very happy with the 'bottom watering' and I highly recommend the use of surfactant in all pots for even wetting.

Oh, and one other thing, I usually use the cheapest potting mixes, the premium ones often have a surfactant in them already, but still may need replacing after six months or so if not kept constantly wet.