potted ptychosperma- what are these leaves telling me?

[doubravsky]

I've had this Ptychosperma Elegans (I think it's elegans... I remember buying it as "blackfoot") in a pot on the front porch forever. The leaf ends are yellowed... what are they telling me? Advice appreciated

 

 

 

 

[PalmatierMeg]

What is your humidity? Ptychos like very high humidity.

[doubravsky]

That’s definitely not going In our favor here... low humidity... pretty dry. 

[akamu]

Probably just needs more water if it's been in that pot for a long time might not be holding much moisture . The pot could  be filled with roots. You could pot it up or plant it out wit h some overhead canopy .Usually if the Leaf tips are brown and soft it means too much water if they are brown and brittle not enough water. I have grown one outside for  10 years getting half day sun being exposed to temps over 100 degrees with no leaf tip burn. It  actually looked great year round with temps dipping into the mid 30's until a gopher ate all the roots off. It had 10ft of trunk it is time to grow another one .These are thirsty palms good luck. 

[DoomsDave]

@doubravsky, I largely concur with @akamu, and add that some Ptychos are a lot thirstier than others. Elegans is relatively tough, as I've found through experience in my Torture Center for Seedlings. Others are a lot softer. Your specimen looks like one of the "other" kinds. I think a repotting (or at least a look) would be a good idea.

Look for a mass of roots and hardly any soil in the pot; if that's the problem, repot with new dirt, a slightly bigger pot and away it'll go.

Let us know how it goes.

[sonoranfans]

I would also add that if you are not watering with distilled water, the salt accumulation will eventually kill that palm.  As salt accumulates in the soil (from water hardness and fertilizer) the plant cannot take in water across the root membrane because of the osmotic pressure in the reverse direction.  When salt is on one side of a membrane water will move towards it due to the chemical potential across the membrane.   So in effect water could move out of the roots and into the soil if the salt content is high enough.  This is why nurseries in CA always use distilled water to water their plants.  Ask Phil Bergman(@jungle music) about his source of water. I had this exact discussion with him, he uses distilled/deionized water.  I was out there for 7 years and I found potted plants lasted a few years before this becomes a real problem.  I used humic acid(a chelator) to remove the salts in an extensive humic/water rinse every couple months and my plants lived without this issue.  If you do use distilled water and give it a good rinse periodically to remove fertilizer residual salts, disregard the above.  Yes these do like water, but uptake of water can be limited severely by salt content of the soil and the accumulation is a bigger problem in dry humidity where water evaporates leaving just the salt.  

[DoomsDave]

Hmm. Interesting thought about soil salts, but I've raised thousands of potted palms and rarely have a problem with tip burn because of excess soil salts. I water in torrents (water company loves me) and wash the salts away. But I can see someone with a greenhouse having trouble with salt buildup. But not me.

In my experience, the bigger problem is potting soil where the humus decays leaving sand or perlite and little for the roots to grow in. This is easy to spot; if water and the water rushes though like there's no dirt (because there isn't) or you pick it up and it's feather light, then that's usually the problem.

[sonoranfans]

Yes, in principle, if you can afford to flush your soil for a long time(10-15 mins longer) salts will mostly come out if your water isn't too hard and your relative humidity isnt too low.  A key question is how hard is your water?  Riverside is a hot and dry place, evaporation will be fast and relative humidity will be low so it will be more susceptible to salt accumulations.  But if the water is of low hardness it shouldn't be a big issue.  Seeing no drip basin below the pot, I expect this palm is not flushed with water and it may be underwatered as well.

[doubravsky]

Thanks all- I’m thinking underwatered may be the ticket here. It has only been in that pot a couple years- pretty sure it’s not overgrown in the pot. 
 

I haven’t flushed it- usually I bring pots out when there’s a good rain to flush them but this one is heavy so I haven’t moved it. I’ll flush it out and increase the watering- maybe see if I can find a drip pot to add as well. 
 

appreciate the advice!

[Rickybobby]

They need good drainage as well what kind of soil are you using? And what’s your watering schedule like I have found this easy in pots 

[doubravsky]

I used a cactus palm soil mix... I think drainage is good. Typically I water once a week. I put a drip pot under it and ave started watering a little more often with more water going in..... planning to soak it really good when I water...

[Pal Meir]

My Ptychosperma had no problems with very dry air indoors, so I guess your problem is that your watering does/did not fit to your soil mix (esp. during the dark season?).