Root Stimulator or similar?

[DAVEinMB]

One of my mules is planted about 6' from my mailbox and I have the suspicion that neighborhood dogs have been regularly pissing on it. I've asked the people I've witnessed to respect my property.... politely. But there's no way of talking to every person with a dog and either a long lead or lack of boundary understanding. I'm currently working on plans for some kind of physical boundary that will match the rest of my landscaping and not stand out like a sore thumb. That said is there anything I can supplement the roots with to help combat any existing damage? It's growth rate is much slower than my other four and gets more sun and the same fertilization schedule as the rest. I've done a Google search and search on here but nothing super in depth. Thanks in advance

[Chester B]

Believe it or not this is a thread on here somewhere about using your own urine as a fertilizer for palm trees.  I know they talked about diluting it down, so maybe all you need to do is hit that palm with a little more water to dilute it out and flush it away on a regular basis.

[DAVEinMB]

@Chester B I did stumble upon the thread discussing how bad dog urine is for palms but human urine is perfectly fine. The high acidity of dog urine is horrible for palms. I have a plan to keep this tree from being a future pissing post but wasn't sure if I could treat the soil with something to help combat any existing damage the tree may have sustained. 

[Chester B]

So it appears that Dog urine is high in nitrogen so it can burn vegetation.  Dilution with water will help like when a dog pees on the lawn.  I did see this "Dogonit Lawn Repair Treatment, contain organic enzymes with soil cleansers to flush the salts from the root zone."  No idea if this is safe on palms. 

Probably your best bet is a deterrent.  Can you do something like incorporate some large rocks into the landscaping to create a barrier?  There is also a battery powered motion activated sprinkler or another product that uses compressed air to startle them.

[DAVEinMB]

@Chester B as much as I would love to booby trap that area with sensors and air or water jets I think I'd be hearing from the HOA shortly after haha. 

I guess I'll just water it more frequently while I get my boundary built. Pressure treated 4x4s and bamboo posts. Gonna integrate lighting into it, she's gonna be nice 

[ColdBonsai]

I'm still very new here and to palms in general so hopefully I'm being more helpful than not - but I try and introduce mycorehize fungus to most of my landscape plants.

 

You can do a quick Goodle search to find more information, but essentially the fungus has a symbiotic relationship with the roots, and you end up with a more robust root system that resists damage, rot, and provides the plant with more nutrients.

 

It comes in a few different forms, but for already planted plants I use a product called 3 2 1 GROW. It's a tablet I can push into the soil and into the root ball to introduce it that way.

[Chester B]

19 hours ago, DAVEinMB said:

@Chester B as much as I would love to booby trap that area with sensors and air or water jets I think I'd be hearing from the HOA shortly after haha. 

I guess I'll just water it more frequently while I get my boundary built. Pressure treated 4x4s and bamboo posts. Gonna integrate lighting into it, she's gonna be nice 

I understand, but at the same time many of the "offenders" probably live in your HOA.  You should bring it up with your board and if you have a news letter they can always put a little blurb in their about pets and their waste.  We had a lot of issues in our neighborhood, I was finding "presents" every day on my front lawn.  The reminder seems to have helped.  

I have two large male dogs and have never seen damage to any plant by them (just the lawn) so if you're seeing some that palm must be getting tagged quite a lot.

Really the physical barrier is still your best bet.  Get it done before it gets too hot if its not already too late.

[DAVEinMB]

15 hours ago, ColdBonsai said:

I'm still very new here and to palms in general so hopefully I'm being more helpful than not - but I try and introduce mycorehize fungus to most of my landscape plants.

 

You can do a quick Goodle search to find more information, but essentially the fungus has a symbiotic relationship with the roots, and you end up with a more robust root system that resists damage, rot, and provides the plant with more nutrients.

 

It comes in a few different forms, but for already planted plants I use a product called 3 2 1 GROW. It's a tablet I can push into the soil and into the root ball to introduce it that way.

Im constantly learning and at times the hard way so im right there with you.  Thanks for the info on that fungus and the product you're using. I'll do some more research on it 

[DAVEinMB]

32 minutes ago, Chester B said:

I understand, but at the same time many of the "offenders" probably live in your HOA.  You should bring it up with your board and if you have a news letter they can always put a little blurb in their about pets and their waste.  We had a lot of issues in our neighborhood, I was finding "presents" every day on my front lawn.  The reminder seems to have helped.  

I have two large male dogs and have never seen damage to any plant by them (just the lawn) so if you're seeing some that palm must be getting tagged quite a lot.

Really the physical barrier is still your best bet.  Get it done before it gets too hot if its not already too late.

Tbh I'd rather handle it without getting the HOA involved. I'm not 100% positive that it's getting visited by neighborhood dogs regularly however it is well within the realm of possibility. There are a ton of pennywort growing at its base, maybe they're having an effect on how much water is getting to the roots... maybe it's a combination of that and dog urine...I dunno. 

Come to think of it, since the pennywort is healthy looking maybe dog urine isn't the culprit at all. Maybe I need to install a camera haha

 

[Manalto]

I had this problem with a neighbor's dog and I scattered rose branches around the base of the shrub.  After the dog stepped on the thorny branches, he decided the spot wasn't as appealing as he had previously thought.

[DAVEinMB]

On 7/1/2020 at 4:24 PM, Manalto said:

I had this problem with a neighbor's dog and I scattered rose branches around the base of the shrub.  After the dog stepped on the thorny branches, he decided the spot wasn't as appealing as he had previously thought.

Ah yes, biological warfare haha

[RJ]

On 7/2/2020 at 4:31 PM, DAVEinMB said:

Ah yes, biological warfare haha

I had this issue with some nice trees that I had planted out front. The neighborhood dogs killed one my my trees from pissing on it. I went to war. I placed some tinfoil around the base of the tree and hooked it up to an electric fence transformer. Added a nice sign stating to not let your dog pee on it out they will get electrocuted. Over the next week I heard a few yelps and witnessed some rouge unleashed dogs running for the hills. The suspect dogs learned pretty quickly that this wasn't a tree to be messed with. 

 

I can't say this was originally my idea as I got it from my grandfather 1900-2000 RIP. 

[Keys6505]

On 7/1/2020 at 11:59 AM, DAVEinMB said:

There are a ton of pennywort growing at its base, maybe they're having an effect on how much water is getting to the roots...

I'm not sure how it relates to trees with a much deeper root system, but I had a problem with pennywort drying out my Colocasia.  I had a large bed of a lot of different varieties of Colocasia and let the pennywort creep in because it filled up any bare spots.  Once it really set it you could see clear as day that the Colocasia that were growing in the pennywort were drooping and browning while the ones on the other side of the bed where it hadn't gotten to yet we're normal.  This was with the same sprinkler schedule that I always had.  I pulled the pennywort and it fixed the problem entirely.  Again, completely different plants, but the notion that the pennywort dries out soil is true.

[Jimhardy]

Was thinking along the same lines as above....some prickly pear cactus will do the trick.

[ahosey01]

On 6/30/2020 at 8:15 AM, DAVEinMB said:

One of my mules is planted about 6' from my mailbox and I have the suspicion that neighborhood dogs have been regularly pissing on it. I've asked the people I've witnessed to respect my property.... politely. But there's no way of talking to every person with a dog and either a long lead or lack of boundary understanding. I'm currently working on plans for some kind of physical boundary that will match the rest of my landscaping and not stand out like a sore thumb. That said is there anything I can supplement the roots with to help combat any existing damage? It's growth rate is much slower than my other four and gets more sun and the same fertilization schedule as the rest. I've done a Google search and search on here but nothing super in depth. Thanks in advance

If you replace the soil closest to the street with pure sand so it drains really really well (since you get some rain), you could probably plant some teddy bear cholla around it.

Soon as a dog takes a joint to the stomach and runs home with it and the owners can’t figure out how to get it out of him (a comb), they’ll keep him away at all costs.

Here’s a photo of one I came across that has massive joint collection underneath it that pack rats out there:

[DAVEinMB]

On 10/2/2020 at 8:56 AM, ahosey01 said:

If you replace the soil closest to the street with pure sand so it drains really really well (since you get some rain), you could probably plant some teddy bear cholla around it.

Soon as a dog takes a joint to the stomach and runs home with it and the owners can’t figure out how to get it out of him (a comb), they’ll keep him away at all costs.

Here’s a photo of one I came across that has massive joint collection underneath it that pack rats out there:

That thing looks mean! That would def make a solid boundary where my landscaping meets the curb. Gonna have to look into this one more, thanks!

 

[DAVEinMB]

On 9/28/2020 at 9:30 PM, Keys6505 said:

I'm not sure how it relates to trees with a much deeper root system, but I had a problem with pennywort drying out my Colocasia.  I had a large bed of a lot of different varieties of Colocasia and let the pennywort creep in because it filled up any bare spots.  Once it really set it you could see clear as day that the Colocasia that were growing in the pennywort were drooping and browning while the ones on the other side of the bed where it hadn't gotten to yet we're normal.  This was with the same sprinkler schedule that I always had.  I pulled the pennywort and it fixed the problem entirely.  Again, completely different plants, but the notion that the pennywort dries out soil is true.

Once I removed the pennywort I saw some improvements in the mule's growth. It was unreal how extensive the vine system had gotten in just a few weeks.