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To Fertilize or not To Fertilize


The Gerg

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If you guys have palms that look like they could use some fertilizer do you go ahead and fertilize even if it’s outside the usual window you would normally do so? I have a couple palms and a cycad that looks like they need it and I hate to wait til spring. I think I’m going to go ahead and do it unless somebody raises a red flag.

Thanks. Greg

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deficiencies will depend on a number of things.  If you underfertilize by waiting too long for the product effectiveness range, by all means add more.   But addting lots of nitrigen when its already there can cause deficiencies.  But your deficiencies could be in K, Mg only, which indicates sulpomag treatment.  Your soil also could limit uptake of nutrients so it pays to be aware of what the nature of it is.  Sand? Loamy clay? high calcium clay? Google the different deficiencies and look at what they are talking about.  Potassium deficiency appears as blotchy green yellow changes that almost look like TV pixels in yellow or lighter colors.  This blotchiness is because potassium is not mobile within the leaf.  Mg deficiency appears as broad yellowing except for the veins which remain green or more greenish.  Mg is mobile in the leaf so no "pixeling effect" in depletion of green color.  Iron deficiency is general yellowing and is often a soil pH problem since Fe is generally more persistent in soil than the other two but its availability is sensitive to soil pH.

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Formerly in Gilbert AZ, zone 9a/9b. Now in Palmetto, Florida Zone 9b/10a??

 

Tom Blank

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I fertilize year round, just less in the winter.  A lot of experts say to not fertilize nearing dormancy because it can encourage new tender growth that can be damaged by freezing.   That' a bit "human centric" if you ask me.   I think palms will go dormant at their own time regardless of how much we feed them, and they will only take in as much nutrients as they need.  

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9 hours ago, sonoranfans said:

deficiencies will depend on a number of things.  If you underfertilize by waiting too long for the product effectiveness range, by all means add more.   But addting lots of nitrigen when its already there can cause deficiencies.  But your deficiencies could be in K, Mg only, which indicates sulpomag treatment.  Your soil also could limit uptake of nutrients so it pays to be aware of what the nature of it is.  Sand? Loamy clay? high calcium clay? Google the different deficiencies and look at what they are talking about.  Potassium deficiency appears as blotchy green yellow changes that almost look like TV pixels in yellow or lighter colors.  This blotchiness is because potassium is not mobile within the leaf.  Mg deficiency appears as broad yellowing except for the veins which remain green or more greenish.  Mg is mobile in the leaf so no "pixeling effect" in depletion of green color.  Iron deficiency is general yellowing and is often a soil pH problem since Fe is generally more persistent in soil than the other two but its availability is sensitive to soil pH.

Thank you for the thorough reply. My problem is more a general yellowing that I want to green up.

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Remember many fertilizers will not work at temps below 76F

 

5 year high 42.2C/108F (07/06/2018)--5 year low 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)--Lowest recent/current winter: 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)

 

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32 minutes ago, James B said:

Even liquids?

Yes, esp, anything liquid will be wasted rather than utilized by any plant which is dormant/ greatly slowed down growth-wise.  Imagine trying to eat a buffet, while in a Coma, and already well- fed, lol. 

On the other hand, Don't see any issues applying a light amount of a slow, time release this time of year, most of which should be available for the plant when growth resumes.
 

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Its true but its the plant that wont uptake the fertilizer at below 65F soil temps.  The mycorrhizae which function in assisting nutrient uptake go to sleep and the plant struggles to uptake ferts below that temp.  Look ujp your soil temps.  Being you are in arizona, you should get a soil tests you may have high pH and Ca.  Tha dang construction clay they use to make the developments is often high pH.

21 hours ago, JLM said:

These are all great recommendations! I will try a few and see how they do!

 

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Formerly in Gilbert AZ, zone 9a/9b. Now in Palmetto, Florida Zone 9b/10a??

 

Tom Blank

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Another palm enthusiast told me to fertilize four times a year - on the solstices and equinoxes to make it easy to remember. It’s worked for me in San Francisco! Many of my palms seem to grow nearly year-round (rhopalostylis sapida & baueri, archontophoenix cunninghamiana, ceroxylon, etc) despite night time temps regularly into the 40s this time of year. I use Palm Gain and am happy with it. 

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23 hours ago, GottmitAlex said:

Remember many fertilizers will not work at temps below 76F

 

That's simply not true.  The proof is the thousands of mature, seeding palms grown in cool climates like the UK and Switzerland.  Or the thousands of palm seedlings I have grown with winter greenhouse temperatures at 68-72F.

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I don't think you will do any harm by fertilizing right now as long as you're not pumping a lot of nitrogen to the plant during this cold weather. Sounds like you have some chlorosis, and as is typical in California's cool season, perhaps just lack of transport of nutrients through the plant up to the leaves due to the cold soil. I would suggest you wait until you have a nice, fairly warm day (NWS shows nice weather, mid-70s or so, next Tuesday and Wednesday at mid-day in Ventura) and do a foliar spray of something like Miracid/Miracle-Gro liquid, perhaps at half strength. Make sure you hit the undersides of the leaves, and in fact it will help if you wet the leaves and soil around the plant with water (to humidify the area) about 30 minutes before you do the application, so the stomata open. Then you can spray the fertilizer and the plant will take it up very quickly. You can also spray the root-zone and water that in, but you will probably not see the same effect as with a foliar application. But at a weakened consistency, it can't hurt.

Michael Norell

Rancho Mirage, California | 33°44' N 116°25' W | 287 ft | z10a | avg Jan 43/70F | Jul 78/108F avg | Weather Station KCARANCH310

previously Big Pine Key, Florida | 24°40' N 81°21' W | 4.5 ft. | z12a | Calcareous substrate | avg annual min. approx 52F | avg Jan 65/75F | Jul 83/90 | extreme min approx 41F

previously Natchez, Mississippi | 31°33' N 91°24' W | 220 ft.| z9a | Downtown/river-adjacent | Loess substrate | avg annual min. 23F | Jan 43/61F | Jul 73/93F | extreme min 2.5F (1899); previously Los Angeles, California (multiple locations)

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  • 2 years later...

The cold snap before the rains yellowed some of my plants.

What about a foliar application during Winter?

Apply Miracle grow foliar through hose end bib?

Whenever the rain stops for a few days.

Thoughts?

 

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