Splitting my D.Lutescens

[Philly J]

When I did my W.Robusta repotting, I decided it was time to separate the two biggest from this bunch in hopes of making them trunk at some point.

I put each of them in terracotta and in the same mix:  Leca bottom, half perlite half coir, leca top.  Here’s hoping they don’t go into too much of a shock.  I didn’t have to rip any of the major roots from each of my big guys, took my time to separate them and if there were any rips it was from the smaller clump (which also got repotted but if that dies of shock I’m not as concerned, I want these two beauties to trunk though in a pot, which I don’t see very often).  I will have to get some support for the tallest fronds I think, before they relied on their smaller clumping brothers. 

I have a steady obviously increased watering and feeding schedule going with my other terra/soiless palms but it’s working out, so crossing my fingers that these dypsis respond on the same way.

[JohnAndSancho]

I'm feeling guilty now. I've got 3 pots of C. Elegans (real small) that I've been wanting to split up forever and haven't touched them. My d. Lutescens are A LOT smaller than yours, but one of the pots in my office needs to be repotted at some point. They're in "self watering" pots and the roots are creeping into the water reservoir. Can't decide if I'm depressed or just lazy lol. 

[JohnAndSancho]

Oof. 

[Philly J]

8 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Oof. 

Can you extract safely? 

Edited March 27, 2021 by Philly J

[JohnAndSancho]

32 minutes ago, Philly J said:

Can you extract safely? 

Homey, if I can turn this hotel around the way i have, I can do anything. 

[Philly J]

I have bad news about the dypsies they are still in shock and declining slowly...  

I am waiting for them to turn the corner but near the crown on each of them it’s getting “spongy” less firm, spongy at the trunk near the roots too.  The fronds are drooping more and more each day too.  Tried to go easy with the watering even though it’s in the coir and perlite, because after the first watering after transplant the coir and perlite actually held quite a bit of water and the terracotta was always damp kinda, so I was worried.  I also didn’t inspect the roots prior to repot because I did it outside when it was around 40F and cloudy and windy and I wanted to get it done safe but ASAP.  They could have been rotted a little already or actually could have been accidentally damaged by me pulling them from the clump.  But it’s been 6 days and they have not given me any indication they are happy after the transplant shock.  Getting worried.

[JohnAndSancho]

Good vibes, bruh. Your Dypsis are gorgeous. 

[Philly J]

Hit it with peroxide drink today they are getting worse.  They were so strong they didn’t need supports when I repotted them, the transplant shock has led me to have to prop up the fronds now.  This sucks I really liked them.  How much longer should I be keeping up this charade for?

[JohnAndSancho]

Have you tried Superthrive? It's expensive (I paid $11 for a 4 oz bottle) but it'll last forever. A single drop mixes with a gallon of water. It's supposed to ease transplant shock. Everyone either swears by it or thinks it's a scam but it can't hurt anything. 

[Philly J]

1 hour ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Have you tried Superthrive? It's expensive (I paid $11 for a 4 oz bottle) but it'll last forever. A single drop mixes with a gallon of water. It's supposed to ease transplant shock. Everyone either swears by it or thinks it's a scam but it can't hurt anything. 

I will absolutely try it if it’s not too late.  At this point it’s been 9 days.

[JohnAndSancho]

Now I'm nervous to split up all my community pots 

 

Tbf all of my clusters are small and were fairly cheap. 

[Philly J]

Dead dead dead   all of it.  The two singles and the clump.

wont by trying that again for a LONG time.  @PsyPalm has the lutie whispering gift.

[lzorrito]

1 hour ago, Philly J said:

Dead dead dead   all of it.  The two singles and the clump.

wont by trying that again for a LONG time.  @PsyPalm has the lutie whispering gift.

Philly, did you split them shortly after arriving at your place?

[Philly J]

27 minutes ago, lzorrito said:

Philly, did you split them shortly after arriving at your place?

The whole clump was repotted in January and the surgery happened on the 20th of March.  I was marking spear growth on both the trunks I pulled, and when they were repotted and went into transplant shock I didn’t worry or think anything was up yet.  Even after the outer fronds started dying by the day.  All I was waiting for was some spear push.  All leaves and all fronds died, so I assumed no photosynthesis could take place anymore to support the root system.  I technically still have it, and maybe it’s still alive?  Want me to post pics?  The spear is not pulling, and I have tried lol

Edited April 24, 2021 by Philly J

[lzorrito]

19 minutes ago, Philly J said:

The whole clump was repotted in January and the surgery happened on the 20th of March.  I was marking spear growth on both the trunks I pulled, and when they were repotted and went into transplant shock I didn’t worry or think anything was up yet.  Even after the outer fronds started dying by the day.  All I was waiting for was some spear push.  All leaves and all fronds died, so I assumed no photosynthesis could take place anymore to support the root system.  I technically still have it, and maybe it’s still alive?  Want me to post pics?  The spear is not pulling, and I have tried lol

Too much root disturbance with reppoting and splitting in only 2 months, and eventually they didn't even had time to acclimate to your place. Next time, yes, next time, you will try again, let them "rest" for some months until they are acclimated to your local environment, and them you may "operate".

[Philly J]

1 minute ago, lzorrito said:

Too much root disturbance with reppoting and splitting in only 2 months, and eventually they didn't even had time to acclimate to your place. Next time, yes, next time, you will try again, let them "rest" for some months until they are acclimated to your local environment, and them you may "operate".

The bug will hit me again I’m sure you are right!  I still have a gorgeous clump that I am scared to death touching now haha!  It’s just as old and was repotted at the same time so now it’s been four months for that guy.  Since I’m scared for a long time, I might try with it next winter and see!

[JohnAndSancho]

 

[lzorrito]

9 minutes ago, Philly J said:

The bug will hit me again I’m sure you are right!  I still have a gorgeous clump that I am scared to death touching now haha!  It’s just as old and was repotted at the same time so now it’s been four months for that guy.  Since I’m scared for a long time, I might try with it next winter and see!

As they were also repotted at same time you should wait a long while until splitting. When purchasing lutescens clumps aiming splitting, chose the less crowded ones, those are the most suitable. Less trunks but larger healthy roots than the crowed clumps. That will increase the success rate.

[Philly J]

35 minutes ago, lzorrito said:

As they were also repotted at same time you should wait a long while until splitting. When purchasing lutescens clumps aiming splitting, chose the less crowded ones, those are the most suitable. Less trunks but larger healthy roots than the crowed clumps. That will increase the success rate.

Yeah it’s already been four months.  I’m gonna wait an additional 8.  Is a year still too short?  Should I wait 4 or 5 years?

[lzorrito]

41 minutes ago, Philly J said:

Yeah it’s already been four months.  I’m gonna wait an additional 8.  Is a year still too short?  Should I wait 4 or 5 years?

It doesn't take that long, it depends on the state of development of the roots in the new pot (is it large?), as they are now, most likely, in the process of growing and therefore very tender and sensitive. Take a look in a few months, as this way you will also be able to assess and validate its growth rate in your local conditions. The indicators you get from these observations will be very useful to improve many things. I splitted a clump of 7 lutescens seedlings about 1 month ago, but waited about 10 months to do so, until the roots were strong and coming out of the pot. Of the 7, only 1 is experiencing some stress. Something that helps a lot in these cases of splitting is the shape and depth of the pot, you will preferably have to use liners, narrow but deep.

[PsyPalm]

On 4/24/2021 at 9:02 AM, Philly J said:

Dead dead dead   all of it.  The two singles and the clump.

wont by trying that again for a LONG time.  @PsyPalm has the lutie whispering gift.

Ahh nooo!  I'm sorry to hear that, moment of silence for the fallen palms :/ 

I've definitely lost a few myself but for the ones that have survived I've stuck them in straight water with a drop of superthrive in it for a 4-5 weeks (changing out the water every 2-3 days) to ease the transition.  Something about being separated from the original root cluster of the group makes them suuuper susceptible to shock and death if they go directly back into soil, but the ones that I've transitioned in water first have about an 80% survival rate.

Just today I separated a number individual dypsis specimens from two of the smaller clusters I'm shaping.  I want each cluster to grow in a ring with each individual palm having it's own breathing room in the presentation.  I stuck the individual palms I pulled from the cluster to thin it out/shape it into water with superthrive and will plant them individually in a month or so.

 

[Philly J]

ITS ALIVE im glad I kept the trunk, didn’t have any expectations but I’m just shocked it’s doing this with no fronds to support photosynthesis? Just this single spear. 

[JohnAndSancho]

I'm gonna try playing some reggae for my sad looking Roebelleini and see if it comes back. Poor guy just isn't jiving in my office. 

[PsyPalm]

On 5/20/2021 at 9:31 AM, Philly J said:

ITS ALIVE im glad I kept the trunk, didn’t have any expectations but I’m just shocked it’s doing this with no fronds to support photosynthesis? Just this single spear. 

Fantastic news!

[PsyPalm]

Hey guys!  I gathered (almost) all of my palms together and squeezed them into my living room to see what it would look like, you know how it goes lol.  One thing led to another and it actually turned out kinda cool, thought I'd share some photos with you guys! 

Here's the roster of palms I have in this room:

Howea forsteriana x 4

Dypsis lutescens x 12

Hyophorbe verschaffeltii x 2

Chamaedorea elegans x 2

Chamaedorea cataractarum x 1

Livistonia chinensis x 1

I used a lot of the smaller d. lutescens that I'd previously separated out and individually potted to fill out the little spaces under and around the bigger statement palms to get a super full and lush overall display, let me know what you guys think!

-Loch