dypsis Dicaryi in Clay and shade?

[Palmfarmer]

I am giving up on my clump of dypsis lutescens that are planted in a clay part of the garden. The lutescens has just more or less decelined since i planted it. 

i just got a Triangle palm (dypsis Dicaryi) and I am wondering if it hates clay as much? I will be changing out a lot of the soil around when planting, but eventually it will hit the native soil anyways. It is also right up to my house faceing northeast so it gets little sunlight except for the summer.  input? thanks  

[Tyrone]

I would never recommend Dypsis decaryi for shady areas with clay. It's the opposite of what these need which is sand in full baking sun. I reckon they will rot probably in winter in shade and on clay.

Now Livistona australis will probably love the shady clay soil spot you've got. They love swamps and come from rainforests and dont mind wet feet in cold times either.

[Palmfarmer]

I recieve 0 rain in winter and can ammend the soil if that helps? too bad its the only spot in my garden I have space. I am not 100% how much shade it gets though, but it is enough sun there to Burn the lutescens that is in its spot. Since I am more or less at the Cancer of tropics it should get some good sun from 21. mars to around 23. september.(equinox to equinox) since the sun is so high up?

Edited March 29, 2021 by Palmfarmer

[Tyrone]

3 hours ago, Palmfarmer said:

I recieve 0 rain in winter and can ammend the soil if that helps? too bad its the only spot in my garden I have space. I am not 100% how much shade it gets though, but it is enough sun there to Burn the lutescens that is in its spot. Since I am more or less at the Cancer of tropics it should get some good sun from 21. mars to around 23. september.(equinox to equinox) since the sun is so high up?

Ok. I would probably amend the clay a lot to make it breathe better. If the lutescens burnt then that’s enough sun for decaryi. Being at the tropic of cancer your shadow lines in winter would be shallower than away from the tropics. Worth a shot then. 

[Johnny Palmseed]

Depending on how much work you want to do, amending the soil is an option. It is something you would probably only do once. And you can water dry soil. But changing the sun is a bit harder. Obviously, you can’t increase it but you can limit sunlight with shade. But that doesn’t always work out well since tall trees can die and leave the shade lovers baking. Your situation is worth trying in my opinion. I have amended much of my poor “soil” which is a crushed shell/sand mixture very high in pH with no nutrient holding capacity. It is a lot of work, but I can now plant things with more assurance that they will grow well. Prior to that, things would grow for a short while and then die off due to nutrient deficiencies.

[Palmfarmer]

2 hours ago, Johnny Palmseed said:

Depending on how much work you want to do, amending the soil is an option. It is something you would probably only do once. And you can water dry soil. But changing the sun is a bit harder. Obviously, you can’t increase it but you can limit sunlight with shade. But that doesn’t always work out well since tall trees can die and leave the shade lovers baking. Your situation is worth trying in my opinion. I have amended much of my poor “soil” which is a crushed shell/sand mixture very high in pH with no nutrient holding capacity. It is a lot of work, but I can now plant things with more assurance that they will grow well. Prior to that, things would grow for a short while and then die off due to nutrient deficiencies.

Thanks to you and @Tyrone. So a Dicaryi in clay is a big nono even if kept dry (never rains here) other than rain season in Peak of summer. What i do is make a hole twice as wide and another fot deeper than the rootball and straight up replace that soil and plant it on a mound. Further i will work in compost in the area around where i replaced the soil and mulch Sounds good? 

[Johnny Palmseed]

I would dig out as much as you expect the root ball to be. The bigger the better.

[TomJ]

Triangles can grow in clay.

Is there any elevation to the spot so that there is no "standing" water??

If there is any slope so that there is drainage I would virtually never water it.

Once it's established dry in the cold and water in the heat.

The spot you are describing sounds perfect for a lot of other Dypsis though.

Show us a picture of the spot.

[Palmfarmer]

15 hours ago, TomJ said:

Triangles can grow in clay.

Is there any elevation to the spot so that there is no "standing" water??

If there is any slope so that there is drainage I would virtually never water it.

Once it's established dry in the cold and water in the heat.

The spot you are describing sounds perfect for a lot of other Dypsis though.

Show us a picture of the spot.

I have a  2 meter tall Lutescens standing there. It does poorly. I wil transport that one to a pot and see if it does better in better soil. Nope not on a slope, but i will just plant it like 5cm above ground.

[Palmfarmer]

I got that Lutescens out of the ground and into a big pot with welldraining soil in a much more shady location, it is basicly my palm hospital. Hopefully the Lutescens does good this way and looks better towards the end of the summer. I have started to dig a bigger hole for the Dicaryi than straight up replacing the old with store bought welldraining soil once the Dicaryi. The soil was a lot better than i remember though. a lot of sand and medium clay content it drains at a medium-fast pace if i dig a hole and fill it with water. maybe something else was bothering that lutescens. 

 

Edited April 2, 2021 by Palmfarmer