phoenix roebelenii separate or not?

[ZPalms]

12 hours ago, GoatLockerGuns said:

I think it is more likely a zone 9a palm.  I do not believe they would survive zone 8b lows (15F - 20F) without significant protection.  That is probably why we do not see them planted in zone 8b areas.  Attached is a picture I took of some Phoenix roebelenii that were planted at a Taco Cabana on the southeast side of San Antonio (zone 9a).  The picture was taken in January of 2021, and they looked like they were doing pretty good.  They all died the following month during the Texas freeze event of 2021 (as well as every other true palm in the picture).  I believe most consider all of the true palms pictured to be 9a palms (i.e., Phoenix roebelenii, Syagrus romanzoffiana, and Washingtonia robusta); albeit, that part of San Antonio probably experience zone 7b lows for at least a couple of days during said freeze event.  The only true palm planted at that Taco Cabana that survived the Texas freeze event of 2021 was one of three Livistona chinensis that were planted on the east side of the building.

I really dislike when they cut washies, what a quick way to weaken the whole tree but a real shame so many palms were lost, I would never even think to put a roebellni into the ground where I live cause I know it would be toast

 

1 hour ago, Born said:

I separated mine long ago and it worked out well. 
 

I remember seeing your pictures a while back, I can't wait to get mine separated if they pull through which I'm hoping they will, what do they look like now? has it been a year now since they've been separated? 

[Born]

[ZPalms]

8 hours ago, Born said:

Oh wow it's definitely getting some trunk on it, I can see where one of the fronds on the older photos was cut! and thats one giant washie trunk! really wish I had your floor space cause the palms look so nice and clean next to the window 

[Born]

Thank you for the compliment.

Keep up the great work on all your palms!

[ZPalms]

10 hours ago, Born said:

Thank you for the compliment.

Keep up the great work on all your palms!

Thank you! Appreciate it!

[PsyPalm]

@Born when you separated your roebelenii's did you use a sharp knife to cleanly cut the root ball or rinse and gently tease apart the roots by hand?  I want to do the same to a cluster of mine this spring and am on the fence about how best to do it as I've read endorsements for both methods.  Thanks!

[Born]

I took the two cluster out of the pot and washed the soil off, exposing the big, intertwined ball of roots. I took 70% Isopropyl Alcohol and poured it on a mini hacksaw, being sure to let the blade dry before beginning my project. I then gently laid down the Pygmy’s on a garbage sack and firmly grabbed the rootball and went straight down the middle of both Pygmy’s. I then took each plant and placed in the appropriate planter, filling each with 70% Rectibark, 20% potting soil, and 10% petite. I took each plant and put it in the shower and ran warm water over each for about 15 minutes each for a nice and refreshing warm bath. This allowed the bark, soil, and perlite to grab onto the roots and settle into placement. I then set the palms by the whole room humidifier with a level at 60% humidity. The palms were in indirect bright light for one year. 
 

Fast forward to today; they are doing absolutely wonderful. Spears coming up, no dryness or wilting on the leaves, and fronds are green. 
 

CAUTION:

Doing work like this can be hazardous to the palms health. Usually it is a 50/50 chance of survival, but what do you have to lose. If it doesn’t work, go to Lowes and buy another one. For me, I like to have solitary palms, I do not like clumps. 
 

My next project is to separate my Livistona Chinesis palm trees. These are also solitary palms. I will be doing this in May.  Below is the Livistona Chinesis.

[JohnAndSancho]

4 hours ago, Born said:

My next project is to separate my Livistona Chinesis palm trees. These are also solitary palms. I will be doing this in May.  Below is the Livistona Chinesis.

Looking forward to see how this goes. My L. Chinesis clump is younger - they're just now starting to get the teeth on their petioles. There was probably 20 in the pot - I plucked out the smallest, then cut the next smallest off at soil level so the larger, thicker plants could grow. There's 6 left. Seemed to help, the bigger ones are growing more. 

 

When I split my pygmy dates, I cleaned off as much soil as I could by hand, then soaked the root ball in water and slowly teased them apart with rubber gloves and a stainless chop stick. Welp - all 3 slowly closed up all of their fronds, and I yeeted them into the dumpster.

I've also split up 2 clumps of Kentia, and umm 2/8 are still alive. As a side note, I didn't split up a 1 gallon Kentia clump and 3/4 of those died so *shrugs*

[JLM]

On 2/19/2022 at 8:26 PM, JohnAndSancho said:

Looking forward to see how this goes. My L. Chinesis clump is younger - they're just now starting to get the teeth on their petioles. There was probably 20 in the pot - I plucked out the smallest, then cut the next smallest off at soil level so the larger, thicker plants could grow. There's 6 left. Seemed to help, the bigger ones are growing more. 

 

When I split my pygmy dates, I cleaned off as much soil as I could by hand, then soaked the root ball in water and slowly teased them apart with rubber gloves and a stainless chop stick. Welp - all 3 slowly closed up all of their fronds, and I yeeted them into the dumpster.

I've also split up 2 clumps of Kentia, and umm 2/8 are still alive. As a side note, I didn't split up a 1 gallon Kentia clump and 3/4 of those died so *shrugs*

My first pygmy date seperation took a long time to complete. They had been in the ground all summer, and i dug them up for the winter and replaced with a Sabal that eventually died. I had never done something like that before, and i didnt know that i was supposed to keep the roots wet the entire time...
All 4 died.
I got a second clump (there were about 9-10 total) at Walmart last Spring and seperated them. This time though, i kept the roots soaked the entire time and potted them up immediately. I only had 2 deaths from the surgery, they were both really small. I treated those palms like they were babies, watered them every other day and very slowly reintroduced them back to full sun. The others that did survive did so until about mid summer when they went pot bound. The roots had taken up so much space in the pots that the soil managed to dry completely out, then the roots followed shortly. I only have 2 alive and well today, and then i have a clump of 2 that has been cut back due to lack of water. All of my issues with these palms have been water related.