I am experimenting a bit with making different blends for my palms in pots.

would like to get feedback on the mix I am currently using and has worked good so far and if you guys could share your recepies as well. 
 

2 parts spagnum peat or Coco Coir,

2 parts organic bagged compost

For drainage I use perlite and pumice mixed together in equal parts and I add roughly 1 part of that.

For some added Nutrients and Micronutrients I add Bloodmeal for Nitrogen, Bonemeal for phosepurus and the pumice is the pottasium source. 

I see some people using wood/bark in their mixes. I would like to repot all my trachies with some kind of wood blend because I tried bark that i cut smaller and mixed it with some black heavy soil and that Trachy does the best.
right now I only have bark that is dyed red I think, can that hurt the palm? 

 

I try to not use any fertilizer initially after burning so many plants. I’ve seen a lot of different success rates with just peat moss and perlite. More perlite than peat sometimes. 

14 hours ago, Enar said:

I try to not use any fertilizer initially after burning so many plants. I’ve seen a lot of different success rates with just peat moss and perlite. More perlite than peat sometimes. 

Really? Peat does not contain much nutrients if I am correct. The only fertilizer that is instantly active in my blend is the bloodmeal. The others need more time to break down and realese the nutrients to the soil. 

I’ve moved away from peat to more coco coir , when peat dries too much it’s a hastle to properly get it sufficiently uniformly  moist again. I also tend to include some sand and bark chips, especially at the bottom. The sand helps to also add weight to the pots to help provide stability. 

On 10/14/2022 at 3:24 AM, RJ said:

I’ve moved away from peat to more coco coir , when peat dries too much it’s a hastle to properly get it sufficiently uniformly  moist again. I also tend to include some sand and bark chips, especially at the bottom. The sand helps to also add weight to the pots to help provide stability. 

Do you mind sharimg the ratios and what size sand? So you basicly grow it in coir that contains close to 0 nutrients then fertilize? 
I just potted up a smaller Red Latan like this today:
2 parts peat, 2 parts compost, 1 part perlite and pumice mixed 1:1. then a tablespoon of bloodmeal, fishmeal and bonemeal. I mulched afterwards with pumice.
 

Edited October 16, 20223 yr by Palmfarmer

Sunshine #4 mix as base, 50%. Equal remaining parts of Cedar Grove Booster blend (dairy manure, organic food/forest compost), perlite, and washed sand. I use Southern AG chelated palm nutrients, and super thrive at planting and transplanting. And Pefect Palm granular fertilizer after 6 weeks of settling in. Great results with this for me. 

Courtesy of @msporty with a tiny adjustment  it’s worked great. 

-2 parts small Orchid bark 

-1 part pumice

-1 part Kellogg cactus mix

-1 part Turf N Tee 

-top sprinkle Osmocote 

 

-dale

On 10/14/2022 at 1:48 AM, Palmfarmer said:

Really? Peat does not contain much nutrients if I am correct. The only fertilizer that is instantly active in my blend is the bloodmeal. The others need more time to break down and realese the nutrients to the soil. 

Yes for the simple reason that the seed itself provides nutrients to the plant initially. Even after emerging. You can tell especially in sabal seeds where there is a connection between the old shell and the plant. I will use jobes after some time maybe even a little cal-mag. All my plants are inside a grow tent right now because it has gotten far too cold for any growth in zone 8a usda 

On 10/19/2022 at 8:13 AM, Enar said:

Yes for the simple reason that the seed itself provides nutrients to the plant initially. Even after emerging. You can tell especially in sabal seeds where there is a connection between the old shell and the plant. I will use jobes after some time maybe even a little cal-mag. All my plants are inside a grow tent right now because it has gotten far too cold for any growth in zone 8a usda 

Where exactly are you in zone 8a?

I have an earth sciences degree, so I can overthink things, but I mix my own soil for pot propagation and it Is based on the palm species,  keeping in mine what kind of weather we can expect. Usually just hot and dry most summer, except 1 if lucky 2 big deluges during. 

Once germinated I give water them in weak liquid fertigation tailored close to what is recommended by research, and with mineral hungry species in my humid climate, I had sul-po-mag to the surface. 

My general purpose mix is:

• One part generic box store "topsoil," which is usually random shredded tree and tree bark
• One part Turface MVP or perlite
• One part Sakrete Paver Base (crushed limestone gravel here in Florida)
• One part small pine bark nuggets (a bit larger than "orchid bark" and 1/100th the price)

I just recently started adding the small pine bark nuggets after finding huge 5cuft bags for $5 at a local nursery.  I alter the mix depending on the species, so a Licuala Grandis would be mostly organics...while a "dry" area palm like a Chamaerops Humilis I'd use maybe 25% organics.

Some coco coir has a LOT of salts, so generally soak a brick of it in a big bin and rinse it out before use.  I read of a couple brands with over 1000 on a TDS meter when soaked in a bucket.

10 hours ago, Collectorpalms said:

Where exactly are you in zone 8a?

I have an earth sciences degree, so I can overthink things, but I mix my own soil for pot propagation and it Is based on the palm species,  keeping in mine what kind of weather we can expect. Usually just hot and dry most summer, except 1 if lucky 2 big deluges during. 

Once germinated I give water them in weak liquid fertigation tailored close to what is recommended by research, and with mineral hungry species in my humid climate, I had sul-po-mag to the surface. 

Prattville al, usually humid weather. Native soil is heavy red clay with super low ph. Looks like iron oxide. Low in nitrogen and decent amount phosphorus and potash

Edited October 22, 20223 yr by Enar