moving a Licuala grandis

[miamicuse]

I have a Licuala grandis, about 32" tall from ground to tip, that I purchased in a one gallon pot about two years ago.

I planted it into the ground shortly after, and in two years it did not grow any taller.  It did grow two new leaves.  I know it's a slow grower but I still think it was a bad spot for it.

probably too much sun

area floods quite a bit

so I am thinking of digging it up and moving it to another location that is higher and dryer and under more of the tree canopy.

the challenge is the ground hole it is in now, is a 4" thick solid concrete deck with a 12" round hole specifically for planting.  So I am not going to be able to dig a larger hole from the outside in, my maximum work area is that 12" circle.

What do you think is the best way to extract it?

I am thinking of getting a 14" long sawzall blade, and cut vertically down all around the circle on the outside to start.  I don't know that the palm's root is wider than that, but I am thinking it had grown longer since I planted it and it was 8" or so deep initially out of the pot.  What are my chance of being able to get it out without killing it?

[realarch]

Given your constraints, all I can say is give it a go. A shovel will do as much damage to the root system as a Sawzall, but probably not go as deep. I imagine the roots have also spread horizontally under the slab and either way they will be damaged. Dig it up, put it in a pot in a shady spot and see what happens.

Tim

[Merlyn]

I used a sawzall with a 12" blade to help get through two Phoenix Sylvestris transplants, and it definitely did help.  But they are not known for being root-sensitive, so it probably didn't matter what I used.  I've moved a couple of small Sumawongii with not that great success.  They were pretty small and suffering in too much sun, so half of them died when I moved them back into pots and put them in a shady area.  These were at most 1g sized and they had grown about 4 or 5 roots outwards about 1/4" diameter.  In repotting them I had to cut those roots and most of the dirt fell off the palms.  I'm sure if I had kept all the dirt together they'd have had a better chance.

So in summary, I'd do whichever method you think you can pull off and make a pot-sized chunk in one fell swoop.  If you think a sawzall will make a smoother circle it might be ok...but the vibration might loosen up the dirt and then it all falls off when you try to take it out of the ground.  In that respect, a few carefully placed shovel slices might be better.

[TomJ]

Does it show signs of sun damage? 

I doubt you could over water it, they love water.

Maybe it's just throwing roots down?

Let's see a picture.

[miamicuse]

too late...I took it out this afternoon.  This is the before picture.

The hole is larger than 12", more like 20".  So I used a sawzall with a 12" blade and slice a circle at 1" inside of the edge (because while the edge is a smooth round circle, 3" down I see some rough irregular concrete so I went an inch inward to avoid chewing on concrete).  Once I did that I used a shovel to pry it up gently, didn't work so I pried it up harder and I know I broke off some roots.

So now it is sitting in a 5 gallon size pot.  I hope it will make it.

I read somewhere that it may be better to cut most of the leaves off except 1 or 2 is this correct?  Or should I leave all existing leaves alone?

Edited January 4, 2023 by miamicuse

[Merlyn]

I think if it has a good undisturbed root ball it should do ok.  Do not let it dry out, I lost one about twice that size.  It was in a pot in my nursery area and it fell over in a storm and I didn't notice.  It dried out in a heatwave in October and all the leaves rapidly died.  @TomJ is right, it would be difficult to overwater one.  Mine is in the front in a continually damp area in full shade.  

[TomJ]

16 hours ago, miamicuse said:

too late...I took it out this afternoon.  This is the before picture.

The hole is larger than 12", more like 20".  So I used a sawzall with a 12" blade and slice a circle at 1" inside of the edge (because while the edge is a smooth round circle, 3" down I see some rough irregular concrete so I went an inch inward to avoid chewing on concrete).  Once I did that I used a shovel to pry it up gently, didn't work so I pried it up harder and I know I broke off some roots.

So now it is sitting in a 5 gallon size pot.  I hope it will make it.

I read somewhere that it may be better to cut most of the leaves off except 1 or 2 is this correct?  Or should I leave all existing leaves alone?

Looks really yellow.

Is that from the sun?

Is that from nutrient deficiency?

Florida growers would know.

[miamicuse]

8 hours ago, TomJ said:

Looks really yellow.

Is that from the sun?

Is that from nutrient deficiency?

Florida growers would know.

It is in a spot with building walls on the south and west side but with full exposure to the sun in the north and east.  It was growing better initially but got wind burn about a year ago and seems to be stunted after that.  I thought may be the occasional flooding also contributed.  I have two other LG bought at the same time still in pots but in more shaded areas and they have grown at least 8" taller than this one in the ground.

It is now in a pot I moved it to a shadier spot and will monitor it.

[miamicuse]

OK now that the Licuala grandis has been moved back into a pot I have a decision to made about what to plant there.

The area is part sun, in south Florida, building walls to it's west and south, but can flood a bit.

It does not have to be a palm...but one plant I am considering is a Ptychosterma elegans (a paddle leaf version).  I put one into the hole but haven't committed.