Store bought potting mix has a lot of woodchips...

[fr8train]

Does anyone have much experience for this sort of mix with palms? Trachycarpus in particular? It seems very woodchip heavy. I'll try to get a photo in a minute, but it just seems strange to me to have so many woodchips instead of soil. 

[fr8train]

 

[PalmsandLiszt]

I add wood/bark chips to almost everything; however, that looks more like shredded mulch. I don't imagine it will do any harm, although it won't improve drainage so much as chunkier chips. I'd probably add some perlite/pumice/leca to that to ensure it drains well. Is this for indoors or out, and if out, in what climate? If it's going to get very cold, then you want a medium that won't stay wet. If you're somewhere warm and the palm is always growing, this won't matter so much. Trachys should not be terribly fussy so long as they're not really cold and waterlogged.

[Quasarecho]

I had a few bags of a particular brand (can't recall the name) last summer that was full of chips or mulched wood. Not what u expected or wanted and figured it was just another way to increase their bottom line. If it says potting soil on the bag, it should primarily be soil - like black dirt. As someone else stated, they add wood chips. I mix my own as well.

[fr8train]

8 hours ago, Quasarecho said:

I had a few bags of a particular brand (can't recall the name) last summer that was full of chips or mulched wood. Not what u expected or wanted and figured it was just another way to increase their bottom line. If it says potting soil on the bag, it should primarily be soil - like black dirt. As someone else stated, they add wood chips. I mix my own as well.

My first thought was they're cheaping out too. 

10 hours ago, PalmsandLiszt said:

I add wood/bark chips to almost everything; however, that looks more like shredded mulch. I don't imagine it will do any harm, although it won't improve drainage so much as chunkier chips. I'd probably add some perlite/pumice/leca to that to ensure it drains well. Is this for indoors or out, and if out, in what climate? If it's going to get very cold, then you want a medium that won't stay wet. If you're somewhere warm and the palm is always growing, this won't matter so much. Trachys should not be terribly fussy so long as they're not really cold and waterlogged.

It's for some outdoor potted Trachycarpus, and one Phoenix hybrid. I'm in the San Antonio area so it's pretty warm most of the year. I hope it's alright as I've already transplanted a few, but I don't know if I want to proceed with this soil that feels more like mulch. I'm just worried about the palms I've already transplanted, I guess I should have returned this stuff. Hopefully it'll be ok.

[fr8train]

This is the bag. I got different brand that says potting "soil" rather than "mix" and it has even more woodchips.

[PalmsandLiszt]

16 hours ago, fr8train said:

It's for some outdoor potted Trachycarpus, and one Phoenix hybrid. I'm in the San Antonio area so it's pretty warm most of the year. I hope it's alright as I've already transplanted a few, but I don't know if I want to proceed with this soil that feels more like mulch. I'm just worried about the palms I've already transplanted, I guess I should have returned this stuff. Hopefully it'll be ok.

It will probably be fine so long as you don't get really freezing cold snaps, and if you do, the medium isn't waterlogged. But I'd put some more drainage in it if I were you. All composts claim to be perfect for everything and they are all lying. Generally they are good for vegetables that need to grow a season and then be harvested and eaten; this is what most people buy compost for. That said, the palms you have are pretty tough cookies in general, so you'll probably need extreme water or dryness to kill them. Depends which Trachy and which Phoenix, of course.

There's no harm in medium that has lots of chunks in it. Most has far too little in it. Water will spread out in the soil in a way it won't in pots; you can't just put the same medium into a pot and expect the same results. Pots have to be watered carefully. I'm not located at where you are in Texas, so I don't know what works best there outside, but I'd encourage you to experiment and not rely on whatever happens to be in the store.

Edited January 13, 2023 by PalmsandLiszt

[Merlyn]

I prefer the shredded tree type "soil."  Typically I like it a little more coarse and chunky than your photo.  I mix it with 50-75% perlite, Turface MVP, and Sakrete Paver Base(crushed limestone gravel).  Sometimes I add small pine bark chunks.  I intentionally pick up the lightweight bags of soil from the store, because the "heavy" bags are typically dense with fine dirt and other fines.  They tend to turn to muck when wet, which you REALLY don't want for most palms.

[Philly J]

Fortunei in 100% bark/charcoal/perlite ONLY 👍🏻🥰

[steve617]

One of my local stores carries 1 type of pro mix. Bk25. It has 3 ingredients Peat moss. Tree Bark and Perlite. Very good stuff. I know on the east cost they use lots of shredded pine bark mulch at a lot of palm nurserys.

[steve617]

On 1/18/2023 at 9:12 PM, Merlyn said:

I prefer the shredded tree type "soil."  Typically I like it a little more coarse and chunky than your photo.  I mix it with 50-75% perlite, Turface MVP, and Sakrete Paver Base(crushed limestone gravel).  Sometimes I add small pine bark chunks.  I intentionally pick up the lightweight bags of soil from the store, because the "heavy" bags are typically dense with fine dirt and other fines.  They tend to turn to muck when wet, which you REALLY don't want for most palms.

I agree 100 percent