Washingtonia ID

[MAPalms]

I recently ordered a palm labeled as Washingtonia filifera on etsy, but I know that sometimes that is not always the case with Washingtonias. I hope it is ok on the cold hardy forum, since the pot is only temporary until I find a place for it to go.

[DTS]

my guess is filifera cause i see no red

[Dwarf Fan]

23 minutes ago, DTS1 said:

my guess is filifera cause i see no red

My guess is filifera cause the depth of cuts in the frond extend below the middle of the frond.

[Ltapia]

It’s thin my filiferas are chunky 

[Ltapia]

On 8/6/2023 at 5:27 PM, Ltapia said:

It’s thin my filiferas are chunky 

Maybe lack of sun ? No red though it’s hard to find pure .

[jwitt]

It could be a hybrid with filifera leaves. My guess is a filifera growing in a crowded cluster, then divided, and potted. My hunch. 

That soil will cause red colorization(acidic) like seen in the first pic.

Sun and reflected sun(tin foil) is what that palm seeks.  Moist only when actively growing. 

this leaf screams filifera 

 

[MarcusH]

I would guess it's a filifera . I can't tell you how pure it is only time will tell.  I thought I had pure Filiferas then the spines grew on the petioles like you would see on a Robusta.  Now I have Filibustas . Lots of hybridization going on among all Washingtonias . 

[Dwarf Fan]

32 minutes ago, MarcusH said:

I would guess it's a filifera . I can't tell you how pure it is only time will tell.  I thought I had pure Filiferas then the spines grew on the petioles like you would see on a Robusta.  Now I have Filibustas . Lots of hybridization going on among all Washingtonias . 

Definitely not a lot of knowledge about the hybrids among nurseries around the country it’s just another “Mexican Fan Palm”.

[MarcusH]

36 minutes ago, Dwarf Fan said:

Definitely not a lot of knowledge about the hybrids among nurseries around the country it’s just another “Mexican Fan Palm”.

I agree.  My Filibustas have spines like a Robusta but leafes like a Filifera.  There's also no red on the petiole and they're growing more upright.  Definitely has a lot of Filifera in it. 

[MarcusH]

Just now, MarcusH said:

I agree.  My Filibustas have spines like a Robusta but leafes like a Filifera.  There's also no red on the petiole and they're growing more upright.  Definitely has a lot of Filifera in it. 

[MAPalms]

Alright, please help me out palmtalk. It has declined since it was planted. The leaf seems to have shriveled up and yellowed. What can I do to save it? All help is well appreciated. Some general tips with washingtonias are also welcome.

Edited August 15, 2023 by MAPalms

[Dwarf Fan]

On 8/15/2023 at 11:21 AM, MAPalms said:

Alright, please help me out palmtalk. It has declined since it was planted. The leaf seems to have shriveled up and yellowed. What can I do to save it? All help is well appreciated. Some general tips with washingtonias are also welcome.

How much and how often do you water it?

Are there holes in bottom of the pot to allow water to flow directly down and out of the pot when watered like a standard grower/nursery pot or is it one of those type of pots that have a built in catchment area in the bottom of the pot that retains a certain amount of water?

Is it in direct sun?

Do you know if the grower had it growing in direct sunlight or in a green house before it was sent to you?

What are the current daily high temperatures this week in your area?

Edited August 16, 2023 by Dwarf Fan

[jwitt]

My guess is root damage causing transplant shock and it is dying back(dessicate) as the supporting root structure has been damaged and will need to regrow for the palm to recover.  

Hopefully it will( or is) go(ing) into a dormancy/hibernation phase as they do in the wild when stressed.  

Water it good(soil only), and allow to dry a bit between waterings.  Poor out the excess water from the bottom catchment after watering from the top.   That should be 2 to 7 day cycle. If that cycle takes longer(the soil stays wet), the soil does not drain fast enough. 

Growth resumption is when the spear starts moving.  When that starts again,  watering can be increased.

Filifera at this size are a bit finicky and not really drought tolerant.  That comes with size and an enormous root structure. 

My belief is this species has an incredible ability to remain dormant, even die back, and then resume.  This dormancy can enable the plant to have incredible cold hardiness and drought tolerance, less when smaller.

Give it as much Massachusetts sun(strong and long)as you can.  Even reflected. Keep the pot oriented(north stays north, not rotating). 

That pot looks like the bottom watering(bowl) type. Water the soil only from top until the palm starts growing.  

Once growing, then water from the bottom. This will encourage deep roots. 

My thoughts.  Good luck. 

P.s. let a dying leaf go completely brown and dry before removing. The palm sucks those leaf nutrients back into itself.  

They naturally grow in nearly rainless alkaline swamps, ripriarian areas, with incredibly intense sun where their roots are wet year round.  

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2023 by jwitt

[MAPalms]

21 hours ago, Dwarf Fan said:

How much and how often do you water it?

Are there holes in bottom of the pot to allow water to flow directly down and out of the pot when watered like a standard grower/nursery pot or is it one of those type of pots that have a built in catchment area in the bottom of the pot that retains a certain amount of water?

Is it in direct sun?

Do you know if the grower had it growing in direct sunlight or in a green house before it was sent to you?

What are the current daily high temperatures this week in your area?

The plant came bare root, so I would not be surprised if it has been suffering from root shock. I wanted to get it in a pot fast, so I put it in this one. The bottom has the water pool at the bottom removed because I find that it attracts mold and bugs due to experience with other potted palms. It has four large holes that lets water out. I have watered it once since I got it, since we have had quite a bit of rain. It’s on a balcony off of my porch, so it gets full sun all summer. It’s been a cool summer for us, but most days are high 70s to mid 80s range. I think the grower had it in a greenhouse but I can’t know for sure. Thank you for the thoughtful responses.

[Dwarf Fan]

5 hours ago, MAPalms said:

The plant came bare root, so I would not be surprised if it has been suffering from root shock. I wanted to get it in a pot fast, so I put it in this one. The bottom has the water pool at the bottom removed because I find that it attracts mold and bugs due to experience with other potted palms. It has four large holes that lets water out. I have watered it once since I got it, since we have had quite a bit of rain. It’s on a balcony off of my porch, so it gets full sun all summer. It’s been a cool summer for us, but most days are high 70s to mid 80s range. I think the grower had it in a greenhouse but I can’t know for sure. Thank you for the thoughtful responses.

My guess based on the facts presented would be that it needed more time to gradually acclimate to a full sun environment. This can be done gently by providing consistent watering and dappled sunlight over several weeks to over a month gradually introducing more and more direct sunlight by inching it out little by little from shade into direct sun.

While Washingtonia are some of the hardest palms on the planet putting a bare root palm into direct sunlight even with consistent waterings would be a potential recipe for disaster. Also, I never rely on rain to give my palms a deep watering. I made that mistake by leaving a girlfriend in charge of watering’s when we had some light rains and I had some bamboo plants take significant damage (still recovering) because the amount of rain was insufficient and Palms like a deep watering.

Once you put it in direct sunlight did it just do a straight nose dive and get more yellow and more yellow or until it’s at the point it is in the picture?

If that is what happened I believe my diagnosis is correct I just got a nice sized C. Radicalis that came out of a greenhouse in San Diego and as soon as I put it even into a dappled sunlight tucked behind my bamboo at the shadowy side of my house it’s still started taking massive sun damage to the fronds within hours of being exposed to the more intense non-greenhouse sunlight.

After two days of yellowing fronds and then tips starting to yellow on some completely green fronds (Palm was watered and misted daily for the first week but we are 95F and intense sun) I knew I had to get some shade cloth ASAP or she was gonna continue taking more and more sun damage.

As soon as I got the shade cloth up that did the trick now she’s not taking any more damage to her fronds and I’m only watering her every 2 to 3 days depending on how quickly the soil in her pot dries up and she has completely stabilized no more yellowing! 

IMO bare root palms (no matter how drought tolerant and sun loving the species) just can’t go into direct sunlight with out a lengthy acclamation period (over a month). It’s going to be a long time before my mature and completely rooted palm that’s coming from greenhouse conditions will be up for taking direct sunlight, keep that in mind when having expectations with a small bare root Palm. They just simply can’t take direct sunlight without a gradual transition period. That’s my two cents.

Edited August 17, 2023 by Dwarf Fan

[Dwarf Fan]

Here are my Washingtonia babies that get watered every 3 days consistently. They naturally volunteered from seeds blown across my yard. But even they chose a spot with dappled sunlight at the base of another Palm to have a shady location to get established before reaching upward through the canopy towards direct sun.

Edited August 17, 2023 by Dwarf Fan

[jwitt]

My opinion is this does not look like sunburn.  More like dessication.  The inner most parts of the leaf seem mostly affected. 

It will die back to what the "damaged" roots will support. Hopefully.