Can I get more winter growth from bringing my Palms inside at night and using grow lights?

[Dwarf Fan]

Now that the warm weather is fading in Texas and colder weather and less sunlight is approaching can I bring my potted Palms inside my garage and put them under a grow light at night to achieve faster growth and bigger Palms to put in ground come spring time?

Will palms grow more vigorously under a 24 light period consisting of natural sun supplemented with a grow light?

Or do Palms need a “dark” or “night” period of at least 6 hours or ?

Last question for you guys that use grow lights on Palms indoors what type of lights are you using? Any that are better than others for Palms?

Thanks,

Dan

[JohnAndSancho]

Yes. I had a bunch of stuff that stayed indoors under grow lights in my apartment, and still do. I have a couple of no-name Amazon clip-on grow lights, and I have some floor lamps that have the extra "reading light" arm - I had some Phillips grow bulbs in the little arm part. Probably not as good as the Texas sun but it works. The hard part is keeping your humidity up indoors. 

[JohnAndSancho]

 cat palm was very happy. This started as a $20 Home Depot plant. 

[Dwarf Fan]

40 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Yes. I had a bunch of stuff that stayed indoors under grow lights in my apartment, and still do. I have a couple of no-name Amazon clip-on grow lights, and I have some floor lamps that have the extra "reading light" arm - I had some Phillips grow bulbs in the little arm part. Probably not as good as the Texas sun but it works. The hard part is keeping your humidity up indoors. 

Okay great this is what I was hoping for, I have a Butia X Lyto/Queen f2 that seems to be a bit sun sensitive so I recently moved her from dappled shade to inside as a house plant (we just got a cold front that came in) and was planning on sticking her into a nice corner of my Garage under a grow light to get some size before going back into the outside for Spring so she can get some bigger fronds and some more vigorous growth and more root structure before going back the the harsh outdoor environment.

The garage will have a better humidity level since I am near the ocean.

[JohnAndSancho]

Weird. I have a butia x Lyto that LOVES sun. I had it on my patio when I lived in Huntsville and had to repot it twice. Now that I'm on a bunch of land, I might just plant it in the spring. It keeps pushing itself out of the pots. 

[Dwarf Fan]

18 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Weird. I have a butia x Lyto that LOVES sun. I had it on my patio when I lived in Huntsville and had to repot it twice. Now that I'm on a bunch of land, I might just plant it in the spring. It keeps pushing itself out of the pots. 

How was it on water requirements maybe I am just keeping it too moist, that is the only other thing I can think of, but I heard they don’t like dry out and it is just liner size so…

What is your experience with soil moisture are BxLyto hybrids fussy over soil moisture and do they lean to dry most or moist moist? I have been trying not to soak it when watering but it is small and in a liner pot so I may just start to measure out waterings and isolate it until it improves from its current state.

 

 I have several other Patrix Butia X hybrids and they all look fine, except this one which is getting yellowing and browning and it was sitting right next to her siblings and they are all green and healthy looking… I am guessing too much indirect sun or too much water…? 

[JohnAndSancho]

I was told to keep mine dryer and it's been happy. I don't remember when I got it, 2 years ago tops. But it was about the same size as yours. It was shipped in a shock absorber box. The bricks are to keep the feral cats from using it as a litter box. It also used to be 10+12" taller, kittens got the biggest frond - it's crazy rooting out though, it probably weighs 30 pounds. The only time it gets tons of water is when it sees heavy rain. I might have given it half a gallon a week, maybe a gallon when we had that long stretch of 100° no rain days. 

[Dwarf Fan]

18 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I was told to keep mine dryer and it's been happy. I don't remember when I got it, 2 years ago tops. But it was about the same size as yours. It was shipped in a shock absorber box. The bricks are to keep the feral cats from using it as a litter box. It also used to be 10+12" taller, kittens got the biggest frond - it's crazy rooting out though, it probably weighs 30 pounds. The only time it gets tons of water is when it sees heavy rain. I might have given it half a gallon a week, maybe a gallon when we had that long stretch of 100° no rain days. 

Looking good despite the feline damage! I think my heavy watering hand is going to be the most likely culprit.  🤔

I will cut back and observe thanks for the insight on the Lyto hybrid culture.

[JohnAndSancho]

6 minutes ago, Dwarf Fan said:

Looking good despite the feline damage! I think my heavy watering hand is going to be the most likely culprit.  🤔

I will cut back and observe thanks for the insight on the Lyto hybrid culture.

And when you do repot it, go ahead and throw it into a 3 or even 5 gallon. It's gonna blow up quick in the Texas sun. You might not see tons of visible growth at first, but you'll go to move it and notice it's gotten very heavy. 

[Dwarf Fan]

9 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

And when you do repot it, go ahead and throw it into a 3 or even 5 gallon. It's gonna blow up quick in the Texas sun. You might not see tons of visible growth at first, but you'll go to move it and notice it's gotten very heavy. 

Okay sounds good I got some 3G pots all ready to go, I just did a bunch of repotting from 4”/liners/1G to 3G pots and I can tell that there is more going on right now below ground, than above, but the straps/fronds are starting to get more robust and I am starting to see some mini trunks getting thicker and thicker! I bet the roots are going crazy and I will get some nice upward growth to follow here shortly!

[JohnAndSancho]

With yours having some queen DNA I'm sure it'll be even more robust. I never should have tried a queen, it got way too big. My patio was a landmark in my apartment complex - neighbors used to tell Doordash how many doors down they were from the palm trees. 

[Dwarf Fan]

I was told it will actually end up on the shorter side height wise, and I would guess with very dainty leaflets on the fronds from the Lyto influence.

I am just trying to make sure it stays healthy enough to make it to see in ground size! I have only killed a few Palms so far and I really don’t want to lose a Schafer Hybrid so I am now in “all hands on deck” mode trying to figure out how to find the sweet spot for this Palm.

Yea she is only gonna be a patio Palm for a little while for me, I am hoping to get her large enough to go in ground by March 1 but that may be a bit overly optimistic with the current size of and my lack of green thumb with this particular hybrid. 

[JohnAndSancho]

Shorter is a relative term in the palm world lol.