Potted palms live less. Ok but why?

[andrebazhen]

Hi all, I often read on Palmtalk that palms in pots are not happy long term (bounded roots, lack of fertiliser, too dry and too dark indoors, species preferences…)  but I wonder is it really so bad? I mean they don’t just die without any visible reason. Why does my warm loving bizzie seedling grow at all if it’s so “doomed”? What stops it from just dying immediately, huh? Pal meir showed his 40 years old palms, ain’t it possible for any sp. with proper care?

Sorry for bad writing, hard question to express even in my native language

 

p.s. want to show you this fat funny Phoenix from Moscow botanical garden (I signed as a volunteer there to get some experience). But yeah, of course his roots go underground 

 

 

[PalmsInBaltimore]

I'm a firm believer that many palms will do great in containers, but almost any plant will be happier in the ground compared to a pot. They can never really establish themselves in a container. Again, I say this as someone who has to grow 99% of palms in containers because it gets too cold here. 

Unlike eucalyptus and many trees, palms can be remarkably OK with being rootbound and with root circling. Many palms are not doomed in pots and will live for years and years. That being said, palms are for the most part very very very big plants. Once they get to a certain size, repotting them becomes a small-scale engineering project. My Phoenix roebelini will never see a larger container because the one it's in is already so large and heavy that I can't imagine even being able to move a larger, heavier one without a forklift or some sort of ancient egyptian pyramid technology to get it up just a few stairs to the back door. One day, the plant will want to move up in container size, but that's not happening ever again. There's no question it would grow faster if it were planted in the ground in a good climate, compared to being stuck in a pot and spending many months a year inside the house.

And that's just a pygmy date. What about palms that grow 100 feet tall? They inevitably will be dwarfed by being container bound. Just like a bonsai tree, they will never reach their full size potential in a pot. And many palm species get too big too fast to be good for containers long term.

[happypalms]

It is possible to grow palms long term in containers it just take a long time obviously but repotting into the next size container that may take 5 years or more the Kerriodoxa is 22 plus years old in the photos they sort of become bonsai if I was to plant it in the ground it would take a couple of years to start to get a move on most likely sulking for the first year Howea fosteriana will live in containers pretty well much indefinitely small patio palms may never be planted living there entire life in a container it comes down to how good a grower you are knowing your soil fertiliser and watering schedule once you learn it bingo it’s easy to keep a plant pretty well much indefinitely.