How large does the container have to be for Phoenix canariensis?

[PaulSingle]

My 3 year old Canary Island Date palms are climbing out of their pots. I don't have any open ground to plant them in so want to keep them in containers. The containers are 40cm deep and 55 cm internal diameter.

Location is in the south of the UK. A sheltered south facing patio. We very rarely get temperatures down to -6 in this sheltered spot.

The last two winters I have wrapped them with fleece and dragged them into the alcove but they're getting a bit big for that space now so might just bubble wrap the containers and fleece up the trees this winter.

So I have two questions.

1. Should I repot into larger pots?

2. Are the trees likely to survive with my planned protection?

Any advice is much appreciated.

[Allen]

I don't have experience with that palm in a pot but for what it's worth, I would say that it will just make the palm grow more slowly over time if you leave in that pot.  You could take it out in early summer and root prune bottom roots.  

[Fusca]

Phoenix palms have very aggressive root systems and can handle root pruning but not all palms can.  I think @Allen remembered this thread also:

 

 

[SeanK]

CIDP is a poor candidate for potted palm. Are you going to root-prune every year? If it were mine, I would keep it one more winter, then gift it. 

In that same pot you could keep a triple Pigmy Date for many years.

[Palmerr]

On 10/17/2024 at 8:27 AM, PaulSingle said:

My 3 year old Canary Island Date palms are climbing out of their pots. I don't have any open ground to plant them in so want to keep them in containers. The containers are 40cm deep and 55 cm internal diameter.

Location is in the south of the UK. A sheltered south facing patio. We very rarely get temperatures down to -6 in this sheltered spot.

The last two winters I have wrapped them with fleece and dragged them into the alcove but they're getting a bit big for that space now so might just bubble wrap the containers and fleece up the trees this winter.

So I have two questions.

1. Should I repot into larger pots?

2. Are the trees likely to survive with my planned protection?

Any advice is much appreciated.

Holy please plant it i beg!! or if really you cannot do that gift it to someone (remember to make sure you break up some of the roots And prune any circling roots as What i learned from Mark Weathington from the JC Raulston Arboretum is circling roots planted with no pruning can lead to possible problems down the road) and If you really cant prune the roots and get a bigger pot but really plant it at some point!