Pygmy Palms(Phoenix roebelenii) Troubles with Yellowing Leaves/Transplanting

[Trinh Quach]

I work at an overwintering plant storage company in Connecticut. We store mostly tropical plants for clients and most of the collection are palms including the pygmy palm. These plants are older(unsure of age) and have been sitting in the same container, depending on the plants health situation for when they come in we do repot them if needed.

Most pygmy palms we store in the greenhouse called “Temperate house” the lowest it temperature it reaches is about 60 degrees fahrenheit, depending on the weather it can reach to 90 or higher. I have been observing their new growth and it is a bit paler, almost a yellow. We are on a constant liquid feed program 20-10-20 at a ratio of 1:100 ppm. I am unsure to why the pygmy palms still look as if they are struggling. Wanted to get any thoughts/ideas on it.

Also, for a couple of date palm that we have repotted the leaves seem to be going a bit greyish on it’s canopy and the leaf texture is a bit crispy. My theory is transplant shock, but a few others that have already been repotted are not showing the same symptoms. 

When repotting these palms a good amount of the roots are taken off to help it stay in the same container size, then it is watered in with the fertilizer water.  

Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated! 

 

 

[Harry’s Palms]

I’m not sure fertilizing after root trimming while wintering these palms is the right approach . Also , these would benefit a bit cooler environment than 90 f + . Here in Southern California , where we grow them quite easily year round outdoors , I never fertilize them , just copious amounts of water , especially in warmer weather . They look much better in cooler temps , say mid 70’s f to low 80’s  with night time temps around 52 - 57 f. It is very typical for these to become root bound when grown in containers , so moving them up in pot size is needed more frequently than some other palms. Harry