Recently acquired a Cyrtostachys Renda,

Went to pot it up with a blend of:

50% peat moss

30% mushroom compost

20% perlite/soil conditioner

Wasn’t happy with how the water was draining. Seemed like it took forever.

Repotted it again with a more aggressive blend of perlite/chopped up pine bark.

Drainage seems about right now, drains relatively quickly.

I left it in a saucer overnight and the water was a real dark brown (from the mushroom compost) and the leaflets started drooping.

I removed it from the saucer and flushed it quit a bit and haven’t put the saucer back under it. No more leaflets have started dropping but they still remain dropping.

Are the dropping leaflets because of:

1. Transplant shock

2. Shouldn’t have used mushroom compost

3. Or the saucer causing too much fertilizer salt shocking the roots?

Should I redo my blend of soil and ditch the mushroom compost for something else?

The first picture is the night it arrived (through the mail)

Rest of the pictures are from the next day.

This is a tropical palm that requires a tropical climate . If I were to try it, I would keep it in my greenhouse and it would require heat in our 10a/10b winter. Also I’m not sure how root sensitive they are . Some palms are very sensitive to root disturbance . Perhaps some of Hawaii members can lend some advice for you , good luck. Harry

2 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

This is a tropical palm that requires a tropical climate . If I were to try it, I would keep it in my greenhouse and it would require heat in our 10a/10b winter. Also I’m not sure how root sensitive they are . Some palms are very sensitive to root disturbance . Perhaps some of Hawaii members can lend some advice for you , good luck. Harry

I have a heated greenhouse for my palms that can’t tolerate the cold (seeing as how I’m in North Alabama 7B-8A.)

The temperature never falls below 70 degrees in there

This is my 3rd C. renda (it was too cheap to pass up for its size lol)

Just concerned about the drooping. They are really fussy in my experience with any kinda change.

Just not sure if it’s the mushroom compost doing it, in that case; repotting will fix it,

Or is it just the journey and the initial transplant in which repotting will make it worse

In my experience with mushroom compost , it is a very nitrogen rich or “hot” mix . I used it to seed a lawn once and it worked great but palms , not so sure. Harry