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Did you see the YouTube video where the guy tried to grow in pure Osmocote? I mean, I don't think I need to give you any spoilers here but his theory is that it failed because there was nothing to retain moisture and so much of it just fell out the bottom of the pot. I've always gone with the "less is more" theory - you're right on the watering. I mean, if you've had a plant long enough you can basically tell if it's dry by how much it weighs when you pick it up. Osmocote is popular because it's a slow release and it's almost impossible to overuse. There's also the Jobes plant food spikes. They just break down into the soil over a few months and they tell you how many to use by pot size. Adding some fish emulsion and/or liquid kelp or liquid seaweed every other watering isn't a terrible idea - stuff like this activates the bacteria that allow the palms to absorb the fert more effectively. I do not reccomend you use it at full strength indoors, unless you don't have a nose or buy Febreeze by the case. The soil you use plays a role, too. Lots of soils have fert and food built in, and you don't wanna overdo it and most peat based soil just turns into worthless dried out crap over time, and palms are so stupid about not telling you there's a problem until it's too late..... I can't really tell you what's gonna work best for you. I've used Carl Pool, the Jobes spikes, liquid fert, Jobes palm food (the pelletized 🐔 💩 kind, my dog found it delicious), now I'm using some Dr Earth stuff in some plants and I'm just using some cheap 4-4-4 slow release in others, I keep forgetting I've got Osmocote. I mean, there really isn't a one size fits all with pots. I personally disagree with the idea that more nutrients get leached out of pots, I might be wrong here - but it seems to me and my simple mind that more of the nutrients would stay in the pot unless you're just flooding them regularly. However, this ain't my background and I'm - there's no manual for this, all we can do is ask the people that have been doing it longer than us, because we learn how to grow stuff by killing stuff. At least now I'm down to killing stuff I grew from seed while it's still small instead of killing $150 plants. So basically I just wrote 8 pages to not give you an answer to your question.

I mean for the second larger palm this has been its 3rd winter but first with this new protective method so I have no idea what went wrong compared to the smaller one.

You grow palms, you finally get a hold of that holy grail palm or that one you have wanting all your eternity in palm collecting, you go through all the hoops off importing your seeds, you finally get a few to germinate and you pot them up, place them outside and then in one night all are eaten by the rats. So iam not sure if this product is a good alternative to trapping and killing them. But the Wurth company seem to make good quality products, there have been a lot of products over the years that will take your money and do nothing in return except take your money. So if it works it may be a great little thing for the nursery.

That’s the go John, humidity is the only issue indoors. Start with coronata it’s easy and should be available if you look in the right direction, a few of the others might be a bit more difficult and expensive to start with!

Hey there yall! Long time no post and see! This is ChicagoPalma here, just cannot log onto my old account and I need some immediate assistance here! So far, I took off the enclosures for the palms, and this year instead of making it out of fosmboard, I made it out of reflective bubble wrap and chickenwjre. So far, the small windmill did amazing, but the larger one did horrible. The spear pulled and I am not sure what to do atp. Anything anyone can help with?

Some pictures from today mid summer. Going for 32C today and forecast overnight thunderstorms. It doesn’t get better than this.

yea the second one is golden try to figure out what was different. That temp sensor can let you catch if something is wrong with the lights/thermocube/temps. Leave any green parts of fronds. As cold as you are you may have to carefully integrate some C7/C9 bulbs to hit temps

About the temp sensor, I had a thermocube that turned on and off at 35-45 degrees Fahrenheit. I think this was a moisture infiltration problem. Also, here are the pics of the smaller palm. Same protection method with chickenwjre and reflective bubble wrap.

go ahead and treat as above

Want to edit my mistake, the spear did not pull. So far it’s just horrible mold but I assume once it gets warmer the spear will pull.

I assume no temp sensor so no way of knowing temps it got in there? You have to do a foamboard box in your area hydrogen peroxide then copper fungicide weekly in morning till it regrows spear. Hydrogen peroxide on spear area, copper fungicide entire palm, cut any entirely dead fronds with mold When to Use Hydrogen Peroxide/Fungicide https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ix-swtWO0tc_u7dhQmr1wz-1S4iAZMrp/view?usp=drive_link

That's a good idea with the winching. I'll figure something out. The least amount of money I have to spend the better. I'd rather put the money towards the replacement palms than the the removal of the current ones. I appreciate everyone's responses!

spent the last couple days building a new potting bench. Long overdue! I can sit on a lab stool and pot up now; much nicer on my back and neck. 😎

That looks much nicer than my 200 pound storage container on the floor, or the occasional (if I've got an empty one) Sterilite container on a saggy 1960s folding table made out of press board and farts.

This was spotted in Barbados today.

You can’t go past a good potting bench, an essential part of a grow operation, and yes height is one factor with a potting bench, no more sore back!

I suspect in the coming months, I'll be counting the handful of 2026 survivors. Volusia didn't actually get that much colder than we did. Considering that it got down to 38f in Key Largo, 30F in West Palm Beach (with a good number of 28/29F readings from independent stations in that area), 26F in Port St. Lucie, 25F in Melbourne, and 24F in Merritt Island, you would have expected probably 19-21F range for Daytona beach, 17-20F for St. Augustine, and 15F or so in Jacksonville. However northeast Florida fared comparatively well. If that same air mass blew in more directly from the north, you would have seen the same mid 20's from Tampa down to Cape Coral, and probably 28/29F in Naples, single digits in the panhandle and low teens on the coastal bend. This topic I think could very well go into the "Freeze Damage Data" section.

Two big surprises. These had to be protected, because I don't know how else these would be in the condition they are now: Cocos nucifera Pritchardia spp

Mystery palms. That last one (last three photos) is a crownshaft palm that took no damage with what looks like minimal protection from a canopy.

Once again, south facing of the building. These were in much better shape than the ones anywhere else. This is further evidence that being on the south facing side of a building is an effective strategy against advective freezing events.

Bauhinia variegata Schinus terebinthifolia Calliandra haematocephala Coccoloba uvifera Ficus benjamina Kigelia africana Nerium oleander Terminalia buceras

Ficus aurea

Sabal mauritiiformis Two mystery sables

Syagrus coronata

Astrocaryum mexicanum Hyophorbe lagenicaulis Syagrus schizophylla Ptychosperma propinquum

Coccothrinax Spp Leucothrinax morrisii (The one with the damaged trunk is a 1989 survivor.)

Philodendron radiatum Pandanus tectorius

Chrysalidocarpus lutescens Dypsis leptocheilos Dypsis decaryi

Bismarckia nobilis Borassus aethiopum Hyphaene coriacea Borassus spp

After a few months : dictyocarium lamarkianum first leaf !

Palms in pots are , to me , much tougher to gage . It is easy to overdo things like watering and feeding. The right balance is a bit harder to achieve. I live in an area where a majority of my palms are in ground or heading that way eventually. The few potted ones rarely get fertilized unless I move them up in Spring . I add a weak mix of organic , powdery fertilizer after repotting . I then wait until the following year . I’ve had a couple of my palms ( Chamaedorea) in pots for well over 20 years just because they really like living on my porch in the shade . They seem fine with just regular watering . Harry

A company we’ve worked with confirmed a male in Irvine.

Nice video on a proper Texas jungle. It’s only the first 9 minutes. It doesn’t focus as much on the Sabals but they are shown.

For removal , I would hire a tree service to take them down . Get quotes from different ones . After my huge Caryota fell down , I was quoted $1700 to remove and dispose of the tree by my regular trimmers. It was laying across my neighbors driveway so I didn’t have time to source it out . I had two friends with chainsaws ready to help but a landscape company was working across the street and offered to do it for $250! They had it cut up in less than an hour. After the work was complete , they hauled it off. Then I got a text from my regular trimmers saying they would do it for $700 …..as a favor. “ No thank you “ was my response. Harry