Bismarckia Nobilis frond growth question

[xoRudy]

Good morning to all, question about my little Bismarckia. Its putting out new fronds and one of my fronds has already opened but the truck out the frond is still short? Will the frond get larger length wise? Is it normal that the new frond has already opened up prematurely? Should the new fronds be larger than the previous ones? Thank you. 

 

Rudy Estrada

Maricopa, AZ

[The Gerg]

My experience with mine is “yes”, this is normal. At least it’s not uncommon.  My Bismarkia is a little bigger than yours but is still a toddler. It always seems eager to open up but the frond does continue to grow in length. So I think you probably have nothing to worry about.

 

[xoRudy]

Thats refreshing to hear! I can't wait till mine is huge. Gotta love the Bismarcks @The Gerg

 

Edited July 12, 2020 by xoRudy

[sonoranfans]

no problem, keep on growing...

[Steve Mac]

Looks good to me, like mine.

But mate, you do know how big it gets. Are you happy with where it is?

[xoRudy]

@gtsteve it’s has at least four feet on all sides for the truck to grow. In the picture it looks a bit small but that’s because my fronds on it are huge for the size. Also, it’ll be over my wall in no time!

[Steve Mac]

Ok, it just seemed tight in the corner to me, I thought that was a house.

[sonoranfans]

Rudy, you are in arizona in the sonoran desert, mulch topping is not as effective as granite rock in keeping the soil for baking out water rapidly.  I mixed organics in, but your clay says you dont need organics as it has a big cation exchange capacity.  Because the top of the soil is baked in desert sun, the normal degradation of mulch is terrible inefficient anyway.  I would put down the granite rock, you bizzy ill prefer it I think.  You can add humic acid to the soil as a liquid periodically(every 3-4 months?) to ensure plenty of decomposed organic nutrients are in the soil.

[xoRudy]

@sonoranfans Thanks for your concern and help on the subject. I should replace my mulch topping with granite rock because the sun bakes the water out quickly? My soil hold water and doesn't drain well here in Maricopa, so isn't having mulch a better option for me? 

[sonoranfans]

1 hour ago, xoRudy said:

@sonoranfans Thanks for your concern and help on the subject. I should replace my mulch topping with granite rock because the sun bakes the water out quickly? My soil hold water and doesn't drain well here in Maricopa, so isn't having mulch a better option for me? 

yes Rudy, the rock does a better job of keeping the soil from baking al the water out.  Mulch is the worst in a arid environments, the water just evaporates so fast the mulch doesnt biodegrade like it should.