Archonotopheonix alexandrae seedlings advice needed

[Rhub]

Hey all,

I ordered a bunch of archo alex seedlings in the mail and potted them all. They are all under artificial light.  Half seem to be doing well and the other half are browning and leaves are getting "crispy" . They are all watered at least once a week. The lights don't heat up and the room is on avg 78 degrees Not sure why half are having issues. Any advice or tips? salvageable or too late? I may need to start over and i want to make sure I get it right if i do. 

[Fusca]

1 hour ago, Rhub said:

Hey all,

I ordered a bunch of archo alex seedlings in the mail and potted them all. They are all under artificial light.  Half seem to be doing well and the other half are browning and leaves are getting "crispy" . They are all watered at least once a week. The lights don't heat up and the room is on avg 78 degrees Not sure why half are having issues. Any advice or tips? salvageable or too late? I may need to start over and i want to make sure I get it right if i do. 

If your soil is well draining you should be watering more often.  If the soil stays damp with watering only once per week you should change to a better draining mix.  Archontophoenix love water but roots can rot in poor draining mucky soil.

[PalmatierMeg]

Just saw your photo. I agree with Jon that your mix might be mucky. I'm thinking the seedlings have root rot/damping off. How deep are those pots? Palm seedlings like deeper pots, i.e., 5-6" maybe more depending on species. If you keep them indoors make sure they have high humidity. Also, 78F may seem warm to you but your seedlings like more swelter. Do you crank the a/c up at night? If so, high temps during the day are even more important after a cool night. What makes people comfortable vs the wants of tropical palms can be diametrically opposed.

[Rhub]

Thanks for the responses. The current pots are 3 inches deep. The mix is roughly a 3-3-1 of coco coir, perlite, and potting soil respectively. The water does flow right through.  Hard to believe it would still get root rot. I'll be moving them under a large tree that provides plenty of shade but some sun can still penetrate through and with full sun for part of the day. Im in orlando so humidity will increase significantly for them outside. What are the chances of these making a comeback? Or are they too far gone?

Note: The idea was to let them establish indoors under lights before moving them outside considering they were stressed by being uprooted and shipped in the mail. I had a similar issue with other seedlings outside but those were in full direct sun as soon as they were potted after receiving by mail and the potting mix wasn't as well draining as it is currently. So much trial and error and disappointing when you lose these little guys.

Edited June 19, 2021 by Rhub

[PalmatierMeg]

Based on your soil mix I revise my diagnosis: they are withering away from lack of water. Archos are water lovers and have no drought tolerance esp. in 3" deep pots watered 1-2x a week. I've found that pots with a lot of coco coir dry out faster and you must monitor them for dryness. If you try again use deeper pots - 5-6" deep - give the seedlings a good soaking and don't let them completely dry out.

[Frond-friend42]

I have raised some of these and these look like they will not make it. They are very sun intolerant at this stage and take many years to be able to handle sun. Not sure if artificial light could damage them as well. They need very little to no light at that stage.

My prediction is the majority will die and if any make it they will take a long time to reestablish.  Sorry for your loss. 

Ben