Potted washy noob in michigan

[WinterPalm]

Hi all, I’m new here ☺️

I’ve always thought about having a potted palm. I saw a thread on here recommending washies as a palm that can live in a pot and handle dry winter air indoors, so I decided to give them a try since the seedlings are so cheap on eBay.

I ordered three bare-root washy seedlings from an ebay seller in Nevada and received six. They arrived on a cold day in March (about 25F) with roots wrapped in damp paper towels. They were beautiful on arrival. This is how they looked right after potting.

Before planting, I soaked the roots in distilled water with kelp extract. then I planted them in a mix of Miracle Gro Palm/Cactus, perlite and sand, based on recommendations on here. But they went into root shock anyway. For about a month they looked like this.

A lot of the leaves withered, but the spears stayed green so I watered them lightly, pruned the dead leaves and waited. Around late April the surviving fronds started to perk up a little.

I started putting them outside in full sun anytime the temp was above 60F. The growth accelerated as the weather warmed. A few weeks ago I added a little bit of Jobe’s granular palm food. I just poked some holes in the soil, poured the fertilizer in, and topped off the holes with soil. Maybe about a quarter cup per plant. They’ve really taken off in the last couple months. I’ve been watering them by pouring rainwater into the trays they’re sitting in. They also get top watered whenever it rains.

I gave one to my mom and all six are still doing great. I’m wondering if there’s anything else I should do? Should I maybe fertilize them one more time this season, or not?

 I’m also wondering how I should treat them when I take them indoors for winter. I plan to keep them next to the same southern window I had them in this spring. Of course I don’t plan to keep them in standing water or use any fertilizer in winter. I’m thinking I should just water them lightly once a week. Should I trim off the roots that are sticking out the bottom or just leave them?

[MSX]

Nice seedlings! While it is still hot outside you can also try to semi-bury some of your potted washies in the ground instead of keeping them in the tray and keep them there until the first frosts. Giving roots access to soil can allow a plant to put on substantially more growth/size than pot only plants. Buried pots has worked very well for me!

Edited July 31, 2022 by MSX

[WinterPalm]

The weather has gotten cold and cloudy here so I’ve taken the washies indoors. I might still pop them outside now and then when the weather’s good, but they’ll be indoors for most of the next several months. 

I’m pretty amazed at all the growth this summer and hopeful but also worried about the winter. They’re right up against a big southern window and I have a lamp with three grow lights that I use on cloudy days.
 

I’m planning to water them a couple times a week. They really seem to thrive on watering from the roots, so I’m thinking I’ll continue to do that. I notice that even indoors, when I add a little water to the bottom of the tray, they soak it up in a day or two.

[DTS]

hopefully it warms back up in the 70s i hate that its only getting to the low 60s

[WinterPalm]

2 hours ago, DTS1 said:

hopefully it warms back up in the 70s i hate that its only getting to the low 60s

I know right?!! It’s so annoying, I was hoping to keep them outside a little longer 😫

[DTS]

17 hours ago, WinterPalm said:

I know right?!! It’s so annoying, I was hoping to keep them outside a little longer 😫

i still have all my plants out. ill put them in once it drops below 40 i think

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

Nice looking plants.   They can grow very fast too!   Washies can handle some come so your probably be ok leaving then out u til it gets below 50F.     The only thing with leaving them out as it gets cooler (40s/50s) is that damp soil and cool don’t mix well.    If they are out they should be in sun and don’t let them stay wet for long periods.  
 

so far so good though.   Before you know it they’ll be too big to bring inside anymore.  Good luck and welcome to palmtalk ! 

[WinterPalm]

3 hours ago, DCA_Palm_Fan said:

Nice looking plants.   They can grow very fast too!   Washies can handle some come so your probably be ok leaving then out u til it gets below 50F.     The only thing with leaving them out as it gets cooler (40s/50s) is that damp soil and cool don’t mix well.    If they are out they should be in sun and don’t let them stay wet for long periods.  
 

so far so good though.   Before you know it they’ll be too big to bring inside anymore.  Good luck and welcome to palmtalk ! 

Thanks!! The nights here have started dipping into the 30s but I’ve been putting the palms back outside during the day as it’s been sunny and in the 50s-60s. I’m definitely scaling back their watering…over the summer they really seemed to love having wet feet but now I’m only watering just enough to keep the soil moist. 

I’m wondering how fast they’ll grow for sure, I can’t believe they were just dried-up little stems at the end of April!! 

Edited October 4, 2022 by WinterPalm

[ZPalms]

Ive been keeping my washies out into the 40s at night, I let them brace the chill at night for long term sucess at least that's what I tell myself because Im too lazy to move them nightly. 🤪

Edited October 5, 2022 by ZPalms

[WinterPalm]

12 hours ago, ZPalms said:

Ive been keeping my washies out into the 40s at night, I let them brace the chill at night for long term sucess at least that's what I tell myself because Im too lazy to move them nightly. 🤪

I would think they’d be okay with those temps at night as long as they get lots of sun during the day! I’m probably overdoing it a little by taking them in at night, but it looks like we may have our first frost later this week so I figure I may as well get used to it.

[WinterPalm]

The weather got nice again so I’ve had the washies back outside the last couple of days. I’m surprised how much they’ve kept growing even indoors. 

[WinterPalm]

I was able to take the washies outside several times this month because of warm days but we’re having our first snowfall today so they’ll be indoors most of the time through winter.

Growth has slowed but not stopped. So far I don’t see any signs of stress from having them indoors. The room they’re in has warm dry air from a baseboard heater, which I imagine is fine for a desert palm. At any rate none of the leaves have crispy tips except the very oldest ones that were the first to emerge from root shock.

I’m still finding I need to water pretty often. I wait until the roots coming out the bottom look dry and that happens about every two days. 

Edited November 15, 2022 by WinterPalm

[PalmatierMeg]

They look great. Best of luck over winter.

[WinterPalm]

Last week I gave the two biggest washies to my parents, they’re going to plant them at their house in florida. I was sad to let them go (my babies!!) but they were already getting too crowded and giving them away was always my goal. The plan is to end up with just one.

So now I’m down to three! These are the “runts” of the original six, but they all look happy and they’re still growing and one of them has grown really fast. Maybe because I’m giving them some supplemental light, or because I fertilized them a second time in September? Anyway, so far so good and now they’re a lot less crowded than they were last week.

[WinterPalm]

51 minutes ago, WinterPalm said:

The plan is to end up with just one.

*or two

[Philly J]

Hello from zone 2 Saskatchewan northern Canada 🥰🥶🇨🇦

[WinterPalm]

1 hour ago, Philly J said:

Hello from zone 2 Saskatchewan northern Canada 🥰🥶🇨🇦

Looking amazing 😍😍😍 the leaves are so beautiful! how old is that one? 

[Philly J]

58 minutes ago, WinterPalm said:

Looking amazing 😍😍😍 the leaves are so beautiful! how old is that one? 

Almost 3 years.  👍🏻🥰 Filibusta 

[WinterPalm]

Today it’s finally warm enough that I was comfortable taking the washies outside.

They never did stop growing over the winter, maybe because I was giving them some supplemental light in addition to the south window.

About 3 weeks ago I added a little fertilizer.

[WinterPalm]

As planned, I gave away two more washies a month or so ago and now i’m down to one! I’ve moved it indoors as we’ve had our first hard freeze. It lost a few leaves at what i think was a slightly worrying rate late in the summer,  possibly because I got busy and flaked a little on keeping it watered and fertilized. Also, it was horrendously root bound by the time i got around to repotting it. I had to cut the old pot to pieces to get it out.

I have it in the same southern window as before, with supplemental light on cloudy days. So far i’m watering about twice a week and have discontinued fertilizer application until spring. All in all i’m really happy with the growth, considering what it looked like a year and a half ago.

[DTS]

2 hours ago, WinterPalm said:

As planned, I gave away two more washies a month or so ago and now i’m down to one! I’ve moved it indoors as we’ve had our first hard freeze. It lost a few leaves at what i think was a slightly worrying rate late in the summer,  possibly because I got busy and flaked a little on keeping it watered and fertilized. Also, it was horrendously root bound by the time i got around to repotting it. I had to cut the old pot to pieces to get it out.

I have it in the same southern window as before, with supplemental light on cloudy days. So far i’m watering about twice a week and have discontinued fertilizer application until spring. All in all i’m really happy with the growth, considering what it looked like a year and a half ago.

How old is this one?

[WinterPalm]

35 minutes ago, DTS1 said:

How old is this one?

Not sure, but i’m guessing maybe 2 years old or a little less? It was a little seedling when I received it from a seller on ebay in April 2022. 

[Philly J]

4 years 😍

Edited November 8, 2023 by Philly J

[hbernstein]

Washingtonias are unstoppable! What will you do with it when it (soon) outgrows your ability to accommodate it?

[Philly J]

2 hours ago, hbernstein said:

Washingtonias are unstoppable! What will you do with it when it (soon) outgrows your ability to accommodate it?

it will be stunted, thats as large of a container as I can manuever (its over 100lbs).  It needs its 2-3 months of scorching hot summer before we plunge back into Antarctic temps.

[WinterPalm]

3 hours ago, hbernstein said:

Washingtonias are unstoppable! What will you do with it when it (soon) outgrows your ability to accommodate it?

my plan is to keep lowering the stand it sits on indoors until it can sit on the floor. If it’s still doing well in two or three years, I’ll plant it outside at my parents’ place in Florida.