Roots in particularly disastrous conditions

[Tomas]

This Wodyetia spent the winter in an unheated house, where the lowest temperature used to reach 10°C for few weeks, in front of a window with lot of sun. Still, when I pulled it out of the pot, I found this. I use a mix of 2/3 of perlite and 1/3 of cocopeat, something that should be well draining and it is watered maybe once a week or 10 days. So, what's wrong there?

Edited June 4, 2023 by Tomas

[SeanK]

I don't see a problem. It looks like perlite stuck to the roots. Plant must still be very small. Plant it into a deep pot and let it grow over the summer.

[Merlyn]

That seems reasonable for a young palm.  The roots look similar to ones I've received "bare rooted" for shipment.  White, firm roots are good.  Brown and squishy = rot. 

[Tomas]

There are the three thick roots that are rotted.

[Phoenikakias]

Not all palms respond well to perlite under cool and damp conditions. Did you let the pot standing over an 'Untertasse'?

[Tomas]

On 6/5/2023 at 9:00 PM, Phoenikakias said:

Not all palms respond well to perlite under cool and damp conditions. Did you let the pot standing over an 'Untertasse'?

No, no tray with stagnant water. I also try to water as little as possible, cannot imagine anythink more air filled than the mix described

[CGMarko]

On 6/4/2023 at 8:43 AM, Tomas said:

it is watered maybe once a week or 10 days

I personally don’t water my plants more than once in 3 weeks, but mine are on an east facing window with limited direct sunlight. I always check whether the soil is sufficiently moist with a tool that measures moisture in soil. So far they are doing fine.

[Phoenikakias]

1 hour ago, Tomas said:

No, no tray with stagnant water. I also try to water as little as possible, cannot imagine anythink more air filled than the mix described

Why did you uproot the Wodyetia?

[Phoenikakias]

I had used this mix for two Livistona muelleri and one eventually died, while the other struggles to stay alive. 5 Wodyetia seedlings did very well in pumice as potting medium.

[Tomas]

12 hours ago, CGMarko said:

I personally don’t water my plants more than once in 3 weeks, but mine are on an east facing window with limited direct sunlight. I always check whether the soil is sufficiently moist with a tool that measures moisture in soil. So far they are doing fine.

I lift the plants in small pots and judge how wet from the weight, obviously one has to know the weight when dry and when fully watered 🙂

[Tomas]

10 hours ago, Phoenikakias said:

I had used this mix for two Livistona muelleri and one eventually died, while the other struggles to stay alive. 5 Wodyetia seedlings did very well in pumice as potting medium.

I tried over the years many mixes including pumice (not easy to find here) and lava rock, the perlite and cocopeat give the best results so far. One important thing when using cocopeat is to buy only high quality product. I use a very cheap one and there is an incredible quantity of salt (NaCl), it must be flushed many times. I also try to buffer it with calcium nitrate, so far no signs that buffering makes some difference

The Wodyetia got a bigger pot, with the summer heat the problem is opposite, the small pots will dry out too quickly

[Billeb]

25 minutes ago, Tomas said:

I tried over the years many mixes including pumice (not easy to find here) and lava rock, the perlite and cocopeat give the best results so far. One important thing when using cocopeat is to buy only high quality product. I use a very cheap one and there is an incredible quantity of salt (NaCl), it must be flushed many times. I also try to buffer it with calcium nitrate, so far no signs that buffering makes some difference

The Wodyetia got a bigger pot, with the summer heat the problem is opposite, the small pots will dry out too quickly

Don’t overthink it. My mix is pretty much 1/2 or more cactus mix, 1/2 pumice and a scoop of small orchid bark.  Well drained and has worked great for me.  
 

-dale 

[tim_brissy_13]

I doesn’t sound like your soil mix is the problem? Do you have any other Wodyetia? I see you’re in Rome, do they grow there? Even in an unheated greenhouse, Wodyetia struggle in cool winter climates. Consistent cool and damp spells trouble, and sometime the unheated greenhouse can actually hurt; the increased humidity can make conditions damp. I’ve had similar trouble with Coccothrinax and Wodyetia are similar in that they like it warm and dry in winter. 

[Tomas]

On 6/11/2023 at 9:05 AM, tim_brissy_13 said:

I doesn’t sound like your soil mix is the problem? Do you have any other Wodyetia? I see you’re in Rome, do they grow there? Even in an unheated greenhouse, Wodyetia struggle in cool winter climates. Consistent cool and damp spells trouble, and sometime the unheated greenhouse can actually hurt; the increased humidity can make conditions damp. I’ve had similar trouble with Coccothrinax and Wodyetia are similar in that they like it warm and dry in winter. 

I planted a small Wodyetia last year in my garden, grew it few years in pot outside, no big problems with it, just slow growing, but all palms start the normal growth very slowly in spring/summer, the winter is too cool and long here. I keep some palms inside the house in winter hoping that with the higher temperatures they will respnd more quickly to the summer heat. 

The plant in the garden will be protected during the freeze days, otherwise there is no future for it.

Other two Wodyetia were kept in the house and their roots were fine, I think this one pictured received somehow more water than the other two, out of my control

[Than]

On 6/11/2023 at 8:44 AM, Tomas said:

I tried over the years many mixes including pumice (not easy to find here) and lava rock, the perlite and cocopeat give the best results so far. One important thing when using cocopeat is to buy only high quality product. I use a very cheap one and there is an incredible quantity of salt (NaCl), it must be flushed many times. I also try to buffer it with calcium nitrate, so far no signs that buffering makes some difference

The Wodyetia got a bigger pot, with the summer heat the problem is opposite, the small pots will dry out too quickly

How do you measure NaCl in coco coir?

[Silas_Sancona]

On 6/10/2023 at 10:44 PM, Tomas said:

One important thing when using cocopeat is to buy only high quality product. I use a very cheap one and there is an incredible quantity of salt (NaCl), it must be flushed many times.

Yep, absolutely agree.. Cheaper - end product / product that does not state being pre-washed on the package should always be rinsed a couple times -at least- before using, esp. w/ smaller plants..  Block of compressed material can go a long way though, which is good..

[Tomas]

9 hours ago, ego said:

How do you measure NaCl in coco coir?

You soak with distiled (or low salt content) water, than squeeze and measure the conducibility with Total Disolved Salts Meter. The first soaking I can get values higher than 1000 microS/cm

[byuind]

If anyone is looking for a pure sources Pumice, shoot me a message. I can give you a lead that you will probably find helpful…