Help with King Palm

[Jim in Los Altos]

10 hours ago, Phoenikakias said:

Jim, have you noticed that some Bangalow palms have slender stems (perhaps like Ptychosperma), which seems being independant from the water they receive? I have such a specimen, but I am still unsure whether this particular feature was caused by lack of water or the shady conditions or is pure genetics. Anyway this plant turned out quite cold hardy in my climate, as it had experienced  settled snow on its fronds for three consecutive years and temps near or slightly below 0 C for some hours. It never showed any cold damage, although never protected. The only damage it suffers is caused by two hot days for a prolonged time, although I think horticultural practice may have played also a significant role (e.g. watering during the hottest part of the day, use of slow release fertilizer, which perhaps nevertheless led to salt accumulation). This year I used only compost and the palm up to now seems unaffected by the prolonged hot conditions (except ridding faster two older semi scorched fronds). In fact, given the girth of new growth, I expect to bloom for the first time during coming cool/cold season. I mentioned all those details, in order to showcase that it not a weak and sick exemplar. I had also come across a specimen with such a thin trunk in a public, old greenhouse, where soil in the planters remains always moist.

Konstantinos, all my Archontophoenix have varied trunk diameters despite all being in similar situations. Some are slender and some are very fat. I think their individual genetics plays a big part in that. They all have great distance between trunk rings however. That’s the main indicator of health and growth speed. 

[Jim in Los Altos]

14 hours ago, cdpmath said:

Jim, you have beautiful palm trees!!! Thank you for sharing your experience and I am all ears with all the advice given. I’d like to share photos of my King Palms as I think, after reading here, that my   Issue is a lack of water. Please confirm. I would also like to ask how much to water…how many gallons on average per week? Also, I just started fertilizing about a month ago with a fertilizer I got from Home Depot. Is this a good fertilizer ? What other fertilizer would you suggest I use? Thank you.

Cristian, Just keep the soil in each of your King palm’s vicinities as wet as possible during the dry season. You can’t over water a King palm. They will grow happily in a marsh. All those Canna lillies are competing for available water near the one young King palm. I’d remove some of them that are closest to it and lay some wood mulch in their place. I alternate fertilizer between 100% organic types like Jobe’s Organic Granular and PalmGain. 

[cdpmath]

Thank you for the help and suggestions Jim. I’ll continue with more deep watering and post updates at a later time. On a side note. I took a trip to San Diego, CA and saw what appears to be Kentia Palms. They sure look beautiful too! Do they do well in temps 90-100F?

 

[BayAndroid]

1 hour ago, cdpmath said:

Thank you for the help and suggestions Jim. I’ll continue with more deep watering and post updates at a later time. On a side note. I took a trip to San Diego, CA and saw what appears to be Kentia Palms. They sure look beautiful too! Do they do well in temps 90-100F?

 

Not if they're in the sun, make sure they are in the shade and get a lot of water as well. When we're talking 90's and 100's, we're talking very dry conditions. 

[Jim in Los Altos]

5 hours ago, cdpmath said:

Thank you for the help and suggestions Jim. I’ll continue with more deep watering and post updates at a later time. On a side note. I took a trip to San Diego, CA and saw what appears to be Kentia Palms. They sure look beautiful too! Do they do well in temps 90-100F?

 

I have a lot of Kentia palms in my front and backyards. They’re all trunking now. My summer climate is a bit cooler than yours but not by much. Most of my Kentia palms are in full shade but my oldest and tallest, originally in full shade,  is now in mostly full sun and handles heat waves well, even in the 100s. They tolerate sun and heat when 20 or more years old as long as they get lots of water.  Younger ones need mostly shade. 
 

[Phoenikakias]

22 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Konstantinos, all my Archontophoenix have varied trunk diameters despite all being in similar situations. Some are slender and some are very fat. I think their individual genetics plays a big part in that. They all have great distance between trunk rings however. That’s the main indicator of health and growth speed. 

First 4 pictures show my piccabeen palm. Last 2 pictures show another King palm in my garden, which is exposed to full sun and is a hybrid of cunninghamiana with probably alexandrae (no ramenta on the  leaf backsides, which have traces of wax, but pink flowers)

[Harry’s Palms]

I don’t fertilize my Archontophoenix or Syagrus . As @Jim in Los Altos says , they look lush and green on their own and grow fast with just water and sun. The Alexandriana is a more robust palm in my yard than the Cuninghamiana but both are very tropical looking and give great protection for smaller palms . Throw in a Chrysalidocarpus Decarii for some variation . Harry

[Jim in Los Altos]

3 hours ago, Phoenikakias said:

First 4 pictures show my piccabeen palm. Last 2 pictures show another King palm in my garden, which is exposed to full sun and is a hybrid of cunninghamiana with probably alexandrae (no ramenta on the  leaf backsides, which have traces of wax, but pink flowers)

Konstantinos, Here are a few photos for reference of some Archontophoenix trunks in my backyard. The first photo is a pair of cunninghamiana and you can see the difference in the their trunk diameters. Notice also the distance between the trunk rings. They are both the same age. Photo 2 is an A. alexandrae. 

 

[MJSanDiego]

5 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

I don’t fertilize my Archontophoenix or Syagrus . As @Jim in Los Altos says , they look lush and green on their own and grow fast with just water and sun. The Alexandriana is a more robust palm in my yard than the Cuninghamiana but both are very tropical looking and give great protection for smaller palms . Throw in a Chrysalidocarpus Decarii for some variation . Harry

I was just at Home Depot and their Cunninghamiana look stunning. They just got a new batch. Big triples in 5 gallon pots for $27 each. If you buy more than 12, only $21 each! They are under sun shades and clearly grown in a greenhouse with climate control and soil enhancements and who knows what else as they look lush and flawless with long jaw dropping fronds like the indoor plant sections. So green and flawless they look fake. As soon as I plant in the full sun and clay the decline begins until it's all jacked up and burned up while getting acclimated 🤣.  I wish they grew them in some 🌞 

[Harry’s Palms]

@MJSanDiego Unfortunately that is common. Then they come home , folks plant them , and they end up like the author of this thread for some time until they normalize. The good thing is that these palms are pretty resilient in California. Harry

[Harry’s Palms]

3 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Konstantinos, Here are a few photos for reference of some Archontophoenix trunks in my backyard. The first photo is a pair of cunninghamiana and you can see the difference in the their trunk diameters. Notice also the distance between the trunk rings. They are both the same age. Photo 2 is an A. alexandrae. 

 

Jim , I have a set just like that! I think they are so cool growing as conjoined twins . HarryThese looked about like the authors palms right after I planted them , kind of burnt . I bought this set and a single , they all burned badly at first  ( darned big box buy ). The good news ….. the single turned out to be Alexandriana!This one had silver underside on the leaflets. Harry

[Tracy]

18 hours ago, MJSanDiego said:

I was just at Home Depot and their Cunninghamiana look stunning. They just got a new batch. Big triples in 5 gallon pots for $27 each. If you buy more than 12, only $21 each! They are under sun shades and clearly grown in a greenhouse with climate control and soil enhancements and who knows what else as they look lush and flawless with long jaw dropping fronds like the indoor plant sections. So green and flawless they look fake. As soon as I plant in the full sun and clay the decline begins until it's all jacked up and burned up while getting acclimated 🤣.  I wish they grew them in some 🌞 

It doesn't matter where you source palms, if they come out of a greenhouse,  you can always acclimate them to more sun over time.  Keep them in their pots after bringing them home and put them where the only direct sun is in the am.  After a few weeks move them to more sun.

Like Jim, I have planted palms at all times of year, but with more delicate species avoid planting in the dead of winter (December and January here).  I would focus less on the bargain of a dozen triple Archontophoenix cunninghamiana at $21apiece and think more strategically about mixing species.  If you live in an 11a climate zone, you don't need to worry about cold damage.   Think of it like painting with multiple colors instead of just 1 or 2.  San Diego has several specialty palm nurseries and even some of the independent nurseries will get rare palms in periodically. 

There is a For Sale forum on this platform too.  There are often palms that are local to San Diego or Southern California for sale.  You can also discuss how the palms you acquire have been grown and get acclimating advice from the grower.

[MJSanDiego]

1 hour ago, Tracy said:

It doesn't matter where you source palms, if they come out of a greenhouse,  you can always acclimate them to more sun over time.  Keep them in their pots after bringing them home and put them where the only direct sun is in the am.  After a few weeks move them to more sun.

Like Jim, I have planted palms at all times of year, but with more delicate species avoid planting in the dead of winter (December and January here).  I would focus less on the bargain of a dozen triple Archontophoenix cunninghamiana at $21apiece and think more strategically about mixing species.  If you live in an 11a climate zone, you don't need to worry about cold damage.   Think of it like painting with multiple colors instead of just 1 or 2.  San Diego has several specialty palm nurseries and even some of the independent nurseries will get rare palms in periodically. 

There is a For Sale forum on this platform too.  There are often palms that are local to San Diego or Southern California for sale.  You can also discuss how the palms you acquire have been grown and get acclimating advice from the grower.

Thank you. I'm in zone 10b. I prefer Alexandrea but don't see them for sale at least not at Home Depot. Maybe Lowe's. I know those kind of stores don't have much variety and only sell the common varieties. I do appreciate their one year guarantee especially for King palms since I kill so many 🤣. In my opinion, much depends on the topography when determining the palms that look best in your particular area.  I live on a steep sloped lot.  I'm not trying to jungle up my lot. Just a handful of dazzling prized single trunk specimens all spaced at least 20 feet apart is good enough for me! 😀

[baytobreakers]

Quick update. The large spear is now opening (it had been fully out for several months) and the plant appears to be doing much better. Thanks all!

What I did:

• Water bag --- filled 3-4x/week  (previously was 1 or 2x / week )
• re-mulched
• fish emulsion applied once

[BayAndroid]

Keep at it and before you know it, you'll have a beautiful tree. Here's mine! 

[Foggy Paul]

We bought our king today. $100 at Lowes for a 15g quad which I turned into a triple. This will fill a gap in our small garden and provide some needed shade, since the next door neighbor pulled their plants last year. These when planted will already be taller than our Hedyscepe and R. sapida which have been in the ground for years. (Of course those two are much prettier.) I struggled with this decision but am happy with it. 

[Palmerr]

On 7/28/2024 at 7:14 PM, baytobreakers said:

Hi all,

new here. Hoping you can provide some advice for this king palm. Planted back in February. Two spears are growing but have not opened. It is in the Berkeley area and west facing so gets afternoon sun. I have seen several healthy king palms in the neighborhood so I’m at a loss for how to encourage its growth. 

mulch too would help preferably not black (Black soil and black mulch absorb more heat heat up fatser during peak UV Months which evaporates water! So use mulch not black water as much as you can (Or get drip irrigation very easy to setup and will help your king thrive! (But still water heavily sometimes)