Caryota mitis - snail growth rate???

[TropicsEnjoyer]

I recently bought and planted a caryota mitis around a month and a half maybe 2 months ago, and basically i’m just wondering what’s wrong (if anything) because it’s growing so damn slow. I’ve been tracking the spears and they barely seem to move. One of the leaves that’s opening up is also taking its sweet time to unfold each rank of pinna. So, any ideas? It has been fertilized already, gets good water and gets the southern sun. 9b btw, taking a gamble with this plant tbh. 

[ahosey01]

Sometimes this happens when you plant palms.  No idea the precise mechanism but think about it - literally everything about that palm's environs changed in some way, even small, when you planted it.  The angle of the sunlight, possibly even the strength, the soil, the moisture content, potentially an increase in shade or sun.  You may have disturbed some roots, however slightly, etc.  Plus, most palms grow slower when they're younger.  Stick all this together and it's totally not uncommon to newly plant a young palm and then just have it sit there a while.  For two months I think it looks just fine and eventually these things speed way up.  If it was still moving like this after two years, I'd be wondering about growing conditions.

[Harry’s Palms]

I have a few of these around my house , in the ground . The ones that are in at least partial shade do much better here in our arid climate. They were all fairly slow when young . Now that they have been in the ground 20 plus years they seem moderate , not fast growing . The new spear can take quite a while to fully open so patience is key. It seems , after the spear opens , a new spear emerges within a week . One thing I will mention , they get wide as they get older the fronds can easily block a walkway if planted close. I have one of mine planted next to a walk way so when it opens a new frond on that side ( this just occurred ) I tie it up and out of the way . Water them generously and they will handle sun better. Harry

[TropicsEnjoyer]

1 hour ago, Harry’s Palms said:

I have a few of these around my house , in the ground . The ones that are in at least partial shade do much better here in our arid climate. They were all fairly slow when young . Now that they have been in the ground 20 plus years they seem moderate , not fast growing . The new spear can take quite a while to fully open so patience is key. It seems , after the spear opens , a new spear emerges within a week . One thing I will mention , they get wide as they get older the fronds can easily block a walkway if planted close. I have one of mine planted next to a walk way so when it opens a new frond on that side ( this just occurred ) I tie it up and out of the way . Water them generously and they will handle sun better. Harry

Alright, thanks both of you for the input. Maybe i’ll up the watering a bit. And yeah I know they can get a bit unruly but I plan to trim lower fronds once it gains height.

[Merlyn]

@TropicsEnjoyer it may take a bit to root in and start growing.  It's also going into winter, so expect it to be fairly slow until maybe March.  It looks a bit pale green, so it probably wasn't fertilized well at the nursery.  I'd wait another week or two and then give it a small amount (half a handful?) of a palm-specific fertilizer.  PalmGain and Florikan are highly recommended here, but I typically use Sunniland Palm 6-1-8.

The spot there might end up being...er...troublesome in the future.  I have a Mitis I planted in April 2019 from a plant a bit bigger than yours.  It's gone through several upper 20s freezes and frosts, and lost most of the tall trunks in one serious ~26ish frost in January 2022.  But it's kept roaring back with new offshoots.  That's the reason it could be a maintenance problem there.  My cluster is now about 6-8 feet diameter at the base.  The good news is that if it tries to become a prolific offsetter then you can cut back the extra trunks to keep it under control.  And if it gets way too big too fast, they are very easy to transplant elsewhere.

[Harry’s Palms]

What @Merlyn says . I think the area isn’t near large enough but as it grows you will know. Mine have been in the ground a long time and are thick and wide . I cut the old trunks as they flower to help thin them . Harry

[richnorm]

I had one growing well in a pot but growth stopped almost completely for about 9 months when planted so maybe this is a trait of this species though winter wouldn't have helped 

[TropicsEnjoyer]

13 hours ago, Merlyn said:

@TropicsEnjoyer it may take a bit to root in and start growing.  It's also going into winter, so expect it to be fairly slow until maybe March.  It looks a bit pale green, so it probably wasn't fertilized well at the nursery.  I'd wait another week or two and then give it a small amount (half a handful?) of a palm-specific fertilizer.  PalmGain and Florikan are highly recommended here, but I typically use Sunniland Palm 6-1-8.

The spot there might end up being...er...troublesome in the future.  I have a Mitis I planted in April 2019 from a plant a bit bigger than yours.  It's gone through several upper 20s freezes and frosts, and lost most of the tall trunks in one serious ~26ish frost in January 2022.  But it's kept roaring back with new offshoots.  That's the reason it could be a maintenance problem there.  My cluster is now about 6-8 feet diameter at the base.  The good news is that if it tries to become a prolific offsetter then you can cut back the extra trunks to keep it under control.  And if it gets way too big too fast, they are very easy to transplant elsewhere.

It was part of a big group of potted palms at HD and having not seen such a cheap caryota before i jumped on it. I tried to pick the best looking one to begin with, I don’t really think it suffered much prior. I fertilized not too long ago too with some palm fert i have lying around that i know is not ideal but it does the job id say. So you think I feed it another bit?

And yes, it may get wild eventually, but for now im just going to enjoy it in the moment.

[kinzyjr]

At least from my experience, Caryota, Arenga, and Wallichia tend to grow a lot below ground before they speed up above ground.