Canary Island Date Palm: In need of your expert opinions

[Mr Kite]

Hello,
First post, so here goes... Before i start, please forgive me for being a newbie
and asking a probably stupid/numpty question.

Always been a fan of palms but never had the opportunity to have them before, but this year the garden is done
and i was keen to make a start. Bought this Canary Island Date Palm back in April as it was cheap and i thought that it would suit the garden quite well. Now i don't know if i've done this right but i re potted the palm, good mixture of John Innes No3, agricultural sand and multi compost, watered it regually since, approximately once a week. I was just a bit concerned as i thought it was looking a bit yellow on it's lower fronds, with some small spots appearing, plus on the larger fronds there starting to brown at the tips.

I was wondering of this was normal, or would you remove the lower one's once this starts to happen?

The spear is green, but again a small amount of dry brown fronds have appeared.

I thought rather than just try and explain it, i'd upload these pic's.

All i want to know is:
Is it dead?
Is it dying?
What can i do to prevent the above?
What idiot mistakes have i made?

Help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks, Matt, Hull

[themes]

Hello there Mr Kite. Welcome to the forum.

Here is a lot of info on this palm

http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk/forum/v ... f=1&t=4148

also in search type Phoenix canariensis_CIDP or canary Island date palm. Loads of info here at your disposal. Lots of reading but its worth it

[Imran Khalid]

Looks about as good as I would expect in a pot. That pot really isnt big enough for the palm, but keep it well watered and fed and it will look fine. I tend to trim off the dead bits to keep each leaf looking better.

[redsquirrel]

agree with imran,wont be long before it chucks those rocks out as it pushes out of the pot.looks pretty good considering some of the deader looking ones ive seen going cheap,some of which look completely dead

[Mr Kite]

ok cheers for that, keep the comments coming!
The roots were only small though, maybe it's a bad pic, the pot is a 40cm sq pot, and the roots were only about 10-15cm in depth

does anyone think that the yellowing leaves are from under watering?

would a rule of thumb be to keep the top of the soil moist throughout the summer, i've been reading a lot of previous posts on here and that seems to be the general opinion

thanks again

[Dave Brown]

Mr Kite, welcome to the forum

You should be able to sit Phoenix canariensis_CIDP in a tray of water over summer to avoid drying out. Many palms hate sitting in water but not Phoenix they love it. You can contain the roots for a short while but they have an aggressive root system

[Edo]

My sugestion to you is that you shouldn´t water it for some short time 7-10-12 days.
Also, use some fungicide, it could be that you over watered it.
Also, it is a slight replanting shock, so take care of it a bit more.
So, keep it in a sunny position, and don´t water it for some short period of time.

Best luck,
Edo

[Mr Kite]

Hello to David and Edo, thanks for the advice, albeit slightly conflicting!
I'm thinking that this is all about experience, after reading previous posts it appears any people have many different results and thoughts on growing palms. I can't remember the quote from a old post but it was along the lines of; it's all about experimentation, about having a go to grow things that most people say won't survive anyway. Only way im going to learn is to have a go, and that i will do, i'll let you know how i get on.

I don't know why but or some reason i think the soil is a bit too compacted, plan is to remove the palm, loosen the soil and give the rot more air to breathe, plus add in more sand, it's a little heavy on the multi compost side of things. If this is wrong then it's too late as i'm off outside now to do it!

Like many i too have noticed how successful many people seem to be with just planting palms straight into the ground from b&q, and then just leaving them to grow for years.

Here's hoping i can make this Phoenix canariensis_CIDP look at least a bit healthier

[Dave Brown]

The problem is normally people's misenterpritation of water requirements. Phoenix palms will happily grow in water, but hate boggy air starved soil and compost. You need good drainage to let air into the compost, but not completely drying out. It is laziness about watering that causes the problem. Some plants must have plenty of water but be well drained to let air in. The normal answer to a plant requiring ample water is to use Moisture Retentive compost. Moisture retention, mostly excludes air.

I wondered for years why things would happily root in water but rot in compost, and the main reason is water can contain more oxygen than soggy compost.

For me Phoenix canariensis_CIDP requires a free draining compost but with its feet in water. A 5cm deep tray topped up with water daily will give you a happy palm.

[Mr Kite]

Thanks Dave, i'll add in a tray

Took the palm out of the pot today, added in lots more sand, and did not bed it down quite as firm, the root of the palm was still all tangled up and the size of the pot that it had originally been bought it.

I gave that a bit of a loosen too, hoping that it will encourage the roots to grow out more to fill it's new pot!

I'm thinking that i've done the right thing, why can't these plants be as easy as growing olives, i've a cople of them and there great to grow, they seem to adapt easily and you see growth pretty quickly

i like the challenge tho, and this forum seems full of decent people with helpful advice

cheers

[fgtbell]

Lots of palms suffer from transplant shock, even tough things like Phoenix. It's not a very well publicised thing, there are one or two articles on it if you look around. Losing one or two fronds isn't unusual in my experience, as long as it stabilises after a few weeks then it should be fine.

There are some nutrient deficiency problems that can cause yellow spots especially on the lower leaves. Given that you've just re-potted, that doesn't sound likely - but if you are concerned you could give it a feed with a balanced fertiliser containing all the minors (trace elements) - things like boron and manganese, iron, zinc, copper, molybdenum.

[AndrewBird]

that looks a really good palm. be careful in winter that it doesnt die.

[Dave Brown]

Andrew, when you have experience of winters that effect Canary Island Date Palms, make comments, but they are not as tender as you make out

[AndrewBird]

Andrew, when you have experience of winters that effect Canary Island Date Palms, make comments, but they are not as tender as you make out

i havent yet but everyone says that when they are small they are not very hardy and in a pot he roots can freeze, so its best be careful if its small and in a pot?

[sam140]

They are alot happier and faster growing in the ground.