Trachycarpus Roots growth rate question

[greendragon]

I'm just wondering if anyone has an estimate on how far trachycarpus roots can travel on average in one year?

for example if you planted a 30litre potted trachycarpus in april this year, how far out would the roots have spread by the following april? Soil type would be loam.

[Conifers]

I'll hazard a guess at about a metre.

[greendragon]

Thanks for the reply, Conifers whats your estimate on how far out from the trunk the roots of a 150 year old Trachycarpus would have spread? I know root growth slows down as the plant becomes fully established and mature but it would be interesting to know how far Down and how far sideways trachyroots travel from the trunk in it's lifetime.

[Conifers]

Don't know for palms specifically, but for trees in general, around 1.5–2 times as far as the tree is tall. So if palms were the same, a ten metre Trachycarpus would have roots extending 15–20 metres sideways in all directions. Depth depends a lot on soil water tables, in waterlogged soil, roots may only go down 20 cm, but on well-drained sandy soil, down 2 or even 3 metres.

[paulrm71]

Hi there, when I moved my small 1foot trunker after one year, the roots had spread nearly a metre out.

[karl66]

On the research i have done on trachys i believe that even old established trachys dont have massive rootballs & 1 metre down by 2 metres across would be maximum growth, hence being able to plant near buildings.

[Conifers]

On the research i have done on trachys i believe that even old established trachys dont have massive rootballs & 1 metre down by 2 metres across would be maximum growth, hence being able to plant near buildings.

There's a big difference between the entire root system (what I was describing), and what it can (a) survive being transplanted with, and (b) what effect the roots might have on structures. The latter two are both considerably smaller.

[Trudytropics]

Hi there, when I moved my small 1foot trunker after one year, the roots had spread nearly a metre out.

I think that explains the problem in the other thread, I would doubt very much you transplanted that palm without considerable damage to the roots then. It is having a massive sulk, hopefully in time it will forgive you.

[simon]

As a palm crown doesn't get any bigger once it has formed a proper trunk, I wouldn't be surprised if the root spread doens't increase much after that either. As long as thier is enough root stock to support the transpiration loss from the crown, the only other issue is anchorage.

Trees are different, thier crown size increases throughout life and therefore so does the roots.