Watering palms?.

[Nigel]

Nathan is spot on, its impossible to over water a palm in the ground in well drained soil, I always used raised beds for many palms which they love.
In pots watering is less easy to get right , and they grow at half the speed.

[Andy P]

The soil in my garden is quite heavy clay once you get down a few feet, so i worry it will hold water and rot the roots if i water too much. Whenever i`ve planted palms in the ground i`ve dug a hole about twice the size of the rootball and bedded them into good draining soil. Usually a peat/ sand mix. I`ve watered them a little once a week or so ( dependent on the weather ) for the 1st six months and then after that just left them to their own. So far all my planted palms seem to be doing really well. pushing out enough new fronds to be happy with. I`ve read, somewhere,that if you water them a lot then the roots won`t grow as vigorously as they should as they won`t feel the need to properly put out those tap roots in search of water. Clever things plants! After 6 months i don`t water palms at all. Spread a bit of blood,fish and bone and a few Chicken pellets at their base now an then, let the rain do the rest and that`s it. Seems to be working ok for me but maybe someone else would say different???
Andy

[Nigel]

Andy, palms adore that clay a few feet down ! They put their roots to find the right level of moisture.
I would never dig any kind of sump into that stuff though, when I planted my oil drum Jubaea I raised the soil level with a raised border so that the base of the roots was sitting on top of the clay layer.

[GREVILLE]

All my planted palms bar Trachycarpus are sited on raised beds, rockery or upslope. The good drainage this affords means I never overwater into a sump. In most cases, I have used warm water and liquid feed with excellent results. (See thread on SOIL WARMING).

My one query would be whether some potted palms requiring acid soil would find hard tap water detrimental.

[karl66]

A bit of subject but i have a small tree fern, do you need to lay off the water with these about the same time as most other palms?, i know they need a lot of water pouring down there fronds. This is my first tree fern. karl.

[Tom2006]

Once we enter the colder months, normally October onwards just play it by ear but I would only water the crown IF its dry and milder. Once the frosts (especially harsh ones) set in just leave well alone. The average English winter normally gives enough rain to water them. The last few have been a nightmare though so play it by ear.