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Need help to identify & prune potted palm

17 years ago

Our office is home to a tall, very skinny palm tree of unknown origin. Can someone A) help identify it and B) provide advice as to how I might prune it to encourage more horizontal, rather than vertical, growth? You can see two photos of the palm at www.centricproductions.com/plant/palm1.jpg and www.centricproductions.com/plant/palm2.jpg

Thanks!

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Comments (3)

oppalm
17 years ago
pardon my english, but, dat ain't no palm. I believe that is some kind of dracaena. I don't believe you can prune them. It looks like it needs to be repotted. google "dracaena" for more information.
terryster
17 years ago
It looks like a dracena marginata, and the only way to encourage thicker growth is to cut off the top about 6" from the base and you will have two new heads come out at the stem. You can also root the top if you stick it in soil ( like a gallon cont) in the semi-sun and keep the soil moist.
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birdinthepalm
17 years ago
Though I couldn't get the photo , when I tried to copy and paste that address, I suspected since most folks loosely define "palms" as any plant with a long bare "trunk" and a cluster of leaves at the top, that it might not be a palm that was being described. Lucky in that case however, since unlike plams, the other "palm-like" plants may have their tops completely removed and can recover to start regrowth, whereas palms may not have the tops removed and survive in most cases. Pruning in that case consists at most of trimming off dead or brown frond and leaf tips and removing old dead fronds, but never the crowns!

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