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Tropical Plants - Australia

Fertilising palms

19 years ago

Hi All,

My 'Ferns and Palms' magazine recommends a complete fertiliser such as Osmocote (from memory), but I seem to recall one poster mentioning that she had great success with fish emulsion.

I intend trying the following prior to Spring, initially on one palm *just in case*: create a compost 'brew' similar to that shown recently on GA, and add some fish emulsion, let stand overnight, then apply it directly to the roots of the plant. My compost is primarily eggshells, orange and banana peel, wholemeal bread, dynamic lifter, mushroom compost, newspaper and some green waste : it has been watered and allowed to age over a 3-5 month period and should be very rich in nutrients by now. I've used one of the black bins, complete with ventilation holes, and it all seems to be breaking down nicely.

My question is : am I better off just using a 'scientifically' formulated product and eliminating the guesswork, or should I give the compost a go ? I have dozens of plants which can use the compost, so it wont go to waste. My concern is that I may inadvertently kill a palm or two by suddenly introducing a powerful injection of nutrients into the root system.

Cheers,

Artie

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Comments (7)

mistymorn
19 years ago
Hi Artie, no idea about your own brew but I would water it down a bit more if you are going to add fish emulsion, its better to use less than more.

I put Seasol om my palms every week during the wet season when they are growing madly it seems to work, I dont fertilise any other time.

MM
richardqld
19 years ago
Keep using the compost if you like,i very much doubt you will do much harm and you will probably improve the soil at the same time.However if you want to really kick them along use an inorganic lawn fertiliser,however make sure you water it in properly.
cheers.
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CoralCoast_Tropicals
19 years ago
Fish emulsion won't harm your palms as it is relatively weak. Palms are gross feeders and for best growth require quite a lot of fertiliser. During the growing period I use C.K.88 (Sugarcane fertiliser). It is similar to 'Tropic' but is slightly stronger and cheaper. Just have to be careful that you are not too heavy handed with it. This time of year I use organic fertilisers as the palms are still growing (although more slowly) even though it is winter.

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artiew
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks for all the feedback, guys : the oberwhelming message seems to be that 'less is more' when it comes to fertilizer, and I will try to restrain my normal heavy-handedness.
CoralCoast_Tropicals
19 years ago
If you use a chemical lawn fertiliser, as a rule of thumb just give the palms as much as you would give the lawn.
artiew
Original Author
19 years ago
Hi CoralCoast,

Fair enough - the guy at Rocky Palm Farm told me that lawn fertiliser was good for them. Unfortunately, my one serious ambition in the garden is to completely eliminate anything resembling a lawn altogether :)

If you've got a backyard that looks like a jungle / rainforest, then thats the look I aspire to. Palms are just one component of the canopy that I'm in the process of putting together, and I expect that the neighbours will begin to wonder if there is still a house on my block within 3-4 years :)

Cheers,

Artie
CoralCoast_Tropicals
19 years ago
I would eliminate my lawn altogether as well except that the boss won't let me! My block is 1600 metres and most of it is under garden with some lawn. Most of it is tropical garden with (you guessed it) a canopy of palms. I still use lawn fertiliser within the garden areas just as I would use it on the lawn.

Andrew.

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