Pygmy Date Palm store bought

9 years ago

So I decided to get myself a tripple pygmy date palm or Phoenix roebelenii from Lowes, when I had got it I later noticed that on one of the palms, 3 out of 6 spears had been cut!,Leaving the remaining three untouched.

I had already thrown out the receipt and had been stuck wondering if it would affect its growth at all, or if those fronds will still continue to grow now that they had been cut halfway... I have no clue why, It almost seemed as if it was healthy when cut. I figured it would affect the structure of the plant later on... or maybe not depending if the fronds will still grow out, just shorter. Could anyone shed some light on this? please and thankyou heh.

This is my first time caring for a pygmy date palm, I plan to bring it out on my patio when the summer months come, For now i have it by a well lit window that receives morning sun and I also have a heat lamp a bit up away from the palms holding Two 24 or 23 Watt CFL low heat bulbs of both red and white spectrum just above the palms for now, and a timer set 12 hours on and 12 off, is this fine?.

Also I have had the palms for 2 and a half weeks now and had re potted it a week ago from regular potting mix that it was in from the shop into a mix of promix,Schultz tropical mix,and orchid mix at the bottom for some drainage, I fertilized once because it was the last palm they had on sale for the end of the season and figured it probably had not been fertilized the time it was there, or i could had been wrong.
Here is my problem with this, just this week the palm that seems to have had the 3 spears cut is starting to brown a descent amount on the bottom fronds that where completely healthy and brown tips on all the other fronds but the middle... i figured i might have over fertilized, but it could be one in a million things, could anyone tell me what i did wrong?,.The room temp is always 70-90 Fahrenheit I spray the foliage with cool water Daily and i have standing still water bottles sitting around to increase humidity in the room to prevent dry air, along with a fan to circulate the air flow around it and my other palms that require alot less care lol,I tend to water heavily and let it dry out Completely to the touch. Oh!, and i noticed that the single palm had been over pruned, kinda like a rooster tail but not too bad, bottom fronds browning by the day though....

Anyways, That pretty much wraps it up I think haha. I really love caring for indoor palms, this seems to take the cake for one of the troublesome palms for indoors aha, By the way I am in Canada Ontario, we are currently just approaching the winter months....and of course dormancy will soon take place ect. Id really appreciate the help!, thanks, And by the way, any idea on what lighting i should use? just for the meantime anyways.

This post was edited by YouthGarden on Sat, Dec 13, 14 at 4:29

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Comments (9)

zzackey
9 years ago
I would call the store to see if you can get a refund without a receipt.
YouthGarden
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for the quick reply , I have decided to keep them since the coming of the end of the season I got them dirt cheap, and the only real problem is the one with cut spears. The other two are just fine, I cant find anymore pygmy date palms around at this time of year so ill try my luck and hope for the best. although ill be sure to examine things more thoroughly next time.

This post was edited by YouthGarden on Sat, Dec 13, 14 at 9:53
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Caseyin I have some bad news for you--there is nothing wrong with your palm. It looks very healthy. It is the nature of palms for the bottom leaves to slowly die as they are replaced from the top. thats hoe the trunk forms. Keep up the good work and you can trim off those browning fronds anytime you want.
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I'm still inclined to think even though some palms do look nice in small groups, they still require some distance between the trunks to survive, once those trunks get a bit bigger ,and often the plants are actually already touching each other in the pots, so I'd be skeptical how long they'd survive in that condition! In the case of the larger types sometimes seen in groups, I'd guess most have at least a few feet between them in that case! I see the same overcrowded ones offered here and only assume the growers don't plant them with long term survival in mind for folks who'd prefer to keep them more than a short time in a healthy condition. That way, if you like the look, you will have to buy replacements frequently. Having said that though, those relatively cheap prices perhaps make buying them worthwhile?
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How long have you had the palms for? If this is something that has happened suddenly then its got to be something that they are getting differently (could chemicals from washing a car or something like that have gotten into the soil near the palm?). If they are recently planted (within the last year or so) then whatever it has, it got from the place you bought them and usually if it's not too serious, the problem corrects itself in those cases. If the browning isnt worsening and the new leaves are not an unhealthy looking color, then I think you will have to wait for new fronds to replace the old, damaged ones, and see how those look. If the browning is getting worse, then that means the problem is still there. Try not to water too much right now and see if that helps the problem. Don't let it dry out too much though since they do like water, but since you are in Florida, you usually get plenty of water this time of the year naturally. Good luck! Keep us updated! -Alex
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I hate the black ugly pot it came in when I bought it a couple of mos. ago then simply set the "black ugly pot" down in the clay pot..... problem solved. I don't understand why everyone thinks they have to repot a plant as soon as they bring it home.
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User
9 years ago
Pygmy Dates are terrific palms! They WILL recuperate. I had one that had lost its bud due to cold one Winter (mine was too big to come into the house, so it had to stay in a detached garage)...it regrew a new bud.
lzrddr
9 years ago
Stop wetting the leavesÃ¢ÂÂ¦ good way to rot these palms. Only water leaves in warm summer weather (if at all)Ã¢ÂÂ¦ otherwise water runs down into the bud area and fungus grows- bad news!

Don't fertilize indoor palmsÃ¢ÂÂ¦ except MAYBE once every several years. Once you move the palm back outside and the weather's nice and warm and sunny, THEN is a good time to fertilize. And if potted ONLY use liquid, well-diluted fertilizer.

The cut fronds will not affect your plant in any way, other that looking a bit off balance for a while.
lzrddr
9 years ago
Stop wetting the leavesÃ¢ÂÂ¦ good way to rot these palms. Only water leaves in warm summer weather (if at all)Ã¢ÂÂ¦ otherwise water runs down into the bud area and fungus grows- bad news!

Don't fertilize indoor palmsÃ¢ÂÂ¦ except MAYBE once every several years. Once you move the palm back outside and the weather's nice and warm and sunny, THEN is a good time to fertilize. And if potted ONLY use liquid, well-diluted fertilizer.

The cut fronds will not affect your plant in any way, other that looking a bit off balance for a while.
tropicbreezent
9 years ago
I agree, all it needs is a bit of time to grow out and you won't even know anything ever happened to it. They are a very easy palm to grow, but the advice on not over fertilising is good. Now, when it comes to pruning out the old dead leaves, ......... well, you'll find out.
Central_Cali369
9 years ago
I think that since these palms are so bulletproof where I live, I don't ever think of all the nuances of growing them indoors. Lzrddr and Tropicbreezent are right, you're sweating the cut fronds for no reason at all. It's the equivalent of breaking a leaf off of a shrub. New leaves will grow in and you'll be cutting these "half-cut" fronds off within the next year anyway as they wither away and are replaced by new ones.
YouthGarden
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks to everyone for all the info, the frond tips had stopped browning I guess its safe to assume it WAS the fertilizer, And glad to know the cut spear/fronds will not effect the overall health of the palm, All very reassuring, thanks again for everyone's reply

This post was edited by YouthGarden on Thu, Dec 18, 14 at 9:51
YouthGarden
Original Author
9 years ago
Might be a bit late but heres a photo if the cut spears, sorry if its blurry

Pygmy Date Palm store bought

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zzackey

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Pygmy Date Palm store bought

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zzackey

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tropicbreezent

Central_Cali369

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