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Potted Palm, fronds not opening

8 years ago

I have a potted Palm that's about 2 yrs old. This year two new friends have shot up but they are not opening. They seem stuck. Does it need fertilizer, a bigger pot. Should I take out the small mexican heather and potato plant I have in the pot? Im in North Texas and we bring the Palm in during the freeze months.

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User

8 years ago

Hard to tell what the proportion of the plant is to the pot from the picture. Is it outside now? Yes, I would take those plants out of the palm container. These are fast growers something is inhibiting its growth. Assume it is getting sun and fertilizer. Don't neglect on watering if it is outside in sun and heat. As long as they have sun and heat, they LOVE water..., and SPACE to grow.

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Comments (7)

sillywabbitz
Original Author
8 years ago
Here is a better photo with the pot. I will transplant the smaller plants
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User
8 years ago
Give it a bigger pot. From the pic, it seems that the pot narrows at the base, then you have a plant potted at the top. Like I said, deeper pots are better for palm..., especially these desert palm species that are trying to tap into ground water. So, even though they may come from the desert (like Dates), they like their water. What I did was go to HD and purchase a plastic garbage can and drill holes in the bottom. Maybe not the most elegant, but cheap and has those handles so I can grab hold and move 'em. I think I have five large Washingtoniias in such tubs. P.S., Yours looks like W. robusta (based on limited fiber I see and red trunk). I think at least a few of mine are the 'filibusta' hybrids.
shenue
8 years ago
I would love to see an update on this by the poster. Did you repot to a larger pot? Did it work? I am having the same issue with my Windmill palm.
tropicalzone7
8 years ago
I would be interested as well. Personally I've had this issue with potted washingtonias every time. The one I have in the ground has never given me issues. I can't get them to grow in pots without the fronds staying closed and the plant eventually declining but in the ground it is really happy. Most of the fronds burn even with winter protection but it's quick to come back in the spring. I recommend livistonas for potted fan palms, they seem to be a lot less finicky in pots but that's only my experience!

Good luck!
shenue
8 years ago
I think I am probably going to repot my windmill. I was checking the roots and it really is quite root bound. I have brought it indoors for the Winter and was going to wait until Spring to repot. But with it being so root bound, perhaps I shouldn't wait. Any thoughts about that?
shenue
8 years ago
Don't know what happened with the original poster's palm, but I did repot mine last week on the 26th. The frond has already made great progress in opening in just 5 days, since I repotted into a larger pot. It had been closed tightly for months. Now it is very clear that it is well on its way to being open. I have a couple of pictures to include with this post but can't figure out why they won't upload. I've uploaded pictures many times but these sure aren't budging. Any thoughts on it for me?

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