Hi Toni!!!! I'm noodling around here, waiting for my bread to cool on the racks :) Everytime I see a thread about a cat chewing plants, I remember when I posted the same thing as well a few years ago. Boy, the kinds of plants I can have is limited to "would Bud chew this". So I currently have peace lillies, shcefflera's, both the Hawaiaan and the umbrella (my favourite style). I couldn't resist buying a 10" pot that was on sale for $4. It's a large spiky thing, (a dracaena?) but alas, Bud thought the tips looked tempting. So I have it in the spare room on top of a pail of kitty litter on the table in front of the window! Hopefully out of Bud's reach. I thought the plant was immune to his taste buds, but he was crunching on it the same day I bought it when it was on the livingroom floor, which is where I had imagined it being. Upon looking at the peace lily I see that he's found it! Note the chewed tips. A friend gave me some spider plant babies, so I had them rooting on the kitchen sill. Bud doesn't go up there, so they were safe. They were, until I planted them in some small pots, and one was upside down in the sink. I now have them hanging in the window, and 2 are i the bathroom on top of the over the toilet cabinet. Smudge was rubbing his face on the pineapple top that I have growing. Silly boy! I was afraid he'd poke his eye on the spikes! If I see him doing it again (I admonished him) the pineapple will go out in the trash.

I'm guessing it was probably grown in a lot of shade and is not used to all the sun. I'd repot it and give it some good fertliizer (and keep it well watered when it's warm out). Washys are good at recovering from stress (much better than many other palms are). It should be good after a nice growing season. 50 dollars is an incredible price for a palm that size! It's a rarity to get deals like that on palms around here and definitely never on washingtonias! -Alex

Hi coco, I couldn't help but tell you that most my palms do not do well in a very peaty mix...I use a 5.1.1. mix that allows excellent drainage, holds it's structure for a very long time, and allows for the roots to my palms to flourish. It also allows me to fertilize without fear of salt build up and saves me a lot of aggrivation with discolored or yellowing leaves, and or burnt leaf tips.. I linked a thread for you from the conatiner forums that might shed some light on how soilless mixes work.. I am assuming your plant is in a container? Also, lava rock, stones, or anything else at the bottom of your container does not promote drainage, but just takes up room in the pot where your roots might have been able to grow to..It also pushes your perched water table higher into the pot. All soil mixes with very fine particles hold a PWT which in turn is the culprit to root rot if not careful..They also compact very quickly, suffocating the roots. It also causes nutrient defficiencies... If you can, use a wooden dowel to check your moisture in your pots, and you might be suprised to see that there is a lot more moisture into the root zone than you might think when you think your soil is dry with the finger method.. If it were me, I would transplant ASAP into a better soilless mix while it is early in the season.. Good luck Mike Here is a link that might be useful: soil discussion

Not sure of which Sabal you have (S. palmetto, minor, or another). Assuming it's the standard Florida Sabal (S. palmetto). You do realize that Sabals (even in the tropics) are notoriously SLOW--ESPECIALLY WHEN YOUNG (growth seems to pick up once they are more mature). There are relatively faster growing Sabals. I find S. texana to be a much more robust plant (sorry Florida). Mine has maxed out in the largest container I have.--A wonderful species! (Sabal louisiana is also faster growing--compared to 'palmetto'.) A more tropical species, S. mauritiiformis is also relatively fast and attractive (but hard to find.) I got a little bored with the slow growth of my containerized S. palmetto so I planted it in the ground (my first Sabal experiment). If you think S. palmetto is slow try growing S. minor. I got so bored with this one I threw it into the compost pile!