Hi,

Phoenix Roebelenii are pretty tough. I would only worry about cold on a palm that isn't established. In Phoenix, I've never had cold damage on these guys.

Are you really in zone 9a? Must be Tucson then or outlaying area. Anyway, wait until very early March (prob. get away with late Feb in Phoenix) when soil temps are warmer and when the days are consistently upper 70's to 80's. That is when palms start to grow.

Water in some B-1 or superthrive. In the summer, they love tons of water (not sopping wet) and let them dry out somewhat between waterings. In the winter, I would water maybe once every couple weeks as they are not actively growing (just slightly moist not wet). This winter is obviously extremely dry, but last winter when we were very wet I didn't bother watering (didn't need to).

Good luck.

Oops! Forgot something.

Mulch, mulch, mulch! But not directly next to the trunk. You can get away with watering much less than just rock or bare earth! Makes a huge difference with palms to keep moisture there in summer!

Good luck.

hi there... i just planted a pigmy date palm a week ago. so far so good. i did put quite a bit of mulch around it. home depot and lowes guarantee their plants for a year, so i figure that even if it were to die, i'd just trade it in for a new one. good luck.

I am actually in Chandler. I thouhgt that was Z9a(?) I think I will wait until early march for the temps to stabilize in the 70s. I went to a local nursery yesterday and got a sticker shock. They wanted $200 for 20 gallon palm. I will check HD and Lowes today. Any other places in the valley?

shuss
you can also try Treeland (arizona ave just north of elliot) and A&P nursery on baseline just west of lindsay rd. all my experiences with them have been good. although, you will not get the one year guarantee like HD and Lowes has. you should at least check them out.