Palmgirl

I can't speak for any one else but i never cut the roots
when i transplanted my bismarck i just dug a deeper hole
i always cut the dead fronds off it is a five gallon and doing great !
I WOULD WAIT TILL AFTER THE TRANSPLANT PROBALY A WEEK AFTER WOULD BE SUFFICIENT..
Bismarcks require very little water they do not like to be wet make sure where you put it is in a good draining area !
i realy love these they are great palms... Good Luck !!

I think the confusion is in that root pruning can mean different things to different people. What they are telling you is that if you are digging the plant up from being field grown, you can damage too many roots by just digging it up all at once. When people with field growing operations want to minimize the stress, you cut some of the roots and then a couple of months later, after those roots have heeled in a little, you cut a few more roots. By the third time, you dig it up and only a third of the roots are freshly cut during the actual move. This plant was in a pot and you already cut some of the roots that were going in the ground. That is all the root cutting you need to do. It is possible, depending on how many roots that was, that even that can stress your plant. If I was doing this, I'd cut some leaves. All plants have bottoms and tops and there is a ratio between the two that create the balance as it was growing. The more roots you cut, the more leaves you should remove. That is something only you know the answer to. I'd cut a few of the good leaves myself, just to make sure. they can grow back in time. As it is, after it is planted, if you see more leaves turning brown, you will know you should have cut a few more off. The plant will show you in advance what the balance is.

Thanks so much, topher and cycadjungle! Sounds as though root pruning is not really something that needs to be done for pot-grown bismarckias. That's good to know! And I think I'll cut a few of the brown bottom leaves off now. Seems to me that this might help de-stress the palm, since dying fronds would probably sap some of the growing energy? I'm no real expert, but this sounds logical to me.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that my beautiful bismarckia thrives after transplant!

Thanks again!

Palmgirl

Where is this nursery located? All material grown on site?

I went to realpalmtrees and they answered her question and also a couple of mine, and sold me a Sago Palm Tree. Thanks jasgar for recommending me to the site. They have good info on a bunch of different varieties of palms and exotic ones too...

Here is a link that might be useful: exotic palms