First time palm-er

10 years ago

Hi!

I live in central Ky (Lexington/Louisville area) and have a new windmill palm on the way. I bought from ebay, and seller said these palms are in the 20-30" size range. I've not tried my hand at palms before so thought I should check with the experts on how to best give this little guy a good start. I've done some reading on here but wanted to ask a few questions to make sure that I'm thinking correctly for my area. I also found a Silver European Fan Palm at a local store that I'll be trying my hand at as well.

So, first question...should I do much to ammend my soil? We have a fairly good amount of clay in our dirt. Was thinking of setting a base with sand and ammending native dirt with peat moss and sand to backfill around root ball. I've seen some comments though that it's better to not ammend native soil...? I know these palms don't like to sit in water.

Second, what fertilizer mix would you recommend?

Third, would a palm of this size be able to stay out for the winter (with protection) or is this still too young to leave in the ground?

And last (for now anyway!), thinking about the winter and protection of tropicals, any chance I could repurpose a rain water collection container (linked below) by cutting out the bottom to house a small palm for the winter?

Thanks for helping a new palm lover! :)

Here is a link that might be useful: waterstone

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Comments (4)

chadec
10 years ago
With my palms I always amend the soil. Dig wide and deep. For a windmill I would use a high quality top soil and compost that is fertilizer free. Mix that with your soil and mound the dirt up. Planting the palms high will allow for better drainage and settling. Using a basin of sand is not needed. I dont recomend peat moss at all. If your palm comes bare root, dont fertilize. Instead use a root stimulator.

Placement will be key for palm survival. Close to the house for best winter portection. For smaller palms you can use a plastic trash can turned upside down for protection. I would wrap the trunk with burlap and mulch heavy too.
tropicalzone7
10 years ago
Welcome to the hobby! I also have ridiculously bad clay soil but to be honest I don't really amend it with anything special when I plant my palms. Any good compost will be good for them. Good drainage is definitely important.

As of last year I have been fertilizing my palms with Carl Pools Palm fertilizer after hearing a lot of good things about it. My palms seem to really like it a lot. My windmill palm got more growth than ever last summer after I used the fertilizer.

I protect all my palms with a plastic garbage bin (and a breathable frost cloth and good christmas lights). I got the idea after trying to come up with an easy way to keep them dry during the winter without having to build anything. So far it has worked well, but last winter my pindo palm was too big for the garbage bin to touch the ground and it died (the winter before it had no damage) so make sure that the garbage bin fits it well!

Good luck. Looking forward to seeing some pics when your palm gets all settled!
-Alex
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miketropic
10 years ago
are you closer to lexington or louisville? If its louisville head to Brians Botanicals and talk to his father. he is a palm expert and can tell you anything you need to know about growing palms here in KY.
onewomanarmy
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for all the info on planting and fertilizing!

I'm actually closer to Lexington but in between the two so a trip to Louisville is never out of the question. I'll definitely look up Brian's Botanicals - I never mind having a new nursery to ogle! :) I'm already excited about what I've seen on his webpage - I believe I may have gotten a little drool on my keyboard. And, it looks like they have weekend hours!

Thanks so much for the info!