Stunted palm

[PMK]

Does anyone know what might be wrong with this plant? It hasn't grown or flourished since I bought it 2 years ago, at which time it looked fine. The soil here is poor, quite sandy, but we dug a fairly large hole for it - I think there was 3 bags of planting soil dumped into it plus whatever was attached to the roots.

I water it every 10 days or so, and use a little bit of fertilizer every 2 weeks.

Thanks.

[kokesaat]

It looks like a red palm. We have several very mature ones in our yard. But one that we planted a year or so ago refused to grow. We've since moved it to a new spot.

10 days between watering for a palm, especially during the dry season, is probably just enough to keep it from dying. I'd try watering more frequently....and taper off a bit on the fertilizer until you actually see new growth.

From the photo, the palm looks to be planted along your home's foundation. It could be suffering from the effects of the cement there.

[drtreelove]

It's not an easy diagnosis with the information that you have provided, but I agree with Kokesaat on the watering and other issues. In sandy soil that drains well, you may need to step up the irrigation and flood it twice a week, let it drain and partially dry out in between.

Not readily available in Thailand, but a soil moisture meter is a beautiful thing, or a soil sampling tube to pull a core and examine moisture level, or just dig down with a trowel or your hand and try to see how wet or dry the soil to determine when to water.

It concerns me that you backfilled the planting hole with potting soil that is very different in composition than the native soil/sand. Layers like this can impede drainage and the water can accumulate in the potting soil until it reaches saturation, before draining into the native soil below, even if the native soil is sandy and more porous than the backfill. So the effect can be a plant sitting in waterlogged soil and incurring root rot. It's always better to use the native soil as planting backfill (amend it lightly with organic matter, or not at all) in order to achieve consistency and not to create layers of very different soil types.

The terminal bud that is showing in the photo, appears dry and maybe dead. That could indicate water deficit, or root rot, or fertilizer burn. This palm variety has multiple stems, so loss of one does not mean the palm is dead, but check the others that come up for viability. If they are all drying up like this then your palm is in serious trouble.

Your fertilizer program "a little bit every two weeks" is the secondary concern for me in thinking about your palm problem. I don't know what you are using or how much 'a little bit' means, but this could be a major factor. Fertilization once every 6 weeks would normally be enough. Using a high nitrogen, high salt index, harsh chemical fertilizer can burn the sensitive new growth in palms quite readily, like urea 46-0-0, ammonium sulfate 21-0-0, or a 15-15-15 or 16-16-16, or raw manure, especially chicken manure is very 'hot'.

So here's what I would recommend based on these observations:

Check the moisture content of the soil as best you can before watering next time. If the potting soil backfill is wet, then hold off on watering until it drys out some. If it's dry all the way to the bottom of the planting hole, then consider stepping up the watering to twice a week.

Back off on frequent chemical fertilization. Use a more natural, organic fertilizer or mulch material, like CP's Maw Din sack compost (pui in-see).

Kokesaat is very observant and has also pointed out an important consideration, the concrete work nearby. Older, cured concrete will not likely affect plant health much, but fresh cement is harsh, has a lye component and if the plant is contaminated with mortar, stucco or concrete slop and wash out, it can be harmful. Paints and fuel spills are also common phyto-toxic materials.

Edited February 7, 2016 by drtreelove

[PMK]

Thanks guys.

[sometime]

I have 12 red palm in my garden, not doing too well due to the soil, they hate sandy soil they prefer rich damp/wet soil,

A native of Indonesia red palm is actually growing in lowland areas submerged in water bordering tidal rivers. It only shows that they thrives best when the place is abundant with moisture and humidity.

http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/growing-red-palm-made-easy-874930.html

[drtreelove]

I have 12 red palm in my garden, not doing too well due to the soil, they hate sandy soil they prefer rich damp/wet soil,

A native of Indonesia red palm is actually growing in lowland areas submerged in water bordering tidal rivers. It only shows that they thrives best when the place is abundant with moisture and humidity.

http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/growing-red-palm-made-easy-874930.html

That's good information, thanks. It helps to know a plants native habitat, but it's not always essential to duplicate the growing conditions exactly for it for successful in a different locale.

When living in Chiang Mai I was always told that red palm doesn't do well there, but better in the south. But I've seen some nice ones in CM, like the attached photo I took in 2008 at Horizon Botanical Garden on the Chiang Mai - Doi Saket road.

Providing optimum growing conditions, good soil and water management, sometimes makes a big difference in exotic plants being able to adapt to an environment that is significantly different than their native habitat.