Fertilizing a Palm...how much????

[NickfromWI]

So I'm looking over a soil analysis report and it had this standard line:

...Apply slow-release nitrogen such as ureaformaldehyde (38-0-0) at 8 pounds per 1,000 square feet over the active rooting zone....​

I've never dug much below a palm. How far out does the active rooting zone go?

love
nick

 

[Bermy]

What is the complete analysis...is the palm showing nitrogen deficiency or is it just that the soil is deficient...palms prefer potassium in higher amounts than nitrogen.

Go for the drip line, you can't go wrong

 

[vl2007]

Here in Florida they, (the university of Florida) recommends a low nitrogen and high potassium fertilizer at a rate of 1.5 lbs per 100 sf of canopy.

 

[Paul B]

We really only have windmill palm here outdoors, the roots usually go about 12 to 18 inches deep and the main mass of them would be within the canopy/dripline. Its soil drainage dependant though so I would say go easy on the fertilizer, you can always add more

 

[NickfromWI]

Here is a pdf of the official report.

Whatcha think?

 

[NickfromWI]

I should add the whole background...

The tree is 1 in a row of 4. The client lives on the cahuenga pass and his deck overlooks ALL the way to Long Beach. The palms are planted on a hillside and the deck is built around the palms. Replanting and replacing means opening up the deck and renting a large crane to bring in a large tree.

Over the past few months one of the trees started showing yellowing and wasn't growing as vigorous as the rest. Putzing near the soil showed a lot of white fluffy fungus growing around. Wanting to be sure what we were dealing with a soil/fungal sample was sent to a plant pathologist. The pathologist did not tell us what it was, but did say that it was not living off the roots but rather, as I had guessed, living off the wood chips that the nursery put in (not on, IN) the soil when they planted the trees.

As I understand it, as fungus eats up the wood chips, it depletes the surrounding soil from nitrogen. So a tree that normally wouldn't be looking for more N is now deficient in it.

The soil analysis was accompanied by a report recommending the addition of high N soil.

love
nick

 

[Paul B]

Nick would you consider ammonium sulphate? 21-0-0, since the test shows sulfur is in low but not very low presence it might be a better choice than 38-0-0. It would be nice to amend the soil with a longer lasting N source though as well as a fast release one. I sometimes use decent slow release lawn fertilizer for leafy evergreens, 23-3-23 with 50% SCU is a fair go to product here.

 

[Monkeywithasaw]

Once they start to yellow it's hard to turn them around they have a tap root like a radish and whole bunch of feeder roots that surround the outside

 

[NickfromWI]

Good to know. Like I said I've never seen an uprooted one.

One of the reports said that the new growth can pull nutrients from old growth and that is what they think is happening.

 

[vl2007]

This site might help...BUT i always heed the recommendation from the lab results.
http://flrec.ifas.ufl.edu/palm_prod/palm_problems.shtml

 

[thattreeguy]

go to ewing irrigation or orange county farm supply....there is a palm specific fertilizer....with micro and macro nutrients...
i wanna say woodace? palm pro?.....oc farm is good for this stuff theyre in orango off chapman and the 57 fwy

 

[sotc]

Thats an awkward layout to read. Where is the N content on the chart? 38 seems insanely high for what I assume is a temporary N depletion. These must be recently installed or how did the chips get into the soil? As random as the numbers are I think it will be hard to make reccomendations as this seems like new plants/soils/organics added to exisiting soil and its trying to settle out.

 

[NickfromWI]

N is on page 2. (seems like it should be on page 1, item #1 on the list!)

Client explained that the nursery added the wood chips along with a mix of sand, compost, and some other stuff when the trees were planted.

38 is high? This is my first soil test, so I don't have a baseline to compare to.

 

[Bermy]

Even if N is low, palms do not need large amounts of it, they need more potassium.
Potassium is translocated from old leaves to new ones and deficiency shows up as 'burnt' looking edges all around the frond with a green middle and midrib. If you cut them off thinking its windburn or trying to make the palm look pretty, it will continue in the next layer to translocate K from old to new leading to a shrinking of the canopy and loss of stem diameter, loss of photosynthetic surface and eventually starvation.

 

[Bermy]

Looking at the report, it looks like the tissue sample N is highish, could be inhibiting the utilization of K...other nutrients palms need are magnesium and manganese...they do NOT need a high N fertilizer, they are very different from broadleaf trees
Looks like the soil sample has adequate K.

Also, it's possible they may have been planted too deep, the root initiation zone is right at the interface of the bottom of the trunk and where roots start to appear, if the palm is planted too deeply, the roots can be smothered.

 

[Paul B]

N is on page 2. (seems like it should be on page 1, item #1 on the list!)

Client explained that the nursery added the wood chips along with a mix of sand, compost, and some other stuff when the trees were planted.

38 is high? This is my first soil test, so I don't have a baseline to compare to.

38 is huge Nick.

 

[Burnham]

The lady from the islands KNOWS. Pay attention Nick, says this PNW conifer fella

 

[Al Smith]

Once they start to yellow it's hard to turn them around they have a tap root like a radish and whole bunch of feeder roots that surround the outside

Other than the 3 foot palm in a pot about 4 foot away from me as I type ,the only I've seen with roots on them are wind thrown in Myrtle Beach SC .They kind of remind me of a stalk of celery with those roots that look like a woman with a bad hair day .How in the world they stay upright in that sand amazes me .

As far as the one in the pot I think she uses Miracle Gro or fish emolsion .Probabley not so good on a regular palm tree .