Washingtonia filifera x robusta

[Dean W.]

Here's some seeds I had great success w/. Now what do I do with all of them? Should I pot them up seperately or put them into a community pot?




Dean

[Okanagan desert-palms]

Dean in my opinion why delay the inevitable so pot them up individually in one gal pots. I have over 250 Washingtonia filifera W. robusta and have found the 1 gal pots for the first year is the way to go. You plan on planting these?

John

[Dean W.]

John, I may keep a few of them. The others I'll have to get rid of. Not enough room for them all.

Dean

[Laaz]

I would go a minimum 5 gal for the first year. Washingtonias have a very aggressive root system. Given a good supply of water & fertilizer these will have multiple fan leaves by the end of summer. I have found the best pots for these are the deep tree pots. Unlike Trachys, Washingtonias send down a very deep root. Keeping them in 1 gals will stunt them.

I have some I planted from seed last spring, I put them in a 30 gal container. The roots are already coming out the drain holes and the trunks are about 2" diameter.

[Dean W.]

Todd,

Wow, 5-gallon pots. I would have to spend a fortune on potting soil. I may do some in 5-gallon containers that I will keep for myself. Others will have to go to one-gallon containers.

How much do you suggest I water them? Do they like wet feet? How about fertilizer. What do you use?

What do you do with all of your Washingtonias? You must have alot. I had close to 100% germination.

Dean

[Laaz]

Dean as long as you have good drainage, you can't water them enough. I use Osmocote plus (with minors). Filifera x Robusta (Filibusta) shouldn't have a problem with humidity. Pure Filifera has a big problem with humidity when young. I have to add funguscide to my watering on the pure Filiferas until they get some size to them.

Washingtonias will grow in some really shitty soil so you really don't have to buy soil if you have a place you can dig some from. You can find 5 gal containers for free at just about any new building site, they usually throw them away after doing their plantings...

I'll post a pic of some pure Filiferas I germinated in a 5 gal community later today. They are about ready to be potted to 5 gal containers this weekend.

[Laaz]

Here are the pure Filifera seedlings from the mother tree pictured.





Mother tree.

[Dean W.]

Todd, how cold tolerant are they? I noticed you have them in a community pot. I thought you were talking about one seed per 5-gallon pot.

Dean

[Laaz]

Yes I germinate them in a community pot, then they each get a 5 gal pot of their own. I have never seen any burn on the mother tree, so they should be good to low 20's - high teens. We haven't gotten below 24 F for quite a few years now.

[Dean W.]

You must be in a zone higher than me I'm in 8b. It can often get into the teens here.

Dean