PalmsNorth.com

I have a bunch of new palms that need to be potted up.
In the past, I've bought Miracle Gro cactus/palm potting soil.
I want to make my own, for two reasons: I need a bunch and right now I can't afford the store stuff; I just like making my own stuff.
I have never done this, and so want advice.
Here is what I am planning. I would appreciate advice. This is for a variety of palms, mostly desert-adapted palms (Brahea, Nannorrhops, Trithrinax, Washingtonia) but also Dypsis and Caryota.


Approximate percentages by volume:

50% coir from compressed bricks, expanded using warm tap water

10% vermiculite

10% perlite

10% course sand (scraped up from horse round pen)

10% pea gravel

10% composted mix of horse/goat manure with hay chaff and pine shaving bedding material

+ a little Osmocote (19-6-12) and Epsom salts (amounts uncertain)

Loose inspiration:
http://www.junglemusic.net/palmadvice/p ... -palms.htm

Erik,
I also like to mix my own soil; your mix sounds pretty good.
Careful that there's no chicken manure in there, it stays HOT for up to 2 years.

Increasing sand proportion means palms will stay moist longer, but drain faster. I like the gravel in your mix.
Most palms need some calcium, got any Dolomite to add?
Some people also add a handful of superphosphate to a wheelbarrow-sized mix. I'm always afraid to overdo that and cause root burn.

Like Phil says "new mixes tend to repel water" and he waters them to the top of the pot 3 times to thoroughly wet the root zone after potting up.
It also allows the soil to properly seat itself around the roots.

Phil's caution re a Nypa needs different mix than a Brahea is important...Nypa likes waterlogged muck, growing on floodplains/riverbanks in India.
Brahea would croak in those conditions.

Have fun!
Barb

Barb,
thanks!
No, no dolomite on hand. I do have ground oyster shells (for the hens) which ought to add calcium.
I could put in a bit of 0-0-60 potassium.
I plan to make this today, and so would appreciate any more suggestions. --Erik

Erik,

Here's one of a series of articles for reference,

http://oregonstate.edu/dept/nursery-wee ... rties.html


Steve

Excellent reference, Steve.

Erik, ground oyster shells are perfect source of calcium.
1 handful (about 1 pound) in a wheelbarrow load soil mix is sufficient.

You probably won't need any phosphorus (P) because WELL-AGED manure has that in it (or use bone meal or bloodmeal.)
P is excellent for building root structure and in summer, producing flowers.

Potassium (K) is as easy as adding some wood ashes to the soil mix...

For what it's worth, this site gives 15 soil mix examples.
http://dteconcepts.com/

Have fun!
Barb

Steve,
good link. Oregon is where I grew up. The nursery business is big there. The logging industry provides for a ready supply of potting medium.
Barb,
it was fun. I'll never buy potting mix again.

I threw in everything and the kitchen sink.
From memory, the mix ended up as:
coir -- 12 bricks, making up ~20 gallons when mixed with water
vermiculite--8 quarts/liters
perlite--16 quarts
composted manure--three shovels
course sand from horse corral--three shovels
osmocote--1 lb
bone meal--1 lb
epsom salts--handful
potassium--small handful
oyster shells (ground)--2 lbs
pea gravel--3 shovels

Any suggestions for changes before I use it tomorrow?

Photo:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/3M ... site"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_r-MvN4jW1sE/TMClX ... AG0291.jpg" height="800" width="478" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/terdalfarm/ ... e">October 2010</a></td></tr></table>

it was fun. I'll never buy potting mix again.

Attaboy, Erik!
I love doing my own soil too, and generally drive around the property scrounging sand from here, fir bark from there, rotted grass clippings from behind the house, etc. etc.
Takes forever, but it is fun.

I wouldn't change a thing in your mix...perfect, as long as the manure is really well rotted (i.e. 2 years).
Pop those babies into that new stuff, water well two or three times, then stand back

This time of year, disturb roots as little as possible as you ease them into their new soil/new pots.
They'll do great.
And if not, they were on death's door before you got them!

Barb

I'm losing track of my threads here!
On one of them, Barb asked me to go easy on the oyster shells for fear of the Calcium intefering with Mg &/or Mn uptake.
I'm still researching that. The closest I found was the short bit on using oyster shells in potting soil:
http://www.ehow.com/list_5896538_effect ... hells.html
which asserts that oyster shells add Mg (+ other minerals).
I think I used approx. the amounts suggested.
In case any of you want to use oyster shells, they are vastly cheaper at agriculture feed stores in 50 lb sacks than in garden centers in small bags.

As for root disturbance, well, that is tough. For the root-bound gift palms, I tried to gently tease the roots apart but they were very tight.

Per suggestions, I did dig up the small Brahea I inappropriately planted in a poor draining garden bed (yet another thread...).
Wow--amazing roots on this little guy (photo below). Wish this little fellow luck. It'll need it. --Erik

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/36 ... site"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_r-MvN4jW1sE/TMHns ... AG0297.jpg" height="800" width="478" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/terdalfarm/ ... e">October 2010</a></td></tr></table>

Nice long roots on the Butia.
This year's are nice and white and fleshy. The long brown (solid) roots are older.

I know you hated digging the Butia but a waterlogged winter/spring would have done it in.
In comparing the photos, the waterlogged pic shows a palm going downhill (healthwise).
This way it's got transplant shock but going into a tall pot with good drainage.
Your weather is still nice so the pot should be in a warm place.

Re calcium locking up/out nutrient, can't find that document, but this one deals with calcium in hi pH, lo pH water.
It's not a big deal, just don't add a bucketful of ground oyster shells to your wheelbarrow mix.

If my pH is lower, the plant will receive less of the hard water's surplus calcium and become less likely to lock out Magnesium, and Magnesium will be taken up anyways once the nutes have drifted up in pH a little further.
or
If my pH is higher, Mag is absorbed more easily, yet the plant may become supersaturated w/Cal and lock out the Mag.
from here:
http://www.gardenscure.com/420/hydropon ... er-ph.html

Barb,
this is the Brahea armata I've grown in a pot for years (sorry to keep mixing threads!). I got excited and planted it last Spring near the Chamaerops. It does not tolerate wet soils like Chamaerops does (that is one tough palm!).
My avatar Butia is happy in the ground. The big one is as close to dead as a palm can be.
--Erik

oops, Erik, my goof....duh, I shoulda read your post more carefully.

I tried to gently tease the roots apart but they were very tight

It's tough to get roots out of a pot it's lived in for a long time but once it's free of the pot, it can be plunked into a larger pot without handling the roots/teasing the roots apart. They'll expand into new soil mixture on their own.

Barb

I would suggest putting some pumice in there for drainage instead of pea gravel as it is much lighter and does not tend to settle down after time. It also has air pockets unlike gravel.

I also use Osmocote Plus that is if you can find it. The cost is about the same as Osmocote but it has many of the trace minerals needed including mg that palms like.

Thanks, both of you.
Jubeaea,
pumice is not so available here as it was when I lived in Oregon. In fact, I have not seen it for sale at all.
Osmocote Plus is in stores (just this year). My budget is tight so I am dependent on using up stuff I bought in the past. When I can afford to stock up again, I'll get that.
If I ever try to plant my desert palms, I'll make a fast-draining raised bed for them. That is a year or two off.
Course, it might be easier to just move to Texas....
--Erik