Growing Palm Trees

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 29, 2011

Palm trees grow best in the tropic areas and most of them do well where the temperature is above 59°C (59°F). However, there are some species of the palm tree that grow well in cold temperatures. Such species include the dwarf sugar palm and the Bismarck Palm that can grow in temperatures as low as -6°C (21° F). Before deciding to grow palms, you should research and ask around for its unique growing conditions. There are some types of palms like the coconut that cannot grow in cold weather.
Growing palms is becoming quite popular among households because of the fact that they require little maintenance. They do not shed off leaves and it does not take so much time to make them look good. Palms do not need any pruning. All that should be done is to remove the spent fronds to give it a neat look. If you are growing palms that produce suckers; such as the Medjool date, ensure that you cut the sucker away from the parent plant by chopping it out using a sharp object.
If you need to transplant palms, it should be done when the soil temperature is on the rise, especially during spring or early summer. This is because most of the palm trees have reduced root function in low temperatures. After transplanting, it is important that you water the transplanted tree to prevent it from drying out.

If you decide on growing palm trees from their seeds, you should be very patients as the seeds take a long while before germinating. To improve on the chances of the seeds germinating, you should peel off the fleshy covering and soak the seeds in tepid water for one day. Get rid of the ones that are floating and use the ones that sunk for planting. You should keep your palm warm in a green house or on a window sill. If the palm tree is grown, you can keep it warm by wrapping its trunk using bubble wrap and mulch it to protect the roots.
Growing palms can also be done indoors. You can have a palm inside your house or office to add a tropical feel and create elegance. When growing them indoors, you should avoid changing pots yearly so that the pot does not grow too large to be contained in the room. It could be tempting to trim the tip of the tree in an effort to control how tall it grows - this should never be done. Cutting the tip of growing palm trees would cause them to wither and die. If you decide to make your palm tree an indoor plant, do not expect it to produce flowers or reach full maturity, since most of the palm plants grow into full trees before they can produce flowers.

It is necessary that you buy required fertilizers for your palm trees. Growing palms have the tendency of developing yellow or brown fronds if they have a potassium deficiency. Therefore, you should use a fertilizer that has a rich concentration of potassium and manganese. You can also add mycorrhizal fungi to the soil to enrich it and promote fast growth of the palm trees.