An unknown fishtail for $50.
I am going to plant it in the fall.
Todays Purchase
I'll get some tomorrow. This plant has been in full sun
out in Perris Ca which is pretty much desert. Now that I have brought it into the LA basin the weather and sun intensity wont be so harsh as well as milder winters.
So Manganese you say. anything else?
Tom, You nailed it...This palm has to be under shade cloth when in a pot....I thought from the picture it may of had frizzle top .....If you already got the manganese I would still give him some, The reason we have to use it on them and few other palms in South FL..is our soil is sandy and alkaline and this combo binds manganese up .. They are moderate to heavy feeders here and some types take more water than others...After it grows out it will be easier to ID him...BTW great buy ! that palm would cost a good 250.00 around here !
IMFO PLEASE--HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE A PLUMERIA TO LEAF OUT--I BOUGHT MY FIRST ONE AND IT'S JUST STANDING IN THE POT LOOKING LIKE A BIG STICK. IT'S BEEN ON MY DECK FOR AT LEAST A MO. AND NO CHANGE. WITH ALL OF THIS RAIN IT CERTAINLY HASN'T DRIED OUT---
Brug,
Thank you for your advice on this fishtail. If you don't mind I'll give more information.
The plant is located in Perris Ca which is very hot and dry in the summers as well as cold as deserts get in the winter.
I've taken a part time job at a nursery in hopes of
leaving my "real" job as an electronics tech(which i'm tired of) one day.
This nursery has all the work and more then they can handle but I see this as a gift from God (more on that later) and
every second I'm learning something new.
So, back to the Palm. I've seen about 4 or 5 other fishtails there and they are as shaded as they are going to be. The nursery's primary focus right now is Bamboo and
we have Bamboo like you wouldnt believe.
Thier is also an area for raphis palm and other light sensitive plants. The main focus has been and will be Bamboo
until the work load diminishes and without bodies to get the work done (can you say low budget?) we can only do what we can do.
The Palm was actually lying down which is why the trunk is curved, the soil had eroded away and the first 2 inches of roots were showing. Then me loading it into my van and getting it home, off the van, off the cart and into the backyard I'm afraid this poor little guy has had a rather harsh life so far.
I hope in my tranporting it here it was not badly damaged.
I don't have a shade cloth to put on it but I can put it between my big banana plant and a large bamboo (very shady!)
I'd plant it today but I want to make sure it will be ok
and I have to figure out where it will look best.
ANY advice you could give me on keeping this plant healthy
would be accepted with much gratitude.
Thanks for actually reading this far :)
TR
This message was edited Sunday, Jun 15th 10:13 AM
Tom, Sounds like a good career move to me! I would love to be surrounded by Boo all day : )
For some reason this palm is only light sensitive when it is in a pot...in the ground no problem... Looks like you were careful with the bud while transporting him....I figured it was either on the ground at one time or realy mashed amongst other one's..Hey people pay extra for that bend here! Great place to hang a future hammock... Once he is in the ground and you start giving it descent care, I bet this time next year you will have a hammock on it..
I have to irrigate mine during the dry season here and fertilize about 6 times a year with the added manganese...I know it is different in LA ..I find in the dry season they like a nice hosing down of the fronds ....I'm right on the border of 10 B and they do suffer a bit during cold snaps but always come back...so far none have lethal yellow in this area but have heard it can be a problem with them, not sure if you have that problem out West.
John
Well my new Fishtail is taking in the weather and the move
quite well. I'm noticing that the leaves which were all bowtie shape are starting to elongate. I could not find any Manganese per say so I bought some chelated iron with manganese in it from master growers and that has brought some color back to the leaves as well. At this point I'm tring to determine where it will look best. I think I'll plant it in the fall after the major heat waves go away for the year.