Almost empty now anyway...from the old bag. :bootyshake:

LOLOLOL

oh yeah, Dean, I meant to comment on what Paul said about MG

I swear the miracle grow soil I purchased comes infested with the buggers.

that could very well be true, Paul.
But another thing is that Miracle Gro soil, I believe, is still manufactured with "minor nutrients/fert added for your convenience" 😯 .

That's fine for petunias 😆 but I wouldn't recommend MG soil for palms. Find something with more GRIT, faster draining, and NO fertilizer in it because you'll be using your own Palm Special Fertilizer.

I'm now using what John (okanagandesertpalms) uses (thanks for the tip John!).
It's super-fast draining and entirely eliminates having to buy any Perlite (except for starting seeds).
Pro growing mix, about $25 for about 80 lbs of mix. Cheap.

<img src=" " width="500" height="375" alt="DSC04277" />

Barb

I have never seen that brand around here - I'll try to find it or something similar. I have been doctoring up the miracle-gro mix with vermiculite for drainage. I also have only fertilized with miracle-gro all purpose fertilizer for two years. Will have look on-line for palm fert., no one sells it around here.

Thanks
Paul

Paul,
Check the MG bag as there are several kinds.
I had one that said it was for container plants, "holds moisture longer", preventing drying out (good for containerized flowers, etc.)
Had a lot of peat in it.

All but the "boggy palms" like Nypa and Cyrtostachys etc. thrive in a fast draining soil.
So adding vermiculite to that MG container mix wouldn't be great for palms because vermiculite absorbs and holds moisture (like peat moss).
Perlite doesn't absorb water and helps to keep soil "lighter", both in weight and pH not becoming too acidic.
Water-logged soil generally is more acidic.

Until I bought my palm special fert last year, I also used general fertilizer brands with not many problems.
Some growers even use Peters 20-20-20 on palms! 😐
But palms are so fussy about trace elements (in particular Magnesium and Potash) usually lacking in general fertilizers that you can only get away with that for so long...
As the saying goes: "Good fertilizer isn't cheap, and cheap fertilizer isn't good" when searching for Palm special.

Even though I screwed up this year with my palm special application rate (the label stated it incorrectly!), here's approx what you should look for in a palm special:

Plus this: the 12-4-12 is now recommended to be 12-4-16 for Palms according to latest research in Florida's soils (where most palms grow) lose their Potash so quickly, causing problems.

But since we're not in Florida, my 12-4-12 will be fine once I get the hang of how to use it properly.
I flushed out the toxic levels, and hope it works.
Whatever a label says, I've learned the hard way now to always use FAR LESS, and apply it a little more frequently.

Back to the soil mix...a cactus mix would be better than most container mixes.

Barb

Barb

Thanks for all the great info! I've got some shopping to do. I guess I've been lucky because it's so warm in the house in winter that they dry out every couple days. In the summer I have to water daily cause they are in full sun all day.
Anyway the pots are too small, probably helps dry out quickly. I need to re-pot or put in the ground. I hope to get even better growth with the Palm Fertilizer.

Paul