Follow up to 'Transplanting a Pygmy Date Palm'

Update . . . Just to follow up on the transplanting of the palm I asked about earlier . . . due to the various obstacles shown in the prior photos and another unexpected one (a 4" lateral line packed in gravel - shown in the next photo) it wasn't easy to get this beauty out of it's old location, but I was possible. The lateral line was situated about 10"- 12" directly below the root ball and just off center. The root system had obviously grown into the gravel that surrounded the pipe, by about 6" all the way around it, and also around the water main right next to the drain pipe.

We had about a 1/4" of rain early this morning then the sun came out and made for a nice muggy afternoon, so I decided to give it a try today. There was no room for a full size shovel after the first few inches of top soil was removed. So, it was pretty slow going digging with a small hand spade through all the gravel and around the pipes.

At first it appeared that this was going to be more trouble that it was worth. However, after a good deal of elbow grease and a few mumbles under my breath, I was able to break through the layer of gravel and tunnel under the main root ball.

Just about the time I got everything free under there, the rain returned. The roof gutter's downspout was starting to pour into the hole and right onto the root ball, so fast action was required to keep as much soil around it as possible. I was able to get it out before much soil was lost and into it's new hole and covered just as the rain really started to fall.

Hopefully the fresh rain water along with the root stimulator will give the palm a healthy new start and it's root system will recover ok. Only time will tell I suppose?

Thanks again for the info guys.
GD

Here's what the roots were tangled in and around.

It Looks like you got a good section of the root ball, enough for it to recover. When I transplanted my pygmy's I paid attention to the size of the new growth and checked it several times a week to see if there was any change for the good or bad, it never skipped a beat, the new growth wasn't affected at all. Hopefully that will prove true in your case. let us know how it does.

Sounds good . . . that's encouraging :) With the exception of the area around the drain pipe, I was able to get down below it about 18", so hopefully that was enough.

I'll keep ya posted.

GD are you planning on removing any of the leaves to the palm? I think I would take a few off the bottom.at least, just to let the palm have some relief in trying to maintain the leaves. Its a very beautiful palm and yours has a very nice healthy green to it. I hope it goes well.

Yes I was thinking of trimming the lower few leaves, mainly the side that has more lower ones remaining - to balance it out some. But I wasn't sure if it would be best to do that now or wait a bit after the transplanting? I was thinking now would be best. any thoughts?

Unless you are the luckiest and greatest transplanater in the world (!), this palm is going to go into some kind of shock, and the more that you can help it, the better and faster it will come out of the shock. Taking off leaves is one of the fastest ways to help it. They are going to get yellow anyway, and you have so many on there that it will only help. I would think about taking off at least a third of them, if not more.

Take off a third and watch it and see how its doing. Keep the water up on it too-not flood it, but not let it dry out at all.

Thanks for the info / tips . . . and no . . . even though I've had some success (mostly blind luck I'm sure ;) ) when transplanting, I'm far from an expert. Most of my transplanting experience has been with smaller and younger plants. So I appreciate all the help and information you kind folks can offer :)

Tigerlily, I took off several of the lower leaves - about 12-15 and the seed pod stems that were there as well. I think the rain gods were in my favor on this one, even though I got drenched while moving the tree from the one spot to the other (only about 30' away) the rain let up long enough for me to get things cleaned up and the settled in. However, we got about an inch an hour or so later, so I'm hoping this one got a little extra boost from the fresh rain water. And more is expected the rest of the week. :)

I'll keep a close eye on things and let ya'll know the progress.
Thanks again, GD

btw - I'm not sure if it's the weather or just my ISP being it's pokey dial-up self? But I've been having trouble getting pages to load for the last 2 days - sorry for the slow response time. But if in fact it is the weather, I'll take this rain over faster page loads any day :) :) :)

I don't know about removing leaves on Phoenix, but the latest IPS newsletter had a study about transplanting Washingtonias that found that removing or tying up fronds had no effect on the overall recovery time of the plant..

That's interesting GreenEyedGuru, so did they say anything about the hurricane cuts they give the sabals when they transplant them? I need to join again.

To me, I would cut back the leaves of most any plant the size of this plant, and whose roots were compromised. I would bet money (and I don't bet much) that those leaves would have turned yellow and died. Keep us informed GD-so future people will know.

Ok will do . . . thanks again for the info and input . . . I really enjoy this palm and want this transplanting to be successful and as little stress on the tree as possible. As of today it looks fine, but I'll keep ya'll posted with fresh photos as the days go by. :)

Happy 4th to all :)

I think the study was just on Washingtonias, but the main point of the article seemed to be that the plant could be left to decide which leaves to drop (and that of course some leaf drop was inevitable)... Of course there are aesthetic considerations as well...

Well I don't have any scientific data to back this up, but my theory and experience has always been: An ounce of rain water is worth a pound of tap water. If that has anything to do with the success of this palm, I may have gotten lucky and timed it just right. We just got another nice little shower here and all's looking well :)

GD, how's the little darlin' looking today?

Pati (the inquiring lurker)

It's actually doing great and doesn't appear to be showing any signs of stress - thus far. Of course it's only been 9 days since it was transplanted, but as you can see in this photo taken today, there's no yellowing anywhere. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hope'n for the best :)

Thanks for ask'n ;)

That's great to hear. On one of the pygmies I just moved maybe 2 months ago did so well even the flowers are now opening up. Keep an eye on the new growth, that's an important key to telling how the palm is doing. It may not come up initially as fast as it was but as long as you see growth and its firm then it's definately a good sign. Although it's kind of difficult on the pygmies, on some of my palms I've taken a pen and put a mark at the bottom of the new spear and checked the growth daily to see how it was adapting. If you look closely at yours however, you should be able to notice any new growth. Keep us informed but it sounds like every thing is going good so far

Ok will do . . . that's a good idea . . . I think I'll try that marker trick :D

Just to keep everyone informed . . . another update and positive note. The palm I transplanted is still looking great and has not had any of the fronds turn yellow so far. It was moved three and a half weeks ago and so far so good. As you can see in the photo, it seems to be happy and healthy and doing fine. Maybe that little rain we had the day I moved it helped?

I have been letting the hose trickle on it for an hour or so every other day since it has been so hot and dry around here. We finally got another 1.25" of rain this past weekend, so I haven't watered it this week yet.

Oh my, she's a real beauty! The plants in the background are lovely too. Thanks for the update.
Pati

Thanks Pati . . . I think I may have gotten lucky with move'n this beauty :) Hopefully she'll stay happy and healthy. I'll post another photo update in a week or so.

how's the new growth look?

So far so good . . . there's several new leaves emerging and it looks like they've grown about an inch or so since last week.