Roystonea regia roots

I have a Roystonea regia that I planted in the ground from a pot about 2 years ago. It has about 2+ feet of trunk from the ground to the crown and about 8 feet tall to the top of the leaves. It doesn't seem to want to put down roots. I have it staked up and occasionally I test it and if I were to remove the stakes it would flop over. It seems the roots have basically stayed in the shape of the pot, which was a 5 gallon. The tree looks healthy otherwise and has put out several new leaves each year, one just opened a few weeks ago. The soil is well drained but kept moist and is in an area where it gets part day sun and part day filtered sun. Any suggestions on how to get it to set down roots?
Here is a pic of it, the brown on the tips is from the freeze we had in Jan.
Thanks,

Lonny

Here is a pic of the base of the trunk.

I think I'd keep it staked, and mound more dirt around the base, all the way up to where it flares out a bit. Really pack the dirt down tight. You really don't want to see the roots.

I'm not a gambling man, but I'd bet $1000 that's an Archontophoenix alexandra.

My thought was that it could it be your soil might be like mine, heavy-duty clay. But you say that it drains well, so I guess that ruins my theory. I was thinking that maybe it won't send out roots b/c it can't. In my area, the only thing that penetrates the clay are Queen palm roots, which seemingly go thru anything.

If so, maybe you could chop away at the surrounding dirt, and aerate the soil some. Add some sand?
Just a thought.

You may also want to try using some FERT-I-LOME Root Stimulator or something equivalent. I haven't used it in situation similar to this, but I did use it on a jacaranda tree I transplanted last year. I chopped the heck out of the roots and didn't get much of root ball. However, I used this product and the tree barely skipped a beat. It established quickly and tripled in height in the last growing season.

Thanks everyone,
Osideterry, I kept the dirt at the level it was in the pot, but I will add some dirt around the base.
It was given to me by a friend who swears it is a Roystonea regia but I thought it looked like some type of Archontophoenix also. However, I do have a smaller known R. Regia and they do look similar to my untrained eye.
Maybe with the warmer weather it will send out more roots.
Thanks,

Lonny

Root growth is accelerated by humic acid/humates, you might try that. "Drains well" is a relative concept, it means something different in florida vs the west. I consider "drains well" to mean that if I drip irrigate 40 gallons of water over 5 hours, there will be no visible puddle 2-3 hours after the drippers cease dripping. This is my minimum drain spec for palms, some of my palms drain so fast, no puddle forms at all. If your soil is clay, "aerify" -mostly sodium laurel sulfate- will change things in a hurry(

It's a King palm.I dont see silver in the undersides of the fronds so i doubt Alexander palm. But not a Royal for sure. And its staked too low.Use a taller stake,tie it up as high as possible to minimize wiggle and waggle,prune off dead fronds to reduce weight. The soil temps are still to low for a palm with root problems to recover. Give it time.

It's A.tuckeri.

Thanks for everyones suggestions. If it is a A. tuckeri I am okay with that, even though I already have several regular King palms. I was really hoping it was a Royal, but I do have one in another spot in the yard.

Thanks,

Lonny

Does anyone have a photo of a Royal in their own yard? They are very beautiful. Only thing is they get huge eventually.

This tree was identified by BayAreaTropics as A.tuckeri. It has put out leaves before but this is the first time it put out a red leaf. Can I expect more of these?

Lonny

Here is a close up of the leaf.

BayAreaTropics had a good guess. Now that it has thrown out the new frond and it is red, it confirms it is Archontophoenix maxima.

So, A. maxima not A.tuckeri? Thanks WebInt.

Lonny

I think it probably is a tuckeri. Also look at the petioles, too long for maxima.

how did that other palm w/ the root problem work out or is that it?

Those are fairly red for most Archontophoenix, but maxima and tuckeri can have leaves that red, as can some forms of cunninghamiana... It sure doesn't look like the latter, but no way I can tell the other two apart. have grown a number of both and neither are predictable in terms of red leaves- many maximas will have new green leaves, but some will have redder leaves than that. Some tuckeris have mildly red leaves, about like those... but leaf shape etc. both are too similar for me to ever tell them apart. I am not sure anyone can. A tuckeri is supposed to have shorter petioles, but as a seedling I seriously doubt that is a good characteristic to rely on.

This is the same palm that I started the thread about. It recovered nicely over the summer and even though not yet rock solid in the ground has become more set in. It put out three new leaves this summer one sort of deformed that came out right after the weather warmed up after the freeze, and then a nice normal one, and now this red one.

I think it is A. maxima. Just looks like what I have growing and have seen in gardens too. Plus the fact the red is getting better as it gets older tells me it is too. I was surprised PB said A.tuckeri has a red leaf like that as I have never seen one. I never knew that and just learned something new today. So with that being said, I guess we only added another possibly for you. A. maxima or A.tuckeri :)

On the root issue I can tell you I planted out 4 5-gallon Archontophoenix myolensis this spring. They were VERY slow to adapt and are still 'lose' in the soil like you describe. I bet by next summer that thing will be locked to the ground.

This message was edited Dec 16, 2007 10:56 PM

Opposite WebInt, I knew tuckeri threw out redish leaves, but didn't know maximas did too. Nice palm Lonny. I planted 2 kings last spring, one being a myolensis . I have the myola tied to supports until the roots take a better hold. Lonny if I were you, I'd collect your $1,000 bucks that someone above owes you.
Dave

What is funny Dave, I never knew tuckeri did. I have heard people call maxima, 'tuckeri with a red emergent leaf'. So I never bought tuckeri. Maxima has a real nice red emergent. Not like Chambeyronia macrocarpa for example, but still nice.

I think you will find myolensis to be the nicest of them all.

not too spectacular, but this was my Archonto tuckeri, before last year's freeze did away with it.

Thanks everyone, I will consider it a A. maxima for now. Like I mentioned earlier in the post, this is the first red leaf that I have noticed it putting out. As far as collecting the $1000, I will consider it paid with all of the help and info he has posted here.

Thanks,

Lonny