It's that time again to feed your Palms
 

Just a friendly reminder, it is that time of the year again to feed your Palm trees. I tell all our customers to feed their Palms In March and again in July, then again in November. Use Lesco 8-2-12 that is the best fertilizer out there for Palm trees. This feed works very well on your bushes also, it can be purchased at John Deere Landscape in Leesburg. They are on the corner of Griffin and Thomas St. When feeding your Palms and plants put the feed out on the drip line of the trees and bushes, that is where the trees and plants are getting most of their feed from. Do not put the feed close to the trunk of the trees, or close to the base of the bushes, it will hurt them more then help them. If you are putting the fertilizer on gravel just spread it around the trees or plants then take a rake and just move the gravel around a little, it does not have to be raked in all the way. When it rains or your irrigation runs, it will water all the feed in. When using Lesco 8-2-12 you will see a major change in your trees and plants, it is a very good fertilizer, you will see a change in the foliage color with in a month or so. Hope this helps answer your fertilizer questions.

Is there any fact in the wive's tale that adding Epsom salts around the base of the palm tree also helps - supposedly to replace the salt that the trees do not get by not living in their natural seaside environment?

Your advice on WHERE to apply this Lesco 8-2-12 Palm & Tropical Ornamental Fertilizer ...
.................................................. ............................is NOT what is recommended by Lesco.

The label of the Lesco Fertilizer bag states......

DIRECTIONS FOR APPLICATION:
For Palms, Trees or large shrubs apply at the rate of 1 1/2 pounds
per 100 square feet..
Spread evenly on the ground around the plant....
..........from the OUTER ends of the of the fronds or canopy INWARD TO THE TRUNK....

Because THIS specific product contains polycoated slow release ingredients...
.................................................. ...... it is OK to apply from Canopy To the Trunk.

You are absolutely correct.
Epsom salts is great for the Palms and other plants.

Thank you... We saw a change in our palms within a week. Good information.

Can espom salts be used INSTEAD of Lesko? I paid $50 for a bag at Deere.

How much epsom? How often?

How do you apply the epsom salt and at what rate?

Great advice, thanks very much. Question: we have the black paper under the gravel, does this matter?

A good YouTube that will answer your questions. He talks about Epsom Salts.

Fertilizing Palm Trees - YouTube

Jim Davis Sumter County Extension Agent

I would thnk that if you are using a good balanced fertilizer like Lesco that you would would not need epsom salts as the Lesco palm fertilizer already has magnesium in it. You don't want to add too much of a good thing.

Lesco palm fertilizer lists Magnesium at 4 per cent total. 3 per cent is listed underneath as water soluble MG. (There is no mention of Magnesium sulfate.)

Interesting to me that listed separately was Sulfur at 11.50 per cent. I assume that the sulfur is for acidifying alkaline soil.

Angie,
Thanks for the link. Very informative.

After looking at Jim Davis' you tube video, I will avoid epsom salts. He's the expert, IMHO, and advises against it.

Have been to Home Depot, Lowes and ACE hardware and cannot find the recomended fertilizer. Help!!!!

The only place I know of that sells it is John Deere.

The post I made is to help people in general, so they know when and what to feed their palms and plants with. If they use the feed that I recommended, that is all they will need to use in order to have great looking Palms and shrubs with out getting so technical. There are many different types of feed that a person can use, and yes Epsom salt will help green up your palms but it is not a complete feed, and you do not need it if you use Lesco 8-2-12. Even though this fertilizer is a slow release, I still do not recommend putting it around the base of your trees and plants, most of the food is pulled in from the drip line of the trees and plants. Even though this is a slow release feed you can still burn your tender plants if it is placed to close to the base of the plants. I see so many people place their feed at the base of the plants and trees and the plants struggle. This feed was designed for the soil amenities here in central Florida and it works very well.

Backing up what Ron's said, a certified, licensed arborist I spoke with told me that you should stay away from the trunk when applying fertilizer. He recommended not putting fertilizer within two feet of the trunk on a large palm. He also recommended Lesco Palm fertilizer. Just a side note, I was over at a neighbor's house looking at his landscaping and palm trees, when I noticed fertilizer granules all around the trunk and even stuck on the trunk up to a couple of feet in height. He must have really tossed it right at the tree itself. His palms are the small ones people buy off the "palm truck" and placed in small circles. People think they have to fertilize only around the trunk. I did tell him he should get that fertilizer off the trunk and at least a foot away from the trunk. The arborist told me to put the fertilizer further away so that the palm roots have to stretch somewhat to get nourishment.

Where exactly is a "drip line" ?

Straight down from the outer edge of the tree's leaves, limbs or fronds.

Thanks for that info! That tells me that I'll have to put the fertilizer on my lawn and wood chips in the beds,as that's my drip line for the palms, am I right? Do others do this?

Yes, you are right. The palm fertilizer will be safe to use on the lawn. People often use it lieu of other lawn fertilizer when they have palms in the landscape.

P.S.
For those who have newly transplanted palms, keep in mind that the root ball circumference will be smaller than the drip line until the palm becomes established and the roots begin to grow outward.
Ask your landscaping company or look for reliable internet research as to when to begin any fertilization program if the palms are newly planted.

Uptown Girl - I am always amazed at your vast amount of knowledge - thank you for sharing it with us. Always sensible and easy to understand.:BigApplause:

Thx for the added info, is a 1yr old planted palm considered newly planted?

I'm not an expert, I can only speak from following the instructions I received (Village Palms installed ours) a few classes I've taken and my own research, which reinforced what Village Palms told me.

I believe that if your palm was installed a year ago, you are okay to fertilize it this year.
Our Sylvester was planted in the month of July, we gave that one a first fertilizer application the following June and another in September of that year.

It may depend on the variety of palm, though- and perhaps even how big the specimen is.

We have Chinese Fan palms (clumping) as well and fertilized them sooner. They are nutrient hogs compared to some other varieties.

Our Chinese Windmill Palms, however, do better with LESS frequent fertilizer applications (or lighter ones)- they are very slow growing.

When planting palm trees of any kind do not feed them for 3-months, they need to get established in their new environment first. If you feed them too soon they can burn very easily. Like I have said in many post before, it's best to feed them in March, July, and November.

Not sure how your post relates to the advice Uptown girl is giving.

Custom Scapes has done all our landscaping and they have a new division called Fertilizer Direct - phone 205-7810. They will deliver the Lesco fertilizer to you, tell you how to apply, and even put you on a schedule to deliver every few months. Their delivered price is the same or a little less than John Deere. We have been doing it for about 8 months and it has really made a difference.