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Raymond
06-12-2012, 05:49 PM
I know this is a banana site but I was hoping someone could help....I have a fishtail palm that I purchased in August.....it was doing good in the greenhouse over the winter until about March when all the fronds died off except the one that was just starting to come out...the same leaf is only about4" tall and green,
the trunk look to still be alive...why will this leaf not come out, its been the same length for 4 months????? what can I do to get it to come out? like i said it looks alive but nothing is happening.
Ray :0491:

RobG7aChattTN
06-14-2012, 07:14 AM
It might need to be re-potted. Pop it out of the pot and see if there is still room in the pot or if it is all roots.

Kostas
06-14-2012, 09:26 AM
How cold did it got? Have you figured out why it lost its leafs? Was it dehydration or cold damage that showed late,as it always does? Caryota species love water and want to be kept continually moist. However,even if they lose all leafs from water stress,they do come back if provided steady water,although it will take months to see improvement or any growth. If cold damaged and the spear is still good and green,they generally survive but it will be months before you see much growth. They are quite slow i would say when in less than ideal conditions. They do speed up when in the ground and have formed final trunk diameter but the commonly sold as houseplant,Caryota mitis, is never very fast. There are other Caryota species that are much faster and much cold hardier. There is no reason to repot a palm that is not growing and wont be able to do much root growth without photosynthetic leafs. Even if its all roots,there are less chances of rotting it that way. Once it grows a couple of leafs,repotting may be considered if root bound.

hydroid
06-14-2012, 11:59 PM
I never had good luck with palms until I started using palm fertalizer, I think you can use Epsom salts also. Sometimes palms develop a deficiency for Magnesium and need to be supplimented and most regular fertilizers either don't have enough or none at all. If you aren't using Palm fertilizer, you might consider using some Miracle Grow has a good one that is granular and time release.
Bo

Darkman
06-16-2012, 05:41 PM
I don't think you will be very sucessful with the Fishtail palm in Missouri unless it is a permanent indoor and receives all that it needs. People have trouble with this in North Central Fl as it doesn't like to be cold stressed.