Scuba_Dave

I rescued this Palm last Fall before the Winter
It may have been subjected to a freeze before I found it
Not sure why my neighbor tossed it
They seem the type to simply buy stuff for around their pool & then toss it out at the end of the summer

One part looks good, the other not so good
I've cut them back & they are now in my sunroom
Just watered them & put more soil in

I'm wondering if the brown one should be cut back even lower ?
I'm also thinking of seperating them...now...or wait ?

TommyMacLuckie

That isn't a palm. It looks to be Giant White Bird, Strelitzia nicolai. They are related to banana plants.

Just water it and wait for warm weather to put it outside.

The World´s Tree Species: White Bird of Paradise - Strelitzia nicolai

Scuba_Dave

Thank you
The dead leaves I cut off do look like the plant in that link
Its amazing what some people will throw out

Should be interesting to see how this grows this summer

TommyMacLuckie

They do just OK in pots. I've taken care of some here in SE Louisiana in pots (they are in a hot house right now) and they never look very good really. They get scale and they just don't grow much.

You could use the Miracle Gro potting soil, which is what I do for getting things to come back to life, and then eventually use the liquid fertilizer because the soil fert goes away after about 3 months and the liquid fert is better than any granular for potted plants I've found. You can also kill a plant with granular fert saturation over time - like Osmocote - because it can literally replace the dirt as the root medium and the plant just dries out to death. Believe me - I've replaced many hibiscus that were in the ground that had Osmocote totally surrounding their roots. It blew my mind.

For scale, put used coffee grounds on the plant where the new fronds come out (I'm not sure if putting used coffee grounds on the root ball as a mulch works as well but I've read that it does work - you just need a lot), as in literally, on the petiole where the new frond emerges - or just use a mild solution of soap and wash the leaves every now and then.

Overall it should do OK though. I love it when people throw out perfectly good but sad looking plants. I tell 'em 3 months later Thank you and then show them.

I guess you could say I have a really green thumb.

Scuba_Dave

Wife uses instant coffee...no coffee grounds
I don't drink coffee so she doesn't make a pot

Now I'm going to be watching this every day to see what happens
I'll have to look around & see if I have any big pots
The Homer bucket is just Temp
I may put it in a pot & then bury it in the ground for stability

I lost a few plants when I built the addition - mostly african violets
They were in the bay window that faces West
I did not realize it at the time but the addition cut down on the sun quite a bit
So now everything has been moved to the sunroom - which needs to be mudded & painted

john_ny

Dave - Go to your local diner, and ask them for some coffee grounds.

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John

Abnshrek

Nice Save Dave :^) I like it when apartment complexs redesign their landscaping :^) Bananas galore in the dumsters.. what shame..

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Scuba_Dave

Well just over 2 weeks later & the 1st leaf (frond ?) is pushing out from one root system
Nothing yet from the other root system or my bananas yet
Should be filled out by pool time

Abnshrek

I saw one of those yesterday @ home depot they are a nice looking plant :^) I guess some folks will throw away anything these days....

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Barney Oatmeal

Could be what we call a "Traveller Palm" here in Florida......... Let's see it when it matures a bit!

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"We Dig Our Fingers In The Ground, Heave And Turn Our World Around" (Tom Waits)

Scuba_Dave

Funny...I was just cropping a pic I took & uploading it
Still waiting for it to unfurl

Barney Oatmeal

I'll kite you a pic of my travellers - they're only three years old - they'll grow to 50' or so, eventually.

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"We Dig Our Fingers In The Ground, Heave And Turn Our World Around" (Tom Waits)

TommyMacLuckie

Ha ha. They're all related to bananas too. People have planted Travellers in SE Louisiana. They don't grow here. Too cold. Especially this winter. All the Majesty palms that were up to as high as 20 feet (!) have all been zapped (along with just about everything else). It got below any hardiness number I've seen that I'm aware of. Curious to see if they did outright die.

Giant Birds look awful all over the region.

Scuba_Dave

1st leaf is unfurled
2nd root system is sending up a leaf

So far so good