Monday, July 28, 2008

Queen Palm

Queen Palm has become very popular and contrary to Coconut trees, is not susceptible to lethal yellowing. The tree is fairly fast growing and the fronds are truly beautiful. I love this palm tree but it is messy.
I recommend adding magnesium every three months or if you notice that newer leaves turn yellow fast. Feeding a palm fertilizer every three months is also necessary.
The flowers and fruit are very messy. First the flower will appear as a beautiful firework of creamy stems that burst out of a huge seed pot. Once the stem is out, it sheds continuously and turns the soil into a carpet of creamy flowers which will disappear pretty fast and is not a big issue. The flowers attract bees in droves and it is best not to mess with the flower stem as long as bees are working on it. The best moment to trim the stem is right after all flowers have fallen off and you have a naked stem with small berries because it is lightest at that moment. If you let the berries grow, not only will they turn into a real big mess down the road but the sheer weight of the stem with the berries will destroy anything underneath the tree. The weight of a stem with berries is amazing!
I also tried removing the huge seed pot before the flowers come out but unless you take it down when it is small, you'd better avoid trimming a big seed pot because it will fall like a massive rocket and will damage anything that is underneath it.

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