I've seen this palm, looking pretty much the same as it does now my entire life. We've owned it for the past 10 years, a gift from my grandmother who had it first.
It thrives a few feet away from a north-east facing window that has it's blinds shut most of the time (amazing!!!)
Here it is- Do you know what it might be???
[img]https://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq149/stratusthorn/aficus-1.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq149/stratusthorn/arrowroot-1.jpg[/img]
(forgive the stupid suet feeder in the pot, idk why someone put it there... in a house with 8 people, what do you expect though, right?)
-Nightshade
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Nightshade
- Full Member
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- Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2010 10:09 pm
- Location: Seattle, WA
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Nightshade
- Full Member
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2010 10:09 pm
- Location: Seattle, WA
Well, I suppose it could be -although it seems find to find pictures of specimens with trunks, and those that do seem to have trunks much to thick... also most pictures I dug up are of many, many fronds protruding out of a pot! No trunk! So strange.
Well... now comes the scary part - I know this plant is older than me, and I am sure it has never been re-potted during the time I have been alive. It's soil is compacted, low, and not even covering the roots really - the plant has been knocked about so it has actually "twisted" free of quite a few of it's roots, but it continues to thrive year after year. I want to repot it, or in the very least top dress it, but I am afraid to kill it. Any advice!?
Well... now comes the scary part - I know this plant is older than me, and I am sure it has never been re-potted during the time I have been alive. It's soil is compacted, low, and not even covering the roots really - the plant has been knocked about so it has actually "twisted" free of quite a few of it's roots, but it continues to thrive year after year. I want to repot it, or in the very least top dress it, but I am afraid to kill it. Any advice!?
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lorax
- Greener Thumb
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- Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2010 5:48 pm
- Location: Ecuador, USDA Zone 13, at 10,000' of altitude
I'll second the ID of Chamaedorea elegans - they look like that when they're older, especially when they're grown in lightstarved enviroments - the thick trunks you see in other pictures belong to plants that get a whole lot more light than yours has.
When you repot, pick a shady day and do it outdoors - gently loosen the soil from the edges of the pot, then pull the whole palm out by tipping the pot onto its side, then grasping the palm at the base and gently tugging - most of the soil will come with it. Prepare your fresh pot, gently loosen the soil around the base roots of the palm with your fingers, and pop it into the new pot, and backfill a bit to cover the walking roots. Water well. Palms, particularly Chamaeodora, are very resistant and tough plants, and although it may droop and sulk for a couple of days, it will bounce right back.
When you repot, pick a shady day and do it outdoors - gently loosen the soil from the edges of the pot, then pull the whole palm out by tipping the pot onto its side, then grasping the palm at the base and gently tugging - most of the soil will come with it. Prepare your fresh pot, gently loosen the soil around the base roots of the palm with your fingers, and pop it into the new pot, and backfill a bit to cover the walking roots. Water well. Palms, particularly Chamaeodora, are very resistant and tough plants, and although it may droop and sulk for a couple of days, it will bounce right back.