How to Care for a Queen Palm
The Queen Palm is a tropical tree native to Brazil and Argentina. It's commonly seen along streets and in parks in tropical and subtropical regions, but it can also be grown indoors. The Queen Palm can grow up to 50 feet tall with a 12- to 15-foot wide canopy of leaves. It has a smooth gray trunk; long, bright green leaves; yellow flowers on hanging clusters; and green fruit that becomes bright orange in maturity. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Palm fertilizer
- Soil amendments of potassium, manganese and magnesium
- Plant fungicide
- Commercial soil acidifier
- Arbor saw
Instructions
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Provide as much full sun as possible by cutting away any obstructions outdoors or placing the indoor plant next to a window.
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Keep your Queen Palm moist, watering three times a week during the warmest months and two times a week during the coldest. Use enough water to moisten the entire root ball and six inches into the surrounding soil.
If grown inside, keep the soil moist, but not soggy.
Newly planted trees require daily watering for the first several weeks.
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Fertilize your palm at least twice a year, in spring and summer, with a palm fertilizer that contains nitrogen, magnesium, sulfur, iron, copper and manganese.
If using fertilizer spikes, add them two or three times a year.
Apply additional amounts of potassium, manganese and magnesium soil amendments to maintain a healthy plant.
Turn fertilizers and soil conditioners into the top four inches of soil in a large ring at least two feet from the trunk to beyond the perimeter of the canopy. Water immediately and thoroughly.
Use a commercial soil acidifier to encourage the palm's roots to bind with nutrients or make your own by mixing one cup muriatic acid (pool acid) in five gallons of water. Apply two to four five-gallon buckets of solution, depending on the size of the palm, to treat the entire root ball area. Water thoroughly before adding the acidifier to prevent burning.
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Treat Queen Palms with a fungicide---poured directly into the crown---to prevent bud rot.
Insect pests include palm leaf skeletonizer and scale. Treat with appropriate insecticides.
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Prune Queen Palms in the fall or spring, removing only the dead fronds. Avoid excessive pruning, which can stress the plant. Use an arbor saw to remove old fronds at the base of the leaf stem, leaving a leaf base that can be removed when they dry out.
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Tips & Warnings
Feed your Queen Palm manganese regularly to promote growth and prevent frizzle top, a condition in which new leaves appear stunted and blackened.
Do not let your Queen Palm be exposed to temperatures below 20 degrees F, which will kill the tree.
The tree is moderate salt-tolerant and can grow near the ocean, but it's sensitive to high winds, which will break leaves and can topple the entire tree because of its weak, shallow root system.
