How to Use Chelated Liquid Fertilizer on Palms

Palm trees can grow in sandy soil if they get enough outside nutrition.

All palms are tropical or subtropical trees, and need the right combination of light, water, soil and nutrition. Palm trees require specific levels of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and manganese, and turn to yellow and then brown if they don't get enough of these nutrients. Chelated fertilizer, or palm-specific fertilizer, has the right mix for palm trees, and keeps them from nutritional deficiencies. Plant your palms in the right soil mixture, then put them on a regular schedule of watering and feeding for best success.

Things You'll Need

• Compost
• Garden fork
• Bucket

Instructions

1. Plant palm trees in a mixture of organic compost and natural soil to start them off with the right nutrition and drainage. The organic compost will soak up and maintain moisture over the long term, which is important when you use chelated liquid fertilizer rather than granular slow-release fertilizer.

2. Water each palm tree for ten minutes once a week, with the hose on a medium setting, to ensure that the palm gets at least 1 to 2 inches of water. Never let the soil go completely dry around a palm tree.

3. Fertilize palm trees once a month during the growing season, which lasts from the last spring frost to the first fall frost. Mix the chelated liquid fertilizer with water per the directions on the package, and give each palm tree its weekly watering with the mixture. Pour the mixture into the ground 5 feet from the trunk of each palm, to avoid getting fertilizer on the trunk.

Tips & Warnings

• At maturity, a palm tree's roots can extend 50 feet from the trunk.

References

• University of Minnesota Extension; Yard & Garden Brief: Growing Palms Indoors; Deborah L. Brown
• University of Florida IFAS Extension; The Coconut Palm in Florida; Timothy K. Broschat and Jonathan H. Crane
• Clemson Cooperative Extension; Palms & Cycads; Nancy Doubrava and Bob Polomski