I couldn't find a 'Palm' section here, so I hope this is the right place to post this. I just purchased a small Trachycarpus fortunei from Fraser's Thimble Farms on Salt Spring Island B.C., and would like some tips on how to take care of it as a pot plant in Winnipeg. Potting media, water, light, humidity, winter care, etc. I like to push boundaries, so I hope I can do well with this one. After seeing the many plants of this, and other palms in the area, I want one of my own!
I originally had this in 'outdoor tropicals', as I figured that most people that grow this palm would be growing it outdoors, and might have some tips on how to grow it indoors. I hope those that grow this palm see this thread now. I'm really only talking about overwintering it indoors, as it would be outside for as long as possibe in the spring, summer and fall. I know they can take quite a bit of frost, so I could possibly get 5 months of growing outside. Do they grow during the winter, or do they go dormant? In areas that never freeze (which it wouldn't here, as I would bring it in), do they grow all year?
It's always a tough call what to do with threads that don't fit either category perfectly, so I appreciate your understanding. There would have been a thread redirect for anyone to follow from the previous forum to here, but those only last 5 days. Anyway, here are a few previous threads to investigate: trachy indoors Palm Trees Inside windmill leaves browning While the threads above don't answer all of your questions, some of the people participating in them are frequent posters to Indoor & Greenhouse Plants, so let's hope one of them jumps in sometime soon.
Nobody yet? I have it potted and am keeping it cool. This is the kind of conditions it came from, so I thought it best to keep that. I need to increase the humidity, though. Some of these, if not in the right zone, are protected over winter, so my question is - do they need light over winter? If kept in above-feezing or warm temperatures year-round, so they grow year-round? Does it need to be kept cool, or is it just that it can tollerate those conditions?
Mine grew in both heated and unheated conditions behind a south facing window for many years. Didn't notice any difference between the two but I didn't look too closely. Growth was fairly slow in part because the best spots were taken by more prized plants. Also, back then I didn't follow any fertilization plan. (i.e. I rarely fertilized.) It does not appear to be fussy as an indoor plant.
