Washingtonia Is The Most Massive Fan Palm. Home Care. Photo

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Washingtonia Is The Most Massive Fan Palm. Home Care. Photo
Washingtonia Is The Most Massive Fan Palm. Home Care. Photo

Video: Washingtonia Is The Most Massive Fan Palm. Home Care. Photo

Video: Washingtonia Is The Most Massive Fan Palm. Home Care. Photo
Video: The Washingtonia Palm - A Rock Star Amoung Palms with a Dark Side 2024, March
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Fan-shaped palms never go out of style. They have long become a kind of room and office classics, but it would be a big mistake to perceive them as a group of practically indistinguishable species from each other. One of the most special fan beauties is the giant washingtonia. This palm tree became famous for its massiveness, and the effect is achieved not due to the number of leaves, but due to their structure and impressiveness. Washington is difficult to name an easy-to-care palm tree. The older and larger the plant, the greater its need for fresh air, and a cool wintering does not simplify cultivation. But on the other hand, the appearance of this room giant is inimitable.

Washingtonia robusta
Washingtonia robusta

Content:

  • Washingtonia - record holder with huge fans
  • Caring for washington at home
  • Transplant and substrate for washingtonia
  • Diseases and pests of washingtonia
  • Reproduction of washingtonia

Washingtonia - record holder with huge fans

One of the largest and fastest growing palm trees that have been introduced into indoor culture, Washington conquers with its inimitable size. But its popularity was not ensured by the size. Unusual "details" - fibers, thorns, threads - make Washington stand out against the background of any other palm tree, along with the ideal structure of massive fan-shaped leaves, striking in their symmetry. This plant can only fit on a windowsill at a very young age: due to its growth rate, washingtonia becomes cramped in a small space in a matter of months.

The name of the palm tree, received in honor of George Washington, eloquently indicates its distribution area - North America, or rather, the southwest of the North American continent.

It is not for nothing that Washingtonia is called the most massive room palm, although many other giants can compete with it in terms of size. It is not even the maximum possible growth of 3 m that makes the plant massive and large, but the size of the fan-leaves. Washingtonia has a rather low trunk, which, even at a considerable age, practically does not rise and seems modest in comparison with the crown height. It is rough and straight, with noticeable horizontal-toothed leaf marks that hang down for a long time and practically do not fall off without removal.

This is a classic fan-shaped palm tree in which huge rounded fans up to 2 m long look overwhelmingly massive. Cut only up to a third of their length into lanceolate segments, the size of which grows towards the center of the fan, they appear to be impeccable in shape. The visual coarseness of washingtonia leaves negatively affects the surrounding space, suppresses free space and can become a problem in small rooms with low ceilings.

But in spacious ones, there is simply no better zoning accent and a giant with the same separating effect. But the main feature of Washington is not the size of the leaves. This plant has thorns on bare and rather short petioles, and along the edges of the fans, fibers that look more like threads stick out at all, giving this fan-shaped beauty a wild and slightly aggressive, but very unusual look. At the same time, the "disheveledness" of Washington does not give the impression of neglect or carelessness.

Washingtonia today on sale is represented mainly by species of plants. Washingtonia powerful (Washingtonia robusta) - if beauty with mirror, shiny surface rich green leaves, devoid of fiber and filamentary structures gives the most popular in popularity Washington nitenosnoy (Washingtonia filifera), with its grayish fans decorated with long hanging fibers along the edges. But both beauties deserve special emphasis in the rank of the most decorative large palms.

Washingtonia robusta in pots
Washingtonia robusta in pots

Caring for washington at home

Washingtonia can hardly be called one of the most unpretentious palms. She needs a cool winter, and careful control of irrigation, and measures to increase air humidity. Careful, regular care is complicated by the very decorations on the leaves and petioles, and the large dimensions make all the procedures extremely difficult. Washingtonia is a palm tree for those who have experience in growing indoor large-sized and capricious crops, who can give it the right attention and time.

Lighting for washington

This gigantic palm tree has quite strict requirements for the intensity of lighting. Washingtonia needs good lighting, but cannot stand direct sunlight. In winter, it is advisable to increase the light intensity in order to maintain the habitually stable regime of detention. Washingtonia can grow on artificial lighting or partial supplementary lighting. The optimal daylight hours are 16 hours.

Due to its size, Washingtonia has to be placed in the interior, and many problems can arise with the provision of sufficient lighting. This palm tree will be comfortable only by a large south window, in a bright corridor or hallway. All Washington DCs thrive in greenhouses. Only young Washington countries will fit in optimal locations - east and west windows.

For this palm tree, it is important not to forget to evenly rotate the crown in relation to the light source, otherwise the silhouette of Washingtonia will deform, the palm will develop one-sidedly.

Comfortable temperature in washingtonia

The main difficulty in growing Washingtonia is ensuring a cool wintering area. The most comfortable temperature range for this palm tree is from 5 to 12 degrees, which is quite difficult to achieve in room conditions. Warm wintering not only negatively affects the beauty of the leaves: Washingtonia can even shed its greens in the warmth of winter. In the phase of active development, Washington puts up with normal room temperatures.

Indicators from 18 to 21 degrees are considered optimal. If the air temperature exceeds 25 degrees, Washington needs constant access to fresh air and measures for increased humidification. The change in temperature regimes from the phase of active growth to winter rest should be carried out smoothly. It is impossible to move the plant to any new conditions without additional adaptation.

One of the most important conditions for success is access to fresh air. Washingtonia is afraid of drafts (especially constant, cold and contrasting ones), but without ventilation, it is impossible to maintain the attractiveness of foliage and health, since stagnant air leads to an increased risk of the spread of pests. The older Washington is, the more fresh air it will need.

It is advisable to move adult and old palms outdoors for the summer, exposing them on the terrace or in the garden, but carefully making sure that the plant is protected from drafts. The large size of such plants determines a rather complex movement of their containers.

Washingtonia yarn sheet
Washingtonia yarn sheet

Washingtonia watering and air humidity

Washingtonia is very demanding on irrigation. The moisture content of the substrate must be constant. It does not tolerate even a slight drought (as well as overflow). It is unacceptable for this palm to accumulate water in the pan and carry out procedures before the top layer of the substrate dries up (if the soil has dried out in the middle of the pot, the plant will perceive the lack of watering as drought). In winter, watering for washingtonia needs to be changed by increasing the pauses between procedures by 1-2 days, but still monitoring the wet state of the substrate.

Washingtonia requires high humidity. Installation of humidifiers is permissible, but it is better to provide for spraying, which is carried out twice a day in the warm season.

One of the mandatory procedures is wiping the leaves of washington from dust and dirt. It is not easy to carry out such a "cleaning" because of the sharp thorns and threadlike formations, but you cannot do without such cleaning. The sheets can be wiped gently with a damp sponge or washed gently.

Top dressing for washingtonia

From October until the end of winter, fertilization for Washington is prohibited, even if the palm tree does not winter in cool conditions. But from March to September, the plant needs regular feeding, however, they should also be done very carefully, once every 2 weeks, making half of the dose recommended by the manufacturer.

For Washington, not universal, complex mineral fertilizers are more suitable, but special fertilizers for palms with a high iron content. After the palm is transplanted, feeding is not carried out for 6-8 weeks. At the slightest sign of disease or pest damage, feeding should also be stopped.

Young sprout of Washingtonia filifera palm
Young sprout of Washingtonia filifera palm

Transplant and substrate for washingtonia

Like all large palms, Washingtonia is best replanted only as needed. At a young age, when palms develop rapidly, several such procedures can be carried out a year, but it is always better to be guided by whether the soil ball is completely filled with roots or not. If the roots of washingtonia are bare at the top of the earthen coma, but the substrate has not yet been fully developed, then soil is carefully poured onto them, covering the top of the root coma with a fresh layer.

The timing of the transplant for Washington is not quite usual: it is better to transfer the plant not at the end of winter, but in April or at least at the end of March, when a long daylight hours are established.

The substrate for growing Washingtonia is selected from a number of special soil mixtures for palm trees. If you are preparing the soil mixture yourself, then you need to mix equal parts of humus and leafy soil with a double share of sod soil and a small amount of sand.

For Washington, containers are selected with a depth greater than width, spacious and large.

When transplanting Washingtonia, it is very important to lay a high drainage layer. The palm tree does not like contact with the roots, it is simply carefully rolled over. During this procedure, you need to be very careful and monitor the level of penetration, which cannot be changed. The thorns on the cuttings of the leaves also add complexity.

Any transplant in Washington, even a planned transshipment, will lead to health problems for the palm tree. To adapt, she needs to provide very attentive care and mild conditions, eliminating any "extreme" phenomena in temperatures, watering and completely abandoning fertilizing.

Palm Washingtonia robusta
Palm Washingtonia robusta

Diseases and pests of washingtonia

Washingtonia often suffers from pests that spread in low temperatures or dry air. For her, a particular danger is the wintering period, during which the plant is vulnerable to spider mites, thrips and scale insects. Getting rid of the latter is very difficult. Fight insects by washing the leaves and using insecticides.

Common problems in growing Washingtonia:

  • leaf fall in very dry air or in hot wintering;
  • drying of washingtonia leaf tips in dry air;
  • change in color to brown with improper watering.

Reproduction of washingtonia

The only way to get Washingtonia yourself is to grow it from seeds, but the process of germinating them cannot be called simple. Washingtonia seeds germinate for a very long time, and even then only under ideal conditions, it is better to use them freshly harvested, since germination is lost quickly enough.

Washingtonia seeds are scarified with sandpaper and soaked in warm water for 24 hours before sowing. They are sown in containers or individual pots in a mixture of sand, sawdust and moss, disinfected with boiling water. It is advisable to add charcoal to the soil. The classic sowing depth is 1 cm. Washingtonia seeds are germinated only under glass or film at a temperature of about 28-30 degrees. You need to dive a palm tree after releasing the first leaf, keeping the seeds at the shoots.

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