Needle Palm Fertilizer

[dekdak]

Hi there,

We're new to palm gardening: picked up a needle palm at Lowe's a few days ago. The instructions read to fertilize every 2 months, but we haven't found a fertilizer for palms.

Any ideas or special tips? I've been looking around in the forums on this site for quite a while and haven't found anything specific.

Thank you!

[gardengirl]

Well I will tell you this, there are better palm fertilizers out there than others offered. They offer a palm fertilizer on here that you are able to purchase. I think it is 29 dollars or something but includes shipping. It is an 8-8-8 which is ok for palms but I do a 12-5-12. This means the ratio of nitrogen, phosphate and I think potash. You want to keep the middle number low and the two side numbers higher. The 8-8-8 will work fine because its a balance of all three with other additive minerals and what not. It is sometimes hard to find a ration like 12-5-12 so sometimes I have to order them. Or some nurseries might carry 40 LBS bags and that's too much for just one needle palm. Stick with the one they have here. Or you can call them to see if they offer commercial grade fertilizer but in small quantities.

Let me know if you need any more help?

Garden Girl