Travelers Palm Plant it North and South?
By Plant Pro
Question; While in Southern Florida visiting my mom, I got a traveling palm at a flea market. My cousins told me I need to plant it with the leaves pointing north and south. Have you ever heard of that? I love palm trees to death and am wondering if it should be in full sun or part shade or whatever.
Answer: First of all the “Traveler’s Palm” or “Traveler’s Tree” isn’t a palm, they are more from the Banana family. As for putting the plant in full sun, I’d try keeping a little protection if possible. The leaves can get ripped up easily. Sometime people confuse the Traveler’s palm - botanically Ravenala madagascariensis with the white Bird of Paradise which has grown very popular over the past decade.
To answer the question on planting the tree north or south is one I’ve heard before, but it’s been a while. The main reason plant a tree like the travelers palm so the leaves run north and south is simply a lighting issue. The sun comes up in the east and sets in the west. THis will allow the tree to grab as much light as it can get.
I hope you don’t mind, but I was searching the net for someone that could explain whether I have been over watering or under watering my Kentia. I have a phenomenal specimen as it stands about 12 feet tall in my living room. I bought it this way. It has been in the same place now for just over a year now and has seemingly done fine. However, I have noticed some browning of the leave tips that seem to spread down the frond to the point where I had to cut 2 of the fronds off today as I noticed the tips “bent” over in what I can only guess was over watering. Once I cut them down, I took cutting samples all the way to the bent tip and “squeezed” the stalk to see if moisture was evident or plain dryness. I noticed moisture for sure!
I have attached a few sample to help assuming you can tell from them. I am desperate. This one retails for over $500 and it would be the second one I killed. The first one was due to sitting in water (a tray collected the watering) and the other I was told was it didn’t like water from “soft water” systems within homes of which I had and was watering it with. I now use outdoor water (it is hard as hell though, over 8.0 in alkalinity) to avoid the soft water and it definitely does NOT sit in its water anymore as it is perched above the tray by a brick/cinder block for good drainage.
Help!!!!!!!!!!