PALMBOOSTER & TECHNOLOGY

Palmbooster is one of our best selling products, it has produced remarkable results in promoting the growth of palms in the cool climate of Northern Europe. It benefits are;

1. Promotes growth of both new primary roots and secondary branching of existing roots, which in turn lead to a more vigorous and healthy palm.

2. Through promotion of root growth first and foremost , subsequent top growth is extremely robust, strong and healthy with none of the side effects seen with other growth promoting products which encourage false growth.

3. One of the surprising side effects here in the nursery has been increased hardiness, as it is quite clear a stronger palm with a larger root sytem can withstand cold much better.

4. Whilst results outside are not immediate due to the fact that it takes some time in our cool climate for a palm to build a new root system, it is quite apparent that once palms have built that stronger root system, they become maore vigorous in growth.

5. Sometimes when planting new palms or transplanting palms it can take anything up to 3 years for the palm to settle in. Palmbooster will reduce the time taken to establish by as much as two thirds and minimise transplant shock.

 

More Information 

 With the exception of some Trachycarpus species, palms are plants from a warmer climate than our own. We often bemoan our cool climate and spend hours trying to improve soil, watering, creating microclimates and adding fertiliser, trying to make that darned palm grow just a little bit faster, but the one thing nobody has yet implemented is plant technology.

Most palms require good drainage, good aeration and plenty of water to grow well, as well as summer heat and sunshine. Small wonder that so many are difficult to grow well in our climate, and suffer all sorts of nutritional and health problems as well as being slow.

When winter fades and the weather warms up the palm begins to produce hormones to stimulate growth. Most palms in Holland rarely reach full growing speed due to the cool climate. In spring its sunny enough to grow but the air and soil temperature are not high enough to stimulate good hormone production and growth is sluggish. Therefore, by introducing various hormones to a plant it is possible to enhance growth, not just top growth, but root growth as well. Our Palmbooster product is designed to be added to water before applying to the palm. This product is designed specifically to stimulate and support active root growth rather than top growth. This is because to grow a healthy palm you must first build a large and healthy root system. Once the root has grown it in turn releases another growth hormone that instructs the leaves to grow faster. The result is a very strong and vigorous palm tree.

Palmbooster also works very well in conjunction with coir and together is superb for growing healthy palms from seed. Our Palmbooster should also be used when planting out palms in the garden or in transplanting. A double dose should be applied as a drench at the time of planting, and then the normal recommended dose weekly thereafter. This will stimulate new root growth and minimise sulking and plant shock. This should considerably shorten the time taken for a large palm to settle in once transplanted.

 

The photo to the left shows Jubaea chilensis imported from Chile in plastic bags. We tried an experiment to see what the effects would be of planting in coir soaked with Palmbooster solution.  Within 2 months the coir had been colonised with a network of fine roots branching out from the existing root system, resulting in the palm leaping into a new growth spurt.

In the pictures below a rootballed Butia capitata ( ie dug from a field with only a small rootball and no new roots ) was transplanted into a hole lined with coir soaked with Palmbooster, and fortnightly treatments of Palmbooster solution were poured around the base of the trunk. The palm was in full growth by the end of the year having fully rerooted.

The palm was planted in April, the first picture below was taken in July and the second picture in October after washing away soil to reveal the extent of root growth.

At just £14 for a 300ml bottle , there is sufficient to prepare 300 litres of treatment. Considering how expensive palms can be, it seems a small price to pay in order to establish your palms much quicker and to minimise the chances of root shock , which only serves to weaken the plant and make it vulnerable to cold, pests and diseases.