Palms: which earth is ideal?

Palm trees bring exotic flair into the room or on the balcony. In order for them to develop well, you should pay attention to the right substrate. The palms place different demands on the earth.

Palm trees

Palms (palm family, bot. Arecaceae or Palmae) form a family of their own in the plant kingdom. This includes 183 genera and around 2,600 species. The natural habitat of many palm species are the tropical and subtropical areas of our planet. Others live in semi-arid climates, i.e. in areas with long dry periods. It is therefore not surprising that not all palm trees make the same demands on their soil.

Palms & preferred substrate (selection)

Because of the biodiversity of the palm trees, the pH value has proven to be an indicator of the right soil. Below you will find the pH value for a small selection of palm trees as well as other properties:

• Mountain palm (Chamaedorea): 6.5 - 7.9; good drainage, moderate sand somewhat calcareous
• Date palm (Chamaedorea): 5.6-8.4; not too dense, stores moisture
• Hemp palm (Trachycarpus): 5,5 – 7,2; moderately sandy, undemanding
• Kentia palm (Howea): 5.4-7.0; lots of sand, good drainage
• Coconut palm (Cocos): 6.0 - 6.6; good drainage, moderate to a lot of sand, rather undemanding
• Christmas palm (Veitchia): 6.5 - 8.4; high proportion of sand (60 percent), calcareous earth

As is easy to see from the overview, palm trees prefer one

• slightly acidic and
• well drained

Earth. One agent that makes the earth acidic is peat. However, since this is problematic during dismantling, alternatives such as:

• Coconut fiber (coir) or
• Coconut

Clay granules or perlite, for example, are suitable for loosening the substrate.

composition

In order for the soil to match the palm tree, a distinction is essentially made between species that prefer it to be moist and those that prefer a dry subsoil. For the composition of the substrate this means:

• dry environment: higher proportion of pearlites and expanded clay
• humid environment: higher proportion of clay and perlite

Regardless of this, the mineral components of the palm soil should make up about 30 percent. Important sources of nutrients for palm trees are sand and quartz grit. In the organic sector, guano or horn shavings are cheap nutrients.

Tip: In the case of large palm species, the proportion of garden soil should be over two thirds so that the often top-heavy palm trees have a better hold.

Mix the substrate together

Palm species from humid regions

• containing humus
• angry
• Coconut substrate-garden soil mixture (or potting soil-humus mixture)
• Quartz sand
• calcareous loam or clay
• Drainage layer: Lavalite, perlite or vermiculite plus peanut shells or humus on pine bark

Sample recipe

• 70 percent coconut substrate (Kokohum, CocoBlock)
• 5 percent clay or loam (finely crumbly, low in lime)
• 10 percent quartz sand
• 15 percent mineral (pumice, lavalite, rock wool etc.) and organic drainage (pine bark, peanut shells)

Palm species from arid regions

• Flower or garden soil based on bark humus plus coconut (ratio 3: 2)
• mineral-containing drainage layer made of perlites, vermiculites or lavalites

Sample recipe

• 50 percent coconut substrate
• 20 percent loam or clay (finely crumbly, low in lime)
• 10 percent quartz sand
• 20 percent mineral drainage (Lavalit etc.)

Buy palm soil

Whether special soil for palm trees from the trade is just as good for the plants or not is assessed differently. Since they are looser than flower or Is plant soil, you should definitely prefer special soil to conventional soils.
You can recognize high-quality palm soil by the following characteristics:

• mixed with expanded perlite (loosening)
• Quartz sand
• Agrosil (slow release fertilizer)
• Kokoshum (peat substitute)

If necessary, lime is added to the palm soil, as some palm species love calcareous soils.

frequently asked Questions