Grow and Care for Royal Palm

Grow royal palm in full sun and soil that stays moist but drains, and feed it a palm fertilizer. Royal palm is Roystonea. It is not a Christmas palm.

Give it full sun, soil that stays moist but drains, and a palm fertilizer

royal palm is Roystonea regia, a solitary feather palm with a smooth gray trunk, a glossy green crownshaft, and plumose fronds that can reach 10 to 15 feet. In a Florida landscape it commonly reaches 50 to 70 feet, so pick a street, park, or large yard before you buy a small plant. Florida royal and Cuban royal are this same species. [1] Give it full sun and ground that stays moist but still drains. It takes dry spells once the roots are in, and it also takes wetter soil than many palms, but salt in the root zone burns it. Light salt spray is a different job. [2] Keep the root zone moist through the first season. After that, water when the soil has dried some, not on a daily calendar. Spread a palm fertilizer that is about 8-2-12 with 4 percent magnesium, in a slow-release form, under the whole canopy every few months in the growing season. Dead tips and curling on the oldest leaflets are usually a potassium shortage. Leave those leaflets until they are fully brown, because they still hold potassium the new leaves need. Potassium shortage is the main reason this palm dies in south Florida landscapes. [3] [4] If you have frost-free ground, the plant-out is on Planting Royal Palm. Brown-frond cleanup is How to Prune Royal Palm. A new plant from seed is How to Propagate Royal Palm.

Grow a young plant in a pot with a hole until you have frost-free ground

A young plant can live in a large, heavy container on a sunny patio while it is small. It is still a landscape palm, so it will outgrow a dim indoor corner. Use a pot with a drainage hole and a mix that stays moist but drains.

1. Choose a heavy pot with a hole, only a size or two wider than the nursery pot, so the mix can dry a little between waterings.
2. Fill it with a sandy mix that drains. Do not use a cachepot with no hole as the only pot.
3. Set the root ball so the stem sits at the same depth it sat in the nursery pot.
4. Water once to settle the mix, wait about half an hour, then empty the saucer.
5. Keep the pot in the brightest sun you have. A potted plant dries faster than one in the ground, so soak it, then wait until the top of the mix has dried some. Move it in before a freeze.

Not a Christmas palm — and not a majesty palm

Christmas palm is a 15 to 25 foot lookalike sold as dwarf royal. That plant is How to Grow Christmas Palm. A true royal palm is much taller, with 10 to 15 foot fronds that drop as a unit. Majesty palm is the indoor plant people buy when they search for a royal palm in a pot. That care is How to Grow Majesty Palm. Queen palm is Syagrus, a feather palm without this smooth green crownshaft. Cabbage palm in Florida is How to Grow Cabbage Palm, a fan palm. Foxtail palm is How to Grow Foxtail Palm.

If the oldest leaflets frizzle at the tips, feed a palm fertilizer and leave those leaflets on until they are fully brown.