I planted two palm trees today. I think they are California palms, but anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Another member posted a thread asking about shade plants for enclosures, and @turtlesteve suggested a palm. I don't know why this never occurred to me, but what better plant to stand up to a big sulcata? I've been looking at all the different palms and deciding what type, where to buy, and whether or not to invest the time and grow from seed.
We have the giant Mexican palms, but I think these are the California palms due to the much fatter trunks.
Anyhow, I saw these two little offshoots growing from the base of one of them and decided to ask @Markw84 if they could be cut off and planted on their own. With some sound advice and a few tips, I decided to give it a try.
Mark told me the best way to remove them was with a shovel and that I should dig down and try to get some attached root to go with it. Clearly not his first rodeo because it worked perfectly:
The hardest part of the whole operation was digging the holes to plant them into. The dirt in some areas of the ranch is like concrete. It took me a couple of hours and lots of use of the heavy digging bar to make appropriate holes. My sulcatas have no problem digging right into this same dirt. I dug down nice and deep to give the roots a place to go, and then back filled it to the correct level. I brought some of the native dirt from where I got them over to the new area and I packed that all around the roots.
After planting, I made a nice basin and trickle watered them for an hour. This enclosure is currently empty of tortoises, so no need for protection:
This enclosure is where my male Sudan Sulcata lives, so I made a barrier to keep Gargantua from bulldozing my new tree on day one. He was very interested in everything I was doing in his world.
I'll keep you posted on how well they do. Hopefully in another 6 months, they will be two or three feet taller, have a nice large canopy for shade, and be out of sulcata reach. I also think the roots will be deep enough and the trunk sturdy enough that it will stand up to behemoth reptiles.
Thanks to Mark. I'm lucky to know you.
We have the giant Mexican palms, but I think these are the California palms due to the much fatter trunks.
Anyhow, I saw these two little offshoots growing from the base of one of them and decided to ask @Markw84 if they could be cut off and planted on their own. With some sound advice and a few tips, I decided to give it a try.
Mark told me the best way to remove them was with a shovel and that I should dig down and try to get some attached root to go with it. Clearly not his first rodeo because it worked perfectly:
The hardest part of the whole operation was digging the holes to plant them into. The dirt in some areas of the ranch is like concrete. It took me a couple of hours and lots of use of the heavy digging bar to make appropriate holes. My sulcatas have no problem digging right into this same dirt. I dug down nice and deep to give the roots a place to go, and then back filled it to the correct level. I brought some of the native dirt from where I got them over to the new area and I packed that all around the roots.
After planting, I made a nice basin and trickle watered them for an hour. This enclosure is currently empty of tortoises, so no need for protection:
This enclosure is where my male Sudan Sulcata lives, so I made a barrier to keep Gargantua from bulldozing my new tree on day one. He was very interested in everything I was doing in his world.
I'll keep you posted on how well they do. Hopefully in another 6 months, they will be two or three feet taller, have a nice large canopy for shade, and be out of sulcata reach. I also think the roots will be deep enough and the trunk sturdy enough that it will stand up to behemoth reptiles.
Thanks to Mark. I'm lucky to know you.