But I Still Want a Palm Garden!
If, after reading the feature and my column last month, you would still like to grow palms then I can offer the following advice:
· If you want true palms then try to keep to the two types that are known to be resistent to the palm weevil. These are the Mexican fan palm (Washingtonia robusta) - height upto 30metres and, the clump forming, European fan palm (Chamaerops humilis) - height upto 4metres.
· Whichever palm that you choose, enquire from where you intend to buy it that a) they do not have the weevil where they are and b) their palms have undergone a regime of treatment to keep them pest free. At least this way you may be able to obtain 'clean' plants.
· Please do not buy plants from an infected area and move them into a pest free zone.
· Try to buy smallish plants that you can grow on. These will be easier for you to spray with insecticide.
· Because of the requirement to spray the plants with insecticides, please do not locate them in sensitive areas.
Not all plants that look like palms are palms.
Many of the plants that we regard as palms are not realy palms at all. Although the red palm weevil has been found on a wide range of plants it is, undoubtably, the true palms that it prefers.
Why not create that luxurious effect by useing:
· Sago palm (Cycas revoluta). Not a palm but a cycad. Although the weevil has been known to attack this plant (the larvae also go by the name of sago worm), it remains relatively small, to about 3metres, so is easy to spray.
· Sword palms. These include the Yuccas (Yucca aloifolia, Y. elephantipes etc.), and cabbage palms (Cordyline australis) which are commonly seen as garden subjects, and a couple of plants most often seen as house plants, the dragon tree (Dracaena sp.) and the pony tail palm (Beaucarnea recurvata). Obviously too many individual types to describe in this short column, but, suffice to say, a wide variety of form, size, leaf colour and even flower to chose fr
om. Ask at your local garden shop what they recomend.
Other plants that you may wish to consider to achieve that exotic feel are the Indian shot plant (Canna indica), the bird of paradise plant (Strelizia reginae) and what about the bannana (Musa Sp.).
A word of warning - You may have read elsewhere that pheremone traps are a good control for palm weevils. Please do not be tempted to try them. They have a use in controling populations in infested palm plantations, but, if they are placed where there is little or no problem, they encourage the spread of the pests.
If, after reading the feature and my column last month, you would still like to grow palms then I can offer the following advice:
· If you want true palms then try to keep to the two types that are known to be resistent to the palm weevil. These are the Mexican fan palm (Washingtonia robusta) - height upto 30metres and, the clump forming, European fan palm (Chamaerops humilis) - height upto 4metres.
· Whichever palm that you choose, enquire from where you intend to buy it that a) they do not have the weevil where they are and b) their palms have undergone a regime of treatment to keep them pest free. At least this way you may be able to obtain 'clean' plants.
· Please do not buy plants from an infected area and move them into a pest free zone.
· Try to buy smallish plants that you can grow on. These will be easier for you to spray with insecticide.
· Because of the requirement to spray the plants with insecticides, please do not locate them in sensitive areas.
Not all plants that look like palms are palms.
Many of the plants that we regard as palms are not realy palms at all. Although the red palm weevil has been found on a wide range of plants it is, undoubtably, the true palms that it prefers.
Why not create that luxurious effect by useing:
· Sago palm (Cycas revoluta). Not a palm but a cycad. Although the weevil has been known to attack this plant (the larvae also go by the name of sago worm), it remains relatively small, to about 3metres, so is easy to spray.
· Sword palms. These include the Yuccas (Yucca aloifolia, Y. elephantipes etc.), and cabbage palms (Cordyline australis) which are commonly seen as garden subjects, and a couple of plants most often seen as house plants, the dragon tree (Dracaena sp.) and the pony tail palm (Beaucarnea recurvata). Obviously too many individual types to describe in this short column, but, suffice to say, a wide variety of form, size, leaf colour and even flower to chose fr
om. Ask at your local garden shop what they recomend.Other plants that you may wish to consider to achieve that exotic feel are the Indian shot plant (Canna indica), the bird of paradise plant (Strelizia reginae) and what about the bannana (Musa Sp.).
A word of warning - You may have read elsewhere that pheremone traps are a good control for palm weevils. Please do not be tempted to try them. They have a use in controling populations in infested palm plantations, but, if they are placed where there is little or no problem, they encourage the spread of the pests.
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