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How to Care for Queen Palm Trees

Like most palm trees, the queen palm is strictly a southern tree. Native to much warmer regions, the queen palm needs the warm, humid climates of areas like central and southern Florida, southern Texas, southern and coastal California and a few other places in USDA growing zones 9B through 11. When grown in these amenable environments, the queen palm is a low-maintenance beauty that only needs periodic irrigation, pruning and fertilization to grow happily.

Water your queen palm tree consistently. It is relatively drought resistant but grows best when given adequate water. Newly planted queen palm trees should be watered daily until they are established. Adult queen palm trees need water three times a week in summer but only twice weekly in winter. Run a slow hose at the base of the queen palm, and water until the soil is moist beneath the root ball. Check the depth of each watering by inserting a soil probe into the ground.

  • Like most palm trees, the queen palm is strictly a southern tree.
  • Newly planted queen palm trees should be watered daily until they are established.

Fertilize your queen palm twice a year in spring and summer. A good fertilizer for queen palm trees is any commercial 8-3-9 fertilizer amended with the micronutrients magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, potassium and zinc, which queen palm trees often do not get enough of. Follow the manufacturer's instructions when applying the fertilizer, but be sure to keep the fertilizer at least 2 feet away from the palm's trunk and spread the fertilizer wide enough to cover the entire root ball of your queen palm tree. Water the palm tree after each application of fertilizer.

Prune any dead palm fronds from the queen palm's trunk each fall. Use a pruning saw to cut the dead palm fronds off 3 inches from the trunk.

Clear away any leaf litter or other debris from the base of the plant. This debris may be harboring disease.

  • Fertilize your queen palm twice a year in spring and summer.
  • Follow the manufacturer's instructions when applying the fertilizer, but be sure to keep the fertilizer at least 2 feet away from the palm's trunk and spread the fertilizer wide enough to cover the entire root ball of your queen palm tree.

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