Speak the Language of Palms. A Vocabulary Guide for Gardeners

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It is very important that you familiarise yourself with the most commonly used terms for growing palms. Otherwise you will have a hard time articulating what you want to buy for your palms and how to maintain their health.

Here is a list of the most commonly used terms when growing and caring for palms.

Acid Soil	This refers to any soil with pH balances below 7.0. While alkaline soil is above 7.0

Bare rooted	You will normally hear this being used by gardeners who are selling plants that have all the soil removed from their roots.

Cold Tolerance	This indicates the range of temperature that a particular type of palm is able to grow in i.e. can it withstand frost.

Compost	This is a type of organic fertiliser (DIY kind, mostly) that makes use of decomposed matter for fertilising. An example of this would be manure.

Crownshaft	The top part of the trunk that holds all the fronds

Cultivate	Preparing the soil for growing plants. Removing weeds, softening the soil and perhaps fertilising

Dioecious	One plant has female flowers and another plant has male flowers .i.e. two plants are needed for reproduction.

Germinate	This is the process where the seed sprouts.

Genus	Family of plants, i.e., Wine palm

Monocot	Palms are monocots, having one cotyledon (seed-leaf) as opposed to dicots with two.

Monecious	Both male and female flowers are on the same plant and therefore only one plant is needed for reproduction

Monotypic	Only one genus, i.e. Coconut palm

Moisture or Humidity Level	This refers to the plant’s ability to grow in spite of humid conditions. Again, tolerance level is categorized in three types: low, moderate, and high with maximum humidity percentages of 50%, 74%, and more than 75% respectively.

Mulch	This refers to any type of loose material that can be placed on top of the soil for conserving its moisture level as well as regulating weed growth.

Nutrients	These are the types of nutrients or minerals that a plant needs.

N P K	These letters are used to analyse the chemical breakup of commercial chemical fertilizers. N is for Nitrogen, P is for Phosphorus. K is for Potassium.

Palmate Palms	Palms that have fan shaped fronds.

Pinnate Palms	Palms that have feather shaped leaves.

Pest	This term refers to insects, small animals, birds and anything that is a potential carrier of disease and destruction.

Spear	This is the new leaf (unformed) coming out of the top of the palm

Species	Different types of plants in the same genus, i.e. Butia capitata (species) in the Wine Palm family (genus).

Sun Hardened	Has the palm been acclimatised to living in full sun.

Salt Tolerance	This refers to the palms ability to tolerate and grow when it is exposed to saltwater or salt air, i.e. low, medium and high.

Trunk	This is the main part of the palm from the root ball under the ground to the crownshaft above.

Wind Tolerance	This is the palms ability to withstand wind pressure before suffering damage.