Thinking of taking my palm tree to the sunbed shop

[Accy cyclist]

As some of you will recall,i bought a palm tree about 6 weeks ago. I've been mollycoddling "him" lately. He's outgrown the pot he arrived in( he's grown 6 inch in height and about a foot in width) so i put him in a bigger one. The new pot is 10 litres bigger in capacity,so that'll be suitable for the next few months i reckon. The thing is, we don't get much sun around here. Last week was great. He soaked up loads of rays as we had some very nice weather,but for the last few days and for the foreseeable future it's dull and damp. The question is do you think it'd be ok to take the plant to the local sunbed shop? If i pay the £1 for 3 minutes then what's the difference between using the sunbed for me or my palm tree? I'm supposing it'd be a similar situation to when folk use petrol station power washes to wash things other than cars. For example i once saw a chap power washing a couple of garden chairs at a petrol station. The poor chap was given some stick by some impatient type who said he shouldn't be using the power wash as it was for cars. Why not?! He's paid his money and he's taking no more time than he would be if he was washing a car,i thought
Do you think a sunbed would be ok for my palm tree. Or would a burst of 9 minutes of sunbed rays be too much and too quick for his benefit?

 

[jonny jeez]

Erm....er....

Nope, I'm going to.leave this to someone else.

 

[AndyRM]

Thread of the year.

 

[Accy cyclist]

I'd like "him" to eventually grow to around 12ft in height. My walls are 14ft in height,so 12ft would be enough i reckon. I have images of him outgrowing the ceiling height and me having to call some tree surgeon in to remove him. A similar situation to those in America when someone eats themselves to 50 stone, then they have to call the fire brigade in to knock down the walls so they can keep their hospital appointment!

 

[fossyant]

You been drinking at this hour ?

 

[Accy cyclist]

[QUOTE 4803891, member: 259"]Won't the soil fall out of the pot when you lie him down on the sunbed?[/QUOTE]
Good point,but i was thinking about using the "sun shower". The one where you stand up,not lie down.

 

[Accy cyclist]

[QUOTE 4803897, member: 9609"]nuke it in the microwave[/QUOTE]

 

[jefmcg]

[QUOTE 4803897, member: 9609"]nuke it in the microwave[/QUOTE]
That won't work. It's never going to fit.

You need to disable the interlock so microwave will operate with the door open, then stand the tree in front of it.

I can't think of any reason not to do this.

 

[Cycleops]

You could move to the south coast or maybe build a small greenhouse. Failing that bring him down here and I'll put it with mine.

Edit: I think you may have a King Palm.

 

[raleighnut]

Use a couple of these,
https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...ahUKEwiUwufzgPTTAhVkLMAKHYgeCSgQwg8IOg&adurl=

 

[Accy cyclist]

You could move to the south coast or maybe build a small greenhouse. Failing that bring him down here and I'll put it with mine.
View attachment 352658
Edit: I think you may have a King Palm.

That's the size i'm hoping "he'll" eventually reach!! Sadly the only similarity to where you live and where i live are the first 4 letters in the names.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Use a couple of these,
https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...ahUKEwiUwufzgPTTAhVkLMAKHYgeCSgQwg8IOg&adurl=

That's a good idea!

 

[Cycleops]

I think you have this type. They grow huge.

 

[Accy cyclist]

View attachment 352661
I think you have this type. They grow huge.

No,it's more like those you see by the roadside in Spain and Portugal. The ones where the trunk looks like a huge pineapple.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

I think you have a plan there Accy. Presumably you want to sun it so that it can grow faster and not develop a tan?

Anyone who suggests that you spraytan it is of course just silly, we all know it turns stuff orange, not deep green.

I have been thinking about his and I have some suggestions. I hope they are useful.

1) Ask the sunbed salon to turn the bed upright. That way you don't have to lay your palm down. Put the pot on a rotating platform and wind some string around it. That way you can remotely pull on the string and the pot would rotate, giving the plant (what his name, BTW?) an nice even exposure on all sides and you can remain safely behind a screen or such and avoid over-exposure yourself.
2) Then, you hint that it is growth, not colour you are after. Growth comes from photosynthesis which converts carbon dioxide into starches. In other words, you need to introduce some CO2 into the booth. I think a nice large block of dry ice would do the trick. With all that CO2 in the booth, the string trick is another reason why you don't want to be close to him whilst he photosynthesizes.
3) Plants also need nitrogen to stay green. In nature this is supplied by lightning - yes it is true - and it makes its way into the soil that way. You need a lightning generator of sorts in there too but I cannot for the life of me think how to do it. I'm sure there will be many good suggestions forthcoming.