Trachycarpus fortunei help needed

77richiedunne

Hi all. 
I bought a trachycarpus fortunei four days ago. I have absolutely no gardening experience and i now starting to worry. Its a beautiful plant about 3 foot in height. 
I transferred it to a roughly 30 litre pot? using John innes no 2 soil.
When i bought the plant a few of the leaves had small holes and were bent. 
I noticed more leaves have started to bend too since. 
Im would be greatful for any advice, especially on watering and feed. 
I have attached pictures that may help. 
Thank you 

bertrand-mabel

We bought one about 25 years ago and used it in its pot as a "christmas" tree that year. Brilliant.

We then planted it outside. It needs to be in the ground.

It is now a fabulous specimen and at the moment has 8 flower spikes at the top cascading down. It is about 25 feet tall and in the wind the sounds it makes is lovely.

The leaves do get bent at times and the lower ones eventually die and then hang down the trunk. We remove the ones we can reach!

Yours is probably adapting to its new home.

It will need watering but not over watering. Check the soil to see if it is damp. If so don't water.

They need at least 3 hours of direct sunlight otherwise new fronds wont develop.

If you can plant it in the ground. It is worth it.

77richiedunne

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately planting in the ground isn't an option. I was concerned about the browning of the tips which were there when i bought it. Also sone of the fronds had split where they fold. 
Once there's no underlying issue I'm hoping the plant is just adjusting to its new home. 
Is there a general rule of thumb about how often and how much i should water or feed? 

bertrand-mabel

It depends on the position of the container. If in full sun or strong winds you will need to check the soil maybe every other dya to see how moist it is. As it has been recently potted on you need to take care not to over water and kill the roots but then you don't want the plant to dry out for long periods.

In winter you will probably (depending where you are) have to insulate the pot from frost getting to the roots or take it in doors.

The browning and splitting before you became the owner could well be how often it was watered and its site in the garden centre. The strong winds we have had for some weeks will have caused damage to the fronds.

77richiedunne

Thanks again for the reply and your time. It's currently in a sheltered spot in the Garden although we did have strong winds over the weekend. 
It's getting plenty of direct natural sunlight though, maybe 7 hours a day.
After repotting into the John Innes no 2, i initially just watered with 1 pint of water. Yesterday i noticed the wilted fonds and the top layer od soil was dry enough so i gave it 2 pints of water. It drained into the soil without water logging. I think I'll buy a moisture meter today.
Hopefully it recovers.