Hi If you mean white bird of paradise they tend to spead rather than go deep But will still require a lot of diggin and hacking NOw if you mean Travelers palm the real GIANT I eneded up with a hole 8 feet deep and it still resprouted for several years I'd sure recommend some kind of power equipment. I hired a bobcat for the travelers . gary

First of all, the snarky comment from Arunski about shoulda coulda was unnecessary --who says something like that? I love plants and I'm pretty good at growing them, but sometimes we plant lovers see a plant and buy it, not really knowing that much about it. I bought a white bird of paradise summer 2019 from Home Depot because I loved the look of it. It was about 2 feet tall. Planted on my covered porch in a beautiful pot and it grew unbelievably over the summer. I had to bring it inside for the winter and it has continued to grow in a corner that has a window, but it is extremely filtered light from plants outside. I purchased a cheap LED floor lamp from Amazon that I can bend to whatever position and the plant seems to love it, even though 2 feet of it are above the lamp. Watering has been limited due to spillage issues, and still it grows. It's about 6 feet tall now with new growth all the time. I had no idea it would get this big, but I have 4 more feet to go before I have to move it so we will see what happens. I could move it back on the porch, but it has grown too big to move I think and everyone who walks in the door has a fit over it. I think I will buy a nice self watering planter and see if that helps. I've only fertilized it twice. Who knows? Maybe it knows it's loved and likes the home it lives in. We have a good vibe.

I see mechanical injury (similar to bruising in animals) and symptoms of a physiological disorder called oedema (aka edema). I don't see anything that looks like photo-oxidation (sunburn), which is a chemical reaction to an excessive photo (light) load. See a short piece re oedema below. Oedema is a physiological disorder that can affect all plants. It occurs when the plant takes up more water than it can rid itself of via the process of transpiration. The word itself means 'swelling', which is usually the first symptom, and comes in the form of pale blisters or water-filled bumps on foliage. Under a variety of circumstances/cultural conditions, a plant's internal water pressure (turgidity) can become so high that some leaf cells rupture and leak their contents into inter-cellular spaces in leaf tissue, creating wet or weepy areas. Symptoms vary by plant, but as the malady progresses, areas of the leaf turn yellow, brown, brown with reddish overtones or even black, with older damage appearing as corky/ scaly/ ridged patches, or wart/gall-like bumpy growth. Symptoms are seen more frequently in plants that are fleshy, are usually more pronounced on the underside of leaves, and older/lower leaves are more likely to be affected than younger/upper leaves. Oedema is most common in houseplants during the winter/early spring months, is driven primarily by excessive water retention in the soil, and can be intensified via several additional cultural influences. Cool temperatures, high humidity levels, low light conditions, or partial defoliation can individually or collectively act to intensify the problem, as can anything else that slows transpiration. Nutritional deficiencies of Ca and Mg are also known contributors to the malady. Some things that can help you prevent oedema: * Increase light levels and temperature * Monitor water needs carefully – avoid over-watering. I'd heartily recommend a soil with drainage so sharp (fast) that when you to water to beyond the saturation point you needn't worry about prolonged periods of soil saturation wrecking root health/function. Your soil choice should be a key that unlocks the solutions to many potential problems. * Avoid misting or getting water on foliage. It slows transpiration and increases turgidity. * Water as soon as you get up in the AM. When stomata close in preparation for the dark cycle, turgidity builds. If you water early in the day, it gives the plant an opportunity to remove (for its own needs) some of the excess water in the soil. * Put a fan in the room or otherwise increase air flow/circulation. Avoid over-crowding your plants. Not that it's important, but I tend to disagree with the idea that corn leaves roll up as a protection from the sun. Reason: Beneath the leaf's cuticle/ epidermis is a layer of cells called the palisade mesophyll, and below that is the spongy mesophyll. The lions share of the organelles in which photosynthesis occurs are immediately below the epidermis (think top of the leaf's skin). While there are some chloroplasts in the spongy mesophyll, the density of chloroplasts there is only a fraction of what it is in the palisade layer, meaning the superior surface (top) of the leaf does a much, much more efficient job of carrying on photosynthesis. The pigment chlorophyll is often referred to as sunscreen for plants, as it absorbs harmful rays that would otherwise damage the plant (through photo-oxidation). Since there is far more chlorophyll in the upper palisade mesophyll than in the inferior (lower) spongy mesophyll, the upper leaf surface is capable of functioning normally in much brighter light than the lower leaf surface. So, if a corn plant's leaf were to fold such that the lower surface was exposed to a direct photo load, it would experience photo-oxidation (sunburn) long before leaves with only their upper surface exposed. It's not uncommon, however, for leaves to chance shape so the leaf margins are wavy when leaves approach photo-saturation. This mechanism protects the leaf from sun by changing the angle of incidence. That is to say, a photon stream 90* to a leaf's surface provides twice as much energy as a photon stream striking a leaf surface at a 45* angle; think of how much force a billiard ball striking a rail/bumper at 90* compared to one that glances off the bumper at a 45* angle and you understand how changing the angle of incidence at which light or another force strikes an object. Like being in a vehicle that's t-boned as opposed to sideswiped. Have you been fertilizing regularly? With what? Al

Important: * Does the pot have a drain hole to let excess water out of the pot? * Is there a collection saucer under the pot to catch any water that flows out of the drain hole, and does the pot sit in the collection saucer? This is an example of what a collection saucer (on the bottom) might look like: Notice the pot sits above any water that collects in the saucer. There is nothing you've said so far to make me think the problem is anything but over-watering. The moisture level at the top of the soil isn't important. What IS important is what the moisture level is deep in the pot - at the bottom. Read below about how to use a "tell" to "tell" you when it's time to water. It is a very simple but useful and accurate tool, and easy to make. The wooden tool below, bottom row second from the right side, is used here as a root pick, but it is exactly the same as what a "tell" looks like, except a tell is usually longer, maybe 60cm. Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al