On my 8yr old pindo palm the feeder roots went out about 6ft from the trunk.It's according on how old the palm is.I dont know if this helps you are not.

On my 8yr old pindo palm the feeder roots went out about 6ft from the trunk.It's according on how old the palm is.Diffrent palms might be completely diffrent.I hope this helps.

Safe to say,at least to the drip line-or,outer edge of the leaf perimeter.

Thank you.

Tbis would confirm my assumption that palms are not like decideous trees whose root system, in some cases, can extend hundreds of feet from the trunk, making fertilization nearly impossible (another assumption on my part!) .

Generally, palm roots systems are smaller and compact.

I dont know how I did that(posted the same message twice)I thought the same thing Greg,but when I probed for the roots on my pindo,I started at 3ft and then 4ft then 5ft,finally I found the ends of the feeder roots at 6ft.Everthing I've seen showed palm roots compact and about 1 to 2ft spreading out from the trunk.This was on my pindo palm where I found the end of the roots at 6ft away from the trunk.Different palms might not spread as far,or they might spread futher.If your plant is in the ground probe for the end of the roots.I've read about Sabal Palmettos growing a root straight down 15 to 20ft.