A friend gave my wife the palm below and we want to repot the plant and return his pot. We have used a sawz-all and cut around the perimeter of the pot trying to cut the roots but the blade does not go to the bottom of the pot. The pot is 18" in diameter and 16" tall; the palm is 6'6" from the base of the pot to the top. We have tugged and pulled and it's not budging. I have this palm in my yard already and I know its root system is a tough one. Anyone have any ideas on removing; I am of the opinion of leaving in the pot but the wife wants to give it the old college try. Any ideas would be greatly welcomed.
Anole

Have you tried soaking the pot and plant and using a long serrated knife?

Not yet but we will give it a shot, I think we do have to find a long bladed knife or some type of saw that we can get all the way to the bottom of the pot. Thanks for the suggestion Frenchy!
Anole

I hope it works.

Have you given it some hard thumps on every side? Sometimes that can break it loose. Cut off anything growing out of the drainage holes.

Another option is the opposite; let it dry out and the soil and roots will shrink away from the sides.

Thanks to all for the suggestions; we did remove the palm from the pot but it came out in three pieces. We used a sawz-all and cut the palm into three sections and pull each piece. To be honest we would have never been able to remove the plant from the pot whole. The root system filled the whole pot, there was hardly any soil in the pot. Anyhow we have three palms and we hope they take. Thanks again.

Anole

Good luck with it, John. It was so pot bound that it needed to be cut into 3 plants anyway.