New Palms!

bahadawn

Active Member
108
21/02/12
3
38
Thoroughly enjoyed visiting Searle's Plant Extravaganza yesterday and purchased these palms:

Areca catechu var. 'Semi Dwarf'
Beccariophoenix madagascariensis
Carpoxylon macrospermum
Cyphophoenix nucele
Licuala grandis
Licuala peltata var. sumawongii
Spindle

The Spindle Palm is the only one ready to plant. I've admired these for some time, and looking forward to having one in the garden. Of course, now I wish I got two! The rest of the palms purchased are "babies" and so will need to be kept in pots for a while. Planning to read up on all these, learn the proper placement, and enjoy watching them grow!
 
you have great weather out there. from what i've noticed in my young garden they grow so much faster and acclimate much better in the ground.

this is my side by side comparisons.

Archontophoenix myolensis - i had 3 strap leaf seedlings that were the same size, and i picked one randomly and planted it, it's grown about 5-6 fronds so far this year and stands at over 3' tall wtith a nice thick base compared to the other 2 which are still super thin and are under 2' tall. the planted one is in full sun and i shaded it for about 2-3 months by putting some potted plants around it and it showed no signs of burn through 3 heatwaves that got into the high 90°s regularly and even hit an occasional 100°

Dypsis leptocheilos - i bought 4, 2 vendors with 2 plants each, i planted the 2 larger ones which were a large 1gal plant. i planted them on new years day in full sun in the hottest part of the yard which is probably 10° hotter than the other sections of my yard and they just took off. one of them is on its 7th frond (still a spike that's halfway out) and by it's been consistently doing 2 spears at a time so when one opens there's already a spike halfway out. it's fattening up so quick it has been popping off the older fronds which were still all green and healthy. the slower of the 2 planted is on its 5th frond so it's no slouch. both are in full blasting all day sun summer and winter surrounded by retaining wall blocks and not far from walls and show absolutely no signs of burn. since these were planted in January i didn't put anything around them to protect them
 
Almost all palms will appreciate getting in the ground as soon as they are of a survivable size for their situation. But it takes patience to watch a smaller palm sit there for a year or two until it kicks into gear.
 
Almost all palms will appreciate getting in the ground as soon as they are of a survivable size for their situation. But it takes patience to watch a smaller palm sit there for a year or two until it kicks into gear.

it's pretty odd that i've had some palms do nothing but explode with growth as soon as it's planted, small or large. and i've had some that were pretty large and have have barely grown in the last year. i planted out a 7gal Pseudophoenix sargentii navasana and it still hasn't opened up a spear after being in the ground for a year now where as the smaller ones i've had in buckets are moving pretty good
 
Many times I have planted a 1 gal and a 15 gal of the same palm at the same time - and in five years you couldn't tell which was which.

I've had similar experiences as well Dean. Three gallon is a standard I prefer to plant. A one gallon requires more frequent watering.

Leslie - that sure is a fine cache of new palms you acquired! ;)
 
Top