Dypsis pembana

[MattyB]

I just planted out a Dypsis pembana that I had dug up from my old place.  It's small but seems to handle some sun.  I've also got one growing at my Mom's place and it burns a bit.  I'm not sure if it's from the half day sun or from winter cold.  How's this performing for you guys?  I suspect that I can get it to acclimate to sun but any low temps even above freezing it won't like.  Thanks for the input.

[TikiRick]

Matt,

I just recently sunk one into the ground at my place as well from a 3 gallon. I found it for only $12.00 and it has about 3 short canes to it. I am not that familiar with this palm, other than what POM states.

I planted it in an area that stays damp and gets filtered sun for most of the day. I appears to be growing rapidly. It shows no sign (yet) from the 40F I had this winter.

[Really full garden]

Matt, thank you for asking. Mine are much slower than I expected.I had read fantastic stories of their growth rate and this has not been the case for me. I have one planted in the ground at the beach (poor soil) and it is incredibly slow.I have about twelve still in tree gallon pots that look great and a few are starting to clump.I hope to plant these at my new higher,cooler,wetter place.

                                                                                                             Scott

[MattyB]

Well, they're not rocketships.  But for a clumper dypsis they're fast.

[Peter]

They are fast in Florida;  here's 2  years growth:

However, in California I'm not so sure.  I too would love to hear how they're growing in Socal; speed, cold hardiness, attractiveness, etc...

[tikitiki]

I put mine in full hot florida sun and it was burnt bad but it grew out fast in a few months and has never looked back. It did well that one night at 30f.

Tom

[brodklop]

I planted a smallish one in mostly full sun and it's powering. However we had one day of 40c heat wich put a few small burn marks on the leaves. Otherwise it a real goer.

Peter ...... yours looks great

Regards

Brod

[Walter John]

My pembanas would be faster than any other Dypsis I have. Full sun most of the day, plenty of water and away they go.

[Wai`anae Steve]

Growing great here on O`ahu.  Full sun and not as much water as Peter's in Fla. as it gets very little water out of the sky.  

Pembana On O`ahu

[deezpalms]

Matty ~ I've got two gettin' quite a bit of sun all day and they are doing great! When I first moved everything was just out in the open as I don't have much of a shade area at my new place. A lot of my palms burnt up a bit including the pembana's but boy are they making a comeback! Both of them have opened green fronds in the last week and show no signs of burn.

I had them in mostly shade with just an hour or two of sun before so I expected things to get burnt a bit at first but theses guys aren't looking back!

[JakeK]

I am growing a pembana as a seasonal houseplant and it does great indoors. Mine has developed a very dark crownshaft from the lower light levels. Last year it opened 3 spears when it was outside and has opened one over the winter with a 5th a few weeks from opening, so I'd consider this to be a fast grower indoors.

[BS Man about Palms]

Mine have pooped a schilling.

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

(BS, Man about Palms @ Mar. 19 2008,18:07)

QUOTE

Mine have pooped a schilling.

I have some on a table in my shade house with Arc. Alex. 'Beatrice' and Pritchardia Hildebrandtii. The D Pembana are burned to a crisp, and the other two palms are untouched. They apparently don't like cold. If they survive, I may put some up by the pool/house...but not encouraged at this point.

[osideterry]

Mine has been sitting in full sun except for the shade of my Teddy Bear. It has seen below 32F three times, as low as 30F. Looks fine. I still think I'll grow it in a pot, based on the others experiences.

It must be a palm that goes south on the turn of a dime. The opposite of D. lutescens, which looks like crap at 34F but survives 25F.

[glbower]

I have two. The oldest was put into the ground in partial sun in May of 2006. it was a 1 gallon then. Now, it's about 10 feet tall and has 9 inches of trunk. It's a rocket, even outpacing veitchias planted nearby. It was a 2 stemmer when planted and just yesterday I noticed a third stem appearing.

The other one, in the ground less than a year, is showing signs of the same speedy growth. Both showed a little sun scorching when first planted but soon outgrew it.

[LJG]

(BS, Man about Palms @ Mar. 19 2008,15:07)

QUOTE

Mine have pooped a schilling.

Actually Bill, with the exchange rate where it is, that is not such a bad thing. So it is doing well?

Matt I have three. Two are in full sun and did burn, but each new leaf handles the sun better and better.

[Jeff in St Pete]

I ordered 100 seeds and only 4 germinated.  They are in one gallon pots now and I am anxious to see how fast they are.  So far as seedlings, they are slow.

[metalfan]

Mine is a houseplant and is doing fantastically!

[Walter John]

Pembanas are like great ocean going yachts, they need to stretch their legs and speed across the sun kissed waves and not be kept anchored and imprisoned in a small protected bay.

[realarch]

Put 2 - 1 gal in the ground last fall and so far so good. I hope they grow like yours Gordon. I'm almost wondering if I planted too close to the sidewalk. If so, I'll have to move the sidewalk.

Tim

]

[Matt in SD]

I would be willing to bet that the different reports regarding growth rate are due to two different palms being sold as Dypsis pemabana.  The real pembana is very light green all over, and has rather wide leaflets (maybe not as wide as lanceolata but close).  The other one I've seen is much darker (more like lanceolata) and has narrower leaflets.

Anyways, I have both, and the real pembana is very close to Archontophoenix fast.  From a small 2g to trunking in ~3 years.   The other one is much slower, probably closer to lanceolata in growth rate.  They're both great looking palms so I'm not implying that anyones getting ripped off.  But the real pembana in my experience is probably 2X as fast as any other Dypsis, at least in the SoCal climate.

That said, my real pembana is a bit crispy looking right now, but I'm pretty sure it's because I've been taking the bananas out that were shading it.  It doesn't look real bad, but is definitely not 'flawless'.  It has been down to 33F and really doesn't seem to suffer at all in the winter.

Matt

[Eric in Orlando]

We got one back in June 2006, a 1 gal. about 1-2ft tall. It is a fast grower.

here it is Jan. 2007

and today;

[LJG]

Matt, I have both types too. The thinner leaflet ones also have a pink emerging spear towards the base and the leaflets are clustered. Do you see this too? The fatter leaflet Pembana (I have one single trunk and one clumper) has regular leaflet arrangement.

[Wai`anae Steve]

(Wal @ Mar. 20 2008,06:13)

QUOTE

Pembanas are like great ocean going yachts, they need to stretch their legs and speed across the sun kissed waves and not be kept anchored and imprisoned in a small protected bay.

Wow, that is so poetic.  Did you think of that all by yourself?

I sometimes I wish I could think "cool" like that.  

[Redland]

Matt, Len,

Could the "other" type you are refering to be called D. mayott?

John

[osideterry]

We've probably covered this ground before, but it would be enlightening to see D pembana, D "mayotte", D lanceolata, and D cabadae leaflets side-by-side on same age plants. As 15 gallon plants, those four look alot alike.

[LJG]

(Redland @ Mar. 20 2008,16:21)

QUOTE

Matt, Len,

Could the "other" type you are refering to be called D. mayott?

John

Nope. I have some of those too.  

[Moose]

I just planted out a Dypsis pembana that I had dug up from my old place. It's small but seems to handle some sun. I've also got one growing at my Mom's place and it burns a bit. I'm not sure if it's from the half day sun or from winter cold. How's this performing for you guys? I suspect that I can get it to acclimate to sun but any low temps even above freezing it won't like. Thanks for the input.

How about a photo Matty?

Its has had 5 years to develope.

[SanDimas]

Hello everyone.

I ordered mine in Nov2012 from JMarcus as a 4".

Stayed green all winter and pushing spears outdoors.

Faster grower than my D.carlsmithii or D.robusta. These 3 are my fastest Dypsis.

All 3 are in full sun and I hope they remain robust all through summer as well...fingers crossed.

BTW I have the true form with the wide leaflets

Cheers.

[SanDimas]

Hello everyone.

I ordered mine in Nov2012 from JMarcus as a 4".

Stayed green all winter and pushing spears outdoors.

Faster grower than my D.carlsmithii or D.robusta. These 3 are my fastest Dypsis.

All 3 are in full sun and I hope they remain robust all through summer as well...fingers crossed.

BTW I have the true form with the wide leaflets

Cheers.

In Adendum...

All 3 are already planted in the ground.

Excellent & robust grower.

Thick light green leaves and always a spear growing.

Mines a double pembana with both growing about same speed.

Ritchy

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Why is it that none of these revived threads ever get any follow up pictures? Did the original plants croak? Alternatively, did the specimen become un-interesting after it was obvious it grew well?

[brodklop]

Mine has continued to power and is just nudging ahead of my Mad x Cab. It has remained as a single trunk which is what I was hoping for.

[MattyB]

Hard to remember to go and take a pic when you're busy.

[Moose]

Hard to remember to go and take a pic when you're busy.

Matty - I ran accross this old thread. Knowing how well so many other Dypsis are doing for you, was just curious what it looks like now.

When your not busy, a photo would be appreciated. This thread is not going to disappear

Ron

[LJG]

This is old. My multiple trunk Pembana died. My single trunk suckered and bifurcated. My "clustered" leaflet one is a rocket and is really a hybrid.

[realarch]

Thought I'd post an updated pic from the one in post #20. There is a water bottle at the base for scale.

The clump provides a nice screen from the drive.

Tim

[SanDimas]

Thought I'd post an updated pic from the one in post #20. There is a water bottle at the base for scale.

The clump provides a nice screen from the drive.

Tim

D_pembana.jpg

WOW!

What a difference 5 years make from a 1 gallon.

Looks like the tallest leaf is over your roof? 10 feet high?

Looks like the walkway is still there too.

Must be your Aloha weather...anyone from SoCal with same results??

Well done Tim.

Ritchy

[MattyB]

Here's that D. pembana update from the beginning of this thread. It took a while to get going but now it's got several rings of trunk and is growing strong.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Here's that D. pembana update from the beginning of this thread. It took a while to get going but now it's got several rings of trunk and is growing strong.

That looks nice! Seems like it has some exposure too and seems to be doing fine.

[sonoranfans]

I bought 3 of these in 1 gallon size in may 2010 from the same source. they were all exposed to the 28F x 2, dec 15,16 2010 cold/frost event with no overhead cover. All 3 pulled spears and defoliated, one died. Of the other 2, one took off fast and is currently single trunked but it branched to a second growing point above ground at the spear pull point(~7-8"), it is ~ 9' overall now with about 2' of branched trunk. The second one took longer to recover after I repotted it(it was in the ground), its now 6'+ with a couple rings and is multitrunked(3). These appear to be fast in florida, about 2/3rd the speed of my archontophoenix alexandre and myolensis in the same area/exposure. I was initially disappointed in their cold tolerance, but they were small palms and 2 of 3 did recover fully after spear pull(with multiple peroxide/ daconil treatments). It would seem to be a 9b palm after it is established.