13 replies to this topic

[Pedro 65]

In December 2010 i bought a pencil thickness Pigafetta Filaris from Teresa at UtopiaPalmsandcycads, it was very fragile and came straight out of the hothouse.
Last winter i put a temporary plasic dome around it. We had a very cool but wet summer summer this year but as you will see from the pics its certainly no slow grower. The small Raphia palms in 8* pots beside the Pigafetta are larger than when the Pigafetta went inground. I planted another Pigafetta 20 mtrs away which got the sun later in the morning and less sun overall, it died as soon as winter approached last year. This Pigafetta is out in the full open here in the cool subtropics on a NE slope. Sun, Sun, Sun and plenty of food and water, absolutely. Here the pics and in one ,the dog is showing the thickness of the mulch. and to give some scale. ps Mike (newcal), after reading yours is 6 years old, i look fwd to watching this progress. Pete

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[Tassie_Troy1971]

Very immpressive growth Pete destined to be another masterpiece in the collection . Mikes and Daryl''s Piggafetta are unreal !

[peachy]

I get the 2 piggy species mixed up. I know I tried one species, got it as a tiny seedling and 6 months later it was a metre tall but at the first hint of winter it rolled over and croaked. I now have the other kind, nowhere near the fast growth rate and yet to see a winter here but hopefully it will make it through. It has been through a winter on the coast in a friends polytunnel thingie. Hope it gets to look like yours Pete.
Peachy (the eternal optimist)

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

Very nice Pete! I tried growing Piggies but the palm beetle likes them too much. I planted 5 a few years ago and one by one they all died. My last Piggy is 30 feet tall and is now declining and half dead. We will have to cut it down soon.

I'm going to try again in another area of the property (maybe near the waterfall) and hope for the best. These are definitely the fastest growing palms I have ever grown. Bentinckia nicobarica is the second fastest for me.

Are you sure it's P. filaris? It looks exactly like mine at that stage which are supposed to be P. elata. I thought P. filaris had whiter spines? I never could tell them apart...

[bgl]

Pete,

Beautiful palm, and it's getting ready to take off! It'll be a monster in no time!

Bo-Göran

PS to Jeff (and not meaning to get off topic here ), have you tried Actinorhytis calapparia? I have found them to be slightly faster growers than B. nicobarica. The Clinostigma "Hawaiian hybrid" is even faster, but might be a tough one to get hold of.

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

Pete,

Beautiful palm, and it's getting ready to take off! It'll be a monster in no time!

Bo-Göran

PS to Jeff (and not meaning to get off topic here ), have you tried Actinorhytis calapparia? I have found them to be slightly faster growers than B. nicobarica. The Clinostigma "Hawaiian hybrid" is even faster, but might be a tough one to get hold of.

Bo, I have not tried A. calapparia. I do have Clinostigma ponopense, samoense, and savoryanum, but not the hybrid (maybe I can eventually make my own hybrid!). My Clinostigma are all pretty small right now so I can't judge their growth rate yet.

[bgl]

This is what I have found (after planting numerous individuals of each of these species). Approx. growth rates. Feet of trunk added per year:

Pigafetta elata - 7 ft
Clinostigma "HH" - 5 ft
Actinorhytis calapparia - 4 ft
Bentinckia nicobarica - 3.5 ft
C. ponapense & samoense - 2.5 ft (savoryanum is definitely slower)

This is NOT a list of the palms that are on the fast side, only brought up these since they came up in the discussion here. There are many others that will add between 2 and 3.5 ft of trunk per year; Euterpes, Bactris, various Dypsis (madagascariensis and pembana come to mind), Archontophoenix, Carpentaria and a whole bunch of others that I just didn't think of.

[Pedro 65]

Peachy, Troy, Jeff and Bo, thanks for the comments.
Jeff, this is the less tender of the 2 Pigafettas which i understand being Filaris? Or is it the other way around? Glad it likes it here and Im impressed with its growth rate. Pete
Edit...Jeff, your right, Elata this must be, as Filaris is more tender. Pete

[newcal]

Pete ,i have 5 piggies in the ground at the moment,4 P.elata and 1 P.filaris(also from Utopia),but i'm worried after looking at your photos that the P filaris might actually be another P elata .Did it always have those black spines as a seedling or has it recently started to change?.As P filaris gets older it's supposed to develope more white on the leaf base and have golden spines as opposed to P.elata which have black spines. Could you shed some light on this as i might have bought the same plant at Teresa's only for it to turn out to be another P elata...cheers Mike Green(Newcal)

[Gonzer]

Exceptional as usual Pete. Oh but a pipe dream for us out here.

[Pedro 65]

Pete ,i have 5 piggies in the ground at the moment,4 P.elata and 1 P.filaris(also from Utopia),but i'm worried after looking at your photos that the P filaris might actually be another P elata .Did it always have those black spines as a seedling or has it recently started to change?.As P filaris gets older it's supposed to develope more white on the leaf base and have golden spines as opposed to P.elata which have black spines. Could you shed some light on this as i might have bought the same plant at Teresa's only for it to turn out to be another P elata...cheers Mike Green(Newcal)

Mike, i would assume this would have to be Elata as Jeff and yourself has mentioned because of it being Less tender..But, i do remember discussing the names with Teresa and she did say, good luck that is the least tender of the two I do see some golden in the spines esp in the shot with the sun hitting them? This certainy is a "New" palm for trialing here, and whatever it is im very impressed with its speed and toughness and will certainly plant more. Pete

[newcal]

Good luck with the piggie...cheers Mike Green(Newcal)

[ariscott]

Lucky you.... I have been after some for a while now, but never found anyone with one that is small enough to send. I hope it grows well for you.... One day, I might have them....

Regards, Ari

[Daryl]

Pete ,i have 5 piggies in the ground at the moment,4 P.elata and 1 P.filaris(also from Utopia),but i'm worried after looking at your photos that the P filaris might actually be another P elata .Did it always have those black spines as a seedling or has it recently started to change?.As P filaris gets older it's supposed to develope more white on the leaf base and have golden spines as opposed to P.elata which have black spines. Could you shed some light on this as i might have bought the same plant at Teresa's only for it to turn out to be another P elata...cheers Mike Green(Newcal)

Mike, they are easy to tell apart...

After enduring temps of 10c the black piggie is green and the white piggie has a name change to 'brown piggie'...

Your P.elata looks good Pete!



Daryl