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You know you have gone mad about palms when, on the trip of a lifetime to Cuba, you seek out very specialized rocks to bring home for some of your palms. I've been trying to grow several Cuban palms that evolved to grow in serpentine soil. Serpentine soil contains levels of magnesium, iron and nickel that are toxic to most plants. Those palms include Coccothrinax Azul, Coccothrinax moaensis and the uber rare Copernicia cowellii, one of the slowest growing palms in the world - without doubt the slowest palm I've ever grown. I got it in autumn 2008 as a 3-strap-leafer. It poked along with 3 strap leaves until about 18 months ago when it made the quantum leap to 4 strap leaves. Now it has 5 strap leaves with a 6th on the way. At times during the past 6 years I was sure it was a goner but it managed to squeak by.

I've wondered over the years whether I could somehow duplicate my cowellii's serpentine soil. I even posted that question on PT but no one else had any idea either. I know that some place in CA on Klamath River has serpentine soil but there was no other pressing reason for me to go there to find it. Nor did I know anyone who could send me some.

Then I learned about a post-Biennial trip to Cuba, a country I've wanted to visit to see its fantastic palms. I knew this would be the trip of a lifetime for my husband and me. Many members of PT may not realize that US-born citizens have been barred from travel to Cuba since the Castros took power in 1959. The FK Tree Institute handled the necessary permits and visas for us to go with a group.

When I found out we would visit C. cowellii and C. moaensis in habitat I decided I had to bring home serpentine rock. So when we visited C. cowellii in habitat I picked up about 10-12lbs of gray and black rock which my husband stashed in his suitcase.

When we got home my husband wrapped the rocks in old towels and bashed them to small chips with a hammer. The rocks were surprisingly "soft" but the chips were sharp.

This past week I scraped the mulch away from my C. Azul, largest C. moaensis and the pokey C. cowellii. Then I spread a thin layer of precious Cuban serpentine rock chips around them. I'm hoping a bit of native soil will encourage them to grow faster and look better. Okay, I'm a palm nut.

On with the photos:

Serpentine rock chips

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Coccothrinax Azul with rock chips

post-1349-0-85455300-1405381448_thumb.jp post-1349-0-03269400-1405381552_thumb.jp

Coccothrinax moaensis with rock chips

post-1349-0-15056700-1405381635_thumb.jp

Copernicia cowellii with rock chips

post-1349-0-79504400-1405381694_thumb.jp post-1349-0-33372700-1405381781_thumb.jp

post-1349-0-69696300-1405381859_thumb.jp

  • Upvote 1

Meg

Palms of Victory I shall wear

Cape Coral (It's Just Paradise)
Florida
Zone 10A on the Isabelle Canal
Elevation: 15 feet

I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade.

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Good for you ! I once sent green serpentine from San Francisco to 'Al in Kona'.

San Francisco, California

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Meg,

Wow, that's true dedication! :) And if you (hopefuilly) find out that it does indeed make a difference you may find yourself making more trips to Cuba... :mrlooney: Or who knows, at some point in time it may even be possible to import the stuff.

Good luck! :)

Bo-Göran

Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

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Where did you find moaensis?

Matt Bradford

"Manambe Lavaka"

Spring Valley, CA (8.5 miles inland from San Diego Bay)

10B on the hill (635 ft. elevation)

9B in the canyon (520 ft. elevation)

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Great work Meg, it looks like a step in the right direction to me. Hoping for the best for you.

Happy Gardening

Cheers,

Wal

Queensland, Australia.

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Serpentine rock is very common across much of California, and likely much easier to access and bring back to Florida. Just FYI, it is also radioactive.

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Your crazy......lol.

David Simms zone 9a on Highway 30a

200 steps from the Gulf in NW Florida

30 ft. elevation and sandy soil

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Where did you find moaensis?

I bought 10 seeds 4-5 years ago. Haven't seen them since.

Meg

Palms of Victory I shall wear

Cape Coral (It's Just Paradise)
Florida
Zone 10A on the Isabelle Canal
Elevation: 15 feet

I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade.

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Nice work! Maybe it would be even better if the rocks were smashed to a finer granulometry....

Carambeí, 2nd tableland of the State Paraná , south Brazil.

Alt:1030m. Native palms: Queen, B. eriospatha, B. microspadix, Allagoptera leucocalyx , A.campestris, Geonoma schottiana, Trithrinax acanthocoma. Subtr. climate, some frosty nights. No dry season. August: driest month. Rain:1700mm

 

I am seeking for cold hardy palms!

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That is a cool experiment, and how exciting that you were able to go to Cuba, your trip of a lifetime. Plus you posted all those great photos so the rest of us can appreciate your experience. It will be interesting to hear if you note any response over the next year or so as a result of your extraordinary efforts.

And I thought I was the only person who would go home with rocks in their luggage! :lol2: I couldn't resist a few pieces of Florida limestone with all those interesting fossils in them. :mrlooney:

Kim Cyr

Between the beach and the bays, Point Loma, San Diego, California USA
and on a 300 year-old lava flow, Pahoa, Hawaii, 1/4 mile from the 2018 flow
All characters  in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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Nice work! Maybe it would be even better if the rocks were smashed to a finer granulometry....

Thanks, Alberto. I considered crushing the rocks to very small pieces but I wanted to be able to retrieve them in the future if necessary - this rock is that precious to me. I did get some finer particles and dust and tried to include them when I spread the larger pieces.

Meg

Palms of Victory I shall wear

Cape Coral (It's Just Paradise)
Florida
Zone 10A on the Isabelle Canal
Elevation: 15 feet

I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade.

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There's also serpentine in the region from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia. Rock from a serpentine quarry north of Washington was widely used for roads until, in the 1970s, someone realized that the rock was loaded with asbestos. There's some little patches in the southern Piedmont.

California indeed has lots of serpentine and similar ultramafic rocks, especially in the northern coastal ranges.

Fla. climate center: 100-119 days>85 F
USDA 1990 hardiness zone 9B
Current USDA hardiness zone 10a
4 km inland from Indian River; 27º N (equivalent to Brisbane)

Central Orlando's urban heat island may be warmer than us

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Thanks, Dave. I didn't know the Middle Atlantic area had serpentine rocks. But I don't want to crush rock loaded with asbestos. Ironically, in my chemistry classes in high school and college, we placed asbestos mats on stands over bunsen burners so the flame didn't touch our glass flasks. Does that mean we're doomed?

Regarding radioactivity of serpentine rocks, I keep my stash in a plastic container in the garage. I certainly don't sleep with them on my nightstand. Many things emit radioactivity, i.e., basements. However, my houses have sat on concrete slabs. Not many basements in FL.

Meg

Palms of Victory I shall wear

Cape Coral (It's Just Paradise)
Florida
Zone 10A on the Isabelle Canal
Elevation: 15 feet

I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade.

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Smuggling rock from a forbidden country...YOU GET THE AWARD FOR BIGGEST PALM NUT!

Thanks. I've been called worse.

Meg

Palms of Victory I shall wear

Cape Coral (It's Just Paradise)
Florida
Zone 10A on the Isabelle Canal
Elevation: 15 feet

I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade.

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