Name your 5 favorite "low care" palms.

[Ben in Norcal]

7 minutes ago, topwater said:

Ditto about the Archies, they hate the summer sun so by the time it gets cold they're ready to croak anyway. They're never happy here.  I have 2 KO's I'm currently sun acclimating, maybe they'll do better.  Hope springs eternal.  I'm glad to hear your leptos are doing well, I've a couple hanging out with the KO's right now. 

Archontophoenix species have very different sun tolerance between them, I find.

[RedRabbit]

20 minutes ago, topwater said:

Ditto about the Archies, they hate the summer sun so by the time it gets cold they're ready to croak anyway. They're never happy here.  I have 2 KO's I'm currently sun acclimating, maybe they'll do better.  Hope springs eternal.  I'm glad to hear your leptos are doing well, I've a couple hanging out with the KO's right now. 

It is such a shame about archontophoenix. I love how they look and they can tolerate the cold here, but between the sun, wind, and transplant shock they just don't like it here. I have 1 that is doing good, 2 will probably die soon, and 5 that already died.

My 1 ko had a lot of sun damage this year, but I won't write it off completely yet. The 1 I have is just a 3g, I want to get another next spring that's a 7g and I think it will do better. 

I planted my leptos in full sun as a 7g and it has just done fantastic. I love that palm, I may have to get another soon. :)

[Ben in Norcal]

2 minutes ago, RedRabbit said:

It is such a shame about archontophoenix. I love how they look and they can tolerate the cold here, but between the sun, wind, and transplant shock they just don't like it here. I have 1 that is doing good, 2 will probably die soon, and 5 that already died.

My 1 ko had a lot of sun damage this year, but I won't write it off completely yet. The 1 I have is just a 3g, I want to get another next spring that's a 7g and I think it will do better. 

I planted my leptos in full sun as a 7g and it has just done fantastic. I love that palm, I may have to get another soon. :)

I think we have had a form of this conversation before...I'll have to try a lepto in a bit of sun, I have them in full shade here.

Have you tried A. maxima?  They can take full, inland, desert-like summer sun with no issues.  They are a total full sun palm, unlike (say) cunninghamiana and even worse, purpurea.

[RedRabbit]

22 minutes ago, Ben in Norcal said:

I think we have had a form of this conversation before...I'll have to try a lepto in a bit of sun, I have them in full shade here.

Have you tried A. maxima?  They can take full, inland, desert-like summer sun with no issues.  They are a total full sun palm, unlike (say) cunninghamiana and even worse, purpurea.

I've heard leptos are less sun tolerant in CA so use caution...

 

I've wanted to try maxima but they're very difficult to find here. I've got some seedlings courtesy of DoomsDave and I expected they'll be ready to be planted in about 2 more years.

[Pete in Paradise Hills]

28 minutes ago, RedRabbit said:

I've heard leptos are less sun tolerant in CA so use caution...

 

I've wanted to try maxima but they're very difficult to find here. I've got some seedlings courtesy of DoomsDave and I expected they'll be ready to be planted in about 2 more years.

Actually in San Diego I consider leptos more sun tolerant than archies. Neither look bad in full sun but my leptos look a little better...

[Patrick Palms]

I saw King Palms growing in Aruba , Caribbean, very nicely

 

[PalmTreeDude]

Sabal palmetto

Needle Palm

Sabal minor

I need two more...

 

[Pete in Paradise Hills]

1 hour ago, PalmTreeDude said:

Sabal palmetto

Needle Palm

Sabal minor

I need two more...

 

Pritchardia  glabrata. Takes wind , sun, and cold with no yellowing. Possibly my fastest growing palm too...Sabal bemudana always looks great although only medium growth rate...

 

[Silas_Sancona]

Agree with Scott (aztropic) though I have had some issues with some of my Cocothrinax. Do think what I experienced was more related to jumping from near- perfect conditions, to ..well, ours here, followed quickly by the blast furnace turned to extreme. No doubt those lost will be replaced shortly. Anyway,

Would add many Sabals to the list for here, and perhaps others like Hyphaene, and Nanarrhops. My little 3gal didn't flinch all summer, and looks fine atm. While problem free in Fl., and pretty easy back in San Jose, this first summer here claimed most of my Chamaedorea collection ( yes, they were in shade) Only the C. metallica made it, with some pretty nasty damage. Dispite that, I'd still add this to the list .. but only because this is a trooper of a palm overall. New shade house or not, we'll see how they do this year. 

[Jim in Los Altos]

Archontophoenix cunninghamiana: Just give 'em plenty of water, especially during hot weather, and that's it. Pretty much the same for myolensis, purpurea, alexandria, Illawara. These all look better in partial shade than full all day sun but tolerate the sun pretty well if grove planted.

Bismarkia nobilis: Well draining soil and plenty of summer water and get ready for an awesome palm.

Kentiopsis oliviformis: Super easy in shade or sun and really fast growing. This is a really great looking palm when young and old alike. 

Livistona chinensis: In the shade these get huge deep green fan leaves and long petioles. Super easy to grow but they don't like soil that drains too fast. 

Foxy Lady: Super tropical looking and really fast growing even without lots of heat. The leaves can spot a bit during the winter. They like lots of water to look their best.

 

[sonoranfans]

Im not sure what problems you guys are having with kentiopsis O, but they sure don t suffer from too much sun in my yard.  I have 4 from 12-25' overall and they are beautiful.  All got full sun when they were planted 5 years ago.  they do not like sandy soil, and need their florikan palm special fertilizer(no cheap stuff) to look nice.  I do consider them to be nutrient needy to get rid of the

 

brown spotting but  not much more than Alfredii.  Alfredii is certainly less picky about soil.  Bismarckias are bullet proof, royals just need regular water. Dypsis pembana is a great florida palm for my area once the bud gets up off the ground.   Here is my 3rd largest KO(others are too big and in close for pic, and my largest alfredii at about 18-20' overall

[sonoranfans]

On 12/31/2016, 11:08:07, RedRabbit said:

It is such a shame about archontophoenix. I love how they look and they can tolerate the cold here, but between the sun, wind, and transplant shock they just don't like it here. I have 1 that is doing good, 2 will probably die soon, and 5 that already died.

My 1 ko had a lot of sun damage this year, but I won't write it off completely yet. The 1 I have is just a 3g, I want to get another next spring that's a 7g and I think it will do better. 

I planted my leptos in full sun as a 7g and it has just done fantastic. I love that palm, I may have to get another soon.

Archies are tricker in that they really dont like sandy soil.  I have 6 that are all trunking and look nice, so its not a florida sun issue.  I have an alex triple with 4-6'  clear trunk that looks nice.  I also have 2 myolensis and a maxima that are doing very well.  The alexandre were full sun and grew very well, but in a raised bed center in back in this pic  Second palm to the right of the archie triple is a maxima.  that maxima was a strap leaf seeding 3 1/2 years ago.  Initially the archie triple has no nearby overhead to the west and north, the most intense sun.  today the area is packed with crownshafted palms(archies, kentiopsis O and dypsis pembana) that give a filtered shade.  But I disagree that you cant grow archies here, though they are some of my least cold hardy palms.  I do think the california archies look great.  SOuthern California sun is just as intense if not more so, but their soils retain water and nutrients very well vs floridas sandy soil.  I lived in socal for 3 years, the sun is more intense there due to less moisture int he atmosphere.  Archies do not like wind, deffnitiely need to do mass plantings to buffer the wind or just put up some windblock.  Note I have raised bed and added organic material to the soil of all my water loving species like archies, kentiopsis O and Dypsis penbana.  they do much better in heavily ammended soil since the soil stays moist(vs sand).

[RedRabbit]

27 minutes ago, sonoranfans said:

Archies are tricker in that they really dont like sandy soil.  I have 6 that are all trunking and look nice, so its not a florida sun issue.  I have an alex triple with 4-6'  clear trunk that looks nice.  I also have 2 myolensis and a maxima that are doing very well.  The alexandre were full sun and grew very well, but in a raised bed center in back in this pic  Second palm to the right of the archie triple is a maxima.  that maxima was a strap leaf seeding 3 1/2 years ago.  Initially the archie triple has no nearby overhead to the west and north, the most intense sun.  today the area is packed with crownshafted palms(archies, kentiopsis O and dypsis pembana) that give a filtered shade.  But I disagree that you cant grow archies here, though they are some of my least cold hardy palms.  I do think the california archies look great.  SOuthern California sun is just as intense if not more so, but their soils retain water and nutrients very well vs floridas sandy soil.  I lived in socal for 3 years, the sun is more intense there due to less moisture int he atmosphere.  Archies do not like wind, deffnitiely need to do mass plantings to buffer the wind or just put up some windblock.  Note I have raised bed and added organic material to the soil of all my water loving species like archies, kentiopsis O and Dypsis penbana.  they do much better in heavily ammended soil since the soil stays moist(vs sand).

Nice garden! How big were they before they went into full sun? 

Edited January 2, 2017 by RedRabbit

[PalmTreeDude]

On 12/31/2016, 11:05:27, Pete in Paradise Hills said:

Pritchardia  glabrata. Takes wind , sun, and cold with no yellowing. Possibly my fastest growing palm too...Sabal bemudana always looks great although only medium growth rate...

 

Sounds nice!

[Jimhardy]

1. Dead

 

2.Plastic

 

3.not in your yard

[sonoranfans]

Red rabbit, I bought them as a 1-3 gallons plants( some from Mike Evans, a longtime palmtalk guy, and some in orlando.  I then upsized the containers and grew the roots a bit before planting into the ground..  The wet lovers like archies and Kentiopsis need a more extensive root system and moisture trapping soil ammendment.  Kentiopsis are micronutrient sensitive and need those elements to look good.  Once the palms went into the ground at 2-3' overall with full 3-5 gallon roots(rootbound in containers), they saw full sun 8+ hrs in summer spring and fall.  Winter sun less so due to the fence and oaks to the south.   the B Alfredii is a very good palm for this area, mine recovered rapidly from a defolliation due to frost.  the archies arent going to well in frost, but Kentiopsis did take it with defilliation except for the spear, and it came back.  Kentiopsis O are going to be good palms for florida if you can get tham past the small size without repeated frost or serious cold events.  Much like a big royal is much more cold tolerant than a small one, so are the Kentopsis O.  Problem with KO is they dont grow fast at a small size so preventing defoliation makes a big difference in plant size in say a 5 year period.  I had (3) 15 gallon size royals all die in 2010 while a 3 gallon KO soldiered through with it intact spear, same exposure(28F with a good frost).