I think I may have some Washingtonia filibusta seedlings?

[Small palm]

Hey palmtalk, I collected seed from a Washingtonia filifera and germinated them about 2 years ago. I already knew there was a chance that these seeds could be crossed with Washingtonia robusta when I collected them.

Now that they are growing up, I see reddish brown coloring at the base of the fronds. From what I understand, pure W. filifera should be pure green on the frond bases. 

For those of you that are familiar with W. filibusta, do you think my seedlings are hybrids?

I posted 3 pictures of my seedlings below. 

Thanks

[Kris]

Dear Chris,

Palm one and three looks very close to a pure W.filifera palm,While the palm no.2 or the second photo looks like a w.filibusta.

And to know more correctly they must put some trunk or little big to show some characteristic like leaf colour,hairs like growth on the leaves and the colour of the dried boots(Old frond area). And more importantly the speed of their growth when planted in the ground.I assume you are in Cal,If you are in wet rainy area with coastal humidity with cool temperatures the w.filifera's will show signs of bud rot(Root rot)symptoms.

Love,

Kris.

 

[Small palm]

Hello @Kris, thanks for your feedback. That's interesting, I was wondering if some are W. filibusta hybrids, and some are pure W. filifera. I've noticed some of my seedlings are really small and slow growing, and some are pretty big. 

Looks like, I'll have to see as time goes on. I am located in California. I'm in an area that may be too cool for pure W. filifera. I get some heat, but a lot of fog too. In my town, I see some that look ok, and others that had their crowns die back.

I collected the seed from a city about 20 miles inland from me. That city has a lot of Summer heat. There are many healthy W. filifera growing there. 

[Kris]

Dear Chris,

Here are some visuals of our Washy filifera's and you can see its Hairy pale green leaves and its dried frond boots...

A close-up !

Btw. Its in 10 inches pot and its around 7 to 8 years old as of now of the 12 germinated palms i retained about 3. Two were planted in the garden of which one was planted in claye soil...it died of bud rot.The other one was planted in raised planter having just blue metal rock in them its has grown well in our wet tropics having coastal humidity.While this washy seen above was kept as back-up,Just in case...

And those seeds came to me from Roma,Italy from our forum member.The zip loc bag containing those seeds were tagged as Washy filifera heavy trunking version. 

In the following post i will upload stills of the one grown in amended soil.

 

[Kris]

Now lets see the Washy filifera that is growing in the raised bed :

A Close-Up !

This palm has not flowered or put out fruits yet.If it had done i would have sent you seeds to try and test.

Love,

Kris.

 

 

[Kris]

Here's a link to see visuals of the hybrid version W.Filibusta" :

http://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Washingtonia_filibusta

.

 

[Small palm]

Hello @Kris, thank you for posting the pictures of your W. filiferas. They look great. I really like the photo of your mature palm growing in the raised bed. It looks nice and healthy. 

 

Looking at your W. filifera in the pot, I see all the filaments. My largest palm that I posted above has these filaments on its fronds too. I'll post a close up of the fronds below. 

Thanks for your posts, Chris. 

 

 

[Kris]

4 hours ago, Small palm said:

Hello @Kris, thank you for posting the pictures of your W. filiferas. They look great. I really like the photo of your mature palm growing in the raised bed. It looks nice and healthy. 

 

Looking at your W. filifera in the pot, I see all the filaments. My largest palm that I posted above has these filaments on its fronds too. I'll post a close up of the fronds below. 

Thanks for your posts, Chris. 

Dear Chris,

I must say that the W.Filifera in pot is around 7 years old.So you can understand that most of its characteristic qualities increases as your saplings grow big.When our washies were young it too resembled like your saplings seen above but i had no doubt since the seeds received were tagged as W.Filifera.So give them some time so as they become little big to ID.

i.e For cooler regions its w.filifera and wet and humid region its W.Robusta.But in my case iam living in hot wet tropics with coastal humidity year around.It has grown well by simple soil amendment and we water this palm only in summer season,every alternate days with a bucket of well water.

Here are some visuals as to how the palm is trying to make space for its ever growing roots.It has broke open the concrete ring with iron bracing inside could not contain it..

A new crack has developed on the other of the previous crack...

Iam a fan of slow growing,huge trunking massive palms 'Washy Filifera's' fits the bill perfectly. 

Love,

Kris.

 

Edited December 29, 2017 by Kris

[Phoenikakias]

On 25/12/2017, 10:09:55, Kris said:

Now lets see the Washy filifera that is growing in the raised bed :

A Close-Up !

This palm has not flowered or put out fruits yet.If it had done i would have sent you seeds to try and test.

Love,

Kris.

 

 

Hey Kris,

are aware of the mathematical rule the Japs have developed in oder to tell apart flifera, robusta and filibusta from each other?

[Phoenikakias]

Is this a filifera (at last) or another filibusta?  It has one of the fattest trunks I have seen on a Washie here but on the other hand its seeds are also large like yhose of robusta.

[Kris]

36 minutes ago, Phoenikakias said:

Is this a filifera (at last) or another filibusta?  It has one of the fattest trunks I have seen on a Washie here but on the other hand its seeds are also large like those of robusta.

Hi,

It looks to me as fine/pure washy filifera.It has pale green droopy leaves,no reddish brown markings in the dried boot area nor the new leaf fronds have that dark brownish marker seen.And coming to its trunk its pretty massive to my liking..imagine what the trunk size will be when the double the present height.

And never judge a palms genetics seeing its seeds,that may vary from region to region and soil and other factors.Around 5 to 6 years back a U.S marine who is also a member here had posted stills of Washy filifers from Iraq.We have a lady member from jordan who posted stills of here washy which has no thorns in its fronds.

I insist our members to propagate just raw healthy specimens than trying to find whether its pure or not. Even your stills seem to be one of those healthy filiferas that i have seen.

If you have seeds of those seen in your stills and have space to grow them in your garden i would like you to grow at least one of these.

And i have seen few w.filibustas which had dark purple colour to its frond end section.i.e the area connecting the dried boots.

It seems the palm in your stills has scored full 100/100 marks for a w.filifera.

Love,

Kris.

Edited December 29, 2017 by Kris

[Kris]

Washy Filibusta still taken from my old collection,This palm was fast grower but damped-off as its drain holes were clogged and we did not notice it before it was too late..year 2007.

A close-up !

.

[Kris]

I got this old photo of one washy filifera,initially they were all gtown in our roof top garden,later shifted to the garden area..

.

 

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Pure 1g filifera grown in full texas sun. Short and fat. We dont grow in these pots any longer so they stretch out more. 

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

BTW that is 2 years from seed and it 100% defoliated and spear pulled last January under a frost cloth.

[aztropic]

On 12/22/2017, 9:38:05, Small palm said:

Hey palmtalk, I collected seed from a Washingtonia filifera and germinated them about 2 years ago. I already knew there was a chance that these seeds could be crossed with Washingtonia robusta when I collected them.

Now that they are growing up, I see reddish brown coloring at the base of the fronds. From what I understand, pure W. filifera should be pure green on the frond bases. 

For those of you that are familiar with W. filibusta, do you think my seedlings are hybrids?

I posted 3 pictures of my seedlings below. 

Thanks

Definitely hybrid or robusta.

 

15 hours ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

Pure 1g filifera grown in full texas sun. Short and fat. We dont grow in these pots any longer so they stretch out more. 

This is what a true filifera looks like. Very hairy and NO red at the leaf bases.

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[Kris]

10 hours ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

BTW that is 2 years from seed and it 100% defoliated and spear pulled last January under a frost cloth.

Yes,that is the true quality of a pure washy filifers,as they hate moisture and humidity in the crown area.And these palms do not like to grow in semi shade or under a huge dicot trees.

I will search and post stills of those washies which died since they were growing in shade and our soil here is claye.And our winters are wet but not cool.

Love,

Kris.

 

[Small palm]

On 12/28/2017, 11:06:25, Kris said:

Dear Chris,

I must say that the W.Filifera in pot is around 7 years old.So you can understand that most of its characteristic qualities increases as your saplings grow big.When our washies were young it too resembled like your saplings seen above but i had no doubt since the seeds received were tagged as W.Filifera.So give them some time so as they become little big to ID.

i.e For cooler regions its w.filifera and wet and humid region its W.Robusta.But in my case iam living in hot wet tropics with coastal humidity year around.It has grown well by simple soil amendment and we water this palm only in summer season,every alternate days with a bucket of well water.

Here are some visuals as to how the palm is trying to make space for its ever growing roots.It has broke open the concrete ring with iron bracing inside could not contain it..

A new crack has developed on the other of the previous crack...

Iam a fan of slow growing,huge trunking massive palms 'Washy Filifera's' fits the bill perfectly. 

Love,

Kris.

 

Hello @Kris, I'm really curious to see what I have as they grow. Glad to hear your palm is growing and bulking up. It's amazing to see the strength of tree growth, as you have shown in your pics of the concrete ring breaking. Thanks for sharing. 

Thanks for your input @aztropic, I'm hoping they do turn out to be W. filibusta hybrids. I'm curious to see how they perform versus pure W. filifera, if they are hybrids. I know they will do better in my hometown due to the lack of enough Summer heat.