Gotta love Dypsis carlsmithi

[colin Peters]

This palm is amazing. one to two feet in diameter, and the trunk is about two feet tall , still cranking out the beautiful colors when the old leaf falls off. Serious chunky palm. Can't wait for it 

to flower again, has only produced one in its lifetime.

aloha

[GottmitAlex]

OMG! Wunderbar! Just fantastic!

[Jubaea]

That is some really nice color.  Thanks for sharing.

[realarch]

Wow Colin, that is beautiful chunky palm.

Mine have yet to trunk, but getting close. 

Tim

[Jim in Los Altos]

Stunning! The color is incredible. Are these really slow growers as juveniles? I have two in the ground and they're super slow. Perhaps they need more hot weather than they get here.

[PalmatierMeg]

Beautiful color. Why are large Dypsis so difficult to grow here in SWFL? They must ate our never-cool-off sweltering summers.

[Tyrone]

4 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Stunning! The color is incredible. Are these really slow growers as juveniles? I have two in the ground and they're super slow. Perhaps they need more hot weather than they get here.

Yep, slow but steady. Mine doesn't stop all year. It even got frost burnt last year and just grew out of it. The more sun the better I think.

[dmc]

Very nice!

[Palm Tree Jim]

Well grown Colin.

 

[Tracy]

12 hours ago, colin Peters said:

Can't wait for it 

to flower again, has only produced one in its lifetime.

Unless you are waiting for it to produce seed to grow more, its probably best that its putting its energy into growing instead of producing another flower stalk.  Picture perfect example of this species.  Love the color on the rings below that very colorful leaf base too!  Wish I had room for one, but only so many big Dypsis will fit into my lot, and I've reached my limit!

[Monòver]

I love it! 

I hope my seedlings will be like this may be in 10 years...

Well, may be 15 years

[dwfl]

14 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Beautiful color. Why are large Dypsis so difficult to grow here in SWFL? They must ate our never-cool-off sweltering summers.

Have you tried D. Carlsmithii? I've seen a couple now doing well in South and SW FL. Searle has a good size one and I saw a nice one in Fort Myers

 

That's a beautiful specimen Colin!!

[colin Peters]

Thanks for the positive comments everyone. Get to look at it every time I park my truck.

Jim,    ya pretty slow at first, then it really took off, in heavy black volcanic clay. And i make sure it has lots of water all year long. I planted a few at a clients house from a big 5 gallon, and a few one gallons and they all died, as a few did the ones in my front garden, which is coral, junk and broken concrete fill. Mine gets hot, full sun all day long. 

Tracy,  I want it to seed again so I can sell it, Sold about one and a half thousand last time. Would love to get more of these on this island, since it does so well and is really colorful, what more could you really want. Nice coconut substitute, without the expense of keeping the coconuts cleaned off yearly. 

[Tracy]

1 hour ago, colin Peters said:

Tracy,  I want it to seed again so I can sell it, Sold about one and a half thousand last time. Would love to get more of these on this island, since it does so well and is really colorful, what more could you really want. Nice coconut substitute, without the expense of keeping the coconuts cleaned off yearly. 

I can't argue with that !  I have to wonder if the prolific seeding when it does set seed correlates to the frequency.  With so many, it may not need to frequently set seed to have been successful in habitat.

[Josh-O]

excellent color. thanks for sharing Colin..

[Cindy Adair]

I think I "need" a group of these! Plenty of room here still for such a beauty. Simply gorgeous and thanks for posting!

[knell]

here is one that split naturally into two trunks from the same heel

 

[colin Peters]

Tracy, kinda makes sense, I think as the palm matures, the seed per infructesence increases as well. 

Knell, beautiful, Is that at floribunda?

[Tracy]

6 minutes ago, colin Peters said:

I think as the palm matures, the seed per infructesence increases as well.

I have the smaller form of Dypsis prestoniana as well as the "Big Curly" form.  Having seen photos of the inflorescence of other prestoniana, I was looking at how wimpy the ones on mine are.  Perhaps it is the form, or perhaps it will get larger as the plant gets more mature.  This is its third round of inflorescence.  While I'm happy I have it, a big carlsmithii like yours would have been even more striking!  Sorry for the digression to inflorescence size/maturity on my D. p., but you can tie it back in by showing the size of the last inflorescence on your Dypsis carlsmithii.

[realarch]

Not sure if Knell's photo is from Floribunda, but I've always admired the chunky duo of D. carlsmithii growing so close together in Jeff's garden. 

Mine unintentionally, were planted a similar distance apart and my fear of them being too close together disappeared when I saw those two. 

[Tracy]

4 minutes ago, realarch said:

Not sure if Knell's photo is from Floribunda, but I've always admired the chunky duo of D. carlsmithii growing so close together in Jeff's garden. 

Mine unintentionally, were planted a similar distance apart and my fear of them being too close together disappeared when I saw those two. 

Tim, I'm sure I've seen photos of yours in other posts, but it would be wonderful to have a current photo of your pair in this post. 

[colin Peters]

 

Tracy,     Pretty big inflorescence considering a short trunk. Had 1500-2000 seed. Wish I could have ten of these on both sides of my driveway.  aloha

Tim   lets see your carl's

 

[Tracy]

7 hours ago, colin Peters said:

Pretty big inflorescence considering a short trunk

Yes and a beautiful chunky trunk showing behind that inflorescence!

[realarch]

Aloha Tracy, a few photos for you. Let's just say the lighting is courtesy of 'divine intervention' or just great timing. ( I would say it's the later)

I'd say they will be thrunking in a year or so. Planted from 2" cones back in 2008......been growing for awhile now. 

Tim

[colin Peters]

Serious chunks, way fatter than mine. Beautiful.  thanks Tim 

[realarch]

Colin, is the D. carlsmithii growing on the Kuliouou property? 

Tim

[Tracy]

On 6/22/2018, 8:54:40, realarch said:

Planted from 2" cones back in 2008......been growing for awhile now. 

Tim

Whoa!  You remember how long it would take in Southern California from 2" cones to that size and it wouldn't be one decade!  Quite beautiful and impressive; thanks for sharing.  I would agree that trunking is just around the corner given the girth on those two.

[colin Peters]

Tim, yes, the sides of the yard are native, black volcanic clay. the front garden is coral, reddish dirt, concrete chunk, fill. Most 

Dypsis large or small have perished there, must be alkaline problem or the like. 

aloha

Colin

[DoomsDave]

On 6/22/2018, 9:42:16, knell said:

here is one that split naturally into two trunks from the same heel

 

Whoa

@colin Peters, I screamed obscenities.

Whoa.

Wish I could get them to grow that well here.

[DoomsDave]

12 hours ago, Tracy said:

Whoa!  You remember how long it would take in Southern California from 2" cones to that size and it wouldn't be one decade!  Quite beautiful and impressive; thanks for sharing.  I would agree that trunking is just around the corner given the girth on those two.

Maybe two decades. Running out of time.

[Tracy]

10 minutes ago, DoomsDave said:

Maybe two decades. Running out of time.

My sentiments exactly.  I need to start a little bigger these days, kind of like getting a head start in a race or odds when betting!   

[realarch]

Mahalo Tracy & Colin. 

Have enjoyed watching these two palms grow over the years, they have always been robust, colorful, and healthy. 

I agree with the sentiment about starting bigger these days, especially with giant Dypsis, although as I said earlier, it's been fun watching smoldering giants grow. 

Tim 

[colin Peters]

Tim I see your leaf-sheath/petiole is cracking. Mine do the same, I thought it was due to the extreme windy situation here, especially at the end of my driveway.

Are yours in a windy spot, by looking at how nice the leaves are, I would think not. Maybe a cultivation, high fertilization thing. Do you fertilize yours much??

aloha

[realarch]

Colin, just took a look at the two D. carlsmithii and just the two leaf bases on the one palm has splits in the leaf sheath. The rest have no splits. The thickness on the sheath at the base of the petiole are inches thick, but become very thin toward the margins. 

I rarely fertilize and this particular location is protected from wind. Lucky here, the natural geography moderates the strong trade winds that affect other parts of Hilo town. 

Tim