Kentiopsis oliviformis

[Pivi]

Is kentiopsis oliviformis really that slow after germinating?

Mine germinated and one month after that it has roots only 1 cm long...is that normal?

Edited April 20, 2008 by Pivi

[madagascarbob]

Is kentiopsis oliviformis really that slow after germinating?

Mine germinated and one month after that it has roots only 1 cm long...is that normal?

There slow there whole life like most New Caledonia Palms .

[Pivi]

yes but... in two weeks chambeyronia macrocarpa roots grew 10 cm while in one moth kentiopsis roots grew 1 cm.

[Pivi]

anyone, your experiences with just germinated kentiopsis oliviformis seeds.

[NatureGirl]

I'd like to hear more germination experiences also. I bought 100 seeds from RPS back in Dec. Over 4months later not a single one has germinated. $75 down the drain.

[Mark_NoVA]

After reading all these nice comments about Kentiopsis oliviformis, I looked it up in 'An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms', and see that it grows under 1,000 feet in New Caledonia, while two other species, K. magnifica and K. piersoniorum grow at higher elevations (1-2,000', and 1-3,000'), suggesting they'd be even more cold hardy. Are they grown much, and has anybody found this to be the case?

[Jason in Orlando]

I'd like to hear more germination experiences also. I bought 100 seeds from RPS back in Dec. Over 4months later not a single one has germinated. $75 down the drain.

I got ten from RPS several years ago. I think 4 or 5 germinated. I potted up three, and squirrels ate two of them. The last one is starting to finally fill out a one gallon pot. I used the bag method and kept the peat only slightly damp, and warm.

Jason

[Pivi]

Jason, how long did it take them to germinate and did they germinate all together or there was some time between germiantions?

[ghar41]

Dick,

Very true.  Do you know anyone around the bay area who has tried K. oliviformis?  I'm trying three small Cyphophoenix elegans, and so far, they are doing great despite the cooler-than-usual winter and bursts of heavy rain.

Jason

This palm has been on my radar but I havent tried one over here yet. Jim in Los Altos may have some....seems like Ive heard him mention them...Jim?

[mppalms]

This palm has been on my radar but I havent tried one over here yet. Jim in Los Altos may have some....seems like Ive heard him mention them...Jim?

I may need to try it. The one factor that makes it a bit more challenging is that I think it gets pretty tall (though it may take decades to do that). I worry that it cannot be protected and that it will be a hazard when it is inevitably frozen. Cyphophoenix elegans thus far has done well for me, and it will be a LONG time before one of them is over 10 ft. tall. I have three small ones (1g), and, while glacially slow, they looked good all the way through the winter.

Jason

[SoulofthePlace]

I just received a purchased-from-Spain Kentiopsis oliviformis seedling (about 20 cm tall) and planted it into a bigger container. Does anyone know how many years I have to wait to plant it into the ground? My area is zone 11B (coldest past winter night got down to 7.7C (about 46F?) once, and the hottest it gets is 27C (80F) and usually summer is 18C-25C (high 60s to mid 70s Fa.) but we get high winds that may shred some plants.Outside of summer the most common temps here are teens (50s). Distance from ocean is 2 km. Elevation about 140 m.

[Hillizard]

After years of growing it indoors from a liner-sized plant, today I moved my K. oliviformis outdoors. The latest spear leaf on it was bent over from contact with the ceiling.  It's under a patio cover for now to acclimate it to local conditions. Eventually I will move it where it gets some morning sun, but I suspect winter temps in the mid-20 deg.F range in my area of interior northern California will eventually doom it to decline, so I'm hoping for a mild winter this year. 

[Mohsen]

Mine is showing some growth after winter 

[sonoranfans]

they are slow until they trunk, then they are medium growers.  My 2' seedling is now 12' overall, after 5 1/2 years.  The leaf production/ year is now at 4 after being 1- 2 for several years.   My larger trunking KO are putting out 6-7 leaves a year.

[Mohsen]

3 hours ago, sonoranfans said:

they are slow until they trunk, then they are medium growers.  My 2' seedling is now 12' overall, after 5 1/2 years.  The leaf production/ year is now at 4 after being 1- 2 for several years.   My larger trunking KO are putting out 6-7 leaves a year.

Thanks Tom

i noticed every new leaf is bigger than the previous ones ...

Also please post some photos of yours if possible ...

[sonoranfans]

Mohsen,  I posted a couple pics in this thread:   http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/55059-kentiospsis-oliviformis-doubles/#comment-826265

Yes the leaves keep getting larger, spears heavier.  they are really pretty "bullet proof" for me almost like beccariophoenix alfredii.  but they do start out slow and really come into their own after trunking..

[weldertom]

On 1/21/2008, 10:57:26, Okie said:

I have several planted within 60 feet of the Indian River in Brevard County, FL.  Not only can it take cold, but more importantly for around here, is salt and wind.

 

This palm is rock solid and truly "a landscaping beauty"

What Okie said. I'm in Melbourne Beach ( in town ) and mine is on the cusp of trunking and happy as a clam. Fortunately, it was wind sheltered from Hurricane Irma and standing straight and plumb.

[DoomsDave]

Anyone have some updates?

[Merlyn]

I read on Palmpedia that this was an "emergent palm" and needs canopy or partial shade when young.  The one at Leu Gardens is in pretty deep shade, at least one that I found last November.  I just bought a decent sized seedling in December.  It's in a 1g pot in my nursery area, and I'd like to figure out a spot for it this year.  In some of the posts it seems like they want shade when young, sort of like Archontophoenix.  But that may be for CA and it might not be critical here in FL?

[James B]

Mine is in morning sun and afternoon shade. It’s companion is an A.Teracarpa from Junglemusic which will grow faster and serve as some extra protection. 

[akamu]

These are tough Palms they like water like King Palms and in my experience grow pretty fast you can tell by the growth rings

[Chris Chance]

I got two of them out here and they do great! This is my biggest. Just opening another nice large spear. Have it planted under a queen. 

[Tracy]

Yes, slow early and progress quite rapidly after they hit the trunking stage and as Adam pointed out above the growth rings really show it.  Can handle full sun here on the San Diego Coast.  In the second photo, you can see that at least here in California they tend to hold the fronds very upright (to the left of the D prestoniana).  The other California K. oliviformis I have seen that are trunking show this same characteristic, but I seem to recall habitat photos aren't quite as upright, holding a little more crown.  Like many of the New Caledonia palms, it seems to continue growing right through winter.

[DoomsDave]

@Merlyn they’re tough when large, like Archontophoenix but (likewise)!they’re also really fragile when small and I’ve learned this the hard way. 
 

Protect from dying out and too much sun, until they’re a good 12 to 18” tall.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[sonoranfans]

I planted 3 specimen palms(3-5' trunk) out from ken johnson in 2011.  They were already sun hardened and saw all day sun after planting.  I planted out a 3 gallon size in 2010 that was hit with 28F and frost with no overhead.  It was frost burned except the intact spear.  It slowly recovered and grew slowy in a shady spot on the SW side of the house(late day house sun protection some oak over head which has since been removed).  Today that small palm in 1st pic is doing very well and seems to be increasing in leaf output.  Ring spacing doesnt tell the whole story on growth.  These put out about half the leaves as my archontophoenix alexandre with similar spacing, half the growth.  Today the  ones I got from ken are 25'-30' overall, cant see them so well when you are in them.  here are a few shots of the small one(now ~15') and looking at the smallest of the big ones with wide angle lens sideways(!) and up into the canopy for the larger ones(one palm you can only see the trunk on the right side in that pic).  They sure can take 28F better than similarly sized royals, foxtails, foxy ladies, and dypsis pembana.  All of the latter palms were bigger in size and had spear pull.  All by 2/3 pembanas died in that event.  My impressions is they recovered more slowly from near complete foliage burn in 2018 advective event of 30F for 12 hours.  They put out about half the leaves of royals and a. alexandre.  I think small ones need more care with water in sandy soil.  Unlike archontophoenix, they like slightly alkaline soil so I planted the archies in an upper garden bed and the kentiopsis in the lower one.  Archies are way faster as are royals and dypsis pembana.  But the kentiopsis is a very attractive broad leaflet palm that does very well in 9b in my experience.  They are more leaf tender than beccariophoenix alfredii as but tougher than my archies and royals.   

[sonoranfans]

Here is the trunk base of the largest one with adventidious roots.  Its about 2' across at the bottom

[Stelios]

My kentiopsis is still a small seedling (the heel is still a bit visible in the marked place). I'm not very concerned from our winter lows so I wanted to test this palm in the heat. Last summer was very hot with daily temps almost all August at 35-37 celcius and hot nights. Is planted in full sun from about 9am to 6pm. Is between a royal and an archontophoenix but they don't provide any shade yet. I was watering it daily in the summer. It was a bit burnt but not so bad and now in the winter is recovering. I should have given it partial shade till is bigger cause maybe the growth is affected in this heat (it's the first summer in the ground and when it was in the pot under shade it looked better). Still is good to know how is handling the heat.

[ExperimentalGrower]

On 2/8/2021 at 7:20 AM, sonoranfans said:

I planted 3 specimen palms(3-5' trunk) out from ken johnson in 2011.  They were already sun hardened and saw all day sun after planting.  I planted out a 3 gallon size in 2010 that was hit with 28F and frost with no overhead.  It was frost burned except the intact spear.  It slowly recovered and grew slowy in a shady spot on the SW side of the house(late day house sun protection some oak over head which has since been removed).  Today that small palm in 1st pic is doing very well and seems to be increasing in leaf output.  Ring spacing doesnt tell the whole story on growth.  These put out about half the leaves as my archontophoenix alexandre with similar spacing, half the growth.  Today the  ones I got from ken are 25'-30' overall, cant see them so well when you are in them.  here are a few shots of the small one(now ~15') and looking at the smallest of the big ones with wide angle lens sideways(!) and up into the canopy for the larger ones(one palm you can only see the trunk on the right side in that pic).  They sure can take 28F better than similarly sized royals, foxtails, foxy ladies, and dypsis pembana.  All of the latter palms were bigger in size and had spear pull.  All by 2/3 pembanas died in that event.  My impressions is they recovered more slowly from near complete foliage burn in 2018 advective event of 30F for 12 hours.  They put out about half the leaves of royals and a. alexandre.  I think small ones need more care with water in sandy soil.  Unlike archontophoenix, they like slightly alkaline soil so I planted the archies in an upper garden bed and the kentiopsis in the lower one.  Archies are way faster as are royals and dypsis pembana.  But the kentiopsis is a very attractive broad leaflet palm that does very well in 9b in my experience.  They are more leaf tender than beccariophoenix alfredii as but tougher than my archies and royals.   

Thanks for the info! What are you using to increase pH?

Edited February 12, 2021 by ExperimentalGrower

[sonoranfans]

41 minutes ago, ExperimentalGrower said:

Thanks for the info! What are you using to increase pH?

dolimitic lime goes down with special attention paid to the kentiopsis and my cuban copernicias. 

[ExperimentalGrower]

27 minutes ago, sonoranfans said:

dolimitic lime goes down with special attention paid to the kentiopsis and my cuban copernicias. 

Very interesting. Regarding Copernicia- by chance does alba and/or prunifera fall into the category of appreciating alkaline soil? 
 

I wonder if this is perhaps due to them growing in limestone based soils in their native environments.

[sonoranfans]

5 hours ago, ExperimentalGrower said:

Very interesting. Regarding Copernicia- by chance does alba and/or prunifera fall into the category of appreciating alkaline soil? 
 

I wonder if this is perhaps due to them growing in limestone based soils in their native environments.

I have a blue alba, my understanding is they are not particularly alkaline loving.   Mine does very well without extra dolomite.  

[weldertom]

[ExperimentalGrower]

1 hour ago, weldertom said:

Haha! Little buddy have a good time there.

[chad2468emr]

23 hours ago, weldertom said:

Cute little sulcata! (Sulcata, right? Haha) I love tortoises and if I end up owning a home where it’s warm enough one day I plan to do just what you’re doing. 

On the matter of KO, I have a 1 gal palm that has just been so miserable for the last year. Such a stubborn little guy. He was in terrible shape when I bought him for a discounted price and had lost all but one frond to a spider mite infestation and a really strong subsequent treatment for them. 

He’s put out 1 frond since then and then basically hit pause. I’ve tried him in 5+ hours of sun and partial shade. Also a looks yellowed no matter what I do... hoping this growing season I see it get a lot happier. 

[ExperimentalGrower]

3 hours ago, chad2468emr said:

Cute little sulcata! (Sulcata, right? Haha) I love tortoises and if I end up owning a home where it’s warm enough one day I plan to do just what you’re doing. 

On the matter of KO, I have a 1 gal palm that has just been so miserable for the last year. Such a stubborn little guy. He was in terrible shape when I bought him for a discounted price and had lost all but one frond to a spider mite infestation and a really strong subsequent treatment for them. 

He’s put out 1 frond since then and then basically hit pause. I’ve tried him in 5+ hours of sun and partial shade. Also a looks yellowed no matter what I do... hoping this growing season I see it get a lot happier. 

Might be feeling stressed from the direct sunlight? Maybe give it just dappled shade right now, as they are an “emergent” palm and especially since it’s sounds like yours has had a rough time.

[chad2468emr]

3 hours ago, ExperimentalGrower said:

Might be feeling stressed from the direct sunlight? Maybe give it just dappled shade right now, as they are an “emergent” palm and especially since it’s sounds like yours has had a rough time.

Yeah it’s been in shade since last nov or so. I’d say it’s greened up a bit since then but overall hoping it really settles in more this summer. 

[Steve Mac]

My KO just put out a new one. It is becoming more impressive year by year.

[ExperimentalGrower]

26 minutes ago, gtsteve said:

My KO just put out a new one. It is becoming more impressive year by year.

Looks beautiful. Has it moved much from the spot you planted it? They seem to have quite a heal.

[Merlyn]

On 2/12/2021 at 3:19 AM, sonoranfans said:

I have a blue alba, my understanding is they are not particularly alkaline loving.   Mine does very well without extra dolomite.  

My Fallaensis and Macroglossa (probable hybrid per NatureGirl) definitely showed some extra potassium-deficiency yellowing over the winter.  Is that a typical symptom of an alkaline-loving palm unhappy with the local acidic soil?  If so, how much extra dolomitic lime do you add to your Cuban Copernicias?

[Steve Mac]

@ExperimentalGrower, It has not moved at all. I didn't even notice a heal when I planted it or since.

From the top side it comes out quite yellow (which I like), before greening up but it is too hard to get that shot.