A. Cunninghamiana growth progression

[ghar41]

Ive enjoyed viewing time progression posts of palm growth, so here's another.

I planted these four A. cunninghamiana var. Illawaras in 4/2003 under the four windows in the back of the picture. The plant on the far left, appears to be still in a 5 gallon pot when this picture was taken. My son, in the green sweatshirt was 2 1/2.

This next photo was taken 6 months later at his 3rd birthday 10/03.

Next, 8/2005, my son is almost 5 years old.

[ghar41]

This is from 11/2008

And today, Brandon is 10 years old.

7 years of growth from a 5 gallon pot.

[Rafael]

Impressive growth rate!!

And quite nice!

[dalmatiansoap]

I can just say WOW!

Beautifull

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Great before and after shot ,palms look great !

[Walter John]

Terrific progression pics, thanks for posting, what a great palm, and a cool lad.

[freakypalmguy]

Really nice Glenn, and they survived 07 says a lot about there cold hardiness.

[ghar41]

Really nice Glenn, and they survived 07 says a lot about there cold hardiness.

Thank you everyone for the comments.

freaky: 2007 was 24F here but last years 27F was more destructive on all my palms, i have no idea why. It almost completely defoliated the largest King and left cracks in the trunk. It took forever for it to grow this year. Once these grow over the house, their days are numbered here- they lose too much protection, although Ive never had one quite this big. Do you grow them in Temecula?

[freakypalmguy]

Kings lived through the 07 freeze but were completely defoliated and took two growing seasons to look normal again. I lost my only small one in 07, but it had just been planted. I've planted a couple more and they are doing fine for now, but like you mentioned, it's only a matter of time.

[BS Man about Palms]

Semi-instant tropical! I like it!

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

This is from 11/2008

And today, Brandon is 10 years old.

7 years of growth from a 5 gallon pot.

LOOKING GOOD!

As if they were in SoCal!

Jeff

[Jim in Los Altos]

Glenn, those kings look great. I wouldn't have known they were badly damaged last winter by how great they look now. Who knows, with increasing height, they may do better in winter cold. The air warms as you go up.

[Kumar]

What a beautiful series of progression photos. Really enjoyed them

[cencalpalmguy]

Awsome looking kings Glenn. It's hard to believe how fast they can grow and how well they held up in the valley. I plan to plant a few in the spring and see how well they hold up here.

Chad

[DoomsDave]

Glenn:

Those Kings rock!

THey're the hardiest of the Archies, by far, though A. purpurea took some nasty temps, too.

Keep us apprized, good and bad. I want to see your palms beat the odds.

[garrin]

Wow! What wonderful condition they are in for a Central Valley climate. I do remember a few very tall A. cunnunghamianas in Sacramento years ago that were eventually lost to a really severe record-breaking freeze. But I have seen them take temps in the high teens in N. CA with defoliation but complete recovery. You probably have some long-term keepers there! Thanks.

[ghar41]

Wow! What wonderful condition they are in for a Central Valley climate. I do remember a few very tall A. cunnunghamianas in Sacramento years ago that were eventually lost to a really severe record-breaking freeze. But I have seen them take temps in the high teens in N. CA with defoliation but complete recovery. You probably have some long-term keepers there! Thanks.

Thanks for all the kind comments. I planted some back in 1995 at my last house, and I know they are still there and still alive. They don't look very good as they receive much less water than these I have here. A couple of things to consider....one, this is the peak season, these look terrible in April. They've had a full growing season to recover. And two, I think i get better leaf detail due to a mist sprinkler that is set high amoung the leaves.

I loose cold sensitive palms in two main ways. First, palms like King's burn and the necrosis rots the spear over the next few days, it works its way to the heart. We get lots of rain here, and it speeds the rotting. Without daconil burned spears often lead to death. The second type of death sentence affects palms like Wodeyetia birfurcata, even though they burn less than Kings. By April they are dead. They seem to starve over the course of the long winter, or it may just be the cold wet soil that does them in.

Garrin, Im thinking the tallest King here is pushing its luck. It's growing past the protection of the house and the weather is evil up there. Maybe with the density of the trunk they would come back. I'm not too torn up over it though because these grow fast (the King to the left of the largest is 4 years from a 1 gallon pot.) and I can always plant another.

I really believe that they have made it this far because of their planting orientation (southeast facing), proximity to the house, as well as the copius amounts of water they receive in the summer.

[dalmatiansoap]

they sure are worth risking!

Now, where is that sprinkler?

[ghar41]

they sure are worth risking!

Now, where is that sprinkler?

Look closely at the last picture on post #2. There is a long white 1/2 inch pvc pipe just to the right of the largest King that runs up into the crown. It has a flat spray sprinkler head and during our dry summer days and nights it turns on once every 3 hours for one minute. When this is turned off during the summer the leaves lose vitality and curl along the long edges of the leaflets.

As you can see it has flowered (twice) but none of the fruit set seeds.

[ghar41]

Glenn:

Those Kings rock!

THey're the hardiest of the Archies, by far, though A. purpurea took some nasty temps, too.

Keep us apprized, good and bad. I want to see your palms beat the odds.

Hey Dave! and thanks

Ive tried A. purpurea but all 5 plants croaked in 2007. For some reason the A. cunnininghamiana "Illawaras" do best for me. The largest tree and the 4 year old tree to its left are Illwaras from two different vendors . Many other NorCal growers have had great success with them.......

[Sutter Bob]

Thanks for the great photos and the tip on watering the crown. They look great. I've got a few four year olds up here which seem to be hanging in there. They sure love our hot summers.

[samirbouag]

terrific!! thanks for those beautiful pics! i love this palm!

[Dave-Vero]

Mine was a tiny little thing when planted in 2004. It survived the two hurricanes and now has a respectable trunk. Worst setback was squirrels this summer--decided to clip leaflets to make a nest. A. cunninghamiana, like Carpentaria probably isn't hardy over the long term in our climate (record low is some 21 degrees), but the likelihood of one of these palms living a productive life is pretty high.

Humidity-spraying the leaves so they think it's Queensland is a smart idea.

[Butiagrus]

Hello,

these palms are very fast =D !!!

And your garden is very nice with all of the palms in the picture 4

I looove it!

JBG

Edited November 26, 2010 by Butiagrus

[mlovecan]

Glenn your growth rate is spectacular!

My Illawaras ( the two larger ones here - the third is a normal Cunninghamiana ) have been in the ground for 5 years from 1 gallon size ( 60 cm ). I got them from Toby at RPS.

They are growing in almost complete shade and are about to pass an A. Alexandra that was already trunking when it was put in the ground 4 years ago.

They grow all year and have really nice brown new spears in the cooler weather.

Regards

Maurice

Edited November 27, 2010 by mlovecan

[enigma99]

My Kings just got hurt a little from the arctic outbreak 2 days ago. As for the daconil, how do I apply it? just pour or spray toward down the crown? how much? I don't want to stress it out

[ghar41]

My Kings just got hurt a little from the arctic outbreak 2 days ago. As for the daconil, how do I apply it? just pour or spray toward down the crown? how much? I don't want to stress it out

It has been suggested to me in the past to pour it full strength right into the mouth of the emerging spear. This technique has worked very well. However, if it rains after its effectiveness is diminished. Also, I have found that if the entire spear is brown, especially early in the winter season, they have been difficult to save. I buy them as inexpensive one gallon plants and keep a couple coming along. Good luck!

[ghar41]

One other thing to consider when trying to speed growth on this plant. The four palms in front of the window were all planted at the same time from 5 gallon pots. However, the three palms to the right were in their respective pots much longer than the large tree on the left. The vendor I purchased the large palm from had it in a mix that had a high ratio of perlite, to the extent that the top of the soil line was almost completely white with perlite that had risen to the top. Before I planted it, it had to be watered once, sometimes twice a day on hot days. It was growing fast but did not become heavily root bound. It took off when I planted it, and the root bound plants have languished behind it ever since.

The King to the far left (away from the windows) was obtained bare root from a vendor in Hawaii and has never seen a pot, I put it right in the ground. I'd have to review my pics but im guessing its 4 years old from a one gallon size.

[ghar41]

This is from 11/2008

And today, Brandon is 10 years old.

7 years of growth from a 5 gallon pot.

One other thing to consider when trying to speed growth on this plant. The four palms in front of the window were all planted at the same time from 5 gallon pots. However, the three palms to the right were in their respective pots much longer than the large tree on the left. The vendor I purchased the large palm from had it in a mix that had a high ratio of perlite, to the extent that the top of the soil line was almost completely white with perlite that had risen to the top. Before I planted it, it had to be watered once, sometimes twice a day on hot days. It was growing fast but did not become heavily root bound. It took off when I planted it, and the root bound plants have languished behind it ever since.

The King to the far left (away from the windows) was obtained bare root from a vendor in Hawaii and has never seen a pot, I put it right in the ground. I'd have to review my pics but im guessing its 4 years old from a one gallon size.

[enigma99]

I've got 3 trees here, pics taken today of the emerging spears. How does the damage look on the first two? To me, it looks pretty green, but what do I know:)

#1

#2 (black marks are a sharpie.. or a failed attempt at least)

#3.... I am very concerned about. This one started getting sick with these deformed spears around Oct. But it couldn't have been the cold since it was very warm until just last week.

For #3, I'm worried about going into winter and might lose it. Perhaps I can treat it and build a greenhouse around it so it is able to recover? Actually I had more plants get deformed spears around the same time, and I'm not sure why! too much water? fungas in soil? Thanks in advance!

[ghar41]

I've got 3 trees here, pics taken today of the emerging spears. How does the damage look on the first two? To me, it looks pretty green, but what do I know:)

#1

#2 (black marks are a sharpie.. or a failed attempt at least)

#3.... I am very concerned about. This one started getting sick with these deformed spears around Oct. But it couldn't have been the cold since it was very warm until just last week.

For #3, I'm worried about going into winter and might lose it. Perhaps I can treat it and build a greenhouse around it so it is able to recover? Actually I had more plants get deformed spears around the same time, and I'm not sure why! too much water? fungas in soil? Thanks in advance!

#'s 1 and 2 hard to tell, It couldn't hurt to use daconil as a precaution. #3 looks like a micronutrient deficiency to me, but I'm no expert.

[greekpalm]

so what was the deficiency ?

[KPL]

Glenn,

Thank you for that great progression of this beautiful palm. I know it's common, but I believe it deserves much more recognition from many.

Yet, I must say, YOUR SON WAS MUCH MORE PRESENT THAN THE PALM! HE IS INDEED A HANDSOME CHAP!

In 1990 upon moving into our new home in Poway, CA, we purchased a King, and spent $900 for same. We were indeed novice, I believe, but it was a beautiful palm.

Again Thank You.

KPL

[ghar41]

This is from 11/2008

And today, Brandon is 10 years old.

7 years of growth from a 5 gallon pot.

Time rolls on. 8 years of growth, Brandon will be 11 years old in a few weeks.

[dalmatiansoap]

Great!

Will U protect something there or is it shade cloth only?

[Mandrew968]

Really nice Glenn, and they survived 07 says a lot about there cold hardiness.

Thank you everyone for the comments.

freaky: 2007 was 24F here but last years 27F was more destructive on all my palms, i have no idea why. It almost completely defoliated the largest King and left cracks in the trunk. It took forever for it to grow this year. Once these grow over the house, their days are numbered here- they lose too much protection, although Ive never had one quite this big. Do you grow them in Temecula?

I see the fissures in the trunk, just below the crownshaft--did you say that's from the cold? My father's foxtail has very similar markings. I always thought it was too much water + growth spurts... Do you think the markings on his foxtail are cold related? We don't really get much cold, comparatively... I love a fast palm!

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

Not meaning to hijack the thread, but since I like only half a dozen blocks from Glenn, I figuired I'd post a photo of my 8 year old King palm.

Note the trunk damage from past freezes and the dead leaves from last winter.

Jeff

[Sutter Bob]

Thanks for the update Glenn. They're looking great.

Mine are a bit more frazzled like Jeff's, but this rain should be great for them.

I'll try to get some new pictures of mine when the sun is out.

It's nice to see some as nice as yours in the central valley.

[Trishun]

Thanks Glenn for the motivation. I looking forward to my next five years.

[ghar41]

Ora- No I dont have any way to protect it other than what is already in place...its just too tall now. I did throw some christmas lights over it a few years ago. It's position and proximity to the house are the best help it has.

Mandrew- Im not sure about the cracks. I always thought it was from the freezes. I do know that Inge Hoffman has a King in San Leandro that is still alive with deep cracks on the trunk since 1990.

Bob- I really do believe that the extra humidity and moisture created by the crown level sprinkler is the key to getting them to look good here. Especially when they start to get tall. Mine turn on for one minute once every three hours. I see so many Kings growing in inland dry heat that struggle, with leaflets that look tired and are curled under along the length.