All Activity

Two nice alms worth growing especially the saintlucei. The MacArthurii is a common palm yet I never got around to planting one in the collection years ago time to do so now I think. Any palms I plant now with winter approaching are proven winners so they will just have to tough it out survival of the fittest I guess makes for a better garden in the end.

I am about to start making mounds and I wonder what kind of soil would be best. I was thinking of making a flat bottom hole 5 inches deep, add a thin layer of river sand as buffer zone and then put acidic topsoil, about 12 inches deep. I guess that will be enough for palms as this is where most "active roots" are found. I found already made outdoor soil mixes on sale with a pH of around 6. Is it OK if I use such soil without adding any local soil or anything else? This is the composition of the soil I am thinking of buying: 40% Blonde Peat - 25% Black Peat - 20% Humus - 5% Perlite - 2.5% Zeolite - 2.5% Attapulgite - 5% River Sand.

Very colorful! Any chance you have a pic of the entire plant?

You can’t beat them for how tough they are. And cold tolerant making them even more popular with temperate growers. Yet you don’t see them for sale in chain stores, and one of the biggest questions you get asked as a seller is what have you got that will take frost, easy answer the engleri. You got a nice one there Harry. Richard

They are a good choice for cold climates that’s for sure. Easy to work with and grow.

She’s a cracker as we would say, an old clone as well it will take off in the ground once planted. Richard

That’s the go get them through your friend, some country’s are not to worried about live Imports others like Australia, you can practically forget about importing live plants it’s possible but such a nightmare and exspensive. You would want to make sure it’s a pretty rare plant to make it worthwhile. I look at the bio security in Australia and it’s there for a good reason. Some common sense needs to be implemented but with governments there is no such thing as common sense.

Chuniphoenix nana can have two seeds in each seed.

Wow , I just learned something! My Arenga Engleri has finally started producing decent fruit. Not a dumb question at all , that’s how we learn . Harry

I have had the odd palm or two do the same thing. Nutrient issues most likely in the form of trace elements manganese, boron, magnesium, iron that’s just a couple that could be your problem. Then fungal like phytophora. Many an issue that can be diagnosed which one is the problem at glance many things it could be. A soil leaf sample will my pinpoint it exactly good luck.

That looks more like Howea Belmoriana to me . They are not as easy to grow as the Foresteriana . Howea F. grow like weeds here but Bel. Palms are fussy buggers. Harry

You are right about that , very easy , moderate growth once they get size. They are great palms. They grow in sun or shade and very hardy. I only have one that is quite old. It was in a 15 gallon pot for many years when I got it in about 1993 . I planted it in 1998 in a hot , sunny location. Overall , about 7’ tall. It is now producing fruit . Harry A very good palm for a fence line , it gets so thick!

"I have dug out a root ball of a 40yo sylvester we lost and just the core root mass was likely 400 gallons... " Holy crap Mr Clark. That is a huge dig out. I'm going to hazard a guess the entire closer root system might have been a conservative 8 yards. Which makes me hazard a very very wild guess that 15 ft is possibly the largest to go for a tree to be comfortable for a couple decades.. What do they do with those oaks and how large are the pots? Do they transport them on semis?

Richard I like Arenga Engleri so much that now I have 4 in my garden one of mine

Checking my signature..

Hello Richard and nice to meet you (here everyone is called Richard) I saw that you have been writing in this forum since 2024. I have been following this forum since the early 2000s even though I signed up in 2008 you mean I had about 50 plants of mine I was in the hospital, the chamaedorea were all in pots, and no one watered them, about 40 species, all dead here is my story (sorry if I'm repetitive)

A good tray engleri for the cold climate growers out there. Super tough easy to grow palm that’s good for that tropical look in a cold climate, fortunately iam not in that cold climate so these one are destined for the bottom of property where it’s a little bit colder than up the hill in the house garden. Slow growing as seedlings but pick up with a bit of age.

Palms from the floor to the ceiling:

Few roots = plants will have to start adding them before the plant pushes top growth.. Hard to do both at the same time.. Keep em happy, and they'll catch up ..Once they get a root system going. Patience...

So I got a filamentosa a few months ago from the reduced rack at lowe’s, thinking I had gotten a great find. I split up the plant and I did notice they kinda lacked roots, maybe root rot from being in pot for so long. But anyway, my little yuccas have been planted for some months and I have to say these things are slowwwww. Each plant has given like 1 new leaf in this entire time. My question is, are they normally this slow, or is this the fault of their poor state when purchased. And basically when can I expect to see more progress.

Because you loved this, let me show you want it looked like before I just moved...

I had one in full sun here in central Florida for a couple of years. Was planted as a 7g, and just never grew. Had to 3gph drippers on it, Palmgain a few times a year and heavily amended soil. It just stayed the same size. Stayed green as well, but the leaflets were narrow, didn’t fan out like they do in the shade. Last year I pulled it out and stuck it in a 15g pot under 30% shade cloth and it grew like a weed.

In the PNW I've never noticed a slow down in growth as a result of flowering. Typically these flower every year, so no, these should be allowed to cycle thru their normal routine.

Palm is off to a beautiful start,and has already survived anything that the Arizona climate could throw at it. 120F high temps, weeks of lows in the 90's F, and humid summer monsoon seasons,along with full Arizona sunshine and overhead watering every other day during the growing season. It has had some good pre Florida training over the years, and I am looking forward to watching it grow in it's new location. One thing I have learned through experience is to never say never when it comes to a specific plants survivability. 🌴 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

A incredible looking small palm. Got a great deal on it, and it’s done pretty well adjusting. Opened a couple of leaves already. What happened to yours?