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Does anyone have a clue what kind of oak this is? It is evergreen or mostly evergreen thru winter here in my southern zone 7B. The trunk doesn't look like a live oak at all, but the leaves are leathery and stiff-like. Anybody?

I'm about 2 years and multiple freezes behind you, and it shows! Great looking garden, hopefully for many years to come!

It’s nice to hear from you Marie. And thank you for the kind words. Amazes me how fast they grow from little 4” pots over just several years!

For growing indoors, you're doing an amazing job!

Put my 2 cents in, Sabal bermudana seems pretty drought resistant, the opposite with Sabal mauritiiformis.

It’s great to see it in habitat 😁

Thank you for the update. Things are looking good . The new growth is nice to see. Interesting that such a desert loving palm can look that good in a humid environment . Good job keeping it through the winter. Harry

Well , honestly , your posts have taught me that . I also cheated a bit because when I asked Terry Sullivan if a heat mat was required , he said “ just normal garage temperature”. He did say that they take a while , so I knew to be patient. After one month on the water heater (not as warm as a heat mat) I checked the baggie and the seeds were still firm but no sprouts! Then , just toss the baggie on the bench next to my drill press and another 5-6 weeks I thought I saw a sprout . I was so excited I texted @DoomsDave to tell him as neither one of us were having much luck. The little sprouts are now in wee pots in the greenhouse. Still slowly going along , no speed demons here. Terry had one going pretty well in a one gallon , about planting size , but it died when he was away . It probably dried out . I think they like good a watering technique , not too dry , not too wet . Fussy little buggers! I know you have had similar palms on your posts . They are super hardy once established along the coastal towns . Terry and his son even moved one that was almost trunking size . Harry

Palms need moisture just to feed on nutrients. Nutrients diffuse through moist soil towards root surfaces and are consumed/transported at the root surface membranes into the plant. If you dont have moisture in the soil the nutrients wont diffuse, they stand still. The diffustion towards roots is driven by a "chemical potential gradient" which is only functional in moist soil. So if diffustion stops, nutrients are consumed at the root surface and this critical surface is depleted of nutrients and uptake stops. In addition, the non consumed parts of fertilizer concentrate near the root surface which can blunt the chemical potential of new nutrients and slow future diffusion to the roots. This is where some parts of the soil become more hydrophobic and tend to repel water. Ideally the non absorbed parts of nutrients need to be rinsed away and "low ion" water should moisten the root area to recondition the root surface. I use humic acid to rinse irrigation salts and nutrient residuals from my soil that can make it hydrophobic. Rain is amazing at this as well as it is pretty much pure of ions so its better at rinsing them away (Rain also feeds with absorbed nitrogen). If i look at these basic principals water and nutrient transport in soil, the fastest growth would be consistent full root zone nutrient additions in high drainage soil with frequent rain(or irrigation). Irrigation water that is not distilled or purified can add salts which accumulate and can even draw water out of roots. Its kind of hard to get nutrients into the roots when water is being drawn out. Watering will be key in dry climates but the soil can accumulate irrigation salts. Adding mulch helps because it slowly produces humic acid as the final waste product of microbe consumption of the organic material. THose low levels of humic are preventative of salt accumulation. However concentrated humic acid takes less time to cure your soil of hydrophobicity issues. Yeah it sounds like a boatload rant that is too technical, but I left the math equations out. My simpler analogy avoids the complexity of the physical science: a bunch of people are in line to get on a bus. These people carry the cash(nutrients), the bus seats are the root uptake sites. Those in the back of the line are held back by those in the front and how fast they pay, get on and get seated. If they pay and get on fast, the line moves well and the cash(nutrients) are collected. But if the front of the line cant pay or cant get seated, cash(nutrient) collection stops. To keep the "line" going you need moisture. Why constant wetness is bad: 1) waste products are not removed by rinsing the soil to regernerate the full chemical potential that drives diffustion of new nutrients. Water moves through dry soil fast as it displaces air at ~600x less density. water does not move well through already wet soil as it must displace existing water of the same density. 2) oxygen is depleted by beneficial microbes that are needed to assist nutrient uptake at the root surface. These microbes need oxygen to survive and flourish. No oxygen your beneficial microbes die and in addition there is a soil pH shift with oxygen depletion and waste product accumulation that may also inhibit uptake.

I agree about palmetto. Way underrated for creating a vibe.

I thought hesperaloe at first thought, after that no idea at all!

That’s the best thing you could have done, by changing your technique you learned what works best for you and the seeds. If one is not producing good results then it’s time to change things that your doing, sticking with the same is not going to teach oneself new things that work. This is one thing plants have taught me!

I just love palms!

A hot open area in clearing, full sun virtually. Taking extremely dry conditions to complete soil saturation that would grow a palm in the right season of rainfall. Super tough plant, I have collected seeds of them in the past and got 4 to germinate out of 8 seeds. With a male and female close to each other. Iam unsure of the pollinater, we do get the weevil in my area so possibly that or a mammal, or some other insect. A very intresting Australian macrozamia, and very cold tolerant to heat tolerant!

Hi my good friend, that’s best idea Ive ever heard, good thinking 99. Only I have a better idea I move into the greenhouse and all the winter pslms get the house. Now here’s the problem, I would need a house the size of the grandest presidential building bribes could buy! And that depends on what country you’re president off! Too many plants Hu and not enough space!

great job Richard

Let’s see what’s cooking in the greenhouse!

Time for a few of the best, or at least some eye candy time!

Iguanura wallachiana and a nice little licuala triphylla, not to bad for the near the middle of winter!

The good old triangle palm in flower!

You’re a right old Robinson Cruseo in the making!

They are a nice palm, I have seen a few in a couple of gardens, one garden they were in a creek bed and had access to unlimited water and would have been submerged in floods for sure. The other garden they were in a gully and they were impressive in size, a group planting of 3 monsters. Either way they are beautiful palms. Still somewhat rare, and the ones I have offered for sale went quite fast. As palm conservationist or palm nuts we should prioritise getting them into as many botanical gardens we can, asap for preservation of the genus!

I didn’t realise how much water palms like, my Oraniopsis I once thought was dry tolerant, believing that they are slow growing I assumed my one that was small was doing well, but it was lack of water that caused the small palm after 25 years in the ground, I soon realised how wrong I was. I get mulch each year about 40 cubic meters and buy topsoil at least 20 cubic meters a year and you would think where does it go, my wife says that the sand monster eats it up and she very much dislikes gum trees that drink any water that is available and they store it for dry times . I know how you feel, but in the end you look at your garden and then you say oh I see we’re all that soil, mulch and water goes., into your garden!

Here you go @Jonathan another for you to scrutinise and give us the thumbs up. At least this one has a name and apparently it’s rare!

Looking awesome. I love this species. They can handle cool to cold conditions. Not sure how much heat they can take. However they love water. The ones I’ve seen in habitat are never far from the banks of a creek or river and in flood they must be sitting in water.