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According to the long range and weekly forecast the tap will shut off for most of the area for much of the rest of the month. 4 weeks of decent rains got the weeds going and some growth on plants but the palms always seem to be playing catch up. Part of that is winter damage setting them back, but the summer pattern (at least here) is only a little bit helpful. I have started on a better irrigation system using the well, but cant finish until winter, so i was hoping the rainy pattern would keep up. Maybe the winter rainfall will be helpful; the outlook is for wet, but also cold, so im skeptical right now.

Félicitations !

Interesting to see that your Dioon mejiae was practically defoliated before flushing again. Mine seems to hold a couple of older flushes when pushing a new one. They have such great fuzzy new leaves when they push a flush. I have been surprised by the girth of their caudices as they mature too.

Definitely high on our travel list. My dad spent 2 years in Brisbane area while in the Navy and talked highly of life there. Trying one under some canopy and hoping for a few mild winters. I might have to get with you one day for those seeds!

There were a few large ones at Leu, but I haven’t been back to see if they survived. Got sawed up pretty good planting that first one, sure to be a toddler magnet soon

@SCVpalmenthusiast Alfredii are fairly tough. I had 5 big ones (2ish ft of trunk and 15-25ft tall fronds) all get burnt to a crisp at 22.5F in february. All 5 pushed new spears and now have 3-5 decent looking fronds each. Of course they all had established root systems for 5+ years, which undoubtedly helped a lot. If the root area dries out and the fungicide works, maybe it has a chance? I've never dealt With a non-draining bowl like yours. In a wet climate like mine, it would fill with water every day and never, ever dry out. Maybe it'll never have a chance...I am not sure. Maybe the HOA sends you a nastygram before you can find out?

Hi Ya Cindy. This has been a quirky species for me, like trying to figure out what a non-verbal living entity needs and wants. They are managing to grow, although slowly, but are still specimen palms in the garden. Wettinia, Socratea, and Iriartea, thrive here and require very little care. I will carry on and react as well as I can. Tim

She’s about 3 m tall from the soil line to highest leaf tips

Please take on a whole different look when they’re trying to power through shade. Getting harder to take a picture in the jungle.

Tracy, the one in the photo came to me as P. lanigera, but I can’t be positive of the provenance. It is still fairly young and seems slow. It hasn’t flowered yet, so we shall see. Tim

Oversized Dwarf Areca catechu. Only have one this size. $85 plus shipping. No CA or TX shipping.

Got hit hard today between 4 and 6pm. Things were beginning to look a little dry in the yard. My home made rain gage says a solid 2". My Iphone said 0.05 inch, might be sarasota numbers once again showing how useless a station 25 miles away is. Last month ruskin 11 miles north reported 3" one day, we got just under half an inch.

This palm remains high on my wish list! I had a small one in 2017, but an ox rhino beetle ate it before I even knew about this issue in Puerto Rico. I am at 1000 feet with mountains for good drainage and plenty of rain. I have no trouble growing palms like Iriartea and Socratea but I understand it may still be a tough grow. I see seeds for sale now on RPS and am tempted, although getting them to PR will be costly. In the meantime I love all the photos! Thanks!

@cbmnz, it looks like you guys are being hammered over there...I hope it eases up for you sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, we've had a very mild winter in Hobart, with a minimum temp of 1.7 back in July and min of 3.7 so far for August, and I don't think it's unrelated to your cold weather. I've noticed over the years that our weather patterns have a definite cause and effect on you guys, which makes sense with Australia being your nearest continental mass. A big high pressure system over Tasmania seems to push a big low up the Tasman sea and you guys get smashed, with the reverse often being true for us. So apologies for this horrible winter you've endured...for us it's looked a lot like this coming week all winter, but no doubt we'll pay the price in the future.

They're generally self fertile in our climate, although cross pollination probably increases fruit set. I'm hoping to find out one day if I can ever stop the bloody possums eating every fruit and breaking every branch!

Tim, I've really tried, but no go. I'm zero out of five attempts. When something fails repeatedly while everything around it flourishes, I eventually take the hint.

Got my daily dose of ~0.10 inches today. In the shade, the ground is holding the moisture relatively well. Out in the open, the ground is moist a few inches down. My fingers are crossed that we'll continue to get daily rain, even if the amounts aren't that high. The growth when it rains is three times what it is when it doesn't.

Tim is this a young palm in your garden or just a species that is slow or remains small? The leaves remind me of a plant I acquired as Pritchardia martii but is definitely not. Mine was an auction item at a Palm Society of Southern California meeting around a decade ago. No flowers on mine yet but if your lanigera has flowered, photos would be appreciated.

Most of the seeds I ordered from RPS last winter sprouted quickly and are now pushing their second fronds. I'm going to move them outside soon and see what happens...🤞

Bloom time #2. Pritchardia martii. Tim

Bloom time #1. Pritchardia glabrata. Tim

All of the fronds dried out there’s only one spear left. I tugged and it’s secured. So the palm is still alive. My issue is that its in the front and looks bad. Valencia has strict HOAs. How long should I give it before allowing it to shuffle off this mortal coil?

@kinzyjr indeed! Not all of my "Zone 10" palms died from the epic freeze, for sure there are some odd survivors. Both of my Elaeis Guineensis are growing back strong, despite spear pulls and crown rot infections. But most of them did die immediately or were lost to subsequent infections: 1 of 1 Carpentaria Acuminata 5 of 5 Burretiokentia - Hapala, Koghiensis, Vieillardii 1 of 4 Arenga Hookeriana, the other 3 regrowing from the roots 1 of 1 Actinokentia Divaricata 0 of 3 Arenga Pinnata - defoliated but growing back slowly! 0 of 1 Arenga Tremula - also defoliated but growing back 0 of 1 Arenga Westerhoutii - burnt to the ground but with 2 new fronds 0 of 12 Attalea - all were >75% defoliated but all growing - 4 Brejinhoensis, 3 Butyracea, 2 Cohune (?!?!?!?), 2 Phalerata, 1 Speciosa 3 of 14 Beccariophoenix Alfredii - all defoliated, but only lost 3 big seedlings under ~2-3' tall 5 of 5 Chamberyonia Macrocarpa - Watermelon, regular and Hookeri 0 of 19 Copernicia - Baileyana, Fallaensis, Gigas, Alba, Hospita, Macroglossa 0 of 2 Corypha - Lecomtei had minor burn, Umbraculifera defoliated 2 of 2 Crysophila Warscewiczii 9 of 9 Cyphophoenix - Alba, Elegans, Nucele 18 of 22 Dypsis/Chrysalidocarpus - 1 Lanceolata, 1 Decaryi and 2 Lutescens clusters survived, but other Lanceolata, Cabadae, Pembana, Basilongus, Albofarinosa, Arenarum all died 4 of 11 Hyophorbes - 2 of 4 Bottles and 4 of 7 Spindles died, but one of the Bottles I over-trunk-cut and killed the bud myself - oops. All died from bud rot or, er, a reciprocating saw. ☹️ ~3 of ~25 Gaussia Princeps - I still need an accurate pre-post count 1 of 4 Kerriodoxa Elegans - exposed and died of bud rot ? of 2 Licuala Grandis - still unsure 3 of 3 Ptychosperma Elegans - big seedlings 0 of 1 Ptychosperma Macarthurii 0 of 1 Ptychosperma Schefferi - burnt to the ground but growing back 4 of 10 Ptychosperma Salomonense - shocking survival of ~1' tall seedlings, so I bought more!!! 2 of 2 Ravenea Hildebrandtii 1 of 1 Ravenea Sambiranensis 2 of 2 Reinhardtia Latisecta 3 of 3 Satakentia Liukiuensis 4 of 4 Syagrus Amara strap leaf 2 of 4 Syagrus Lorenzoniorum strap leaf 3 of 4 Syagrus Sancona strap leaf 0 of 5 Syagrus Schizophylla 1-3' tall - all defoliated and I thought were dead, but all growing back! 1 of 2 Wallichia Oblongifolia/Densiflora - both defoliated, but the one in sun couldn't struggle back 4 of 4 Wodyetia Bifurcata - 10-15' foxtails defoliated and died from Thielaviopsis or bud rot At some point I'll have a complete list of the life/death spreadsheet for you! I was really impressed that the Kerriodoxa Elegans and Ptychosperma Salomonense pulled through. Many of the above deaths were planted as big seedlings or even strap leaves last summer, so it's hard to judge if a more mature palm would have survived.

Encephalartos Longifolious

Horwood x Arewood throwing a single leaf flush. 3rd flush since spring time!