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Horridus and Arenarius hybrids are winners in my book. They all seem to grow great. I’m sure yours will be even more fantastic looking in the future. Here’s my cross with the same parents as yours but swapped. It is a very blue plant. Encephalartos Arenarius x Horridus

The coconut palms at the old Smashburger across from Orlando Fashion Square on Colonial Drive also look really good...

What winter?! Reminds me of when we visited my wife’s relatives in Viginia one November. The fall color was beautiful and the rain was nice . Then came nightfall . I went out to help her cousin unload his pick up . I had a very warm fleece pullover on and I was freezing . Cousin Jack went to hand me something and I was standing , shivering . He asked “what’s the matter?” I said “ it’s effing cold !”He said “ no , this ain’t cold !” It was 25f out !!! No thank you! Harry

Very interesting. I hope you get enough viable seeds. Guessing that something about your climate is non-ideal for B. alfredii spathe splitting. Do you think your location is less humid and/or more cool than in B. alfredii's natural range? Have B. alfredii growers in Florida or elsewhere in the SE USA experienced similar? I hope some comment here.

I haven’t been back to Catalina Island since my sailing days . I never went ashore at Two Harbors so I never got to see those palms , they look very old indeed , almost 100! In those days , 70’s and 80’s , I would’ve never paid much attention as we lived on our sailboat , so palm enthusiasm was just secondary in my life. The narrowing of the “neck” tells a story of its stress during dry times. Harry

So funny! We are like peas in a pod , as they say. The first thing I do , after a get away , is walk about the garden to check if anything needs a drink or a trim . Sometimes , just to chill and relax. My garden is home! Your palms look like they are doing well but probably glad to have you back , fussing about as we gardeners do. Harry

Yea , sometimes you just gotta try! I dug up 10 little C. Decipiens seedlings at the Sullivan’s place and potted them up . Someone , here on the forum , commented that I had very little chance of them surviving. I put them under other palms on the side garden. I have two left , one ain’t doing so well and the other is just pushing a wee spear . I noticed it in the green house over the weekend , so maybe get one palm? The seeds were difficult for me to get sprouted , maybe 40% with the baggie method . The sprouts appear to have survived potting up but we’ll see. Harry🤞

Nice looking palm. I don’t believe I’ve seen them for sale here , in my travels. Harry

Calyptrocalyx pachystachys

Our selection here in big box stores is just common variety palms . That said , I watch the clearance rack for flowers , and occasionally , palms (not often). A short while back there were two 3 gallon Majesty multi on the rack with very minor leaf tip browning . The palms were in good shape so I put t]hem on my cart . The clearance rack is marked 50% off and the palms would be great in pots along my fence line , original price $20 and about 3-4’ tall. When I got to check out I reminded the clerk that they were “clearance” items. He replied “how does $3 sound?” I repotted them and they are doing precisely what I wanted them to do. If you need fill in palms to maintain a tropical look , they are perfect . I will , at some point need to keep repotting them as they grow pretty fast here , eventually rehome them as I already have a huge one in my yard and the trunks get rather large. Large , corporate places have little concern over pricing when they want to get rid of old stock. Unfortunately , in my area , they will not stock anything of interest to collectors . They used to have many varieties but now it’s just the generic stuff. Harry

Areca vestiaria "Maroon" seedling

Thanks Allan, i will keep checking it best, DrZnaturally

Here's my trunk cut advice and how my palmetto did after trunk cutting if you look at 3:44 in the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ9zPxk5EjY

raining good now and has been raining every day at least once since saturday. Seems like mostly less than 1/2 inch per shower, so not real long. This is the best kind of rain for growing, consistent every day and not much runoff. Totals in my crude bucket says well over 2" total. I love hearing the sound of the rain on the metal roof because I know my palms are loving it! Still the local retention ponds are not close to normal for this time of year. They are 18" low at least. The colors of foliage are notably more vibrant than a week ago.

Looks similar to 2010 prices in FL to me. I could get a 3 gallon bucket full of dypsis lutecens seedlings for $10 or a 3 gallon livistona chinensis(5) multi for $10, and oversized 1 gallon Archontophoenix Alexandre 2' tall for $3. If you like pygmy dates that is a great price. A 4-5 years after 2010, the smaller nurseries where I purchased 90% of my palms kind of vanished as the post banking collapse economy left only big box stores. But I was lucky to have purchased several dozen palms before that happened. Worked out great for them, they raised prices in response to lack of competition and inflation.

In arizona I can tell you drip irrigation with a timer is the difference between life and death for some young palms unless you dote on them. The dead center is now a very good media for fungus to grow and expand. Whether the center is dead from lack of water or from too much, dead material is not protected from pathogens by plant defense. Never water these palms from the overhead, just water the ground around them and this is particularly important when you have dead new growth. Green material is generally protected by the plant chemical defenses(terpenes and enzymes) unless its catching water or moisture in a hole, like the bud. The leaves going straw color is dead and that risks the dead growth will retain water to assist fungal growth and the bud is not protected from fungal attack under those conditions. I'd keep pulling on the dead newest growth and get the hydrogen peroxide 3% on the bud area every couple days. I also use daconil fungicide as a follow up 2-3 hrs after the peroxide. If that soil there tends to always be damp, it may also be enabling the fungal attack. If the soil is dry at 6-8" depth just water it consistently but for a longer period, 90 mins. If you don't have a timer consider it, as you will not be able to forget watering. It might be that site has unusual drainage, you should know with a drainage test nearby(3' away).

Looks like a peyote tree.

Thats great, I hadn't been by those yet to look. I'm amazed at how many coconuts are growing back after lows of around 24-25. I had 23F (below 32F for 10 hours) at my house in Altamonte and my Green Malayan (with about 3-4ft trunk) was totally defoliated, it was not protected or wrapped. It had no spear pull but once it warmed it started putting out new growth. Its on its 5th leaf now. So far every one has been shrunk/deformed but each new leaf is bigger and better. The new spear looks even bigger now. Theres another a few blocks down from me and it gets no care/irrigation. Totally defoliated but its also growing back. Theres a house a few blocks from Leu Gardens with 2 trunked specimens and they also have good growth coming out.

@SubTropicRay Did you manage to get any precipitation out of the storm brewing in the Gulf?

That $5 Kmart roebelenii story is classic. My first "real" palm was a clearance queen palm from Home Depot that looked like it was on its last legs. Tossed it in the ground, gave it water, and a few years later it's pushing fronds like a champ. The bargain bin is where it's at for beginners.

Hi! This all new hybrid is for sale now at Rarepalmseeds - first time ever. trachycarpus oreophilus x ukhrulensis What do you think about this hybrid? Share your thoughts regarding growth, looks, vigor and so on. https://www.rarepalmseeds.com/trachycarpus-ukhrulensis-x-t-oreophilus

The rich will get richer.... The drier air aloft will hold over the region mid/late week which will act to minimize development of afternoon showers/storms, and increase max temperatures back to several degrees above climatic norms. East/southeast boundary layer flow will occur the remainder of the week...but will flip over the weekend becoming onshore with highest pops shifting to the interior.

I like too see someone who recognises a bargain when they see it. Great value top palm!

The clinostigma samoensis aren’t looking to good for this time of winter, with a couple casualties and one that will most likely show some hope of living only to eventually succumb to winter and die! And I knew that the brassiophoenix schumanii were doomed from failure before with them. You just gotta come back for more suffering and try again with some varieties! 🤣

There are some very unique microclimate pockets up there for palms, as you know! And as a lot of growers know it’s the cold and wet conditions that do the damage. An old SAPS booklet writes even back then in 1987 they were onto it way before us. And another winter strange one is out of the Areca Rabaul I have one is packing it in for winter and out, while the other one is growing stronger. So it’s it’s disaster for tropical palms in the cold . possible it’s soil temperature to add to the factor when wet and cold conditions all meet with all three conditions