All Activity

Hello all, had my first (and hopefully looking like only) casualty from this winter. Had a butia seedling just spear pull today, which kind of stunned me because it has not seen below 30°F, and has not been below freezing for more than a couple hours (maybe like two or three light freezes the entire winter), being pampered in my garage. It saw the same exact conditions as a CIDP and Washingtonia robusta (among other more hardy things) which are both happy as can be right now, so the only explanation I have is that the rain we received the day before the last 31°F night it saw must have froze in the crown and did it in. The spear did not have much rot on it at all, so my question is this - how good of a chance does it have of recovering from this? It's only a year-old seedling, so my guess is a spear pull is devastating to its growth. However, I also saw almost no rot on the spear and just applied copper fungicide, so I think I caught it pretty early before any major infection. I hope I don't have to start over since these are hard to germinate and grow so slowly (and are pretty expensive to find online).

Hell = places like Texas... 😂

Hi everyone, Quick update for the skeptics of the "war of attrition": Today, March 20th, my balcony fortress in Arbon/Stachen (443m) has officially transformed into a tropical greenhouse! After a minimum of +5.4°C (41.7°F) on the balcony last night (while it was -1.1°C / 30°F at ground level), we just hit a phenomenal 21.0°C (70°F) in the shade with 60% humidity this afternoon! 📈💎 The result is undeniable: our Howea forsteriana (Kentia) is not just surviving; she is actively exploding. As you can see in the photo, the new spear is already opening up! 🦜🌿 This is the power of thermal mass and understanding your microclimate. While some might call it a "trashing," I call it a "Pura Perfezione" spring awakening. ☀️🇮🇹❄️ Fortune favors the bold! Kind regards from the Lake Constance Fortress, Mazat

On those I'd guess you could just snip off the top 6 to 24 inches or so, in the photo it looks like the tip is dead anyway. My foxtails are 20+ feet tall and I can't even reach them with my 12' A-frame ladder. So I'm just leaving them alone for now. I've decided I'm not a big fan of rapid growing "telephone pole" palms anyway.

...hell

Cold or Scale. For the latter, the buggers would be visible.

Appreciate the response all the same.

....From what?

Yes, when we get a lot in one day those areas typically have standing water for a few days. That's nothing compared to when we get multiple days of heavy rain. We basically revert back to swamp.

I had a decent sized female needle palm with no mature males nearby. It would flower and set seed, but the seed would eventually start to look bad and if you pinched the seeds between your fingers they would collapse. They were mostly hollow , so there could be hope for yours.

I'm seeing this on most of my palms too. The next one ironically is pushing and the tips are already separating while it's pushing so I thought probably more cold damage related. I'll try the twist.

From this one photo it is difficult to ascertain the species. Maybe sharing photos of the caudex and some full leaf. The ends of leaves are cropped off in your photo. Side views to show how a cycad holds its leaves are also informative. Final question pertains to leaflet length. I am not a specialist in Cycas ids but I know these characteristics might all be helpful for others. My Cycas guizhuensis is a smaller plant with shorter leaves than my Cycas revoluta. They are all in my rental house so I can't snap any photos to share.

Here's a Texas version:

This is one of our Syagrus right after trimming last year . This is as radical as it gets. The Roystonia Oleracae to the right of it trims itself. Harry

It really baffles me why some feel the need to do this . I have my large Syagrus and one very tall Washingtonia done every fall but not like that. The Queens because of our gnarly East winds and the Washy because it starts forming a skirt . Also , the droppings from the Queens around my garden is annoying. I have all the spathes taken off. Harry ‘I don’t want to even mention what this reminds me of! This is a family friendly site 🤫

Run! 😫

We're in Fort Myers so you're a bit too far unfortunately JD

Small mammal must have dropped a seed here

It's a Nissan Rogue 4cyl lol. Neighbor is a country boy with a big Chevy Silverado though and even at today's insane prices I doubt it's $1 worth to jerk these out of the ground after some light digging.

Thank you for the advice

Myself personally bottom heating set at 30 degrees, coco coir perlite mix just slightly damp, using etoliation to help things along. If the seed is 5mm in size you bury it 5mm if 10mm you bury 10mm and so on. Oh and patience.

Hi, would germination seeds temperature be better for Synechanthus dasystachys: 20°C or 24°C? I've never had any experience with this palm, so I'm asking for advice.😃

It is interesting to look at , to say the least . Maybe sick or just a genetic anomaly. As long as it is growing and not a fungal infection in the root ball or something , I would leave it be. It seems that is what the staff has decided to do. Harry

Good stuff Tim, I think that's worthy of a bit of self indulgence! Would not have suspected this would survive in Melbourne, but that probably applies to most of your garden. Well done!

A wonderful gift of some Ferox seedlings sent to me by a PACSOA member. They shall be greatly treasured and grown with love. If iam gifted a plant I never forget that gift and will always remember who gifted me that plant, always with great remembrance. Thanks Gary