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Recently acquired a Cyrtostachys Renda, Went to pot it up with a blend of: 50% peat moss 30% mushroom compost 20% perlite/soil conditioner Wasn’t happy with how the water was draining. Seemed like it took forever. Repotted it again with a more aggressive blend of perlite/chopped up pine bark. Drainage seems about right now, drains relatively quickly. I left it in a saucer overnight and the water was a real dark brown (from the mushroom compost) and the leaflets started drooping. I removed it from the saucer and flushed it quit a bit and haven’t put the saucer back under it. No more leaflets have started dropping but they still remain dropping. Are the dropping leaflets because of: Transplant shock Shouldn’t have used mushroom compost Or the saucer causing too much fertilizer salt shocking the roots? Should I redo my blend of soil and ditch the mushroom compost for something else? The first picture is the night it arrived (through the mail) Rest of the pictures are from the next day.

I think those numbers are fine and probably not your issue. I wish I had water numbers like that. Our water is typically around 9 now because people prefer alkaline water vs acidic so the water authority treats it to raise the pH. I think my soil is 8.5ish.

******************** ALL SOLD *********************** thank you

Great to see these palms survive colder winters . Too many bad winters in a row could be detrimental to the longevity of. That one looks like it’s been there quite a while . Harry

The new price list just came out and Floribunda is sold out of Lemurophoenix now. They used to ship to Europe but no longer do. Lemurophoenix is difficult to grow outside of the tropics without a lot of special care.

I was by there this weekend. The winter was cold, and this mule definitely took a beating. But survived! Hopefully this winter gives it a chance to fully recover.

Any connections or contacts please fill me in.

yes if your gardener did not ammend with 1/3rd do it now. Dig up all around the palm 3x the width of the rootball then mix that soil with garden soil from a garden supply 33% garden soil and fill it back in. This should always be done with any new palm. 30 mins dripping is not enough still, go for 90 mins at 4 gallons per hour. The palm didn't look great as delivered, this is often the case as they sit under nursery care in a pot. Planted and watered properly it would be fine It appears to have only declined over time. So how long did it take to drain after you filled it?

Good advice here . I would wait it out now . Continue watering , as long as the palm isn’t sitting in muck and the watering is reaching the entire root ball. I have had palms linger for a year before showing good turn around. I would add wood chips to the surface to help insulate from the heat and reduce evaporation. I have wood chips everywhere around my palms . Don’t give up just yet! Years ago I would get “dead” palms and revive them . As long as I saw green at the growth point , I would try. I had many success stories! Harry

I think the spear got burned in Uri. I remember it took more damage than my Sabal causarium and uresana. The leaves might have gotten a little bit of burn.

I have assumed it's just heat that really drives the growth on this one, it comes from low elevations in tropical and southern Africa, and I believe it grows on really hot rock surfaces. So I can understand that Tracy's may be slower at his place right at the coast due to the cool climate, but you get plenty of heat in the SF Valley so I'm surprised it would just more or less sit and refuse to grow, unless perhaps it's in too much shade? Maybe some fertilizer and a heavier watering schedule could get it going. It certainly is an unusual plant, and maybe the slow growth on yours is actually a gift, since you get these fascinating leaves without typical Ficus sizes. PlantZAfrica states that this species can take a little bit of frost as well, which is a gift to anyone in an interior climate of course. And while I can't complain about the growth rate on mine, I may start to regret it if it keeps running all over the place, as I really didn't want a thicket or to have it spilling into the neighbor's yard. I guess time will tell, I'm going to leave it alone for now and just watch what it wants to do. Looks like it will have loads of character as time goes by, in any event. I hope yours gets its footing and starts to move a bit for you as the summer moves on.

I've always been a little unclear about how closely it was related (or not) to Jubea? Seems like I remember some old seeds being found, but I'm not sure if there's enough material to do DNA work?

Ok screw it. $55.

I filled the hole with water, it stays there for a while. I just did a drip watering for 30 minutes. My gardener planted it, what should I tell him to amend the soil? Do they have to dig up the soils and replace it with organic soil?

Wow-nice growth rate Michael! My abutilifolia is so slooowwwww. I'd post a photo but you'd be hard pressed to discern any difference with last year's picture

Please look at the attached image. These Coconut palms have been growing at the corner of South Orange Ave. and Kaley Street in Orlando for a number of years. As I am sure everyone know, Orlando had not had a freeze of any kind in a number of years. This past February, that all came to an end as much of the area fell into the upper 20's briefly. The outlying areas fell into the lower 20's. My Winter Springs location, Northeast of Orlando hit 24F. These Coconut palms completely defoliated and the coconuts hanging on the larger trees fell to the ground. Well as you can see from the image, these trees survived the event and are well on their way to re-growing their crowns. So, not only will they survive, it looks like they will continue to thrive. There are also a couple of Coconut palms planted on the other side of Colonial Drive from Orlando Fashion Square Mall. I didn't get a picture but, these trees are also pushing out new growth and obviously survived the cold event. So, it's good news for Coconut palms in Orlando, Florida...

The Red Dacca had to go into a 3g. I sold the 1g locally. I have not dug this Blue Java yet, the in ground will probably also be a 3g. Let's say 65ea plus ship. These are considerably larger than the 15 dollar ebay starter plants that come in 2 inch plugs. The smaller Java might go into a 1g so I'd go like 45 plus ship. ***These are larger than the initial offerings in this posting***, they are not the same.

Anyone have any thoughts as to what kind of seeds these might be?

That I’ve had, in jars in my home office.

Sabal plametto Bridgeport we are waiting to see if she responded as she had spear pull; we treated her with H202 and NEEM in the cavity, hopeful; she recovered once from this i am saddened as we had her outside since 2009 and she suvived many brutal winters without any external heat she got so big that her crown migrated far from the building, and we are not authorized to use any heat source I will be down to check on her soon, may have to cut her back to live tissue, if any exists; she still has green fronds best, DrZnaturally

Its been very spotty around Orlando, lots of dry. This is one of the worst summers for rain. Since June 1 I have probably only had around 2-3 inches at my house in Altamonte Springs. And only a few actual storms, barely any of the normal daily severe lightning. I have decided if we have another severe winter, everything that needs irrigation (except for my banana patch) is getting replaced with drought tolerant /low maintenance/cold hardy plants, native and exotic. I'm over needing to baby plants from cold or drought (my 23 degree coconut survivor is an exception).

I would be interested in 50 seeds

The other unique species I remember seeing was Sabal guatemalensis . But it’s definitely not that palm. They are basically a less hardy, incredibly slow growing Sabal mexicana. Definitely not Sabal brazoriensis. I think I remember seeing bermudana now that you mention it. How leaf hardy is it? Maybe it is a Sabal domingensis.

this is true alkalinity is not an issue for FIliferas. They are also not so dependent on nutrients. Watering seems to be the issue.

I cannot tell from the photo. Let the hose run on high flow and see if the hole fills and then how fast it empties, time it. I see no organic material there, did you amend the soil with some garden soil? The surface soil should be obviously wet for several hours after watering. WHen you first plant a palm the soil needs to drain but also it needs to retain moisture, it should feel wet near the surface 2-3 inches down. The whole raised bed should be 1/3 added organic material -like garden soil- mixed with the native soil. I understand your pain, I lost a $600 palm back when I started here 15 years ago. Generally the planting advice I have had is make the hole 3x the width of the rootball and the same depth(no organics under the rootball). Back fill with the well mixed 1/3 organic material and the rest native soil. I see a lot of coarse sand and pebbles there, not the kind of soil that holds water. I would try to water it more, flood it and see how long it takes to drain. Preparation of the site is critical for new palms, I would not plant anything else in that hole witho0ut serious amending if this BA doesn't make it. Fully amend the raised bed with organics before planting any other non desert plants. It seems you are new to to this, everyone makes mistakes in the beginning. Preparation of the hole can mean life or death to a new palm. Your palm hasnt grown any roots yet. You can still replace the soil around the rootball with 1/3rd organic mix. I would do that and wet it down good and put mulch on top(not small stones) for now.