My Travellers Palm is trunking (In southern CA!)

[cagary]

After starting it from seed about fifteen years ago, my Ravenala madagascariensis is finally trunking. I cleared away the pups and old brown growth and there it was.

Any one else growing this in southern CA or elsewhere?

[_Keith]

I sure wish I could grow one here. Your looks great. Congrats.

[epicure3]

Nice job.....I wish I had the room for that. I was thinking of selling my mature chamaerops humilis and planting one......

[BS Man about Palms]

Now if you could only stop the wind. Then it would look REALLY killer!

Looks really healthy.

[cagary]

Now if you could only stop the wind. Then it would look REALLY killer!

Looks really healthy.

I know what you mean about the wind. The Santa Anas will be kicking up soon and the new leaves will get shredded.

I've never seen a photo of one that hasn't got shredded leaves. I'd love to see one growing in some windless area near the equator like Indonesia. I can't imagine how spectacular one would be if it were 30 feet tall and had 30 perfect un-shredded leaves.

Any one ever seen one like that?

[freakypalmguy]

That's a beaut. Hold cold has she seen?

[cagary]

She has seen 30's for sure during the several winters it has been in the ground including the very cold 2007 winter which she came through with out a scratch (or burn).

It is surrounded on 2 sides with concrete. The four foot wide sidewalk in front and the 15 foot driveway to the side. It also faces due south so it receives good sunlight even in winter. The is a mass of black asphalt in front of it as well ( the street). So over all it is in an ideal location.

[surgeon83]

Hey, that's a nice clean specimen. Great work for that species in CA. Someone posted a pic of one with 4-6 feet of trunk in SoCal a couple of times.

Here are some taken last December in St. Petersburg, FL at Sunken Gardens:

Trunks:

These are the most impressive specimens I've seen in my entire life, including Fairchild (althought its close). Worth the price of admission by itself!

These are mabye a 15 mile drive from my house, but the biggest I've seen close to me is about 20' overall, with 4-6 feet of trunk (and flowering, of course). Been meaning to get pics now for months.

[Tyrone]

In Singapore big ones exist. Not much wind there, and the leaves are all intact mostly.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Neofolis]

What you need is an indoor one. If only I had a wide angle lens when I took this.

[Big Tex]

WOW! Nice job. The first one I saw was in a hotel on South Beach, Miami. Of course we brought one home an dhave it in a pot. Anyone know how long they can be kept in a pot? We have grown the White Bird of Paradise at our home with no problems but I am afraid the Traverlor's Palm is just a little bit more sensative.

[Gonzer]

One that I planted in downtown Carlsbad and two at the northern border with Oceanside, about 5 years ago. Plus one of the four A. purpureas in the same planting.

[BS Man about Palms]

Did you do that Gonzer? I remember driving by that area a long time back and figuring I was NOT seeing what I thought I saw! Looks good!

[Gonzer]

That's my work Bill, all by my lonesome. Anywhere you see boulders and/or Furcreaeas or non-conformist 'scapes, that's mine. The Ravenela (first pic) behind Fish House Vera Cruz is a monster considering I got right before Palm Mountain went under as a small 15. They're all on bubblers.

[DoomsDave]

Cagary!

I've got lone like yours, only a little bit further behind. No trunk yet, but soon.

Nice fan of leaves.

Mine's a little fatter, though it's on the south side of a building.

dave

[Morabeza]

Here is the largest specimen I have ever seen, myself lending scale, at the Waimea Valley Audubon Center on O'ahu, Hawai'i.

[Gonzer]

WHOA!

[Mahalo2]

Hi, 

Great looking Traveler's Tree! Here's another older Traveler's Tree (also in San Diego) at home of one of the members of the Pacific Horticulture Society. This one is incredibly tall...it gives all of us hope! 

[Mangosteen]

That's a beauty!

Here's mine 10 years later.

[Harmless Games]

Took this photo in Singapore 6 months ago, wish I’d gotten the trunk in it as it was a good 8 meters tall (trunk only) biggest I’ve ever seen.

[Mahalo2]

On 2/21/2019 at 7:50 PM, Harmless Games said:

Took this photo in Singapore 6 months ago, wish I’d gotten the trunk in it as it was a good 8 meters tall (trunk only) biggest I’ve ever seen.

Gorgeous!! I remember seeing some almost as large as the one you photographed when I was in India and Thailand. Someone mentioned seeing Travelers trees without much wind damage to the leaves...in India and Thailand I saw a lot without wind damage and they are indeed incredible specimens!! 

On 2/21/2019 at 7:50 PM, Harmless Games said:

 

[paquicuba]

Here is my three-years-old one. No visible trunk yet, but its leaves make it look massive since they are about 16 feet tall. 

Edited March 26, 2019 by paquicuba

[Walt]

Ravenala madagascariensis are tough plants in my Florida zone 9b. I bought one about 18 years ago from my local Walmart garden center. It was maybe 5 to 10 (at most) gallon size. Over the years it's seen its share of freezes and frosts down into the very low 20s F.  But it always comes back. My traveler's palms started out as a single plant, but has since put out many more trunked offsets. I also have two other younger clumps of traveler's palms. Below is a photo of my largest clump taken in February of 2009 after a bad freeze a few weeks before. Note a new leaf forming, plus an offset forming on the right.

Late last summer I ordered two Ravenala sp. ambandi from Floribunda. I still have these in pots, but plan to plant them out sometime in June.

BTW, when I first planted my traveler's palm (below) I used to keep track of how many fronds a year it produced. My plant produced between 11-12 fronds a year. A full canopy held about 24 fronds (or so).

The second photo I just happened to take two days ago showing my traveler's palm clump.

[ChrisJordanDDS]

Beautiful specimens! 

Question for those of you with Traveler's Palms: Can you propagate the pups?  I have some pups on one of mine and I'd like to be able to separate them and grow them on their own... any tips or tricks to this?

[Jesse]

On ‎3‎/‎29‎/‎2019 at 1:20 PM, ChrisJordanDDS said:

Beautiful specimens! 

Question for those of you with Traveler's Palms: Can you propagate the pups?  I have some pups on one of mine and I'd like to be able to separate them and grow them on their own... any tips or tricks to this?

I have also been trying to find an answer to this question.  I gave up at one point in fear of damaging the main plant and just cut the pups down to the soil.  That didn't stop them and they are back and beautiful. 

[Gonzer]

On ‎3‎/‎29‎/‎2019 at 1:20 PM, ChrisJordanDDS said:

Beautiful specimens! 

Question for those of you with Traveler's Palms: Can you propagate the pups?  I have some pups on one of mine and I'd like to be able to separate them and grow them on their own... any tips or tricks to this?

Yes, kinda tricky to cut them on the diagonal next to the trunk (at least large potted specimens) but it can be done.

[GDLWyverex]

Mine is about 4 meters tall and gives up pretty large pups annually

It is quite adamant about facing into the sun and has done a 45 degree turn around from it's original positioning in order to accomplish that.

 

Richard

Edited April 8, 2019 by GDLWyverex

[Walt]

Hurricane Irma partially blew one of my clumping traveler's palms over, but it is starting to turn up again. Does anybody know how many species of traveler's palms there are? I thought there was at least one species that was solitary (not clumping). Also, last July I ordered two small (4" pots) of Ravenala sp. ambandi from Floribunda. These are supposed to have orangish colored petioles. I plan on planting them out soon, so that they get good and established over the rainy season. But  was trying to get more information of this species on line, and I saw at least two other species Ravanala honkondambo and Ravenala guyannesis. I once thought I read there were only two species of Ravanala.. 

 

 

 

[Gonzer]

On 4/8/2019 at 4:23 PM, GDLWyverex said:

Mine is about 4 meters tall and gives up pretty large pups annually

It is quite adamant about facing into the sun and has done a 45 degree turn around from it's original positioning in order to accomplish that.

 

Richard

That's Strelitzia

[GDLWyverex]

On 5/15/2019 at 4:29 AM, Gonzer said:

That's Strelitzia

As in Strelitzia nicolai??

Thanks for the heads up. I'll update the database pronto

 

Richard

[Kevin S]

 I love Travellers palms that’s why I planned it I’m along my driveway super fast growth in Hawaii.

[GDLWyverex]

On 5/15/2019 at 4:29 AM, Gonzer said:

That's Strelitzia

Having just discovered that my Ravenala, that I bought 10 years back, is actually a bird of paradise; I started making inquiries at the local nurseries with the thought in mind of actually getting a Ravenala, and discovered that they are quite expensive.

However,

It seems that the fates have declared that I should become the caretaker such a plant, and, low and behold, I came upon a nursery whose mother plant took a tumble for some odd reason or other and smashed a few of it's pups. I was offered the biggest smashed pups for 30 dollars if I was willing to aid in righting the mother plant and salvaging the other pups that seemed to have survived unscathed.

It doesn't look like much right now, but it has a very extensive root system and the beginnings of a substantial trunk.

Hope it makes it

 

Richard