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Gaussia princeps on the rocks


Mike Evans

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I have a number of Gaussia princepis that I am growing. The grow on rocky limestone cliffs in western Cuba. They evidently grow on the limestone rock, sending out roots that crawl along the rock, until they find a crack to take a hold of. A friend of mine told me of someone that grew them on top of boulders & have the roots clinging to the rock, until they tke hold in the ground. I decided to try this with some granite boulders that I have. I took a double G. princeps and bare rooted it on top of of a granite rock & let the roots hang down the side. I then cut out the bottom of a 25 gal container and inverted it around the boulder and filled w/ potting soil. I will let the roots make its way down to native soil for a few years, then remove it and wash away this manner. in the potting soil. The roots will be exposed around the boulder, w/ the palm sitting on top. Has anyone tried this before. If so please post some pics, or any pics of Gaussia's growing on rock. I think it will be a very unique specimen growing on rock.

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Very interesting! I love creative stuff like that. It really adds interest to the garden.

Matt Bradford

"Manambe Lavaka"

Spring Valley, CA (8.5 miles inland from San Diego Bay)

10B on the hill (635 ft. elevation)

9B in the canyon (520 ft. elevation)

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WHoa!

Keep us thoroughly apprized!

Tell gtlevine, he's got rocks that rock!

Let's keep our forum fun and friendly.

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What an interesting idea! I especially like the inverted pot to use something simple and available in a new way. I'd also appreciate updates and photos as time goes by.

Cindy Adair

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I know we have all seen pics of this before on smaller scales.

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I wonder if that was your true inspiration. To be the owner of a full size palm bonsai. Looks like it will be another reason to visit your garden in a couple years.

Leo

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I am surprised this palm will grow in St. Pete. I have friends in the Redlands that lost theirs during some of our cold snaps. Good luck with yours!

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Great idea. Anything like that will work. Roots will naturally do the work, in a way much like orchid-roots take over their wooden slab. Actually the palm roots evolved to entangle a highly porous limestone, so it is better to have a non-smooth rock, with lots of cracks and bumps or - much easier - a mound of smaller rocks.

At the palmetum in Santa Cruz de Tenerife they were planted in a flat area(mistake!). Roots were coming out everywhere. Some years later we poured lots of rocks on the ground and fairly soon roots grabbed them.

An idea! Drill/cut holes on the sides of your plastic pot. I am sure the roots will be happier with more air and it will not overheat

Carlo

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Great idea. Anything like that will work. Roots will naturally do the work, in a way much like orchid-roots take over their wooden slab. Actually the palm roots evolved to entangle a highly porous limestone, so it is better to have a non-smooth rock, with lots of cracks and bumps or - much easier - a mound of smaller rocks.

At the palmetum in Santa Cruz de Tenerife they were planted in a flat area(mistake!). Roots were coming out everywhere. Some years later we poured lots of rocks on the ground and fairly soon roots grabbed them.

An idea! Drill/cut holes on the sides of your plastic pot. I am sure the roots will be happier with more air and it will not overheat

Carlo

Your right Carlo, roots are always more developed with better air circulation in the pot. I'll cut some holes this weekend. If roots grow out of them, I will cut them off when I remove the container. Thanks for the tip.

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  • 8 years later...

Well, it has been a little over 8 years since this experiment started and the G,  princeps is now an understory palm.  It is growing in the shade of a group of Dypsis sp. mayotte, so the growing is slow.  The roots are pushing it up off the rock.  I just cut away the plastic container to expose the roots.  I will let the potting soil naturally erode away so the roots do not go into a fast drying shock.  That may take a few years, depending on the rainfall.  Looks like this experiment will take another 3 - 5 years to see how things turn out.  So far, so good.  It held up to hurricane Irma winds a few years ago.  I will update in a few years.IMG_20200719_150419.thumb.jpg.8814745146a9fc56cbfb9a2e5d95f77f.jpgIMG_20200720_141138.thumb.jpg.83a1d66ae26970cd931f3b4cfbc8beba.jpgIMG_20200720_141059.thumb.jpg.d54eaf599be6d8517dce29489b7443dc.jpgIMG_20200720_141127.thumb.jpg.8fce5adeaf456bdbadea2c0a00b0464f.jpgIMG_20200720_141138.thumb.jpg.83a1d66ae26970cd931f3b4cfbc8beba.jpg

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That's a really cool idea!  Did you happen to plant any other Gaussia Princeps "normally" to see if the boulder impacted growth over the past 8 years?  I have ~8 Gaussia Princeps seedlings, I bet I can find a big honkin' rock around here somewhere to try it too!  :D

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Interesting.  I have a boulder area and have trying to figure how to use it.  The spaces between the boulders are to small to plant something and often have underground boulders.  Not sure what I could try this with.

Steve

Born in the Bronx

Raised in Brooklyn

Matured In Wai`anae

I can't be held responsible for anything I say or do....LOL

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  • 2 years later...
On 7/20/2020 at 2:33 PM, Mike Evans said:

Well, it has been a little over 8 years since this experiment started and the G,  princeps is now an understory palm.  It is growing in the shade of a group of Dypsis sp. mayotte, so the growing is slow.  The roots are pushing it up off the rock.  I just cut away the plastic container to expose the roots.  I will let the potting soil naturally erode away so the roots do not go into a fast drying shock.  That may take a few years, depending on the rainfall.  Looks like this experiment will take another 3 - 5 years to see how things turn out.  So far, so good.  It held up to hurricane Irma winds a few years ago.  I will update in a few years.IMG_20200719_150419.thumb.jpg.8814745146a9fc56cbfb9a2e5d95f77f.jpgIMG_20200720_141138.thumb.jpg.83a1d66ae26970cd931f3b4cfbc8beba.jpgIMG_20200720_141059.thumb.jpg.d54eaf599be6d8517dce29489b7443dc.jpgIMG_20200720_141127.thumb.jpg.8fce5adeaf456bdbadea2c0a00b0464f.jpgIMG_20200720_141138.thumb.jpg.83a1d66ae26970cd931f3b4cfbc8beba.jpg

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Any updates on this project???  

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I got rocks and I got boulders next to my pond.  I wonder if I can plant a Gaussia in the hole I have been trying to find a plant for?

 

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Cool idea! Interested to see how its going 2 yesrs later, did the potting soil wash away? 

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12 hours ago, miamicuse said:

I got rocks and I got boulders next to my pond.  I wonder if I can plant a Gaussia in the hole I have been trying to find a plant for?

To be honest, I think the only difficulty with putting your new Princeps in that hole is the existing size of the rootball in the pots.  If you could get it in there without hacking off 100% of the roots I think it would work.  Even if you had to cut a bunch of roots, I have not found Princeps seedlings to care much about having roots cut.  I've transplanted several small ones with 1-2' long fronds but no real bulging base.  They seem to grow several of those really big, thick roots and not much in the way of fine roots.  I ended up cutting most of the thick roots and all the dirt fell off, basically leaving 4 or 5 thick root stubs about 1 foot long.  And they sat and sulked in the new spot for about 2-3 months and resumed growing like nothing had happened.

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9 hours ago, Merlyn said:

To be honest, I think the only difficulty with putting your new Princeps in that hole is the existing size of the rootball in the pots.  If you could get it in there without hacking off 100% of the roots I think it would work.  Even if you had to cut a bunch of roots, I have not found Princeps seedlings to care much about having roots cut.  I've transplanted several small ones with 1-2' long fronds but no real bulging base.  They seem to grow several of those really big, thick roots and not much in the way of fine roots.  I ended up cutting most of the thick roots and all the dirt fell off, basically leaving 4 or 5 thick root stubs about 1 foot long.  And they sat and sulked in the new spot for about 2-3 months and resumed growing like nothing had happened.

Interesting...I was wondering if the root ball expand to the size of the hole in the boulder, it will probably shut out water from entering the hole and that could be a big problem?

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I guess it depends on how big the hole is...vs how big the base on the palm is.  The plant on the boulder is maybe a 6 inch diameter base?  Maybe if the hole is similar it would fit and grow ok?

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22 hours ago, miamicuse said:

I got rocks and I got boulders next to my pond.  I wonder if I can plant a Gaussia in the hole I have been trying to find a plant for?

 

Is the hole 3g size?  If so, Mike at Carribean palms has a bunch in the size.   I think he has a few smaller too, like real small.   Maybe it would send roots down the sides of the rock to the soil?    The bases of these get big though, almost like a bottle palm, before going up, and they grow tall.  Might wish for something rooted in well, years later, during hurricane season.   

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Here is an update, 11 years in the making.  Since I planted this in lots of Sun back then, it is now under heavy canopy of a group of Dypsis sp. Mayotte palms.  The roots/palm are almost always in the shade now.  That has helped from the roots drying out too much, but with this type of palm. it may not matter much.   It has gone through a few hurricanes/tropical storms through a few hurricanes/tropical storms , and held on like a champ.  I had to wash off a lot of the potting soil with a hose, because of the lack of heavy rainfall recently.

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Crazy!  Looks great.  It’s a great size there, but pretty slow “on the rocks”.  I hope it’s similarly slow in the ground for where I’d like to plant mine.  

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