Dypsis Pembana

[Surf Guy]

I have three of these plants (solitaire form) ion the one gallon size. They have been through one winter so far but looked as if they struggled through the winter. Now that we are in mid July here in So. Cal. they seem to be finally waking up after throwing a few immature fronds. I am wondering if anybody has this species in So Cal and how it is doing. Any large plants? If nothing else I am sure Bo has some killer pics of this one. Thanks Mike

[Tyrone]

I'd imagine they'd be fine for you in San Diego. I've got lots of these growing in pots and in the ground and although they slow a bit in the winter they don't stop. I've got a couple opening spears now and we're in the depths of winter. I tend to give them a bit of sun though. I've found that if you give them sun to the point of almost burning in summer (borderline burning) they power along and bulk right up. I reckon they'd even seed for you in a few years.

regards

Tyrone

[bgl]

Mike,

This is our tallest one. I bought it ten years ago from Kapoho Kai Nursery (Jan Anderson). It was about 8-9 ft tall at the time with five trunks. Now, ten years later, it still has the five trunks and overall height is about 30 ft. It's the palm smack in the middle of the photo.

Bo

[bgl]

I should have pointed out that the taller palms on the left are Dypsis madagascariensis, the smaller palms in the lower left are Ravenea hildebrandtii and of course on the right you see two Bismarckias. The fronds in the lower right belongs to an Encephalartos paucidentatus.

[MattyB]

Mike, I have a small 2 gallon size plant that is adjusting to life outside of the greenhouse.  It's under a Queen and gets a little full sun but mostly filtered sun.  I don't know if it's different light or being outside the greenhouse or what, but it's throwing smaller, more compact fronds.  It's pretty fast for a small plant though.  I can see whey they say it's a speedy grow.  I have high hopes for this one.

[MattyB]

Oh, I forgot to say:  I got down to 34F three nights in a row this winter and saw no major cold damage.  Some of the older leaves just dried up a bit but I think that was from acclimating to the sun as much as anything.  Obviously, it grew slowly during the cold periods.

[quaman58]

Mike,

Just got one a few months back. I did a kind of "speed acclimation", which is two months in filtered sun & then smack dab into full sun. With this heat, some of the older leaves have burned a bit, but we'll see. But it is growing rather quickly; it's about 3 feet tall now--about twice as tall as when I purchased it.

B/R's

Bret

[Surf Guy]

Thanks for the info and the pics Bo. Since I have the solitaire form I will plant the three I have as a triplet. I will do it real soon since it is getting late in our growing season. Do any of you plant in the fall or winter or is this a no no. Bret, the ones I have are in full sun, and I mean full hot sun for almost all day. They are all acclimated and they do not burn at all. Their little trunks (if you can call them trunks) are nice and green with the white powder substance. Since my gareden is still an embryo I need to form a canopy so I will try to use these (since they are supposed to be fast growing) and other full sun plants. I cut down all my shade trees (pine trees and bottle brush trees OOOOOOOO yuk!) in the back and I have no shade. I will post a pic of the beginning of hopefully something very tropical and nice. It is a five year project. Mike

[Johnny]

I have been growing these inmy nursery for the past few years. I found that they really pick up speed the larger they get. This is typical for most palms but D. pembana picks up speed like few other palms from Madagascar. I picked out one of the "sprinters" in my production and put it in the ground last October as a 4' tall 5g plant. It is in a filtered sun position and it has only opened 1 new leaf. Another spear is on the way now and pushing much faster than the last one. I was very suprised at how slow it has been growing ffor me given how fast they grow in my production. I have also heard from several of my customers that they are growing fast for them - despite my expereince. I guess that is my punishment for "cherry-picking" the best one in the production. I have a friend growing one in Trabuco Canyon, one of the coldest winter areas of Orange County, and it pushed leaves through winter. I am 2 miles from the Huntington Beach coast, so go figure!

[MattyB]

Do any of you plant in the fall or winter or is this a no no.

Mike, I planted a Chambeyronia macrocarpa and a Ropalostylis baueri this last winter and I'm glad I did.  By the time early Spring arrived they were all acclimated and ready to do some good growing.  Because you live in a pretty mild area (Clairemont), you can probably plant a lot of things in winter.  You might not want to plant out marginal stuff though.  It just seems good to wait until spring for those things.

[Surf Guy]

Hey Matt, that's is good news. What size were those plants? I finally planted my first plant this year and I have a ton of room left. Once you plant one you can't stop, I guess. I have high hopes. After I planted my first, I had to do another. One is P. beccariana. Don't you have this one in full sun? The one I planted is in full sun. So far it is doing really good. I'll send a pic. Mike

[MattyB]

R. baueri was 10 gallon

C. macrocarpa was 2 gallon

Yes, I do have P. beccariana in full, pretty much all day sun.  It gets sun from 8:30am to 7:00pm now in summer. The greenhouse grown leaves are all burning.  The 3 new leaves (since April planting) are not burning.  I hope they don't fry.  It's in a hot part of the lawn right by the blacktop street.  I've been trying to keep it real wet along with the watering it gets from the lawn sprinklers.  I like how when one leaf opens there's always another spear already pushing.

[el-blanco]

Mike, I am growing several 100 of these Pembana and all have made it through winter with minimal problems.

I had a rat/rats mow down a whole tray of them to the nub and they are coming back nicely.

I have a greenhouse (2000 sq. foot cold frame) that gets temps in the mid 30's a few nights and these sailed through.  All mine are seed grown and they sprout very easily.  I picked the seed in Hawaii and unfortunately the solitare got mixed with the clumping so time will tell.

I cherry picked the best one to place in my yard like Johnny BUT after hearing his story will wait to plant it ou HA!.   Wonder if I should pot it up  to a 5 and start acclimating it now to the sun?

ATTACHED IS A PHOTO of D. Pembana at Ho'O'mahulia.

JEff

[Surf Guy]

Hey Matt, I know what you mea about P. beccariana. It seems to be a good grower. I had a nice one I got from Phil Bergman about two years ago but lost it to the frost we had in Nov. 04. Do you remember that? It was doing great and I left it unprotected and didn't heed the frost warnings and it got frost bitten and finally died the next spring. I have a little bit more experience now. Do you have P. hillebrandii? I have a few of these and they do good as well. Mike

[MattyB]

No, beccariana is my first Pritchardia.  I gotta get a P. viscosa though.

[Matt in SD]

I've seen a large trunking Dypsis pembana (~10 feet of trunk) in coastal Orange County so they definitely grow here.  I just planted one into full sun with a quick acclimation like Bret did.  It's about 5 feet tall overall, and It's growing very fast now (~1" per day on the spear), and the new leaves are not burning.  I bought this palm about 18 months ago as a 2g plant and it's grown at Archontophoenix speeds for me so far.  Definitely the fastest Dypsis I've seen.

Just a note, I've mentioned this before, I've heard from people who would know that the "clumping" and "solitaire" varieties are not true to seed...seeds from either form will yield a mix of clumping and solitary plants.  In a previous post, it seemed to be the general conclusion that if it hasn't suckered by the time it's a good sized 5g plant or so, it will remain solitary.

Matt

[DoomsDave]

I have a baby one planted in the shadow of a Pritchardia hillebrandtii, which seems to be doing well so far.

dave

[Utopia Palms]

This would be the fastest growing palm we have grown 12m in 6 years amazing

Teresa

[MattyB]

Update:  Mine has seen 31.5F, 33F, and 5-10 nights around 35F w/ no protection.  There is some minor leaf spotting after the 31.5F night, but I think it still looks good.  It's all acclimated to sun now and is growing fine.  Love this palm.

[JakeK]

My pembana is proving to be a great container palm. I accidentally kept it in an unheated sunroom for about two weeks during the coldest weather so far this winter and now it is still growing like crazy. The coldest that room dropped to was probaby high thirties, but it was consistently cool for those two weeks, so it is definitely a winner in my book.

[neoflora]

Johnny, Not from Masdagascar!

[Al in Kona]

I have the clumping form growing here.  Yes, it grows quite fast and after established handles some dry periods well too.  Here are two pics to show what it looks like growing in full Kona sun . . .

[Al in Kona]

Close up to show trunk detail better . . .

[amazon exotics]

Matty, Let me know if you find P. viscosa. Very Very hard to find. A must have. Just thinking of that sticky bud palm drives me crazy!!!

[The Germinator]

I just went to check on some palms I had tucked away in a corner under some kings. Too my suprise I had some nice looking pembanas in the "short one" tree liners, they are about 3 feet tall, they grew really fast over the winter. We had a mild winter this year so there was no damage too the leaves at all.

[Moose]

D pembana is supierior D cabadae in my opinion. Faster, larger stature and perhaps a bit more cold hardy?

[PalmatierMeg]

7 hours ago, Moose said:

D pembana is supierior D cabadae in my opinion. Faster, larger stature and perhaps a bit more cold hardy?

Yes, on all of the above as well as sun hardier.