Siphokentia beguinii

[The Palm Nut]

Anyone growing this outside of the tropics? I have a small seedling which I will be planting out close to my pond which is heated in winter. As far as its cold sensitivity, is it closer to the Betel nut or Lipstick?

Thanks

Mike

[ZoneTenNut]

Mike,

I have two of these planted in my yard in south florida. They were both 1 gal. when I put them out and one was planted in 2002 and the other in 2004. They have both done well and been through 34F/1C and light frosts. They are somewhat sheltered under high canopy, so never had frost directly on the leaves, but have come through each winter with really no damage or ill effects. The older one has about 4-5 feet of trunk and just started flowering last year. I would say they would be closer to Betelnut, as I have those also in the yard, while I cannot grow lipstick out here reliably, except in pots that can be drug inside during severe cold snaps. My two Betelnuts are in the wide open with no canopy and had slight leaf burn from the same 34F/1C and light frosts, but quickly recovered their appearance with the onset of warmer weather.

Roger

[Neofolis]

Aren't Siphokentia one of the genera that have been grouped with Hydriastele now?  I think it's Gulubia, Gronophyllum and Siphokentia that have now become Hydriastele.

[sebastian]

I have one of these has been a little neglected and grows fine/steady, is just starting to get a little trunk.

I cant grow lipsticks here without added heat,deffinetly closser to the beatle nut than the lipstick in hardyness.

[cfkingfish]

Mine was fine and had about two feet of trunk until I spread too much turf fertilizer in the area and toasted it. It grew like a weed though.

[The Palm Nut]

Thanks everyone, I will definitely keep it close to the pond as from what I can tell its hardiness is somewhere between the two, closer to the betel nut though.

Cheers

Mike

[bgl]

Mike,

Well, I'm obviously in the tropics, so I don't know how these palms do in other, cooler, locations. Here's a couple of ours.

Bo-Göran

[bgl]

Close-up

[garrin]

Although I am also in the tropics (near to Bo) I had a continuing problem with Siphokentia putting up beautiful new fronds which then proceeded to fall over with a sharp bend in the new leaf stem, especially if I fertilized at all.  I believe it was on this message board some time ago that I read about boron deficiency and collapsing new growth.  A mere quarter of a teaspoon of boric acid around the root area corrected the problem.  Both this palm and Roscheria seemed to be sensitive to boron deficiency and showed the same problem.  But be careful; boron is toxic to plants at more than tiny amounts.  Both palms are growing in the same very well drained but wet area of my garden with large trees nearby sucking up the nutrients.