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Bringing Washingtonia Robusta "indoors" how much light?


Chaz517

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Hey guys, I purchased a 6 and 1/2 ft Mexican fan palm 5 months ago at a local nursery here in Connecticut of all places. I know the chances of survival if planted are slim with no protection,so she was potted and placed on my porch. For the upcoming winter I built a greenhouse, more of a plastic enclosure over and around my deck, sealing it completely , that keeps the wind and some cold out. I have a space heater to keep temps warm, so that is not my issue, however I need to know how much ARTIFICIAL light is necessary to keep her alive! My porch probably only got 4 or 5 hours of direct sunlight in the summer, and therefore she has some browning and doesnt look as good as she did coming from the greenhouse I bought her from. She doesnt look awful but I just wanted some help with my first ever palm! Thanks all in advance.

Here is a pic from when I first got her!

post-11136-0-93158300-1415500382_thumb.j

Edited by Chaz517
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Palms that were solely grown in greenhouses take a good while to adapt to natural light. But with the washingtonia that you have, the old leaves that are partially burnt will drop off and new ones will grow back in a hurry and be adapted to the light- natural and artificial.

As for how much artificial light, I'd go with what would be natural to the plant: 12 hours of direct artificial light (or less, it doesn't cause any adverse effect I wouldn't think). I would not use more than 12 hours of direct light, though. Make sure when the lights are off, that your washingtonia doesn't receive any other light from outside or any other indoor lighting- especially direct lighting. Receiving any other direct or indirect light during your washingtonias "night time" wont kill it outright, but will confuse it and cause adverse effects and complications in it's growth and overall cycle. Sort of like messing with humans circadian rhythm, in a sense. So if you have heat and light, you should be okay. As for artificial lighting and what spectrums to use, etc... That's a different story that I'm still learning about. The only plants I keep in a greenhouse is in a mini box tray that I have indoors and I use a fluorescent "cool" blueish light.

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Wow, I need a reading comprehension course. I just re-read everything and saw that you plan on keeping your palm OUTSIDE, but in an enclosure on your deck. How much sunlight will you receive in the winter do you think? I really have no idea how it works, as far as receiving natural light and artificial light inside of a greenhouse. I'm sure supplementing artificial light along with the natural light couldn't hurt. I'd be interesting to see what others have to say... But I will say this, as long as your getting some sort of natural light- direct light, you should be alright I believe. Your palm will essentially winterize itself as it thinks winter is coming or already here, but I'm not sure how it will do with a warm environment to supplement that... Now I'm confused Lol Any one else have any input on this? I'm interested to know now, as well. Lol

Edited by smithgn
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LOL thanks for the info and good laughs. I thought something in the higher spectrum like 5000k or up is good for growing, I am just now sure how many lights I would need! I kind of want it to grow while in here during the winter, and not just be dormat. Not sure if that is possible,I am really new to growing palms, and am eager to learn! I got 6 mil plastic sheeting to withstand the wind and snow we will get here in CT, the drawback was that is does not let in too much sun. I am hoping with enough artificial lighting, everything will be fine and dandy! Thanks for the info on the light at night once lights are turned off!

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I've had a few in the ground here in my zone 5bish.... at least keeps the temps higher than 20f and you'll be fine. They do adapt, and any fronds that brown and die will soon be replaced by new spears and fronds.

I had one last winter I had put in 5 gallon bucket and sunk in the ground knowing I would pull it out and over winter in garage. While out of town (about this time last year) temps sank to 9f instead of the low 20s as predicted before I left. Fronds all died naturally, but amazingly palm came back this spring and now is in a 20 gallon container and THIS year...as of today, resides in my garage with a couple dozen other species of palms that over winter there.

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I'm not sure about keeping her indoors, but put that thing in the ground as soon as spring comes...W. robusta is one of the most rewarding cool hardy palms because it grows so fast. I planted one in July that had only three fronds...By October, it had grown 4" and had a full crown. They are rewarding palms. Best of luck!

El_Dorado.gif

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Thanks for the info guys! I am so nervous to put her in the ground haha, I suppose each winter I can do the c7 lights or build a makeshift greenhouse like I did this year. I think I hate the thought of her losing any fronds due to cold, even though I know it will come back in the summer. It gets below 0 here every single year and I would hate for the roots to freeze! Id love another 1 or 2 of them, where do most people get their palms on here if they don't live in a place that sells them locally?

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Well so far my "grow room" has 2 palms, Majesty and the robusta. The robust has 2 "old school" 200 watt lights in the higher spectrum that give off a lot of heat and light. Then I have 5 other 100 watt ( really 23 watt used) lights for part of the robusta, but mostly the majesty. I keep temps between 50-70 from now on, and spray the leaves once a day. I also leave a bowl of water in there to hopefully help with humidity. When it is all said and done, I would like another 8 lights. That should be enough lighting to actually keep the plants growing I would think. We shall see. Any input is always welcomed, positive or negative!

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Cool thanks, I must have visited every online nursery there is haha. If I could find something within 5 hours of CT that actually responds when I call, I would be more than happy to drive there!

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Well so far my "grow room" has 2 palms, Majesty and the robusta. The robust has 2 "old school" 200 watt lights in the higher spectrum that give off a lot of heat and light. Then I have 5 other 100 watt ( really 23 watt used) lights for part of the robusta, but mostly the majesty. I keep temps between 50-70 from now on, and spray the leaves once a day. I also leave a bowl of water in there to hopefully help with humidity. When it is all said and done, I would like another 8 lights. That should be enough lighting to actually keep the plants growing I would think. We shall see. Any input is always welcomed, positive or negative!

That's the beauty of growing palms, whether it be indoor or outdoor. There never an exact method and the fun part is find the method you've concocted yourself. If your palms are happy, then it worked and you're a master scientist. If it fails, then try again. :)

By the way, if you do decide to put your robusta in ground and it survive winter after winter (through whichever means of artificial heating you use), then you'll be borderline legendary like the dude in Iowa. But you've also got to keep in mind that this robusta will become extremely ROBUST after 5-10 years. It'll take a lot of planning and effort, but I think well worthit. But then again, I wont be the one doing all the work Haha.

If you want to mail order some cold hardy palms then I'd go with Plant Delight Nursery in North Carolina. I've read numerous reviews of how good they are, although I've never ordered from them myself (yet).

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Haha this is very true, thank you for the input. Thank you for the nursery recommendation. Got a nice 6-7ft palm this past weekend in MA from just $250, I was happy! Also built a better way to light my makeshift greenhouse using pcv piping! The lights will hang from the top of it, shining down on the plants from above! Works perfect. I am hoping that with greenhouse temps staying in the upper 40s to mid 60s that there will actually be some growth! Heres to hoping.

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Ha that is so awesome! I went way overkill with my "greenhouse" but at least I have 0 worries about temperature. I worry about not enough light, but I now have about 18 100 watt lights ( 23w equivalent ) That should be enough for 3 palms, plus 4 or 5 hours a day of natural sun that the plastic lets in

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Funny I check back on this thread and I see a picture of a robusta protected. Just got inside from protecting mine. Sitting at a toasty 60 degrees at the moment.

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It's 60 degrees INSIDE my frost cloth that is draped over my robusta. Outside were sitting at about 34 degrees. Haha, I wish it were 60 outside. I spent about an hour bringing all of my potted plants in and draping frost cloths over my livistona chinensis and my robusta.

Edited by smithgn
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Oh wow! LOL It is just damn cold in the whole country right now! You lose any leaves during the winter? I noticed how much I enjoy just coming home and staring at my palms like a weirdo. My girlfriend will understand one day.. I hope

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Well heck, that's part of the hobby. If palms weren't such good lookin' specimens, no one would appreciate them as much. My girlfriend actually half-way approves of my hobby/obsession with palms. Just due to the fact that it is relatively inexpensive and she'll probably get a few for her/our house one day lol

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Well heck, that's part of the hobby. If palms weren't such good lookin' specimens, no one would appreciate them as much. My girlfriend actually half-way approves of my hobby/obsession with palms. Just due to the fact that it is relatively inexpensive and she'll probably get a few for her/our house one day lol

If it's "relatively inexpensive" - you are doing it wrong. :mrlooney:

Ben Rogers

On the border of Concord & Clayton in the East Bay hills - Elev 387 ft 37.95 °N, 121.94 °W

My back yard weather station: http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/hdfForecast?query=37.954%2C-121.945&sp=KCACONCO37

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Lol Ben, funny you chimed in. I actually just got done e-mailing Patrick about his "relatively inexpensive" parajubaea hybrids.

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Lol Ben, funny you chimed in. I actually just got done e-mailing Patrick about his "relatively inexpensive" parajubaea hybrids.

There you go - now THAT's doing it right! :mrlooney:

Ben Rogers

On the border of Concord & Clayton in the East Bay hills - Elev 387 ft 37.95 °N, 121.94 °W

My back yard weather station: http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/hdfForecast?query=37.954%2C-121.945&sp=KCACONCO37

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The more light for a Washie, the better, especially, what they call "far-red" for making roses bloom indoors.

Ordinary grow-lamps are okay, but far red is supplementary

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Hm, maybe my 18 100 watt cfls in the 5000k spectrum isn't good enough? Are the lights I need actually red? Or just emit sort of a red UV light that imitates the sun?

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