Unexpected Christmas Present Early!

[Alicehunter2000]

PalmTalk has been a great place through the years and the members are what make it so. A member on here saw my post regarding the difficulty in getting Kentia in Florida and took it upon themselves to not only send me a small seedling....but a large plant! Feeling very grateful and appreciative and thought I would show some pictures of my newly aquired jewel.

[Alicehunter2000]

A closer view

[Alicehunter2000]

Potting soil/perlite 50/50 mix

[PalmatierMeg]

It's gorgeous, David. And kudos to your thoughtful palm friend.

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

34 minutes ago, Alicehunter2000 said:

A closer view

WOW!  That is so AWESOME!!!!!!   What a beauty it is too!   So many great peeps here!    Now if only I can find one.  Ive seen ONE since I moved to FL, and it was multiples in a pot, kind of large, and  crazy expensive.   For the life of me I cant figure out why we don't see these palms all over, but Majesty palms are a dime a dozen.   My never ending search continues.     

[dmc]

Nice! 

[Palmaceae]

Wow, very nice and very nice person to send you one!

[Merlyn]

That's a pretty palm, kudos to the PalmTalk member who sent it!

I've also seen exactly one Kentia in FL, it was at a local nursery in the 1/2 price area, severely nutritionally screwed up and still $75 for a 2 foot tall runt.  I passed on it... 

I suspect it's because Majesty palms grow so fast when they are young, are easy to germinate and have that sorta-vaguely-coconutty frond shape.  It just looks "tropical." Someone figured out how to promote it as an ideal "indoor palm," and now there are literally hundreds in every single big box store.  And most of the indoor ones die within a year.  I guess if they are that cheap, replacing them every year isn't that big of a deal...

[Stevetoad]

Glad it made it to you in one piece. I love the fact that in this day and age we can have a palm tree living in San Diego one day and less than a week later it’s living across the country in Florida. Pretty awesome. 

[Alicehunter2000]

Thanks again Steve for something nearly impossible to find over here...it's going to be watered in with some fresh Florida rainwater....Before moving in for the winter.

I'm curious do you all get Kentia volunteer seedlings popping up in Cali? 

[Stevetoad]

12 minutes ago, Alicehunter2000 said:

Thanks again Steve for something nearly impossible to find over here...it's going to be watered in with some fresh Florida rainwater....Before moving in for the winter.

I'm curious do you all get Kentia volunteer seedlings popping up in Cali? 

I’ve seen them pop up under the parent every so often but not very often. Nothing like washys or CIDP that pop up literally every where. 

[Alicehunter2000]

I've got a L.saribus that gets lots of seedlings...chinensis which is way more common rarely does.

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

20 hours ago, Alicehunter2000 said:

Thanks again Steve for something nearly impossible to find over here...it's going to be watered in with some fresh Florida rainwater....Before moving in for the winter.

I'm curious do you all get Kentia volunteer seedlings popping up in Cali? 

They truly are just about impossible to find.  Every time I go to HD or Lowes it irks me to see nothing but Majesty palms.   It's Majesty, D. Lutescense, Chritmas, Queen, Coconut, Bizzy, Thrinax Radiata, Euro fan, even Old Man palms.  With all of the variety we get here I just don't understand why Kentia are so scarce! 

[PalmatierMeg]

5 minutes ago, DCA_Palm_Fan said:

They truly are just about impossible to find.  Every time I go to HD or Lowes it irks me to see nothing but Majesty palms.   It's Majesty, D. Lutescense, Chritmas, Queen, Coconut, Bizzy, Thrinax Radiata, Euro fan, even Old Man palms.  With all of the variety we get here I just don't understand why Kentia are so scarce! 

They are basically unsuited to a FL climate without diligent care. And almost no one except a palm freak like me is willing to learn how to care for these tricky palms. They want to buy a palm, stick it in the ground, then walk away. Result: dead kentia. Also, I believe that most people in the southern half of FL don't fill their homes with houseplants (I don't keep them) because the outdoor climate is relatively benign - but not to a Howea. Majesties make terrible houseplants but take the sweltering summers much better than kentias. So - if very few people in SFL bother with house palms and outdoor planting is likely a death sentence, why should a plant seller offer a slow-growing, needy, expensive palm they have to ship in from CA? Because it is pretty much impossible to raise them commercially in FL.

Your best chance of getting a decent Howea is to bite the bullet and pay to have one sent here from the West Coast. I grew my remaining forsteriana from a lot of germinated seeds I bought from CA in 2004. I got my belmoreana in 2005 as a 1g (the only specimen) from a nursery in Homestead and dollars to donuts the seller got it from CA. Actually, kentias are common and relatively cheap in CA. They can be gotten but you have to actively seek them out.

[PalmatierMeg]

I have a couple of questions about Howeas I hope someone in CA can answer:

1) What month(s) of the year do kentia seeds ripen in CA?

2) How long are kentia seeds viable after ripening?

Thanks for any info

[Palmaceae]

The only place I have seen Howeas for sale here in SW Florida was at Driftwood Gardens nursery in Estero and Naples, and it was extremely high priced. Back in the 80's I remember a very nice trunking Howea forsteriana in St Armands in Sarasota. Not sure if it is still there.

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

3 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

They are basically unsuited to a FL climate without diligent care. And almost no one except a palm freak like me is willing to learn how to care for these tricky palms. They want to buy a palm, stick it in the ground, then walk away. Result: dead kentia. Also, I believe that most people in the southern half of FL don't fill their homes with houseplants (I don't keep them) because the outdoor climate is relatively benign - but not to a Howea. Majesties make terrible houseplants but take the sweltering summers much better than kentias. So - if very few people in SFL bother with house palms and outdoor planting is likely a death sentence, why should a plant seller offer a slow-growing, needy, expensive palm they have to ship in from CA? Because it is pretty much impossible to raise them commercially in FL.

Your best chance of getting a decent Howea is to bite the bullet and pay to have one sent here from the West Coast. I grew my remaining forsteriana from a lot of germinated seeds I bought from CA in 2004. I got my belmoreana in 2005 as a 1g (the only specimen) from a nursery in Homestead and dollars to donuts the seller got it from CA. Actually, kentias are common and relatively cheap in CA. They can be gotten but you have to actively seek them out.

Yeah, I know they don't like the tropical climate here much.  Mine would be more than likely indoor, or also possibly shaded patio palm.  The slow growth does not bother me as I don't want something to go wild on me in either pace.  The closest thing in looks that I can find are Cat palms, and Im unsure of their suitability as indoor palms  Down here it might not be as bad since  its not as dry.  Back in DC when I would bring mine in for the winter it was a battle to keep the spider mites at bay, but I did it and kept the palm healthy and looking good.   Oh well.  Maybe ill just give up and try a cat palm in the indoor space I want it.  

[PalmatierMeg]

DCA, as I said, you can have one shipped from CA. Try Jungle Music. And there are other PT member palm nurseries out there. You just have to be proactive. I look for stuff all the time. The search is sometimes half the fun.

[Jim in Los Altos]

On December 14, 2018 at 4:57:02 PM, PalmatierMeg said:

I have a couple of questions about Howeas I hope someone in CA can answer:

1) What month(s) of the year do kentia seeds ripen in CA?

2) How long are kentia seeds viable after ripening?

Thanks for any info

My oldest Howea flowers regularly year round. Fruit takes roughly two years to ripen. Most of the fruit on mine gets eaten by native black squirrels but I've had a few sprout beneath the palm. They also take a long time to germinate, sometimes a year in good conditions. You can see some of the emerging inflorescences in one of the pictures. 

Edited December 16, 2018 by Jim in Los Altos

[John Case]

Here is Northern CA, they used to be as common as Washingtonias….now, when I am looking for a couple of them, cannot be found......very strange.....