Parajubaea sunkha

[DoomsDave 8,497]

17 hours ago, Marius said:

I have just planted my first new Parajubaea sunkha. I hope that it will do well in its new spot. 

you've got us all rooting for ya!

[Marius 432]

Thanks Dave 

[yota 6]

On 2/28/2019 at 11:11 PM, sinbarambam said:

gorgeous, thanks for sharing. It's one that apparently exists in New Zealand but haven't seen it. Do have Cocoides, Torallyi and Microcarpa though. Love 'em all. 

yes it's here, I have one been planted out for a few years now

[iwan 207]

On 3/30/2019 at 9:08 AM, iwan said:

One day I am probably going to regret where I planted my last surviving sunkha.  Way too close to my electrical service lines.

Does anyone have any pictures of leaning P. sunkha, or experience (failure) in trying to force them to lean (short of digging)?  I have pulled all of my fronds forward into a larger Agave.  Hopefully that might have a small impact.

[ExperimentalGrower 17]

On 3/3/2019 at 4:08 PM, Ben in Norcal said:

Yeah, mine sit in bogs here in the wet Norcal winter (now - February has been a deluge) - and no worries.  It's only the combination of really high temps (high 90s/100s) and irrigation that seems to cause collapse, and only in dense clay.  It's actually been fortuitous that I have lost some, however; they were getting far too large for the placement, and have enabled me to plant some smaller/narrower palms (various species of Archontophoenix, for the most part.)

I have so many sunkhas in pots (15g) that I don't know what to do with - not much of a market for them here.

I know this is an old thread but I would take a nicely grown 15g specimen off your hands for a decent price Ben. I’m in Vallejo. You selling?

Justin 

[Ben in Norcal 2,001]

13 hours ago, ExperimentalGrower said:

I know this is an old thread but I would take a nicely grown 15g specimen off your hands for a decent price Ben. I’m in Vallejo. You selling?

Justin 

Sorry, Justin, but I have managed to sell all of my 15 gallon palms the last couple of summers...which funded more investment! 

[Josue Diaz 2,601]

On 10/11/2020 at 11:37 PM, ExperimentalGrower said:

I know this is an old thread but I would take a nicely grown 15g specimen off your hands for a decent price Ben. I’m in Vallejo. You selling?

Justin 

You might give Neil in Sacramento a shout

[Ben in Norcal 2,001]

1 hour ago, Josue Diaz said:

You might give Neil in Sacramento a shout

Neil has tons of nice torallyi, but not sure about sunkha...

[Ben in Norcal 2,001]

On 10/11/2020 at 11:37 PM, ExperimentalGrower said:

I know this is an old thread but I would take a nicely grown 15g specimen off your hands for a decent price Ben. I’m in Vallejo. You selling?

Justin 

Update: Patric Schafer tells me he has P. sunkha if you are still looking.  Not sure what size but his usual are very overgrown tree pots or 5gs.

[ExperimentalGrower 17]

11 minutes ago, Ben in Norcal said:

Update: Patric Schafer tells me he has P. sunkha if you are still looking.  Not sure what size but his usual are very overgrown tree pots or 5gs.

Hey Ben,

Thanks, you’ve been super helpful. Is he in the Bay Area? Sorry I don’t know him. I’m pretty new to the forum.

cheers,

Justin 

[Ben in Norcal 2,001]

1 minute ago, ExperimentalGrower said:

Hey Ben,

Thanks, you’ve been super helpful. Is he in the Bay Area? Sorry I don’t know him. I’m pretty new to the forum.

cheers,

Justin 

Patric is a world-renowned hybridizer, who lives up in Mendocino County, I think.  He's down here a lot though, hybridizing stuff.  He's working on a variety of my hybrids...Coco Queens, Mules, Syagrus xMatafome, etc.  So, we can probably figure out how to get you a plant or two, depending on what you are looking for.

[ExperimentalGrower 17]

On 10/13/2020 at 12:35 PM, Ben in Norcal said:

Neil has tons of nice torallyi, but not sure about sunkha...

Tbh, I’m torn whether or not to put an 800 lb gorilla or 300 lb gorilla in my somewhat narrow back yard. Lol 

I might head over to the Oakland Palmetum and get a better look at the size of the torallyi going strong there to get a better idea of it’s size related to my space constraints.

[ExperimentalGrower 17]

Just now, Ben in Norcal said:

Patric is a world-renowned hybridizer, who lives up in Mendocino County, I think.  He's down here a lot though, hybridizing stuff.  He's working on a variety of my hybrids...Coco Queens, Mules, Syagrus xMatafome, etc.  So, we can probably figure out how to get you a plant or two, depending on what you are looking for.

Ah ok, I’ve heard about him. Thanks for the info. Going to assess this situation a bit further before I pull the trigger on which species. Thanks!

[Ben in Norcal 2,001]

Just now, ExperimentalGrower said:

Tbh, I’m torn whether or not to put an 800 lb gorilla or 300 lb gorilla in my somewhat narrow back yard. Lol 

I might head over to the Oakland Palmetum and get a better look at the size of the torallyi going strong there to get a better idea of it’s size related to my space constraints.

I'd be cautious with that comparison - the torallyis in SF and Oakland are about 1/3 of the size in trunk as they seem to achieve here in the EB.

[Stevetoad 1,708]

So far this has been my favorite parajubea. Hasn’t shown any problems with my summer heat either. It’s thinner that Tor Tor and (so far) doesn’t up and die for no reason like cocoides. 

[ExperimentalGrower 17]

1 hour ago, Ben in Norcal said:

I'd be cautious with that comparison - the torallyis in SF and Oakland are about 1/3 of the size in trunk as they seem to achieve here in the EB.

Ok good to know. My being in Vallejo is basically a split between Oakland and where you’re at... is it Concord/Clayton? Probably a bit more like Oakland here, definitely hotter by a few degrees on average. Thanks for the info!

[ExperimentalGrower 17]

19 minutes ago, Stevetoad said:

So far this has been my favorite parajubea. Hasn’t shown any problems with my summer heat either. It’s thinner that Tor Tor and (so far) doesn’t up and die for no reason like cocoides. 

Absolutely gorgeous. Seems they grow a good bit slower than torallyi, has that been your experience? Their foliage seems pretty similar though. 

How is your sunkha with summer water when it’s hot out Steve?

[Stevetoad 1,708]

9 minutes ago, ExperimentalGrower said:

Absolutely gorgeous. Seems they grow a good bit slower than torallyi, has that been your experience? Their foliage seems pretty similar though. 

How is your sunkha with summer water when it’s hot out Steve?

Mines been about the same as My tor tor but my tor tor gets less water due to a close by jacaranda.  Mine gets about 10 gallons of water a week in summer and next to nothing in winter. My tor tor seems to have a more open crown and the leaves arnt as weepy. Here’s my tor tor for comparison. 

[Ben in Norcal 2,001]

6 minutes ago, ExperimentalGrower said:

Ok good to know. My being in Vallejo is basically a split between Oakland and where you’re at... is it Concord/Clayton? Probably a bit more like Oakland here, definitely hotter by a few degrees on average. Thanks for the info!

Yeah, I am up in the hills, border of Concord and Clayton.  It's been a brutally hot summer...lots of days over 110 here, and we're close to 100 still.  Ready for fall...in a month. 

[ExperimentalGrower 17]

45 minutes ago, Ben in Norcal said:

Yeah, I am up in the hills, border of Concord and Clayton.  It's been a brutally hot summer...lots of days over 110 here, and we're close to 100 still.  Ready for fall...in a month. 

I know man. It’s been the hottest in awhile! Definitely looking forward to the cool off.

[James B 448]

I may be adding Sunkha to my garden.

I think soil matters. I planted a 15 gal Torralyi in July and watered it all summer every other day for 20-40 gallons a day and no problems despite 15 plus days over 100 degrees

My soil is rocky and full of granite. Drains easily. Also I am at 1600 ft elevation and since these palms grow even higher than that perhaps the combination of of the rocky soil mixed with the elevation makes a difference. But it’s still young and I have seen much larger specimens here in PT suddenly succumb to fungal infections.

Edited November 15, 2020 by James B

[Tyrone 1,903]

19 hours ago, James B said:

I may be adding Sunkha to my garden.

I think soil matters. I planted a 15 gal Torralyi in July and watered it all summer every other day for 20-40 gallons a day and no problems despite 15 plus days over 100 degrees

My soil is rocky and full of granite. Drains easily. Also I am at 1600 ft elevation and since these palms grow even higher than that perhaps the combination of of the rocky soil mixed with the elevation makes a difference. But it’s still young and I have seen much larger specimens here in PT suddenly succumb to fungal infections.

In summer do your minimums drop to around 16C or lower at night. If so, you probably will be ok, despite the day time temps. They need that night cool down.

[James B 448]

Most nights between July and early September no I’d say the average low in that stretch is probably 60-65 degrees so about 16-18 Celsius. There is the occasional night where it will drop below 60 but maybe only a couple time during those months. 

[Fusca 1,528]

2 hours ago, James B said:

Most nights between July and early September no I’d say the average low in that stretch is probably 60-65 degrees so about 16-18 Celsius. There is the occasional night where it will drop below 60 but maybe only a couple time during those months. 

For what it's worth, my P. sunkha has been in the ground two consecutive summers now and seems to be doing fine.  It doesn't grow during those months but as @Ben in Norcal recommended I have left it dry also.  We've hit 110°F (43°C) a few times between July and September, but our overnight lows have been even higher than yours - more like 65-75°F (18-24°C).  In fact we've continued to have overnight lows in the low 60's even up to this past week with only occasional cold fronts dropping temps into the 50's and upper 40's, but it's looking like we've finally started cooling off more at night and I've resumed watering my sunkha and it's pushing new growth again.

[James B 448]

1 minute ago, Fusca said:

For what it's worth, my P. sunkha has been in the ground two consecutive summers now and seems to be doing fine.  It doesn't grow during those months but as @Ben in Norcal recommended I have left it dry also.  We've hit 110°F (43°C) a few times between July and September, but our overnight lows have been even higher than yours - more like 65-75°F (18-24°C).  In fact we've continued to have overnight lows in the low 60's even up to this past week with only occasional cold fronts dropping temps into the 50's and upper 40's, but it's looking like we've finally started cooling off more at night and I've resumed watering my sunkha and it's pushing new growth again.

Wow. When we get the summer heat waves where we are over 100 our night time lows will be in the low 70s. Usually that lasts a week then our lows dip back into the 60s.

Now mine is in full afternoon sun and it’s hard to imagine the soil being overly wet even on watering days. 
 

But who knows. I’d like to beat the odds and see if it can get old enough to fruit.

[freakypalmguy 308]

Another data point, I have well draining soil and we had a month plus of over 100 with some 110’s here in Temecula, and I water my toryalii and macrocarpa’s every other day and haven’t had any issues. I didn’t know about this problem until reading this thread just now, so maybe I’m playing with fire?? They appeared to grow well all summer.

[James B 448]

23 minutes ago, freakypalmguy said:

Another data point, I have well draining soil and we had a month plus of over 100 with some 110’s here in Temecula, and I water my toryalii and macrocarpa’s every other day and haven’t had any issues. I didn’t know about this problem until reading this thread just now, so maybe I’m playing with fire?? They appeared to grow well all summer.

I think the soil may be key. Mine is full of rock AB. Decomposed granite as I am in the foothills of the San Gabriels. For me only time will tell.

[krishnaraoji88 431]

7 hours ago, Fusca said:

For what it's worth, my P. sunkha has been in the ground two consecutive summers now and seems to be doing fine.  It doesn't grow during those months but as @Ben in Norcal recommended I have left it dry also.  We've hit 110°F (43°C) a few times between July and September, but our overnight lows have been even higher than yours - more like 65-75°F (18-24°C).  In fact we've continued to have overnight lows in the low 60's even up to this past week with only occasional cold fronts dropping temps into the 50's and upper 40's, but it's looking like we've finally started cooling off more at night and I've resumed watering my sunkha and it's pushing new growth again.

Thats an interesting observation. My sunkha that I grow in central florida also doesn't grow during the summer when its hot and wet. It grows best during spring and fall and a little during winter. Thats one reason they're so slow in Florida is there are so few months of the year they actively grow. Ive never had a problem with them rotting out though and they look good even when not growing.

[necturus 263]

I had a five gallon in Houston that spear pulled in the summer due to rot and died. Admittedly, I also had a Butia nearby that rotted out too. I'm debating trying again... but probably not. 

[Chris Chance 826]

I'll have to update on mine. Since I originally posted pictures on here it has since grown quite a bit. Seems like they really slow down in the summer here but they pick up speed during the cooler months.

[ExperimentalGrower 17]

5 hours ago, necturus said:

I had a five gallon in Houston that spear pulled in the summer due to rot and died. Admittedly, I also had a Butia nearby that rotted out too. I'm debating trying again... but probably not. 

I’d be interested to know if these sunkhas that die from being watered in hot weather are receiving overhead tap water or irrigation at the roots. 
 

Also interested to know if planting them in ground during the summer is even a good idea since they need to be watered consistently to become established. 

[Fusca 1,528]

Here is my P. sunkha showing the silver underside of the leaves.

 

This shot shows the new growth since the beginning of fall.

 

Edited November 16, 2020 by Fusca

[Chris Chance 826]

Very hard to get a good picture but here's mine. Starting to get pretty big these days. 

[freakypalmguy 308]

22 hours ago, James B said:

I think the soil may be key. Mine is full of rock AB. Decomposed granite as I am in the foothills of the San Gabriels. For me only time will tell.

I think my zoo is very similar to yours, I’m in South Riverside County in Temecula. I think our climates t be similar also.  It does concern me setting reports off then dying from lots of water, i might be cautious from now on, is hate to lose even one, I’ve grown them all from liners.