Chamaedorea Radicalis rocks!

[Swolte]

Quite impressed with this palm so far.

I bought some C. Radicalis (trunking and non-trunking) on Jungle Music sale in mid-December. The palm has been on my radar for a while so I was unable to resist this deal. I decided, in an impatient bout, to plant it in the ground immediately (the winter had been mild thus far). 

As with all my new trees and shrubs, I inspect the root system and often do a thorough root-washing and root pruning (if needed) before I plant in native soil. I was horrified at seeing such a girdling, rock solid mass of woody material on this palm! There was almost no soil visible! This can't be healthy, I thought, and I took a sharp saw and just cut the bottom third of the root system off. I was then able to loosen the remaining root system and planted it in the ground.

I later learned, and Phil confirmed this, that this practice probably wasn't the smartest idea with palms...

Anyway, I monitored the palm closely from then on. As the outer leaves started to brown, there was no movement of the spears. Then, a few weeks ago, we had our polar vortex event on top of that! We got three subsequent days with freezing (+6 hrs/)night temperatures here in Texas. I protected the palm with a frost-cloth and some straw underneath. 

Today I noticed almost an inch of growth on the spears!! 

Edited March 13, 2019 by Swolte

[Cikas]

Very tropical looking but very cold hardy at the same time. Radicalis is beautiful looking palm. 

[Fusca]

12 hours ago, Swolte said:

Quite impressed with this palm so far.

I bought some C. Radicalis (trunking and non-trunking) on Jungle Music sale in mid-December. The palm has been on my radar for a while so I was unable to resist this deal. I decided, in an impatient bout, to plant it in the ground immediately (the winter had been mild thus far). 

Great palm for our zones.  I'm looking forward to planting out some I grew from seed ( thanks @DoomsDave ) sometime this weekend on the east side of my house.  I'm assuming that your spot is at least somewhat shaded.  These are reported to handle full sun but probably not full Texas sun.

[Swolte]

2 minutes ago, Fusca said:

 I'm assuming that your spot is at least somewhat shaded.  These are reported to handle full sun but probably not full Texas sun.

Yes, full Texas sun is brutal! They are currently in dappled shade (post oaks and some skinny red cedars). I also planted a Live Oak to the left (just not visible in the pic) which should provide some more reliable shade in a few years. I will then likely cut the cedars down.

Good luck with your seedlings! I am curious to learn how fast they'd grow in our Texas conditions. I have 'm down as 'slow' growers in my palmpedia.

~ S

[Fusca]

Thanks.  They're not so fast to germinate but have grown steadily.  If I remember right mine began germinating in a community pot after 2-3 months, so that would make my seedlings about 15 months old.  They are not so tall yet, but have all gone pinnate for some time now.  I'm sure there is a mix of trunking and non-trunking forms so that is cool.  They have been kept outside the entire 15 months of their lives except for one night in 01/2018 and no issues.  These guys must be pretty tough to handle some serious freezes into the mid teens, central Texas heat as well as some root damage as yours have experienced!  So they probably can be transplanted easily.  I'll probably plant some underneath my largest Butia also.  I think they start flowering relatively early as well so you might get some seeds in a few years if you've got a male and female plant.

[pin38]

Underrated palm imo, they also do incredibly well inside which is great for me. I've got 5 of DoomsDave's in pots that I germinated 2 years ago, and have gifted away many others.