Experiences with Caryota no vs. gigas?

[JenRiot321]

Hey all!

I may have the opportunity to finally get one of the large single trunked fishtail palms this week and it may come down to a decision between Caryota no and Caryota gigas.  I haven’t been able to find much good info about no (given that the word “no” will come up in just about every search :/ ) but i’ve read that is might be more cold sensitive than some of the others. They’re both being grown in SD county and are decent sizes, but i’d love to get some opinions on which is more beautiful and which might be a better choice.  I’m in San Diego 10a/b. Given the size these get giving them much cold protection won’t really be an option like other plants in my collection so if C. no could be a little more at risk i’d like to know that now.

Also, what are the major differences in these two palms as far as appearance, height, frond/leaf display, and lifespan? 

I’d really appreciate any info! 

[palmsOrl]

I am not a big fan of Caryota, but these two species I like.

[Merlyn]

I read up on them and bought a couple of seedlings of Gigas/Obtusa.  Gigas survived the 2009 winter @ Leu gardens ok, multiple cold nights in a row with an ultimate low of 29F (I think).  In the UK they have died at 27-28F and in the US have survived (with severe damage) at 22-25F, with pretty much guaranteed death at 20F.  I'm planting one here in a cold 9B area, it's marginal here.  I'd guess that a 10A/10B area is relatively safe for this palm.

I don't know much about Caryota No, as I couldn't find very much information about them.  Urens is supposed to be the fastest growing, but I prefer the Gigas/Obtusa and No frond shapes better. 

Edited April 24, 2019 by Merlyn2220

[kurt decker]

Caryota no is easily the most beautiful of the big caryotas. It has longer, larger fronds, and ends up looking like a 70-foot tree fern. They do great in Florida, but come down easily in hurricanes. You don't have that problem, I think they do well in Southern California. Great palm

[JenRiot321]

1 hour ago, Merlyn2220 said:

I read up on them and bought a couple of seedlings of Gigas/Obtusa.  Gigas survived the 2009 winter @ Leu gardens ok, multiple cold nights in a row with an ultimate low of 29F (I think).  In the UK they have died at 27-28F and in the US have survived (with severe damage) at 22-25F, with pretty much guaranteed death at 20F.  I'm planting one here in a cold 9B area, it's marginal here.  I'd guess that a 10A/10B area is relatively safe for this palm.

Great temp information! Thank you so much! I’ve seen several nice large Caryotas in north county sd/ Vista area so they apparently do well there. That is also the area i’m going to be getting mine from but i’m not sure if they’re more common up there because it’s a better microclimate or just because more “plant people” choose to live up there. Could be both but since we barely ever get temps in the 30s I imagine they’d be good down here, barring any extreme winters.

[JenRiot321]

1 hour ago, kurt decker said:

Caryota no is easily the most beautiful of the big caryotas. It has longer, larger fronds, and ends up looking like a 70-foot tree fern. They do great in Florida, but come down easily in hurricanes. You don't have that problem, I think they do well in Southern California. Great palm

I appreciate your input! Other than a few, possibly miscaptioned, photos I wasn’t able to get a good idea of where these fell on the “beauty spectrum” of the big Caryotas.  I’ve always been in love with the appearance of the gigas but those do seem to be quite a bit more common than no, and given a choice i’ll always pick the more unusual, given there are no factors that make it a no-go. The thought of missing my chance to add something really cool to my collection is the main reason I feel compelled to do so much homework ahead of time! Haha.  I’ll make sure when I eventually plant it to put it in a somewhat protected spot, with easy access for when it eventually dies, where it won’t fall on the house.  Juuust in case!

[Merlyn]

9 hours ago, JenRiot321 said:

Great temp information! Thank you so much! I’ve seen several nice large Caryotas in north county sd/ Vista area so they apparently do well there. That is also the area i’m going to be getting mine from but i’m not sure if they’re more common up there because it’s a better microclimate or just because more “plant people” choose to live up there. Could be both but since we barely ever get temps in the 30s I imagine they’d be good down here, barring any extreme winters.

If you rarely get into the 30s then low temperatures shouldn't be an issue.  Most of the Caryota are hardy to around freezing before you'll see leaf damage.

My reading on the Obtusa/Gigas vs No is that the Obtusa is slightly larger but slower growing.  The Obtusa is supposed to get up to 18' long fronds, and the No is slightly smaller at around 16'.  This is from Palmpedia, but photos seem to support the view that the No is a little bit smaller diameter.

There's apparently some argument about whether Gigas is Obtusa and whether all the local Asian types are all the same or not.  The seedlings I got were sourced from Thailand.

[-2 brian]

I had a caryota gigas which I believe is now considered to be synonymous with obtusa. I can’t speak to C. No, but my experience in coastal Orange County with gigas was no problem to what cold it saw here. Maybe 36-38 for a dozen hours a winter. It does get massive. 3’ + diameter trunk & beautiful massive lacy looking fronds 18’ - 20’ wide and long held aloft like huge sails. Relatively quick grower for me as well. If you have the space they are beautiful.