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Chinese fan palms as die backs


newtopalmsMD

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Hi, 

Separating (partially) some big box Chinese fan palms and planting them as die back in zone 7a.  Some are about 2 feet tall to frond tip, and others have petioles that are 4 feet with pretty big fans.  Should I expect the smaller plants to never really get any bigger than they are (kind of like hostas)?  Should I expect the big ones not to regain their petiole height but continue to produce large fans?  (Just thinking of where to locate them)  I assume there is no special care for these things.  Just lots of water (especially since its July!) and slow release palm fertilizer?  Then after the really cold weather starts cut them to the ground and cover with leaves until spring?

Thanks

I accidentally posted this in palms in pots forum.  Couldn't figure out how to move it here so I just repeated it. (Do i loses a frond for that?)

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30 minutes ago, newtopalmsMD said:

Hi, 

Separating (partially) some big box Chinese fan palms and planting them as die back in zone 7a.  Some are about 2 feet tall to frond tip, and others have petioles that are 4 feet with pretty big fans.  Should I expect the smaller plants to never really get any bigger than they are (kind of like hostas)?  Should I expect the big ones not to regain their petiole height but continue to produce large fans?  (Just thinking of where to locate them)  I assume there is no special care for these things.  Just lots of water (especially since its July!) and slow release palm fertilizer?  Then after the really cold weather starts cut them to the ground and cover with leaves until spring?

Thanks

 I accidentally posted this in palms in pots forum.  Couldn't figure out how to move it here so I just repeated it. (Do i loses a frond for that?)

Yeah I had a double potted in my garage go through 10F and they're both recovering just fine. My guess is they won't get much bigger than the size you have them now. The biggest thing for them is if you have a lot of warmth, heat, and humidity to have them recover quicker.

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Did the one in your garage get exposed to 10F, or was that the outside temperature (the garage being warmer I assume)?

I would think this could be done as long as the roots don’t freeze.

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So my garage is usually in low 40’s in winter and did not get colder than 32 on the coldest nights. I have read in “palms won’t grow here” and places on line that Chinese fan palms can be grown as die backs.  My other choice is leave them in the garage all winter under grow lights. 

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If you mulch and cover (as well as select a protected site) you might be able to keep the ground from freezing where the palms are planted.

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I am in z7a Maryland too and did them for a few years. They basically die back and are mostly trunk hardy with a little bit of cut back. I trimmed the dead fronds off and cut 1/3in to 1in of trunk and they grew right back. Sadly once they start to look really nice it starts to get chilly.

LOWS 16/17 12F, 17/18 3F, 18/19 7F, 19/20 20F

Palms growing in my garden: Trachycarpus Fortunei, Chamaerops Humilis, Chamaerops Humilis var. Cerifera, Rhapidophyllum Hystrix, Sabal Palmetto 

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I agree with @palmsOrl, definitely keep it mulched and plant it in a protected site and you might have some serious luck with it. 

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Zone 8a/8b Greenville, NC 

Zone 9a/9b Bluffton, SC

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On 7/4/2019 at 7:02 PM, palmsOrl said:

Did the one in your garage get exposed to 10F, or was that the outside temperature (the garage being warmer I assume)?

I would think this could be done as long as the roots don’t freeze.

No the thermometer in the garage said 10F (That usual where I live outside lol) I am pretty sure outside at the time it was in the negatives and the reason the garage got so cold was because someone had left my garage door open accidentally. 

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I assume you are talking about Trachycarpus Fortunei, specifically, when referring to "Chinese fan palm". 

If this is the case, you need to make sure you are using the right variants of it in your climate. Some types are far hardier than others. The typical Fortunei that most people have, including myself, are only hardy down to about 5F. This is never an issue for myself, but in your climate, this is also not viable.

There is a variant of Fotunei from Bulgaria, which is said to have been hybridised Wagnerianus and adapted to colder conditions, allowing it to survive temps down to -15F. Every year, the palms survive -5F in Bulgaria and have even taken -17F before, supposedly. You want to try and get hold of some seeds, or older specimens, of this type...

Dry-summer Oceanic climate (9a)

Average annual precipitation - 18.7 inches : Average annual sunshine hours - 1725

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13 minutes ago, UK_Palms said:

I assume you are talking about Trachycarpus Fortunei, specifically, when referring to "Chinese fan palm". 

If this is the case, you need to make sure you are using the right variants of it in your climate. Some types are far hardier than others. The typical Fortunei that most people have, including myself, are only hardy down to about 5F. This is never an issue for myself, but in your climate, this is also not viable.

There is a variant of Fotunei from Bulgaria, which is said to have been hybridised Wagnerianus and adapted to colder conditions, allowing it to survive temps down to -15F. Every year, the palms survive -5F in Bulgaria and have even taken -17F before, supposedly. You want to try and get hold of some seeds, or older specimens, of this type...

They are talking about livistona chinensis. 

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When I was a teen I grew these as die backs in Asheville, NC. This was a zone 7a and they returned every year. 

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Los Angeles, CA and Myrtle Beach, SC.

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