Post your Cyrtostachys!

[palmsOrl]

I finally bought a replacement for my lost Cyrtostachys renda.  This little guy arrived a couple days ago fresh from Hawaii.  Looking closely at it, I assume it is a compot(?) of multiple seedlings in one pot, as individual C. renda seedlings do not clump/sucker at that small size.

The bubble wrap is there to keep exposed surface roots moist until I can get them covered by good soil.

The question is, should I separate all of the seedlings into their own pots and grow them out to hopefully select one in the future with really vivid red color, or just grow the clump as is.  

[palmsOrl]

Here is an update.

The first photo is of my Cyrtostachys "Apple", not a good photo, but it has nearly doubled in size since early October.

The second is my relatively new Cyrtostachys renda, purchased in January from Hawaii.  I thought due to its small size that it might be a bunch of seedlings planted together (the clump is the same height as my still individually stemmed Cyrtostachys "Apple") but when I repotted it, I found it to be all one plant and boy was it root bound.

Obviously, I am keeping them both wet and in partial sun as my porch does not have any full-sun locations anyways.

[Kris]

Here is our's...BTW its my third attempt with these palms:

.

 

[greysrigging]

59 minutes ago, Kris said:

Here is our's...BTW its my third attempt with these palms:

.

 

Should thrive in your climate.... unless you are a bit too cold in the foothills or too dry after the finish of the monsoons. I have to water mine in the dry season.

[Kim]

10 hours ago, Kris said:

Here is our's...BTW its my third attempt with these palms:

 

Hi Kris!  I hope you and your family are well.

Maybe put a saucer under the pots to help hold the moisture longer?

 

[Kris]

20 hours ago, Kim said:

Hi Kris!  I hope you and your family are well.

Maybe put a saucer under the pots to help hold the moisture longer?

 

Dear Kim,

Thanks for the suggestion,One of our members have suggested this to me and i have implemented this.It seems to do the trick. Initially i used to water this palm every alternate days.i.e only when the top soil dried up but it had adverse effect on the palm.

Here's a link to that thread,,

Thanks and love,

Kris

[Kris]

On 4/25/2020 at 12:51 PM, greysrigging said:

Should thrive in your climate.... unless you are a bit too cold in the foothills or too dry after the finish of the monsoons. I have to water mine in the dry season.

Thanks. Now iam watering it daily since we are in hot humid summer season.Only 2 months we get rains but i want say it as winters since the air around is sultry and hot throughout the year.

[palmsOrl]

I stumbled across this really good photo of the Cyrtostachys Hybrid I had at my former house, when looking though old Palmtalk threads for my Kopsick coconuts.  I actually had another one, but this one I bought as the hybrid.

[palmsOrl]

My Cyrtostachys "Apple" is looking good on this hot, dry day.

[HeroLite]

Just made it through the whole thread and absolutely love seeing Apple growing up!  My Cyrtostachys "DeadPool" has only been with me for a couple months and i'm doing my best to do right by him. Grow lights, daily water, some low fertilizer doses and repotting. New growth has been slow but happy to be sure. Thanks for this thread i'll be following up! 

[palmsOrl]

HeroLite, thank you!  It has been fun babying my Cyrtostachys "Apple" and watching it progress.  Now that the serious heat and humidity are here, it should speed up.  I think by fall it might be two feet tall.

Your Cyrtostachys is beautiful!  You are obviously taking excellent care of it.  I am very impressed.

I am not familiar with Cyrtostachys "DeadPool".  Is this a known, official cultivar?  I wasn't able to find anything relevant in a Google search.  Being my favorite genus, I am pretty familiar with all things Cyrtostachys, but there is always more to learn.  Please share more about Cyrtostachys "DeadPool".

[palmsOrl]

On 4/24/2020 at 8:30 PM, palmsOrl said:

Here is an update.

The first photo is of my Cyrtostachys "Apple", not a good photo, but it has nearly doubled in size since early October.

The second is my relatively new Cyrtostachys renda, purchased in January from Hawaii.  I thought due to its small size that it might be a bunch of seedlings planted together (the clump is the same height as my still individually stemmed Cyrtostachys "Apple") but when I repotted it, I found it to be all one plant and boy was it root bound.

Obviously, I am keeping them both wet and in partial sun as my porch does not have any full-sun locations anyways.

I am also considering taking these over to my grandma's and putting them in full sun to speed up their growth.  Will full sun cause them to grow a lot faster?  Are they too small as of yet for full sun?

On the other hand, they are destined to stay potted so maybe I should choose to have them grow more slowly.  When they get to tall I plan to cut the tallest stem so I can manage the palms in pots for a long time and possibly forever depending on when and if I end up with a yard in South FL.

[greysrigging]

A common landscape species in Darwin, providing they are watered during the 'dry season'. Being an equatorial lowland species, they don't seem to mind wet feet
They look good when watered regularly.



But die off quickly when the water is turned off.
 

[palmsOrl]

I went ahead and repotted the Cyrtostachys "Apple" (first photo) from an 8" black nursery pot to a 10" black nursery pot and potted it in a 10% sand, 10% Vermiculite, 30% potting soil, 50% peat moss mix and gave it some Dynamite fertilizer.  The roots on this one hadn't nearly filled the pot it was in surprisingly, but are very healthy.

The second photo is Cyrtostachys renda, which I repotted back into the same pot but with same soil mix as I used for my other Cyrtostachys.  I repotted this one mainly because last time I did I just did it in a hurry and used a mish-mash of whatever was available, dirt, orchid bark, etc.

[palmsOrl]

I'm not sure if I mentioned this on here in another thread, but in speaking with Jeff Marcus, he mentioned that Cyrtostachys "Apple" is a hybrid between the orange and red forms of Cyrtostachys renda.  As such, I no longer expect Cyrtostachys "Apple" to be more cold hardy than any other Cyrtostachys renda.

Further, Jeff mentioned that C. "Apple" does not clump nearly as much as C. renda, thus why my C. Apple specimen is still single-stemmed, while my C. renda, which is shorter than the "Apple", has at least a dozen growths in the small clump.

Also, (I think I did mention this already) Jeff explained that since Cyrtostachys are promiscuous, he believes the Cyrtostachys Hybrid to be Cyrtostachys renda × Cyrtostachys elegans, however, it could also be Cyrtostachys renda × Cyrtostachys loriae or even a hybrid of these three species.  He does not know with 100% certainty.

 

[palmsOrl]

Here is a one year update on my little Cyrtostachys "Apple". 

Far from a fast grower, it has still at least doubled in size in the last year.  Also, I just noticed today it is beginning to produce it's first sucker.

Also, for some reason the last leaf this palm pushed is stunted, but a new spear is already emerging.  Hopefully this one will be of normal size.  Perhaps this stunted leaf is due to a bit of transplant shock from when I up-potted it three months ago.

I moved it into full sun today to keep it growing as quickly as possible until I have to move it to the terrarium in November.  Not sure why I was keeping it in shade to begin with.

[palmsOrl]

My Cyrtostachys renda, acquired this past January.

I really hope it ends up having deep red color, like my last one.

[palmsOrl]

Here are my Cyrtostachys bakeri and C. loriae, regrowing healthy roots after they all contracted, you guessed it, fungus!

I am keeping them in a terrarium and treating with H2O2, rooting hormone and propaconazole.

[Hemi]

I have two large specimens growing in my garden in Coconut Grove for 10 years.  One is the normal lipstick palm and is about 15 feet tall.  The other is 'Theodora Buhler' and is a bit taller (probably 20 feet) and the trunks are a bit thicker.  It has also been there for 10 years as well.

Is anyone else in South Florida growing these in the ground?  Would be interested in your experience.

Links to pictures of each:

https://ibb.co/FgWdvB5

https://ibb.co/m4ZXkq0

Hope that worked. 

Hemi.

 

[waykoolplantz]

in ground 

[Hemi]

Beautiful.  I suspect there are more of these growing around the area then we know.  Often times they would be planted in protected areas maybe not that visible to others.

Thank you for your response.

[palmsOrl]

My Cyrtostachys renda was exposed to the chilly first 3 weeks of this month and here is the result.  In contrast, my Cyrtostachys apple looks untouched, more evidence that the latter is of hybrid orgin.

[palmsOrl]

Apparently these were protected from the coldest nights, but the chill still got the renda; it had a fungal infection on some of its shoots that I really noticed in December.  I actually was able to bring these two plants with me during the first of my two recent stays in a treatment facility for staying sober and, as I had no access to fungicide, used foam hand sanitizer to treat the infection.  It seemed to work quite well, as it immediately dried up the infected tissue and did not seem to cause phytotoxicity to the plant tissue despite liberal application.  Then, I went back for 3 weeks, was not able to bring the plants and my C. renda looked like that when I got home.

I have lost all the rest of my Cyrtostachys (and my Licuala cordata, which just disappeared from its pot while I was gone) except these two.  I really need to move the heat lamp closer and get the fungicide and malathion out as I may not get another shot at this(these species).  They are either two Cyrtostachys elegans, two C. bakeri or best case is one of each of the aforementioned species.

I lost most of my pitcher plants while I was gone too, so now I know that certain plants must be in the hands of an expert.  While I am no expert, Google and you guys help me a great deal and I might reach expert skill level with palms someday.  It is mostly being diligent and not allowing periods of neglect.

It is once again cool for a few days, but I was enjoying the recent warmth and had grown tired of the cold earlier this month.

 

What do you think of the Apple Jeff and Ryan?  I have had great luck with this one so far.  It is now putting out its first pinnate leaf.

[wimmie]

Had this one a few years ago growing in my house here in Holland.

[Frond-friend42]

I know, I know, you don't have to say it..  Mine are the prettiest C. rendas. Hands down.

Any seedling care tips?

I have mine out of light, with baggies covering them, in a warm spot, in perlite + vermiculite. They are moist. Some have dampened off. They are growing slow.

[palmsOrl]

Online prices for Cyrtostachys renda plants have gone up significantly recently.

Mine died while I was in treatment in January; it was a chilly month.  I recently sold my Cyrtostachys "Apple".  Hopefully it will recover from some damage incurred from shipping.  I thought I had packed it so carefully but I suspect it will be okay.

The other day, I decided I must have a replacement Cyrtostachys renda so I ended up paying through the nose ($95) for this 4" seedling. 

CR-amazon-4InchPot-WM (1).webp

 

The eBay photos would suggest the parent plants have excellent color so I am hoping the photos are representative of my new plant's crownshaft and petiole color.  I have seen a good number of C. renda that are a kind of lackluster orangey red so good color is not a given with this species.

[palmsOrl]

The first photo which is representative of the plant I will receive is not uploading except for as a downloadable link for some reason.

[palmsOrl]

I got around to replacing my Cyrtostachys renda that died from the chill this winter.  Paid $95 shipped for one this size, but the kind gentleman sent me two for one.  My Cyrtostachys renda just can't get a break.

Now it is cold, I'm wearing my jacket and the heat is on, in April.

Speaking of Cyrtostachys not catching a break, I sold my "Apple" on here last month and despite a bunch of duct tape, it apparently came loose and arrived damaged.  I hope it making some sort of recovery!

-Michael

[kinzyjr]

@palmsOrl That's a lot of ice on the ground.  Hope it all gets melted and no damage.

[palmsOrl]

Does anybody have any idea how long these seedling sized plants will take to get 3-4 feet tall where they will start to show some color?  I am guessing 4-5 years.  I am kind of wishing I would have held out for a larger specimen.

[Palmarum]

Your guess is accurate. Keep them moist, in light shade, humid and hot, and give them a good time-release fertilizer and they will move along. Try not to look at them everyday if you can or they will look like they aren't growing at all.

Ryan

 

[Really full garden]

12 hours ago, palmsOrl said:

Does anybody have any idea how long these seedling sized plants will take to get 3-4 feet tall where they will start to show some color?  I am guessing 4-5 years.  I am kind of wishing I would have held out for a larger specimen.

I cannot believe that seedling cost $95! Here in Guatemala I can buy a MASSIVE 4 meter tall clump for $300 

[palmsOrl]

I share your feelings!  At least they included two seedlings for that sum.  Prices in general have really gone up for this one.

[palmsOrl]

On 4/25/2021 at 9:51 PM, Palmarum said:

Your guess is accurate. Keep them moist, in light shade, humid and hot, and give them a good time-release fertilizer and they will move along. Try not to look at them everyday if you can or they will look like they aren't growing at all.

Ryan

 

Thank you for the bode of confidence and the advice Ryan!

[palmsOrl]

So despite keeping it hot day and night in one room of the apartment, my smaller Cyrtostachys renda seedling croaked.  I thought maybe too much fertilizer.

Then the oldest leaf on my other one dried up and I thought, hmmm better look at the roots.  I barerooted it and it has root fungus.  Some of the roots are healthy but they have those brown segments indicating an infection.  I have it soaking in water with Propaconazole and will repot in fresh soil and treat every watering with the Propaconazole.  As this fungicide is a fungistatic and not a fungicide will this be enough to suppress the infection while the palm regrows healthy roots and overcomes the infection?  I would order Phyton but cannot afford it right now.

I guess if I fail at this I will just start with a larger, healthy plant next time.  Cyrtostachys renda is my favorite and the one palm I must have.

[palmsOrl]

Here's a question.  Since Cyrtostachys renda is a swamp palm and almost aquatic, could one grow it for a while bareroot sitting in water?

-Michael

[John hovancsek]

Florabunda has a bunch in this genus for sale. First is my c. Renda ( yellow) and other is bakerii the yellow was collected from a yellow palm but we don’t know if the seed comes true to the plant

[palmsOrl]

I stopped at Lukas Nursery today and got a better, larger Cyrtostachys renda. My seedling is unlikely to survive now that it has root fungus.  This one is well past the damping off seedling stage and should start coloring up in a year or two.  At $159.99 I think it was very reasonable, considering the ones of this size I see online currently are $300-$500.

[palmsOrl]

...and here she is in her new pot.  Should be several years before another repotting is required.

-Michael

[palmsOrl]

Here's one more photo of the palm in natural lighting.