Growing The Blessed Palm

[waykoolplantz 957]

I got 10 seedlings from the first batch available.  

Biggest full sun...look at petioles stretch on partial sun which may actually make it taller

 

[waykoolplantz 957]

I gave one or two to Dr Balasky...my friend who builds schools in Madagascar...Greg K ..seen here..took one home and i gifted one to The Gifford Arboretum at The University of Miami. Almost lost this one...Greg saved it  

[Cindy Adair 2,766]

Wonderful photos and information. Thanks! Great job with the seeds.

[Kim 3,454]

Wow, some real monsters you have there, Mike!

I’d love to see this thread filled with domesticated Tahina photos and Tahina Donor banners.  
 

The largest in my garden, below, planted July 26, 2010, now roughly 11 ft. tall. The broadest fans are about 7 ft. In diameter, or slightly more. For scale, the rounded stone set upright is almost exactly 1ft. In height.  The only problem I had was a sudden drying up and browning of a newer leaf. Threw everything at it and it seemed fine, then happened a second time several months later and took same action. No problems for a couple of years now.  Volcanic eruption nearby didn’t bother it. 

The baby Tahina was planted by my son-in-law December 31, 2015 from a 5-gal. pot.  Experience has shown they kind of remain one size even if kept in a pot for a few years. But plant them in the ground and they begin to grow. At 4 1/2 years in the ground, this one is pushing vertical leaves, moving beyond the horizontal leaf infant stage. There isn’t much soil in this spot, but the palm looks healthy. 

[BS Man about Palms 2,344]

Nothing like having the climate and space to grow one!!

[waykoolplantz 957]

Kim...maybe its just me but i love the look of the smaller too..when you see the fan from above.

[bgl 3,130]

In early 2008 when I was still running my little palm nursery here in Leilani Estates, I ordered 100 seeds from Rare Palm Seeds/Toby Spanner.  86 of them germinated around May 2008. I only lost three or four of the seedlings so ended up growing up the 80, or so, survivors to bigger sizes. I sold a number of them to others here in Leilani Estates and one or two sadly were too close to the volcanic eruption of 2018 and didn't make it but I believe all the rest are doing fine. I have eight in my two acre garden and they all seem very happy. My experience with them is that they are tough plants (no sensitive roots for instance), they love heat (and will grow faster in an environment that gets more heat than Leilani Estates) and will respond well to being planted in deep soil, something that's missing here in Leilani Estates. Here are two photos of some of mine. Photos by Kim.

[mike in kurtistown 670]

At the same time Bo got his 100 seeds from RPS, I bought 10. Seven germinated. I first planted four in April 2012, then not knowing what to do with the remainder, I crowded them a little and planted two more. The last one I sold to local friends. Most have grown like rockets, and pics of two of the largest, taken by Tim Brian (realarch), are below. Providing scale are myself and Hilo Jason. The palms were trouble free in the nursery.

 

 

 

[Jeff Searle 1,060]

All great pictures everyone! I will post what I have soon....

Jeff

[PalmatierMeg 5,681]

I was given my Tahina circa 2016 by a palm lover in Fort Myers who did not have room for it in his yard. They hate being potted long term and need to be in the ground.

Tahina spectabilis, 2020, Cape Coral, FL

[realarch 4,534]

Great to see such healthy specimens growing in so many places. Mine came from Bo's stock way back when. Thanks Bo! 

Mine, after a few years, decided to grow sideways and I thought it was going to uproot itself and fall over. Well, it finally started to 

straighten up, but it's still as wide as it is tall. Pretty impressive none the less and a Beccariophoenix fenestralis was removed to give it more room.

Tim

[Jeff Searle 1,060]

Here's my biggest one here in Southwest Ranches, Florida.  From one of the first batch of seeds that came in.  I also have 9 others planted, much smaller though.

[waykoolplantz 957]

Jeff...get in the pic for scale.  

[Jeff Searle 1,060]

So today per Mike's request I took a few more pictures. I also needed to trim some leaves off. I tried hard trying to hold the one leaf but it was damn heavy and couldn't! Lol

[kinzyjr 3,778]

@bstoller's Tahina in St. Petersburg, FL from the Remarkable Palms in Tampa Bay thread:

https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/61172-remarkable-palms-of-tampa-bay/&do=findComment&comment=904895

[Dypsisdean 1,108]

On 7/18/2020 at 1:04 PM, Jeff Searle said:

So today per Mike's request I took a few more pictures. I also needed to trim some leaves off. I tried hard trying to hold the one leaf but it was damn heavy and couldn't! Lol

Crazy cool Jeff - it looks to me as if these palms may turn out to grow even larger in cultivation.

[Max974 231]

 

Plant in December 2011.

 

Tahina spectabilis by Pâquerette19, sur Flickr

[Moose 1,469]

I thought they would end up looking like Bismarckia. But they are much bigger in stature. How could such impressive palms not be known to the palmy community for so long?