Do Kentias grow that much faster in open soil outside as opposed to a container?

[Palmfarmer 139]

Just picked up a little kentia the other day i plan to have outdoors. Should it be fine Climate wise? it is close to a northeast facing wall and has canopy in forms of a threebranch with lot of leafs making a airpocket to make it slightly warmer in those cold winter nights here in the desert. From experience how cold hardy are they, i know it says 25f but what is your experience? 

Do Kentias Grow much faster if grown in open soil compared to a pot or are they allmost equally Slow outdoors? 

How slow approximently are these palms when living outside 

Thanks! 

[Tyrone 1,689]

28F is probably there limit. You will need shade for that one. They are faster in the ground but never really fast.

[Palmfarmer 139]

3 minutes ago, Tyrone said:

28F is probably there limit. You will need shade for that one. They are faster in the ground but never really fast.

I hear they will just look like crap the first year being in the sun then slowly growing back there leafs correct? It does not get much sun there other than afternoon evening sunlight its mostly shade. ok i will use some christmas lights on it as well just to be safe then. 

Edited August 2 by Palmfarmer

[Palmfarmer 139]

I will replant it into another container that might give it some more stress? Thing is i dont really have any good somewhat shaded spots here. it is either this or allmost complete shade all the time.

[Jim in Los Altos 1,964]

16 hours ago, Palmfarmer said:

I will replant it into another container that might give it some more stress? Thing is i dont really have any good somewhat shaded spots here. it is either this or allmost complete shade all the time.

100% shade is perfect especially if your summers are hot. Kentia palms, in my experience, grow MUCH faster in the ground than in a pot. Fertile loan soil is best and they respond well to lots of water and often. I have many in my Northern California landscape. They’re one of my favorite palm species. Once a mature trunk diameter occurs, growth speed really accelerates and they’re not slow growing any longer. A few of mine...

Edited August 3 by Jim in Los Altos

[palmfriend 1,238]

Hi there,

here is a documentation of my experiences with this beautiful species (but I learned the hard way...)

Purchased in 2014 - planted out after just a few weeks in shade... - I thought I will give them the summer to get established > completely wrong decision...

Seeing that happen was awful - unfortunately the summer turned out to be as one of hottest and driest we had. 

Then I started to create shade large scale, first with a blanket and then with aggressive planting around it - and here it is now...

...an absolutely great looking palm.

In the meantime I purchased more but this time they barely get sun...

Under a wide canopy of a L. chinensis and two washies, barely to make out...

...two very healthy looking and almost rocketing groups of Kentias...

I hope it helps -

best regards from Okinawa

Lars

 

[DoomsDave 7,594]

More space is better. Oh, yeah, even to a Howea F, which takes less, but still.

 

[palmfriend 1,238]

9 minutes ago, DoomsDave said:

More space is better. Oh, yeah, even to a Howea F, which takes less, but still.

 

Got it!

I guess the washies might not going to make it long-term because of our sometimes super-strong typhoons, so the Howeas are

planted as a kind of back up. At the moment I want them to get established under the canopy and then we will see.

Lars

 

[DoomsDave 7,594]

Lars, Washies are tough, but I dunno about Okinawa

[palmfriend 1,238]

Dave,

last August I got my largest one almost blown over during a typhoon, pulled back in place with a rope attached to my car, now 

it is fixed to a wall. 

I think there is a critical stage but it might be possible that they can handle winds much better when they get really tall... (my guess)

However - @Palmfarmer, no hijacking intended!

best regards 

Lars

 

 

[Palmfarmer 139]

Wow thats crazy. I put in the most idieal spot outside on my property, it gets some sun there but its my best bet anyways. 

 

[UK_Palms 396]

I'm tempted to put my Kentia in the ground as it is getting pretty big now. Not sure if I will get away with that though up here at 51N. What's the furthest north that a Kentia is growing in the ground? Any idea's? There must be some at like 45N which would give me hope?

Either way, it would be one hell of a zone push and it's not like I live in central London along the Thames or anything, where they rarely drop below freezing. I am out in the country away from any urban heat islands and I can get some pretty cold nights out here in winter. Although my low last winter was 27F. Nearby Guildford didn't drop below 29F, but that is a city of 100,000 people.

Perhaps I could get it through winter maybe? I understand that Kentia's are hardy down to about 20F, right? My Chambeyronia Macrocarpa came through the winter just gone fine. The Queens came through as well unscathed, but I don't know whether a Kentia would have? Thoughts...?

[Darold Petty 1,971]

Sorry, I don't believe that Howea is frost hardy to 20F.   

Here in California the conventional wisdom suggests that the tolerance is about 26-28 F.

[Tyrone 1,689]

4 hours ago, UK_Palms said:

I'm tempted to put my Kentia in the ground as it is getting pretty big now. Not sure if I will get away with that though up here at 51N. What's the furthest north that a Kentia is growing in the ground? Any idea's? There must be some at like 45N which would give me hope?

Either way, it would be one hell of a zone push and it's not like I live in central London along the Thames or anything, where they rarely drop below freezing. I am out in the country away from any urban heat islands and I can get some pretty cold nights out here in winter. Although my low last winter was 27F. Nearby Guildford didn't drop below 29F, but that is a city of 100,000 people.

Perhaps I could get it through winter maybe? I understand that Kentia's are hardy down to about 20F, right? My Chambeyronia Macrocarpa came through the winter just gone fine. The Queens came through as well unscathed, but I don't know whether a Kentia would have? Thoughts...?

Put it in a big pot so you can move it around and keep it protected in winter. That’s if you want it to look good. It might survive a very mild winter freeze in the uk but it will be set back and look terrible trying to recover from the event for a long time. They are not fast to recover.

[UK_Palms 396]

1 minute ago, Tyrone said:

Put it in a big pot so you can move it around and keep it protected in winter. That’s if you want it to look good. It might survive a very mild winter freeze in the uk but it will be set back and look terrible trying to recover from the event for a long time. They are not fast to recover.

Yeah I was going to pot it up regardless, but I was contemplating just putting it in the ground. Following you and Darold's comments though, I won't risk it. I will just keep it indoors between November - April, then move it outdoors during the warmer months. 

I don't actually leave it on the patio like it is in the photo. It would get scorched by the summer sun since it spends a lot of the year indoors and usually sits in a sheltered, shady corner of my garden. I better remember to move it back before I head off to work tomorrow, since I'm expecting sunny weather with high UV levels and 35C+. That thing hasn't been gradually accustomed to those conditions. I've already set some palms back this summer by making that mistake...