Video: what makes a palm "rare".

[GottmitAlex 2,913]

 

[gtsteve 1,266]

Wow Alex, 

I listened to that for 20 mins although I could not actually watch him for more than 2 mins. Knowledgeable, yes, enthusiast, yes, but watchable no. i can't believe that this man has a 'channel'. 

Thanks for that link Alex, I can tell you what I think makes a palm rare:  How easily that I can get it! 

[GottmitAlex 2,913]

10 minutes ago, gtsteve said:

Wow Alex, 

I listened to that for 20 mins although I could not actually watch him for more than 2 mins. Knowledgeable, yes, enthusiast, yes, but watchable no. i can't believe that this man has a 'channel'. 

Thanks for that link Alex, I can tell you what I think makes a palm rare:  How easily that I can get it! 

I'll PM you.

[palmsOrl 1,487]

Great vid, I like what The Palmfather has to say about the subject.

While I certainly collect beautiful palms, I like some of the ugly and the weird ones too.  Further, with bromeliads, many of the species (and it is mainly species) I collect are plain Jane, such as the genus Catopsis, or on the weird side, such as all the funky looking Tillandsia.

Now, when it comes to orchids, I buy exclusively species and the uglier and the weirder, the better!  Leafless, Telipogon, the Stanhopeinae, bizarre Pleurothallids, you name it.

[hbernstein 178]

37 minutes ago, palmsOrl said:

Great vid, I like what The Palmfather has to say about the subject.

While I certainly collect beautiful palms, I like some of the ugly and the weird ones too.  Further, with bromeliads, many of the species (and it is mainly species) I collect are plain Jane, such as the genus Catopsis, or on the weird side, such as all the funky looking Tillandsia.

Now, when it comes to orchids, I buy exclusively species and the uglier and the weirder, the better!  Leafless, Telipogon, the Stanhopeinae, bizarre Pleurothallids, you name it.

A man after my heart! Catopsis, huh!

[palmsOrl 1,487]

35 minutes ago, hbernstein said:

A man after my heart! Catopsis, huh!

Yes sir!  In 2008, while perusing eBay auctions of "rare plants", I came across a seedling Catopsis berteroniana and even though it was $55 plus shipping, I scraped together the funds and bought it.  What hooked me was the fact that they are actually a carnivorous bromeliad.  So, for whatever reason (I guess I am just a born collector and also I like to grow stuff hardly anyone else is) I decided to "collect them all".  By early 2009 I had like ~15 species if I recall correctly.  This was after reaching out to every possible vendor and collector possible, including one who travelled to Mexico and collected for me on a trip down there.  His business was "Rareexotics" I believe.  Also, Birdrock Tropicals supplied me with at least five species in that timeframe.

I had them all hanging in full sun on a west facing fence and they did well for a number of months.  My mistake ended up being watering the plants every day in "winter" and of course, fungal crown rot took basically all of them en-masse.

A few years later, I finally found a large clump of the Florida native Catopsis nutans for sale at the "Orchtoberfest" event here north of Orlando.  Also, Catopsis berteroniana in the States are quite expensive, like $100-150 for one mature-sized plant.  In 2014, I found a vendor in the Netherlands selling large C. bertoniana for $30 plus $20 shipping (that is what it came out to in USD).  In 10 days after my order, I recieved not one (as ordered) but 3 C. berteroniana, two large plants and one small plant, all for $50.  I did better with these, treating them with "benign neglect" and keeping them dry over winter and only watering with rain water or distilled.  I had these for a couple years but they got lost when I relocated in 2016.

Today, I only have one Catopsis, the most common in the genus, Catopsis morreniana.  Here is a photo of it today.

I recently found telltale evidence of the Mexican bromeliad weevil eating away at the plant, but fortunately the pest didn't make it to the heart of the plant.  I did go ahead and treat it and the Tillandsia utriculata next to it with malathion and the plants are currently healthy and appear to be disease free.

 

Anyhow, returning to the topic of this thread, I actually haven't grown many palms I would consider truly "rare".  The following are palms I have grown or currently grow that I would consider legit rare:

Licuala cordata

Licuala sallehana

Cyrtostachys bakeri

Cyrtostachys glauca

Dransfieldia micrantha

Pritchardia munroi

Pritchardia napaliensis

Pritchardia waialealeana

Tahina spectabilis

 

Maybe rare(?):

Cyrtostachys elegans

Cyrtostachys "Apple"

Cyrtostachys "Hybrid"

Clinostigma ponapense

Clinostigma exorrhizum

Medemia argun

Pigafetta filaris

Areca concinna

Pinanga patula

 

 

[James B 451]

I enjoy the Palmfather’s videos I very much prefer him to showcase the palms in his videos vs the ones where it’s just him in front of the camera but his knowledge is incredible and I have learned some great info from his channel. 
 

So for me I am thankful he has a YouTube Channel as I think it’s the best Palm based channel on youtube.

There is another guy on YouTube who has a channel who is much better in front of the camera and is more of an entertaining personality but he is wrong in some of the information he gives out on his videos so I think in terms of learning about palms Christian is my preferred go to for palm knowledge.

[DoomsDave 8,509]

Hmm. Maybe I should start a YouTube channel?

 

[Palmfarmer 232]

20 minutes ago, DoomsDave said:

Hmm. Maybe I should start a YouTube channel?

 

YES!

[DoomsDave 8,509]

YIKE, I talk too much. My roomie will probably flee.

[PalmTreeDude 1,646]

58 minutes ago, DoomsDave said:

Hmm. Maybe I should start a YouTube channel?

 

Do it do it! 

[James B 451]

1 hour ago, DoomsDave said:

Hmm. Maybe I should start a YouTube channel?

 

You should Dave. You have a wealth of knowledge and an epic garden to share.

[Moose 1,465]

On 8/19/2020 at 11:02 PM, DoomsDave said:

Hmm. Maybe I should start a YouTube channel?

 

The Tube of Doom

[DoomsDave 8,509]

47 minutes ago, Moose said:

The Tube of Doom

Sounds quasi-porno . . . . 

[Palmensammler 98]

Dave,

I would subscribe to you channel immediately

[Moose 1,465]

Christian has been around for a long time. Way back in the day, he was a teenager learning from John Bishock. No internet, Palms (Principes) came out once a month, going to local palm society meetings was our sources of info. And some of us were fortunate to have mentors who shared their propogating secrets.

[cfkingfish 214]

I just found out about this thread through a Google search and I appreciate the feedback both positive and negative. I never thought of myself as someone sitting in front of a camera, however some of my discussions are best done in this manner. 

I was fortunate enough to have a great mentor couple and will always be thankful for that. I found John and Faith on GardenWeb back in 2003.