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Borassus aethiopum progression


sonoranfans

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I got this borassus seedling from christian Faulkner in july 2011.  If you read in palmpedia it says they sit there for a while in an establishment phase for years with not much growth above ground.  Pic one is the palm during planting.  The second one is in dec 2014 seemingly just leaves coming out of the ground.  After the establishment phase it starts to grow the stem and taht is a rapid growth stage.   I think mine is now in that stage, throwing 7-8 leaves this year, I think it's happy.  The third pic is one side of the palm and the 4th pic shows the glacous nature of the leaves(light green but with bluish hues) at the edge of the day.  I have never given any special treatment to this palm and it sits in a high spot with good drainage.  At first it was so slow I was thinking its not the right climate for this palm, but these palms take a few years putting down roots before the stem starts to grow, but it seems a fast palm now, eating up space and reaching up over the roof.   This palm is very easy to care for, plant and forget.borassusMay2011.thumb.jpg.151c15c538f2ae2224e3ec6f31aeb6dc.jpgBAEdec2014.jpg.8e65557c70caf7c71799dfcc386e2167.jpgBAEoct2020.thumb.jpg.c42bc2a972216b6ea1ce1c6bac15f7b4.jpgBorassusBlueT.thumb.jpg.5ecaed33e23c6d9f33696297b7dd95bb.jpg

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Formerly in Gilbert AZ, zone 9a/9b. Now in Palmetto, Florida Zone 9b/10a??

 

Tom Blank

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7 minutes ago, sonoranfans said:

At first it was so slow I was thinking its not the right climate for this palm, but these palms take a few years putting down roots before the stem starts to grow, but it seems a fast palm now, eating up space and reaching up over the roof. 

It really has spread out for the height.  Do you anticipate it will remain at this spread as it continues going up, or get an even wider spread?  Very attractive, but you definitely need to give these some space to appreciate them.  I will note, that you have done that quite well .:greenthumb:

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33.0782 North -117.305 West  at 72 feet elevation

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1 hour ago, Tracy said:

It really has spread out for the height.  Do you anticipate it will remain at this spread as it continues going up, or get an even wider spread?  Very attractive, but you definitely need to give these some space to appreciate them.  I will note, that you have done that quite well .:greenthumb:

Thanks tracy but the correct spacing may be premature as last years leaves were smaller than this years in both stem and leaf width.  I would be happy if it stopped getting wider but I havent seen stabilize yet.  The clean trunk will at some point be 3' thick and the petioles I have seen on say the ones at fairchild look a foot or two longer so we reap what we sow.  Its growing into my largest becarriophoenix alfredii at this point and I can only hope it bends itself a bit. 

Formerly in Gilbert AZ, zone 9a/9b. Now in Palmetto, Florida Zone 9b/10a??

 

Tom Blank

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Just curious, Tom - is there a reason that you went with B. Aethiopum?  They’re all pretty interesting, and I have to admit that I like B. Aethiopum and B. Madagascariensis the best.

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29 minutes ago, Sabal Steve said:

Just curious, Tom - is there a reason that you went with B. Aethiopum?  They’re all pretty interesting, and I have to admit that I like B. Aethiopum and B. Madagascariensis the best.

How’s yours doing? I remember your very unique heating technique 

"it's not dead it's sleeping"

Santee ca, zone10a/9b

18 miles from the ocean

avg. winter 68/40.avg summer 88/64.records 113/25

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2 hours ago, Stevetoad said:

How’s yours doing? I remember your very unique heating technique 

Incredibly easy to sprout.  I’ve germinated a number of seeds over the years, but they never got past the big green spike phase and the first leaf never unfurls.  The germination mix with the highest percentage of perlite did the best, so I wonder if they can be sprouted in straight perlite, in our areas?  Either way, I think Aethiopum is a contender here, especially given the success of the one at the zoo.

Edited by Sabal Steve
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3 minutes ago, Sabal Steve said:

Incredibly easy to sprout.  I’ve germinated a number of seeds over the years, but they never got past The big green spike phase and the first leaf never unfurls.  The germination mix with the highest percentage of perlite did the best, so I wonder if they can be sprouted in straight perlite, in our areas?  Either way, I think Aethiopum is a contender, here, especially given the success of the one at the zoo.

Dang. I saw how much effort you put into them. I think if someone in SD is going to get one going it’s going to be you. 

"it's not dead it's sleeping"

Santee ca, zone10a/9b

18 miles from the ocean

avg. winter 68/40.avg summer 88/64.records 113/25

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12 hours ago, Sabal Steve said:

Just curious, Tom - is there a reason that you went with B. Aethiopum?  They’re all pretty interesting, and I have to admit that I like B. Aethiopum and B. Madagascariensis the best.

Steve, I was looking at ethiopum and flabellifer for possibilities.  I knew ethiopum would survive 23F as it did in rod andersons garden in Aizona.  He also had a flabellifer and it was a dark green, not as happy in AZ.  I prefer the lighter color of aethiopum as its shade underneath is brighter.  I have plenty of darker green palms, this aethiopum has a leaf color like no other palm in my yard.   From what Ive read B madagascariensis seems a more recent classification, looks a lot like aethiopum to me.  I have not seen one for sale yet.  

Formerly in Gilbert AZ, zone 9a/9b. Now in Palmetto, Florida Zone 9b/10a??

 

Tom Blank

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Tom:

Didn't realize you had put a aethiopum in your yard.  Good growth for you!!!

I have a B. madagascariensis - very slow growing - slower that the other Borassus.

I read somewhere that the aethiopum and madagascariensis are virtually the same plant and somehow it landed in Madagascar. (?)

What's your next palm going to be?

rod

phoenix, az

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24 minutes ago, Rod said:

Tom:

Didn't realize you had put a aethiopum in your yard.  Good growth for you!!!

I have a B. madagascariensis - very slow growing - slower that the other Borassus.

I read somewhere that the aethiopum and madagascariensis are virtually the same plant and somehow it landed in Madagascar. (?)

What's your next palm going to be?

rod

phoenix, az

Yes Rod, I think they are the same except aethiopum has bigger hook shaped thorns vs smaller sawtooth of madagascariensis.  At any rate Aethiopum is my best palm in drought(no irrigation in the spring dry season) in my sandy soil.  ANd I did not ammend the soil as you can see the grey sand, and it loves it.  Everything I read about flabellifer states it likes continually moist soil.  So Aethiopum would need less care, and it needs almost nothing.  As far as my next new palm(s), I have both dyctosperma album var rubrum and also var conjagatum in 5 gallons.

Formerly in Gilbert AZ, zone 9a/9b. Now in Palmetto, Florida Zone 9b/10a??

 

Tom Blank

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Impressive! 

I might give it a try when rps has seeds available again. 

Best regards from Okinawa - 

Lars

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I love your Beccariophoenix alfredii. But I'm biased for them, one of my favorites.

Species I'm growing from seed: Chrysalidocarpos leptocheilos, Licuala grandis, Hyophorbe verschaffeltii, Johannesteijsmannia altifrons, Bentinckia condapanna, Livistona benthamii.

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On 10/16/2020 at 6:48 AM, Central Floridave said:

I love seeing before and after photos!    That thing is chugging along.   I hope they are hurricane tolerant. Would hate for that to fall on the house in the later years.  

I dont worry about that with palms.  She did fine in IRMA.  Hurricanes hit here (75mph) every 30-40 years.  Maybe the two nearby alfrediis 20-25' helped by breaking the wind.  I worry more about non palm trees, especialy oaks but also man landscape trees in myneighborhood.   There was IRMA damage, but palms had just damaged leaves or snapped leaf stems.  Those big oaks went down all over here, THOSE are scary.

Formerly in Gilbert AZ, zone 9a/9b. Now in Palmetto, Florida Zone 9b/10a??

 

Tom Blank

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Here is a pic of that alfredii right next to the borassus for comparison.  the borassus has been faster recently.  The alfredii is ~25' overall.  I have taken 4 green leaves off the borassus this year, some were damaged hitting the house, some I found hazardous when trying ti walk by, stiff leaflets can poke you in the eye.  The future plan is to get these to coexist, I was considering removal of one.  I decided to try to slow down the borassus by taking green lower leaves off prematurely, but its a beast, it didnt seem to phase it.

BAEvsBAoct2020n2.jpg

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Formerly in Gilbert AZ, zone 9a/9b. Now in Palmetto, Florida Zone 9b/10a??

 

Tom Blank

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51 minutes ago, PJP said:

Double WOW.  Those are two beauties.  What are you feeding them and how often?

For fertilizer I use Florikan 8-2-12 controlled release with micros.  i also add liquid humic acid seasonally to condition the sandy soil.  I dont really put much down on the borassus, a handful 2x a year.  The alfie gets a perhaps 5 lbs a year in its root zone.  For my sandy soil, florikan is night and day better than slow release.  The borassus was not mulched for the first 8 years, I only used mulch for the last two to limit weed growth so its soil is not rich in organics.  The alfredii has been mulched for the whole time since it was planted in summer 2011.

Formerly in Gilbert AZ, zone 9a/9b. Now in Palmetto, Florida Zone 9b/10a??

 

Tom Blank

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  • 1 year later...
On 10/17/2020 at 11:16 AM, sonoranfans said:

Here is a pic of that alfredii right next to the borassus for comparison.  the borassus has been faster recently.  The alfredii is ~25' overall.  I have taken 4 green leaves off the borassus this year, some were damaged hitting the house, some I found hazardous when trying ti walk by, stiff leaflets can poke you in the eye.  The future plan is to get these to coexist, I was considering removal of one.  I decided to try to slow down the borassus by taking green lower leaves off prematurely, but its a beast, it didnt seem to phase it.

BAEvsBAoct2020n2.jpg

Hey, Tom

Any chance we could get an update on the yard?

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  • 1 year later...
16 hours ago, Borassus2892 said:

Hey, Tom
Any update on your Borassus aethiopum?

I had it removed due the safety/damage considerations of my house.  I planted it too close to the house(9') and when it was severely frost burned in 2021(?), I had it taken out.   Wish I had a (much)bigger lot where I could have planted it further away and I wish I had the vision to see how truly huge they do get.  A much wider palm than I though, one day 30'+ wide I expect.  It was my most painful garden edit but serious roof damage from a tree that grows to 60' dropping heavy leaves.  I consider these worse than royals whose crown shaft is heavy but whose stems are much lighter than a borassus.  Royals fall close to the tree like a dart, weighted by the crownshafts as they dont have a big "sail function".  And if royals snap in high winds its a much lighter stem/leaf than a borassus.  Borassus petioles were 8" wide near the trunk with huge nasty teeth, and dragging a leaf was notably tougher than a royal.  I saw the future and it said some dangerous trimming that I will not be able to do safely or afford to pay someone else to do.

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Formerly in Gilbert AZ, zone 9a/9b. Now in Palmetto, Florida Zone 9b/10a??

 

Tom Blank

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@sonoranfans I'm glad you mentioned the size.  I just bought one and I was thinking of it as a "Bismarck sized palm."  In reality it's probably a "small Corypha" sized.  The one I saw at the CFPACS sale easily had a 4-5' diameter trunk at the base, and maybe 3' diameter at head height.  Neil's was not too huge, and he aggressively trimmed off the lower fronds.  I didn't get a good picture, but here it is on Google maps streetview:

image.png.897549c2a68c2a5641055c5346dacc3b.png

Palmpedia says this can eventually have fans of up to 10-12 feet wide on petioles up to 6-7 feet long.  That would easily make it 25-30' in diameter.  I had a spot for a Corypha Lecomtei (the "smallest" of the three) but maybe it'll end up as the Borassus spot!

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Yeah, they get very large. Saw some Borassus Flabellifer in Cambodia, they can get into the size of a small Corypha. 
 

How cold hardy is Borassus Aethiopum? Are they similar to silver Bismarckia in cold hardiness?

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