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“Winged it” with a grow bulb + C. Cataractarum


chad2468emr

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So after a ton of research, I decided to “wing it” with a c. cataractarum and a grow bulb. My living room has next to no natural light and it was killing me not having a plant in the room. 

I used a plug-in pendant light hung from the ceiling and a GE grow bulb with a (cheap, $20, wasn’t willing to risk this failing on an expensive palm, haha) C. cataractarum. 

I am seeing solid results so far! It’s been about 2 months and this thing has fought off spider mites all while throwing out and opening 3 new fronds, with two large spears about to open now. I was worried about the fronds that don’t get a ton of light, but they just keep growing and I haven’t had a single bit of yellowing on them so far. The only two fronds I’ve lost were in the back corner pinned against the walls, so they were really getting ZERO light and they’ve seen been cut off and everything else has consistently stayed deep green and shown no signs of issue. 

I wanted to make this thread to encourage anyone out there who had a few extra bucks to experiment with to give this a shot with other medium-ish light palms. A lot of what is read stated that I’d need a SERIOUS setup with a ridiculous amount of bulbs to satiate even the lowest of light palms, and I’m seeing results too positive for that to be true, at least for this species.
     

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Edited by chad2468emr
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Former South Florida resident living in the Greater Orlando Area, zone 9b.

Constantly wishing I could still grow zone 10 palms worry-free, but also trying to appease my strange fixation with Washingtonias. 

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Nice! Glad others are seeing this work. I tried the floor lamp route, but I the one I bought wasn’t tall enough so I went with a plug-in pendant. 

Your chief gardener is adorable! My chihuahua Frank doesn’t care much for gardening, but he still manages to supervise and let out a heavy *sigh* whenever he sees something he disapproves of. 

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Former South Florida resident living in the Greater Orlando Area, zone 9b.

Constantly wishing I could still grow zone 10 palms worry-free, but also trying to appease my strange fixation with Washingtonias. 

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The lit cat in the corner gives a lovely effect. Different to the dog on the stair. :) 

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Cheers Steve

It is not dead, it is just senescence.

   

 

 

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It looks very healthy!   I would def add a grow light as well as they tend to like brighter conditions but will def do fairly well in lower light too.  About the spider mites, it may be a pain, but several times throughout the winter I would give it a very good shower instead of just watering it.   If possible use a removable shower head on the " shower" setting so its strong but not too strong, and clean the leaves tops and bottoms.   I did this when i had to winter mine indoors when I lived up north, and it worked great at keeping them at bay until summer returned and they disappeared.   Now that I live in Florida I have a few in pots and they do amazingly well with just several hours or so of morning sun.  I like that they stay fairly clumped and do not get too huge and can live in the same pot for years.  They are one of my favorite trunkless palms to to use to give a very tropical feel to a room / patio. 

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2 hours ago, DCA_Palm_Fan said:

It looks very healthy!   I would def add a grow light as well as they tend to like brighter conditions but will def do fairly well in lower light too.  About the spider mites, it may be a pain, but several times throughout the winter I would give it a very good shower instead of just watering it.   If possible use a removable shower head on the " shower" setting so its strong but not too strong, and clean the leaves tops and bottoms.   I did this when i had to winter mine indoors when I lived up north, and it worked great at keeping them at bay until summer returned and they disappeared.   Now that I live in Florida I have a few in pots and they do amazingly well with just several hours or so of morning sun.  I like that they stay fairly clumped and do not get too huge and can live in the same pot for years.  They are one of my favorite trunkless palms to to use to give a very tropical feel to a room / patio. 

I live in FL too so instead of hauling it upstairs and into one of the bathrooms, I just take it outside and spray each side down with the garden hose, at full blast with the “flat” setting. Each side of every single frond and every single leaflet. Then I let it dry and repeat about 3 times. Then I spray with neem + soap on each frond. Then I rinse it off, let it dry, and spray with miticide. Haha I’ve learned you can’t really have spider mites if you spray them all off the plant by being ridiculously meticulous and then also hit them up with stuff that kills them, hahaha. 

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Former South Florida resident living in the Greater Orlando Area, zone 9b.

Constantly wishing I could still grow zone 10 palms worry-free, but also trying to appease my strange fixation with Washingtonias. 

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22 hours ago, chad2468emr said:

I live in FL too so instead of hauling it upstairs and into one of the bathrooms, I just take it outside and spray each side down with the garden hose, at full blast with the “flat” setting. Each side of every single frond and every single leaflet. Then I let it dry and repeat about 3 times. Then I spray with neem + soap on each frond. Then I rinse it off, let it dry, and spray with miticide. Haha I’ve learned you can’t really have spider mites if you spray them all off the plant by being ridiculously meticulous and then also hit them up with stuff that kills them, hahaha. 

haha nice!  That is def the way to do it if you can.  Does it get too cold where you are to have them outdoors? 

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11 hours ago, DCA_Palm_Fan said:

haha nice!  That is def the way to do it if you can.  Does it get too cold where you are to have them outdoors? 

I’m in the Orlando area so nope! I just desperately needed a plant in my living room. I’ve got several dozen outside, thought last night it dipped into the mid 50’s so I had to bring my crytosachys renda inside since I baby the thing, haha. But just about everything else is fine unless we dip into the 30s. 

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Former South Florida resident living in the Greater Orlando Area, zone 9b.

Constantly wishing I could still grow zone 10 palms worry-free, but also trying to appease my strange fixation with Washingtonias. 

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1 hour ago, chad2468emr said:

I’m in the Orlando area so nope! I just desperately needed a plant in my living room. I’ve got several dozen outside, thought last night it dipped into the mid 50’s so I had to bring my crytosachys renda inside since I baby the thing, haha. But just about everything else is fine unless we dip into the 30s. 

Ha!  it got down to 60 where I am in far south saint pete on the water.  brrrr    lol 

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22 hours ago, DCA_Palm_Fan said:

Ha!  it got down to 60 where I am in far south saint pete on the water.  brrrr    lol 

Right!? I spent a brief hiatus away from FL in NH for a year and came back this summer, but prior to that I was in South Florida (Broward) for just under a decade. It might dip into the 60’s down there for a few days twice a year, and RARELY (like one night a year) lower than that, but these 50’s and 60’s already are not in-line with what I was expecting being back in FL. I knew it’d be slightly chillier here, but the summer definitely eliminated whatever cold tolerance (not much) I’d gained in NH and I’m not a fan of these low temps so far. If (when.... unfortunately) it hits the 30’s I’ve got about 12 or so plants, including a coconut with fronds several feet taller than I am to haul inside each night / out in the morning. A little nervous for that!

Former South Florida resident living in the Greater Orlando Area, zone 9b.

Constantly wishing I could still grow zone 10 palms worry-free, but also trying to appease my strange fixation with Washingtonias. 

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14 hours ago, chad2468emr said:

Right!? I spent a brief hiatus away from FL in NH for a year and came back this summer, but prior to that I was in South Florida (Broward) for just under a decade. It might dip into the 60’s down there for a few days twice a year, and RARELY (like one night a year) lower than that, but these 50’s and 60’s already are not in-line with what I was expecting being back in FL. I knew it’d be slightly chillier here, but the summer definitely eliminated whatever cold tolerance (not much) I’d gained in NH and I’m not a fan of these low temps so far. If (when.... unfortunately) it hits the 30’s I’ve got about 12 or so plants, including a coconut with fronds several feet taller than I am to haul inside each night / out in the morning. A little nervous for that!

 Yeah, I do not miss the cold at all, nor hauling in plants.   I have not ever had to do that in my 3.5 years in Saint Pete.  I'm in a 10A here so we rarely see 40s.  It has gotten down to 38 here one night, but even that really only lasted for a couple hours and it was 65 the next day.   That seems to be about as cold as it gets here.  There have been a few days where it didnt get out of the upper 50's, but the night lows those times were also  only in the 52-54F range.    From neighbors that have lived here for decades, they tell me there has never been a frost here, and I guess that is evident in what grows here and the  tall, prolifically fruiting coconuts in the area as well.     Its a very unique and almost perfect spot.  Stays warm in winter, but being coastal when its 98F inland (other side of tampa bay,  its 86-92F here.    

This week they kept saying to expect upper 50's at night  for a couple nights, and it never happened.  The coldest I got here was 60F, and again that was for a few hours just before dawn.  Its been low to mid 60's night / upper 70's to low 80s. days recently.  

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I’m inspired to try something like this in my dark windowless hallway as well now, maybe not with a c. rendas but something easy and forgiving

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Slightly off thread topic,  Chamaerops Humilis Med. Fan, I brought this one into the living room with south facing window.  This has been in direct sun for more than 5 years in the backyard, 5 gallon with all others at the lower fronds height, you can see during its first year inside, each new frond reaching for the light, so we turn it often.

 

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Survived Feb. 9, 1971 & Jan. 17, 1994 earthquakes   Before Palms, there was a special airplane

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  • 1 month later...

I guess I need to figure out a new setup for my big Cataractarum. This leaflet got sunburned after touching my grow light all day. Hope Frank is doing well @chad2468emr

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