Are Trachies a lot faster in slightly warmer climates?

[Palmfarmer]

I hear people say they are slow, but many of the growers are in places with little sunshine and cold in the winter.

I know Trachies do bad in places with hot year around climates like southern FL. My question is basicly if they would grow a lot faster here where we do have sort of a winter but very short and cold only at night, than in areas further north with more cold and less sunshine. How long can i except to wait for my 2 frond seedlings to go palmate approximently?

I am also wondering what type of strain the Trachy in the photo might be. Its advertised as "360 fronds silver" but further down the sales page it says Trachycarpus Fortunei, are these Nova?

Edited January 21, 2021 by Palmfarmer

[Allen]

Trachy grow best in wet areas at moderate temps of 60-85F.  Ample water has more to do with growth than temps.  

[Palm D]

To answer your question about the seedlings, about in the second year.

T. Fortunei grow well in temperate climates like Vancouver, the winters are mild but wet and summers not too hot.

as for the palm in the picture, the seeds were taken off a unique palm found in Vancouver Canada.  The mother palm had 360 fronds and a slight silver underside to the fronds.  The male palms were across the street but did not share these traits although also has very full fronds.  I have loads of these seeds.

[Chester B]

To go pinnate at least a couple of years.  I think they're slow when small but once they get some trunk on them they start picking up speed.  Good growth is about 18" of trunk per year and with the fronds they usually can do at least 2' or so overall per year.  I have 24 medium to large size ones in the ground and I see a lot of variability in growth, some only do a few inches per year whereas my fastest put on over 3' of trunk in just spring and summer alone.

As has already been mentioned they love water, but also appreciate cool nights.  They're kind of like Goldilocks "not too hot and not too cold"

[climate change virginia]

58 minutes ago, Chester B said:

To go pinnate at least a couple of years.  I think they're slow when small but once they get some trunk on them they start picking up speed.  Good growth is about 18" of trunk per year and with the fronds they usually can do at least 2' or so overall per year.  I have 24 medium to large size ones in the ground and I see a lot of variability in growth, some only do a few inches per year whereas my fastest put on over 3' of trunk in just spring and summer alone.

As has already been mentioned they love water, but also appreciate cool nights.  They're kind of like Goldilocks "not too hot and not too cold"

they must love your climate. portland is wet and cool

[Brad Mondel]

They do perfectly here in zone 8a SC.

The clay soil holds a lot of moisture and insulates well from temperature swings. Nights are pretty hot and muggy in the summer but it doesn't bother them. I've also seen amazing ones in louisiana, even more humid and hot than here. I think the soil is the key.

[Chester B]

41 minutes ago, Brad Mondel said:

I think the soil is the key.

I have said before that they love clay.  The ones I have planted in more sandy soil don't look as nice and don't grow nearly as fast.  However Princeps seem to do better in sandy, dry, hot spots.

[Palm D]

This is a 3 year old Trachy I grew from seed.

[Chester B]

That’s pretty decent for 3 years. I hate to admit it but I neglect them so they aren’t nearly as big as yours. 

[sashaeffer]

Grow many in the ground here in Omaha, Nebraska (winter protected) and they do just fine. FOR ME, speed of growth depends on any damage they sustained from winter. Some years all but a few fronds have to be cut off from fungus, so palm spends entire summer replacing those so height increase is minimal. Aside from that, they are pretty quick growers.

[Fallen Munk]

My observation is that Trachycarpus in the PNW grow faster than anywhere else in the USA, so I'm not sure just adding heat is the key.  Probably has to do more with the overall climate with wet cool winters and dry hot summers.  They also germinate better for me at lower temperatures, taking slightly longer but with a higher germination rate.

Edited January 22, 2021 by Fallen Munk

[Fallen Munk]

These are a couple of Trachys from seed that sprouted last February in 5 gallon pots.  So not quite one year old.

[Chester B]

You must be babying those things!

[ShadyDan]

@Fallen Munk don’t forget about our long summer days too, I’m sure that helps. I love that 16 hours of daylight we get in June / July, I’m sure the palms don’t mind either. 

[Fallen Munk]

55 minutes ago, Chester B said:

You must be babying those things!

Nope, I have about 50 of them in pots out by the back fence and I check up on them very infrequently.  I planted them as single strap seedlings straight into 5 gallon pots with a compost/perlite mix.  The soil is very heavy and holds a lot of water.  They went palmate in late summer/early fall.  I do have a few stragglers, but most of them look just like the two in the photo.

[Love them palms]

On 1/22/2021 at 1:20 PM, Fallen Munk said:

My observation is that Trachycarpus in the PNW grow faster than anywhere else in the USA, so I'm not sure just adding heat is the key.  Probably has to do more with the overall climate with wet cool winters and dry hot summers.  They also germinate better for me at lower temperatures, taking slightly longer but with a higher germination rate.

I was really impressed when I found out that trachycarpus seeds could germinate in the Pacific Northwest. I don't know of any others can do that. 

[NBTX11]

They grow fine and fast in Texas and our high during summer is 97 degrees on average with many days over 100 where I am at.  There are old/tall specimens everywhere.