Canary Island date palms in Oregon

[Fallen Munk]

I started a bunch of seeds exactly a year ago and here's a photo of the biggest one.  

[Sabal King]

6 minutes ago, Fallen Munk said:

I started a bunch of seeds exactly a year ago and here's a photo of the biggest one.  

Love these and was thinking about anchoring some landscaping with a CIDP here in the Dallas area.  Seems like they would be fine but would need a bit of babysitting on the colder years.

[Chester B]

That's some serious growth.

[Fallen Munk]

23 minutes ago, Chester B said:

That's some serious growth.

Thanks, this is the biggest one and the rest are about half that size.  Kind of weird how that happens.  Good genetics I guess.  Should be a beast by end of summer.

[ShadyDan]

Well done. Much bigger than the ones I started from seed last year. You must be doing something right!

[oasis371]

Canary Island Dates are always very rewarding and easy from seed, have not seen the same robust growth with the Phoenix dactylifera (true date).

[floridaPalmMan]

@Fallen Munk what grow medium are you using?

I just see big rocks but surely that's not all...right?

[Fallen Munk]

21 hours ago, floridaPalmMan said:

@Fallen Munk what grow medium are you using?

I just see big rocks but surely that's not all...right?

Haha, no the rocks are there because the squirrels will dig them up otherwise.  Although the rocks do hold in a lot of heat that keeps it warm at night.  For potting mix, every spring I order 10 yards of compost for my garden, so I use that mixed with perlite probably close to 50/50 ratio, but I don't measure.  Then I mix in some slow release palm fertilizer and pulverized egg shells.

[floridaPalmMan]

1 hour ago, Fallen Munk said:

Haha, no the rocks are there because the squirrels will dig them up otherwise.  Although the rocks do hold in a lot of heat that keeps it warm at night.  For potting mix, every spring I order 10 yards of compost for my garden, so I use that mixed with perlite probably close to 50/50 ratio, but I don't measure.  Then I mix in some slow release palm fertilizer and pulverized egg shells.

Oh man thats a great squirrel defense.

This was my first spring with palm seedlings and had no idea the damage squirrels can do to a greenhouse.

Ive lost over 10 palm seedlings and a bunch of shrub seedlings in the past two weeks and Im fuming angry at them. Going to try your rock method now.

And thanks for the grow medium recipe. The 8qt miracle grow palm & cactus bags are getting expensive.

[EastCanadaTropicals]

Hope they are hardy.

[Xerarch]

22 hours ago, Fallen Munk said:

Haha, no the rocks are there because the squirrels will dig them up otherwise.  Although the rocks do hold in a lot of heat that keeps it warm at night.  For potting mix, every spring I order 10 yards of compost for my garden, so I use that mixed with perlite probably close to 50/50 ratio, but I don't measure.  Then I mix in some slow release palm fertilizer and pulverized egg shells.

Ugh I learned the hard way how many young palms in pots squirrels will destroy.

[Fallen Munk]

22 hours ago, EastCanadaTropicals said:

Hope they are hardy.

I'm in 8b with some winters to 9a.  Here's one that's down the road from me.  They do protect it in the winter just in case.

[Fallen Munk]

21 hours ago, Xerarch said:

Ugh I learned the hard way how many young palms in pots squirrels will destroy.

I potted up 50 well started Canary Island date palm seedlings and the next morning they had pulled them all up and ate the seeds off of them.  I was raging all day.  Most days I feel like Bill Murray in Caddyshack.  My neighbor breeds them so the whole neighborhood is overrun. 

[Fallen Munk]

On 3/16/2021 at 8:10 PM, floridaPalmMan said:

And thanks for the grow medium recipe. The 8qt miracle grow palm & cactus bags are getting expensive.

No problem.  I learned a long time ago to stop buying the stuff in bags.  I order a dump truck load of compost and buy those huge bags of perlite and make my own for cheap.  One truck load can fill about 500 five gallon pots.  if I bought the bagged stuff that would cost several thousand dollars!

[Chester B]

On 3/16/2021 at 6:41 PM, Fallen Munk said:

Haha, no the rocks are there because the squirrels will dig them up otherwise.  Although the rocks do hold in a lot of heat that keeps it warm at night.  For potting mix, every spring I order 10 yards of compost for my garden, so I use that mixed with perlite probably close to 50/50 ratio, but I don't measure.  Then I mix in some slow release palm fertilizer and pulverized egg shells.

Hardly ever see a squirrel in my neighborhood, maybe once every month or so, and I'm surrounded by hundreds of acres of forest.  Owls and coyotes take care of them, squirrels are always a problem in more urban locations.  On top of that I have a 100+lb dog that is quicker than he looks, so I can say that in 5 years I've never had one on my property.

[Fallen Munk]

3 hours ago, Chester B said:

Hardly ever see a squirrel in my neighborhood, maybe once every month or so, and I'm surrounded by hundreds of acres of forest.  Owls and coyotes take care of them, squirrels are always a problem in more urban locations.  On top of that I have a 100+lb dog that is quicker than he looks, so I can say that in 5 years I've never had one on my property.

Lucky you.  Every day my landscaping looks like a mine field.  They dig big holes everywhere.  They'll drag small palms out of pots to bury their nuts and I'll usually find them after they've been in the sun all day and they never live.  They can remember where they stashed thousands of nuts, but If I swap the pots around, they will dig to the bottom of a 5 gallon pot looking for that nut that they remember putting in there.  And if the palm is in the way, they shred the roots to bits or pull the whole palm out of the pot.  I F'ing hate them!

The neighbor across the street is the problem.  She breeds them and every week Amazon drops off a 10 pound box of nuts on her porch.  So basically they have an unlimited supply of nuts to hide.  So that's what they do all day long.

Edited March 19, 2021 by Fallen Munk

[Chester B]

14 hours ago, Fallen Munk said:

Lucky you.  Every day my landscaping looks like a mine field.  They dig big holes everywhere.  They'll drag small palms out of pots to bury their nuts and I'll usually find them after they've been in the sun all day and they never live.  They can remember where they stashed thousands of nuts, but If I swap the pots around, they will dig to the bottom of a 5 gallon pot looking for that nut that they remember putting in there.  And if the palm is in the way, they shred the roots to bits or pull the whole palm out of the pot.  I F'ing hate them!

The neighbor across the street is the problem.  She breeds them and every week Amazon drops off a 10 pound box of nuts on her porch.  So basically they have an unlimited supply of nuts to hide.  So that's what they do all day long.

When I lived back in Toronto squirrels were/are a big problem there too.  I don't think I could ever look in my yard and not see at least 2   I do remember having a fit every now and then over them and what they did.  My dogs back then weren't as quick so no matter how many times I sent them out to get them - no luck.  

Here I have the rabbits to deal with.  They don't bother things in pots, but when something's in the ground they like to sample it to see if its edible.  The coyotes won't come near my yard with the dogs, but I did hear an owl get one last summer outside my bedroom window.

My inlaws have neighbors who are doing the same thing as yours.  Except they're not only attracting squirrels, but possums and rats.

 

[N8ALLRIGHT]

 

Two words. Pellet gun

Squirrels not only F up plants but houses as well. I've had them try to set up shop in my attic at my old house by chewing through the soffit. Tomato stealing rats as well..

No mercy for them here. Also a fan of the live catch trap and "relocate". 

 

[Chester B]

I had a neighbor once  that would put rat traps vertically to tree trunks. 

[petiole10]

Stick bamboo canes with the pointy end upwards into the pots. These shouldn't hurt them, but are enough to stop them digging. Or sprinkle hot chilli flakes onto the soil - they will be repelled by the spiciness. Maybe even better, add bone meal to the soil - squirrels hate it  and the blood like scent scares them off, but at the same time its good for enriching the soil

[Fallen Munk]

On 3/19/2021 at 7:29 PM, N8ALLRIGHT said:

 

Two words. Pellet gun

 

I'm in the city limits where that is a class C felony and my neighbors would not hesitate to call that in.