Early trunk??

[John2468]

Hey everyone!! I recently bought a queen palm and noticed that it has a small trunk on it, is this it’s permanent size or it is going to be bigger?

This is also happening to my bottle palm.

[Steve Mac]

I'm pretty sure that it will get fatter. It seems normal for that age to me.

And the bottle will definitely get fatter.

[JLM]

Yeah you've still got a while for the Queen, a few years maybe if it gets planted. The largest Queen that i have was bought as a 6.5g size and it still had quite a ways to go before the trunk can be exposed.

[Pal Meir]

It will become much fatter; here an example with an Archontophoenix: The same palm a couple of years later not only taller, but much fatter. You can still see the rings of the same old leaf bases.

[John2468]

I thought palm trees don't get much thicker once it stated trunking. Correct me if i'm wrong. :)

[Pal Meir]

18 minutes ago, John2468 said:

I thought palm trees don't get much thicker once it stated trunking. Correct me if i'm wrong.

You are wrong:

(1) Look at my photo above.

(2) Diffuse secondary growth Known also as sustained primary growth, diffuse secondary growth occurs in some taxa and leads to an increase in stem diameter, largely as a result of an increase in fibrousness. The diameters of fibres may increase, as may the wall thickness of individual cells. Likewise, both the length of fibres and the number of fibres in bundle sheaths can become greater. There may also be some cell division in parenchyma cells. Large air spaces, lacunae, are formed in some stems. (Genera Palmarum 2008, XIX)

[Pal Meir]

Here another example: Syagrus insignis, the same stem segment almost 2 years later, now much fatter.

[Pal Meir]

PS: The diameter of that stem segment was 52 mm in 2018 and 67 mm today.

[Steve Mac]

Mate, I think that the confusion may be with, that palm roots once emerged don't tend to thicken as tree roots do, but tend to grow out at about the same thickness and stay that way for life.

Also there is a certain amount of misinformation out there too that you probably read.

But palm trunks certainly do thicken after trunking as Pal has accurately shown and some palms more than others.

[John2468]

Alright!! Thanks!