Hawaiian Punch

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Neoploga Pink Crownshaft, Dypsis pinnatifrons, or Hawaiian Punch, whatever you call it.  Who is growing it and what cultural methods do you use?  And, by the way, just what is the correct name for this guy?

I was stunned when I first saw it at Ho`omalahia (sp?) with its vibrant colors, pink crownshaft, pink and red inflorescence and red new leaves.  Plus the leaflets were not just the ordinary lanceolate shape but dramatically recurved.  I jumped at the chance to buy them locally.  They seemed to grow fairly well when I had them in the backyard under my mango tree (they were in 1 gallon pots).  Later I moved them into 3 gallons and put them in the Arboretum nursery with daily irrigation.  Bad move, they started decining and finally kicked the bucket.  I was surprised because I thought it needed copious amounts of water.  On the "Seed/Plants For Sale" forum someone mentioned that it flourishes in SoCal.  

Please stop me before I kill again! (Kill palms that is.)

Geraldo

[elHoagie]

Wow, you have the opposite problem that I do.  I almost killed mine when I forgot to water for about a week this summer.  Since then I've been watering regularly and it's coming back nicely...

[MattyB]

I think this palm dosen't like it too hot, too cold, too wet, or too dry.  It's picky in my experience.  Although people keep telling me it's a great grow.  Hmmmmmm.  It's like Lepidorachis mooreana in my mind.

[www.dadluvsu.com]

I don't have any great tips for this dainty little delight...  My only specimen seems to be a very fast grower!  As soon as the newest leaf greens up, a new spear begins.  I'm thinking they might not like our Florida sand so I keep mine in a container...  I just put it in my standard palm mixture (equal parts perlite and peat with some sand for good measure) and keep it moist...  I have been told they are sensative to water quality and shouldn't be overhead watered without purified water...  Leaf tip burn from our salty slurry...  Keep us posted!  

Just curious does anyone know how old or tall the palm is before it starts to flower?

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Dypsis sp. Pink Crownshaft

[amazon exotics]

JD and I are growing these at the nursery and they don't seem like they need any special requirements. I have one in the ground at the house and it's doing fine too. They seem to be fairly quick growers. Pretty palms....

[bgl]

I have all of mine in a location where they get full sun most of the day, and they do just fine. Here's a photo of 3 of them (the one in the background is slightly out of focus and difficult to make out).

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Dang Bo!  Those are some pretty a-dults!

How tall can these get?

[bgl]

They can probably get close to 20 ft. My tallest one is about 11-12 ft in height, but there are two others not far from here that are the largest ones I know of. They're probably 14-15 ft (jda....photo - info??)

[Jeff Searle]

(Jerry@TreeZoo @ Dec. 20 2007,11:12)

QUOTE

Neoploga Pink Crownshaft, Dypsis pinnatifrons, or Hawaiian Punch, whatever you call it.  Who is growing it and what cultural methods do you use?  And, by the way, just what is the correct name for this guy?

I was stunned when I first saw it at Ho`omalahia (sp?) with its vibrant colors, pink crownshaft, pink and red inflorescence and red new leaves.  Plus the leaflets were not just the ordinary lanceolate shape but dramatically recurved.  I jumped at the chance to buy them locally.  They seemed to grow fairly well when I had them in the backyard under my mango tree (they were in 1 gallon pots).  Later I moved them into 3 gallons and put them in the Arboretum nursery with daily irrigation.  Bad move, they started decining and finally kicked the bucket.  I was surprised because I thought it needed copious amounts of water.  On the "Seed/Plants For Sale" forum someone mentioned that it flourishes in SoCal.  

Please stop me before I kill again! (Kill palms that is.)

Geraldo

Jerry,

   For many years now I have been growing these D. sp. Pink crownshafts. But, they are kind of a pain in the butt for me. They always seem to have brown in the leaves, sometimes alot and then other times look much better. I just can't figure it out. And I tried two of them in the ground, with a decent amount of sun/shade but they only lasted a year or so. So, I have had nothing but bad luck with these.

Jeff

[www.dadluvsu.com]

temps?

[jdapalms]

Bo,

Yours are jumping out of the ground pretty fast. The plants I have that are setting seed were planted by Ken Foster and as Bo has mentioned they are about 15 feet tall. I posted some pictures on the palms for sale section but it was difficult to get good pictures of them in the area where they are growing.

I have not tried to grow one out doors in Calif. as of yet but in the right location they should grow. They seem to handle the lows (last year 32F) in our buildings with no problem.

Jerry

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Could this palm grow in nearly full shade?  Surely it's an understory palm of whatever forest it comes from?  I'm thinking a really stretched and broadleafed example might be very attractive...  ???

[jdapalms]

William,

Your palm in the picture looks great. The palms I have Hawaii are in shade, I also have some in full sun doing well. Bo's palms pictured are in full sun. In California the humidity is probably to low for full sun. The coastal zones would probably be the better location with the higher humidity.

It seems to me that some of the growing problems are usually with the younger plants, being more susceptible to poor water/soil, fungus, bugs. After they reach a certain size they grow faster and are less likely to stress out.

Jerry

[Tyrone]

(Jeff Searle @ Dec. 20 2007,20:21)

QUOTE

(Jerry@TreeZoo @ Dec. 20 2007,11:12)

QUOTE

Neoploga Pink Crownshaft, Dypsis pinnatifrons, or Hawaiian Punch, whatever you call it.  Who is growing it and what cultural methods do you use?  And, by the way, just what is the correct name for this guy?

I was stunned when I first saw it at Ho`omalahia (sp?) with its vibrant colors, pink crownshaft, pink and red inflorescence and red new leaves.  Plus the leaflets were not just the ordinary lanceolate shape but dramatically recurved.  I jumped at the chance to buy them locally.  They seemed to grow fairly well when I had them in the backyard under my mango tree (they were in 1 gallon pots).  Later I moved them into 3 gallons and put them in the Arboretum nursery with daily irrigation.  Bad move, they started decining and finally kicked the bucket.  I was surprised because I thought it needed copious amounts of water.  On the "Seed/Plants For Sale" forum someone mentioned that it flourishes in SoCal.  

Please stop me before I kill again! (Kill palms that is.)

Geraldo

Jerry,

   For many years now I have been growing these D. sp. Pink crownshafts. But, they are kind of a pain in the butt for me. They always seem to have brown in the leaves, sometimes alot and then other times look much better. I just can't figure it out. And I tried two of them in the ground, with a decent amount of sun/shade but they only lasted a year or so. So, I have had nothing but bad luck with these.

Jeff

Jeff, Am I right in saying these are a higher altitude species? I seem to remember that someone has said this before on the forum but can't quite remember where. Is it possible that Florida is too hot for this one and they need some cooler weather. I've just planted a triple in the ground about a month ago and I'm hoping it'll do well.

regards

Tyrone

[Jeff Searle]

Tyrone,

      What I really need to do (and should) is have someone come out and do a soil and leaf analysis and this would tell exactly whats going on, in regards to brown tip burn that they always seem to have.

     

      On my two trips to the Masoala peninsula, we saw Dypsis pinnatifrons growing not to far from the beaches edge, and I'm a firm believer that this Pink Crownshaft is just a form of D. pinnatifrons. So these plants were growing near zero elevation which would tell you that they don't need cooler conditions to look great. This plant might enjoy less heat, but I just don't know yet.

Jeff

[Tyrone]

Jeff, Just took a look at POM and it says it grows to 1000m but like you said it is also a lowland species, so yes, hot humid and tropical shouldn't phase it. That 1000m bit is what I remembered. If you do the tests let us know what the results are cos it may help a lot of us.

I had a prob where I couldn't grow any Ceroxylons that well, and I just assumed the climate was totally wrong. Anyway I since found out that they hate my bore water. I've changed my watering technique and am using some scheme water and now they're doing nicely. Some palms are picky and need the conditions to be within narrow bounds, whereas other species which are more tolerant growing next the the picky ones still look great. That's my experience anyway.

I hope my Pink Crownshafts go well.

regards

Tyrone