Copernicia baileyana growth rate?

[Really full garden]

I have Copernicia baileyana seeds germinating now . What can I expect to see in 1, 2 ,5  and 10 years?I have heard they can be very slow. Even in my climate?

                                                Scott

[spockvr6]

I only have a tiny bit of experience with these palms, but the one small one I have (seedling really, but does have mature "character" leaves) has barely put out one frond this summer!

[bgl]

Scott,

Yes, SLOW even in a tropical climate. I planted this one (and a few others) as a small seedling in 1998, so the plant itself is probably right around 9 years of age - since germination. It may be close to 2 ft tall today! But the good news is that it SEEMS to be picking up speed now...

Bo-Göran

[BigFrond]

(bgl @ Aug. 28 2006,14:38)

QUOTE

Scott,

Yes, SLOW even in a tropical climate. I planted this one (and a few others) as a small seedling in 1998, so the plant itself is probably right around 9 years of age - since germination. It may be close to 2 ft tall today! But the good news is that it SEEMS to be picking up speed now...

Bo-Göran

Bo,

That is awfully slow.  I have a lot of patient but this would push me to the red line.  The leaves on the adult are awesome.  Everytime I look at them, it seems like their in a spinning motion.

[Really full garden]

Bo thanks for the picture.I think is says it all. I should have started my C.baileyanas ten years ago.

                                                   Scott

[Al in Kona]

While I don't have a Copernicia bailyana, I am growing the very closley related Copernicia fallaense which I had previously posted a pic.   It too was super slow growing especially the first 4 to 5 years, then very gradually speeded up in growth rate.  After about 12 years it now measures about 3.2m (10') tall.  These Copernicias are super rare yet in Hawaii.

[avanza]

Need more info & update of Copernicia Baileyana

Thank you very mouch.

[Steve the palmreader]

this one is about 8 years from a 3 gallon pot.

[Mandrew968]

They are not that slow--yeah for about 5 years they may be, but they are almost as fast as an Attalea--Ask Virtualpalm(Jody). He has before and after, pics of his two baileyana and I was very impressed(and they don't get as much sun as they want!). My Father's, from a 30 gallon plant, grew 5 plus feet in less than 2 years!

[aztropic]

Disclaimer : EVERYTHING grows slower in the desert.

That being said,here is a baily that I started from seed 8 years ago. It is in a 5 gallon pot and only has picked up speed over the last 2 years.It was grown entirely in Arizona.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[aztropic]

After realizing how slow the grow it yourself approach was panning out,I finally bought some time and will be enjoying watching this larger baily expand into its desert surroundings.It currently is 2 1/2 feet tall and the base is 4 1/2 inches wide.It looks like it is already in fast growth mode so I'm hoping to see some trunk out of this one someday.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[MattyB]

I highly recommend planting Copernicia baileyana in the ground as soon as possible. I was astonished at the amount of thick roots my seedling had produced in such a short amount of time and how disproportionate the root mass was to the leaves, ie. way more roots than leaves. After 6 years from seed, 3 in a pot and 3 in the ground, my C. baileyana are no taller than 12".

[aztropic]

Just 10 feet away from the baily, this Copernicia macroglossa has grown magnificently over the years,so it appears to be a great location to grow these types of Cuban palms.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[aztropic]

Copernicia berteroana is still small but has had no problems planted in full desert sun.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[Davidl]

Most Copernicias seem to do better in the ground compared to a pot. I have a Copernicia Macroglossa in a pot that has grown twice as fast as the ones I have in the ground. I am not sure why though.

[virtualpalm]

Andrew, I don't remember where I put those before and after photos. I will have to look for them.

I can say, though, that when I first started working at the UF Tropical Research & Education Center in Homestead back in 1997 the plants in the "Bailey Palm Grove" looked kinda like Len's plant. The largest of those Bailey's now has 8-9 feet of wood. As an aside, we relocated all 11 of those Bailey's this past summer without root pruning because there was a rush to begin construction on a new greenhouse, and we only lost one of the smaller ones that was the weakest of the bunch. Below are a couple photos of the new Bailey Palm Grove at TREC after the relocation:

Jody

[Moose]

I highly recommend planting Copernicia baileyana in the ground as soon as possible. I was astonished at the amount of thick roots my seedling had produced in such a short amount of time and how disproportionate the root mass was to the leaves, ie. way more roots than leaves. After 6 years from seed, 3 in a pot and 3 in the ground, my C. baileyana are no taller than 12".

Matty is spot on. Leaving Copernicia in a containers for years has no benefit. They develope large and deeply penetrating roots. One of the reasons they are difficult to transplant. Waiting for them to get large in containers only slows down their growth potential. Instead of stepping them up to 7's, 15's or 25's - get 'em in the ground.

[avanza]

I have Copernicia baileyana seeds germinating now . What can I expect to see in 1, 2 ,5 and 10 years?I have heard they can be very slow. Even in my climate?

Scott

Sir can you please update the pic of your Copernicia baileyana :-)

I need to see its

Thank you very much

[Really full garden]

Wow ,I had forgotten I ever had C.baileyana.My seeds all rotted soon after germination(too wet). I have not tried these again.

[Mandrew968]

Just 10 feet away from the baily, this Copernicia macroglossa has grown magnificently over the years,so it appears to be a great location to grow these types of Cuban palms.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

Hey, this is not a macroglossa--someone got lucky and has a rigida instead of a macroglossa!

[avanza]

this one is about 8 years from a 3 gallon pot.

Thank you for the picture

But why it not green?

[avanza]

Any update 

[sonoranfans]

My bailey didnt move for half a growing season when it was planted as a small 5 gallon in 2010.  In the first pic it has a nice flush of new leaves in august 2011 one year after going in the ground.   It seemed to take 3-4 years to really start growing vertically. The second pic is last week, 8 years later, still recovering from a beating in IRMA where the center spear was split and got fungus infection.  Currently, its about 13-14' overall now and putting out more leaves and growing faster than it ever did.  Its not a fast grower when small, its slow.  Once it gets those roots down it becomes a "medium" grower.

[Really full garden]

I finally acquired C. baileyana  seeds and had excellent germination .

This is my largest and is almost 2 years from seed. I plan to plant this in my beach garden when our next rainy season sets in around June 2020.

I actually think they are not that slow , especially considering the growth rates of other Copernicia species.

 

[aztropic]

On 10/10/2012 at 10:34 AM, aztropic said:

Disclaimer : EVERYTHING grows slower in the desert.

That being said,here is a baily that I started from seed 8 years ago. It is in a 5 gallon pot and only has picked up speed over the last 2 years.It was grown entirely in Arizona.

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

Here it is,7 years later.They grow much faster in the ground!

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[aztropic]

On 1/15/2013 at 8:24 AM, Mandrew968 said:

Hey, this is not a macroglossa--someone got lucky and has a rigida instead of a macroglossa!

Nope.Still a macroglossa...

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[aztropic]

Here is my rigida...

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[mike in kurtistown]

I have grown quite a few Copernicias, including baileyana, over the years, and have several species on my lot here in rainy east Hawaii.  I endorse most of what earlier posters have said. Growth rates vary with the species, but most start slow (wanting to establish a secure root system?) then speed up as they get larger. My fastest have been hospitas, medium rates for baileyanas and fallaensises, and rather slow rates for my macroglossas and my rigida. My cowelliis are still in pots. Although I have done well with the Cubans, I have struggled with the Hispaniolas, losing all ground-planted ekmaniis, and my berteroanas have struggled with vitamin deficiencies, though they are doing better at this time.

I have also planted them small after looking at the huge ropy roots that even small seedlings developed in 1-gal to 3-gal pots.

[Davidl]

They are not so slow for me, but I guess it’s relative to what a persons idea of slow is. Lol. First five years don’t expect a lot but if there in the ground they will speed up after that. Most Thrinax are a whole lot slower. 

Edited November 11, 2019 by Davidl

[sonoranfans]

Today my bailey is 14 years in the ground from a 5 gallon.  Its growing faster than ever vertically.  This one got a fungal infection after IRMA damage to the spear clump but never had spear pull.  It did take 2 years to eradicate the infection completely.  Ferns were growing between leafbases till a year ago until I ripped them out.  The fern roots were holding the leaf bases in place and now they are starting to fall away as the ferns roots decompose.  I expect lots of the dead leafbases will drop this year.