Jubaeopsis caffra

[Tyrone]

I mounded mine up and removed a good section of peat (natural soil) and replaced with a very open organic mix, lots of bark and chips etc etc. To be honest it is quite dry and I need to give it a good soaking to get it to soak in as initially the water just runs down the sides of the mound. From what I've experienced, Jubaeopsis loves hot humid conditions provided the roots can breathe 100%. Almost treat it like a cycad like an Encephalartos. Let it dry out between waterings etc etc.

[coops 3214]

On 12/1/2016 at 11:31 PM, Tyrone said:

I mounded mine up and removed a good section of peat (natural soil) and replaced with a very open organic mix, lots of bark and chips etc etc. To be honest it is quite dry and I need to give it a good soaking to get it to soak in as initially the water just runs down the sides of the mound. From what I've experienced, Jubaeopsis loves hot humid conditions provided the roots can breathe 100%. Almost treat it like a cycad like an Encephalartos. Let it dry out between waterings etc etc.

How did this go Tyrone did it pull through?? Im in geelong in victoria I know wet and cold winters and mines never been fussed not the fastest thing but after 10 years in the ground it's really picked up the pace planted in heavly composted sand been pretty bullet proof have another decent 1 i need to plant

[Tyrone]

On 4/27/2025 at 10:11 PM, coops 3214 said:

How did this go Tyrone did it pull through?? Im in geelong in victoria I know wet and cold winters and mines never been fussed not the fastest thing but after 10 years in the ground it's really picked up the pace planted in heavly composted sand been pretty bullet proof have another decent 1 i need to plant

The one in this thread tried to flower prematurely then never put out a leaf again. and died.  I replaced it with a Chrysalidocarpus decipiens which is doing much better.

Back in 2015 and I think 2016/17 I germinated some more. So I have a few growing here now. The best ones are in sand. I had a comm pot of 3 that were growing in about a 70% perlite mix that I was too scared to separate. As they are a clumping palm anyway I planted them near my big Strelitzia nicolai which they would do in habitat in sand as a group. They’re doing fine. I’ve got others in free draining areas but not sand and they’re ok, but two have decided to flower prematurely and then put out funky new growth. I’ve got one doing very well in a jungly area near my bananas and a Ravenala that is doing well but it’s not sand there. 

[tim_brissy_13]

12 hours ago, Tyrone said:

The one in this thread tried to flower prematurely then never put out a leaf again. and died.  I replaced it with a Chrysalidocarpus decipiens which is doing much better.

Back in 2015 and I think 2016/17 I germinated some more. So I have a few growing here now. The best ones are in sand. I had a comm pot of 3 that were growing in about a 70% perlite mix that I was too scared to separate. As they are a clumping palm anyway I planted them near my big Strelitzia nicolai which they would do in habitat in sand as a group. They’re doing fine. I’ve got others in free draining areas but not sand and they’re ok, but two have decided to flower prematurely and then put out funky new growth. I’ve got one doing very well in a jungly area near my bananas and a Ravenala that is doing well but it’s not sand there. 

Interesting. My one in ground has been pushing out a terminal inflorescence. Never had a palm recover when they do this and sounds like this species is susceptible to it. 

[Jonathan Haycock]

7 hours ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

Interesting. My one in ground has been pushing out a terminal inflorescence. Never had a palm recover when they do this and sounds like this species is susceptible to it. 

One of mine produced a premature terminal inflorescence too last year, then died. It was in full sun and the medium would regularly dry out. My other 2 only receive morning sun, are irrigated daily, and look pristine. It seems stress sets them off.

[Tyrone]

Here’s my triple planted one next to. a big Strelitzia nicolai. Happy as a pig in mud. It’s in sand but deeper down is heavier soil. 

[Tyrone]

This one in my jungly banana, Ravenala, Crinum lily corner is doing very well 

[Tyrone]

This one was planted on a mound area with free draining soil but the mound has basically collapsed. The surrounding soil gets wet in winter and the weeds go berserk when that happens. I’m always weeding around it in the wetter months so sun can get to the soil and it’s not smothered. But I must have got busy last winter and they kind of smothered it for a bit and it flowered and put out the funky leaf thing. I treated it with peroxide and it’s still pushing growth but I don’t know if it will resign to being a mutant and just die now. I’m hoping it will put out good leaves again. 

[Tyrone]

This one is in a raised bed that dries out easier but it is irrigated through the dry times here. Here you can afford to shed the bounteous winter rains for subtropicals that need perfect drainage. Unfortunately it too has tried to flower and do the funky mutant leaf thing but still appears to be growing. Will see if it sticks around for the long term. If not, a Beccariophoenix alfredii will take its place. 

[tim_brissy_13]

8 hours ago, Jonathan Haycock said:

One of mine produced a premature terminal inflorescence too last year, then died. It was in full sun and the medium would regularly dry out. My other 2 only receive morning sun, are irrigated daily, and look pristine. It seems stress sets them off.

Makes sense. Mine is in the poorest soil in my garden with a Eucalyptus on the nature strip to the west nearby which sucks up all moisture and nutrients. My back up in a pot is doing well. I might not replace it in the same spot. 

[Phoenikakias]

 

 

Mine grows in a steep slope with pumice used exclusively as fill in and I use pine bark as mulch

k

[Jim in Los Altos]

I’ve had mine that seems like a lifetime since it was a seedling. Actually about twenty years. It’s in fertile loam over clay. I’ve kept it at two trunks by cutting off offsets.