I'd love to but.....

[redant]

Which palms that you should be able to grow but that you have given up trying. I'm talking palms that are not zone intolerant for you. You like the palm but you just can't make it happy so you will not buy/try them again.

The palm that come to mind for me is teddy bear palm. Out of about 9 I bought, 2 are very happy, 4 look poor and 3 RIP. I still see these for sale once in a while at HD but I refuse to try again.

So which palm/palms fill this space for you?

[DoomsDave]

Areca catechu.

RIP . . . .

dave

[ania]

All Licualas. No luck with orbicularis, ramsayi and grandis.

No clue where I go wrong.

Anna

[Shon]

Dypsis pembana has not been a good grower for me.I have one that is on it's way out and two more that a just there,not dead but not even close to flourishing.That is the most frustrating part other palms that are borderline are doing very well and the pembanas which everyone near are growing without problems are doing nothing for me.

                              Shon

[amazon exotics]

Cyphosperma balansae- Just can't grow'em. Probally easier to grow a Renda in Alaska, or maybe a trachy in hell. Anna, have you tried L spinosa? They seen to do good for me.

[Trópico]

I may have a green thumb, but not for Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana. Two separate batches of easy sprouts, and then a graveyard, one by one. I am not giving up!

[redant]

I might add Beccariophoenix madagascariensis to my list. 3 dead, trying another and so far it looks nice.

[Jeff Searle]

I lost both of my Pritchardiopsis years ago.

[Palmarum]

I will always try a difficult palm again, if I am able to get it in quantity. It's easier to figure out the requirements of a tricky species when you can experiment with more than one plant. I would like to try Nypa again, for large containers. Areca alba has always been problematic for me, as they would always start to go bad at the same size.

If you figure out why a plant died, you cut the loss in half.

Ryan

[Zac in NC]

Braheas in general. Granted, I know they despise humidity.  I have killed armata and edulis( both small seedlings- never got more than 3 leaves ever before they join the choir invisible), and I have one small nitida seedling that I just germinated. I hope this one lives.

Zac

[quaman58]

Haven't had one roll over & die yet, but that's because I've not been doing this long enough, and I know my time's a comin'.. I'm too big a coward to try Veitchia joannis or Hyophorbe lagenicaulis around here, even though I'd like to. But I did take a step out on several Adonidia that I had germinated and a Carpoxylon. I guess I thought they were both worth the potential pain. We'll see..

Bret

PS: Rendant....nice Beccariophoenix!!

[bgl]

Pseudophoenix is one palm I've given up on, and probably won't try again. Something with the soil I think. They hang in there for a while and then gradually start going downhill.

Palmarum, Nypa is probably a real tough one. I think they have very unique requirements that are extremely difficult to replicate in cultivation.

And Bret, with your location I wouldn't think you should have any difficulties with Veitchia joannis. I'm sure you'd have more of a chance with that one than with Adonidia or Carpoxylon?

Bo-Göran

[redant]

Pseudophoenix, It's nice to know I have a couple of palms that grow better for me then Bo  :laugh:

My Pseudophoenix (2) seems very healthy. Very slow growing as expected but they look nice and healthy.  Bo your part of HI probably has to much rain, not enough dry. Mine thrive on extremely fast drying white "sugar sand". They recieve very little extra water so they seem to enjoy wet summers and dry winters. Mine are just starting to trunk.

[quaman58]

Bo,

I guess I just made the assumption that because of their origins, V. joannis would languish here. Are you aware of any in the SD area that seem happy?

Bret

[bgl]

Bret,

no, but I seem to recall some PSSC members growing V. joannis (Pauleen in Ventura??), but maybe it was arecina? Pretty sure I've seen Veitchias in Ventura back in the early 90s but since it's been a while my memory is a little bit hazy on this point. There must be some PSSC members who know what's going on and can shed some light on this.

Bo-Göran

[Neofolis]

Like Bret, I have probably not been at this long enough to have reached that point, but maybe I will do now that I have decided to concentrate on more tropical species.

I assume most of us treat our palms roughly the same.  I know they will get different light levels and some may be allowed to dry out more between watering, etc., but I would think most differences would be quite subtle.  Things like water source, soil/medium, fertilizer, etc. I assume for most people are the same or similar for most of their palms.  Does this mean that it is likely to be something fairly fundamental if we have problems with a specific species that does fine elsewhere.

I was quite surprised when a couple of people mentioned to me that Pholidostachys pulchra is difficult and very fussy.  Mine has been doing very well, putting out a new leaf every 4-6 weeks, despite never being in optimum humidity often far too low, temperatures are generally lower than it should like and it dries out more than it should between waterings, but still seems perfectly happy.  Of course there is always the possibility that it was labelled wrongly and isn't Pholidostachys pulchra at all, but maybe there is something I do that they didn't or vice-versa.

Surely if we have difficulties the best bet is to speak with someone who does well with the same species and see what we are doing differently.  Maybe it's because my pulchra is potted, maybe because I water it with warm water, maybe because I use a regular use soluble fertlizer rather than slow release fertilizer.  There will almost definitely be some differences in the care they receive and a simple change might make all the difference.  It could just be lucky genetics making my pulchra stronger, but for people growing multiple specimens well there is obviously something different that gives them success.

I always assumed that growing palms of various species would be a long learning curve to find the individual requirements of each species and what they respond particularly well to.  I think poor results with a species would inspire me to learn more and try different things, but maybe I will be less optimistic after trying and failing a few times.

[Alan_Tampa]

Jeff, Pritchardiopsis really?  How cool to even have a shot at some.  Are you pulling our crownshafts here or what?

I think it would be the bee's knees to have a couple of those.

Have yet to give up on any species, still too stupid to know better.

Alan