I've got some seed of Pholidostachys pulchra coming my way soon. What do they like etc to grow well.

Best regards

Tyrone

Tyrone,

I germinated this species last year. It takes quite a few months to germinate (4 months for me). Once they're germinated, it will require high humidity for good growth and never let the soil dry out. I haven't lost a seedling since germination so i think they're not too difficult.

I've got some seed of Pholidostachys pulchra coming my way soon. What do they like etc to grow well.

Best regards

Tyrone

Any photo of them now??? Do you consider them to be fast or slow growing?

Regards, Ari

Tyrone-

I know you will fair much better, but I've tried seedlings from Hawaii and it was a lost cause for me. Then I found out from Floribunda that even in their nursery they take some looking after, with constant misting etc. The leaves are very thin, and mine turned to crisp in a moderately humid, shaded greenhouse in no time. They certainly don't like cooler temperatures, and I wouldn't recommend this species to anyone outside of a tropical environment. Anyone else agree?

Here is a picture of one of my seedlings, about 6 months after germination. I forgot to say that all i mentioned earlier are applied my climate only.

My seedlings got filtered sun for a couple of hours and watered 4 times a day. I think they do like water.

I agree that these palms need a continuously high level of humidity. Back in early 1998, when El Niño conditions caused low humidity for an extended period of time and only 5 inches of rain in 85 days I lost a handful of them. Promised myself never to plant any more Pholidostachys! However, that's more than 10 years ago, and the few survivors are doing great. But they are not fast growers. Here's one of them. Probably 10 ft tall today. It was planted in 1996 from a 5G pot (probably about 2 ft tall at the time).

I have a potted specimen that is about 12" tall overall. I purposely put a higher compost level of potting soil in it as, yes they do prefer moisture...roots and fronds. I have got it tucked into a spot that the wind does not get to. The fronds, as said, are wet paper thin!

I dipped to 38F in my garden this year and so far, no damage that I can see.

Very slow.

Well, this species sounds like one that will forever live in my hothouse where the environment has been modified to be wet and warm. It seems small so will never outgrow it.

Best regards

Tyrone

I had just this same realization last week. A few weeks ago I bought a Pholidostachys sp. "Ken Foster" from Jerry Andersen. After research and reading about it, I am pretty sure it is Pholidostachys pulchra and then realized too, it will forever live in my greenhouse. But it is a nice plant to have to live with.

Here is a Pic:

Well, this species sounds like one that will forever live in my hothouse where the environment has been modified to be wet and warm. It seems small so will never outgrow it.

Best regards

Tyrone

They are beautiful little palms that live on the Atlantic side of the Costa Rican Mountain range, the wettest part of the country, hardly ever a dry season.

Bananas are cultivated without any irrigation there.

5000 mm or more of rain a year.Humidity 95%, temperature around 28°C all year long.Soils are from volcanic origin.

I have seen pictures of it but never seen it in the wild, since I live on the Pacific side.

Wow... 5000mm a year with volcanic soil? That is even more than Bogor, which gets 3500-4000mm.

Regards, Ari

Len,

The palm you got from me is one that I propagated from a plant that Ken Foster planted; he had it labeled Pholidostachys Sp. I have maintained all of Ken's original labels on the palms he planted even though I now know that some are incorrect. The palm you purchased is more likely Pholidostachys kalbreyeri, if anyone has a different opinion I would like to here about it. The palm in the picture is the parent of what Len purchased.

Jerry

Jerry I remember seeing this pic in the sales threads and this is why I bought one from you. In researching it seems Pholidostachys pulchra is really the only one found in cultivation. The others seem very rare in the wild too. So I just went on a hunch. Whatever it is, I am glad I got it and I know it will live in the greenhouse forever whatever species it turns out to be.

Len,

The palm you got from me is one that I propagated from a plant that Ken Foster planted; he had it labeled Pholidostachys Sp. I have maintained all of Ken's original labels on the palms he planted even though I now know that some are incorrect. The palm you purchased is more likely Pholidostachys kalbreyeri, if anyone has a different opinion I would like to here about it. The palm in the picture is the parent of what Len purchased.

Jerry

Wow... 5000mm a year with volcanic soil? That is even more than Bogor, which gets 3500-4000mm.

Regards, Ari

No need to reproduce the 5000 mm from the Atlantic zone, just get them tru the dry season.

I guess the problem for these palms in North Australia is the dry season, low air humidity,etc... If you con provide some shady spot with humidity they might make it, because temperature I believe is no problem there.

They are understory palms.

We also have some dry spells on the Pacific side of Costa Rica, this year here in the municipal park the Cyrtostachys renda died, not the other palms though.They looked fine and just in a few days..gone!

Thanks Jose,

I have irrigation on all my garden beds now. I guess it is just like my Calyptrocalyx which can't get dry... so I might have to remember to put them in the same area where they will get irrigation in the dry. We do have longer dry here than Cairns area.

Talking about Cyrtostachys, they had mature ones on the median strip here in Darwin and some idiots at the city council turned off the watering system in the median strip... thinking well, they were just palms.... They are not completely dead, as the suckers are still alive, but it will take a few years to get to their original size!!!!

Regards, Ari

Ari, maybe you could set up an area in your garden with not only irrigation, but overhead fine misters like they use in commercial greenhouses etc. I've done that in my garden. They work a treat and use very little water. During the dry season you're still peaking in the 30's so a bit of extra humidity will get you right in the ballpark.

Best regards

Tyrone

Kept mine alive for awhile, grew it into a 7 gallon container. When I planted it, cark city, very rapidly. Don't think they appreciate alkaline soil.

Beautiful palm, so sad it prefers volcanic soil. Got the humidity, but a no go on my soil.

3 hours ago, Moose said:

Kept mine alive for awhile, grew it into a 7 gallon container. When I planted it, cark city, very rapidly. Don't think they appreciate alkaline soil.

Beautiful palm, so sad it prefers volcanic soil. Got the humidity, but a no go on my soil.

Maybe you could dig an area down to bedrock, put in some volcanic-like soil, then pour tiny amounts of acid-containing fertilizers, etc into this area.

That's an extreme idea, but there is gotta be some ways you could grow this outdoors.

5 hours ago, Palmsbro said:

Maybe you could dig an area down to bedrock, put in some volcanic-like soil, then pour tiny amounts of acid-containing fertilizers, etc into this area.

That's an extreme idea, but there is gotta be some ways you could grow this outdoors.

It's been tried, even at Fairchild. Our limestone causes a buffering that causes the soil's pH level to rise.

Tried it with some acid loving palms, it works for a little while but the limestone always prevails. There are acid loving palms that will tolerate alkaline conditions. And the others will just cark in a year or two.

12 minutes ago, Moose said:

It's been tried, even at Fairchild. Our limestone causes a buffering that causes the soil's pH level to rise.

Tried it with some acid loving palms, it works for a little while but the limestone always prevails. There are acid loving palms that will tolerate alkaline conditions. And the others will just cark in a year or two.

What about covering up the limestone after excavating before adding new soil?

P. pulchra is an ok grower here in Hawaii, but it seems like the slightest variation in growing conditions easily cause setbacks. Originally acquired in a 3 gallon pot and it looked fantastic, but after a short dry spell, ( and I mean short),  it looked dead within a very short period of time. So, I just stuck it in the ground, hoped for the best, and a few years later it started looking good again. It really doesn't have much of a presence, but mixed in with a bunch of other South American understory stuff, it looks OK. Seeds like crazy, and there are some seedlings making a go of it in a community pot. 

Here are a few photos with the P. pulchra behind the palm with the entire leaves. (Astrogyne)

Tim

The last photo didn't load, so here's a pic of the ripe seed. 

Tim