Dypsis Lutecens

[ruskinPalms]

I know this a boring palm to most of you but I need a clumping palm of some sort on the south side of the house to block  a bathroom window. The old 'golden cane palm' is easy to find around here but so is the 'ivory cane palm' and 'cat palm'. Question: which of these will tolerate the sun of this location the best? Whichever will receve plenty of water from irrigation and runoff from the roof of the house as this house has no gutters. Please advise as I am heading out tomorrow morning to purchase a clumping palm yo block the windwow. Thanks,

Bill

[MattyB]

Hey Bill,  I'd say the D. lut will handle the sun far better than Chamaedorea cataractum (cat palm) or Pinanga coronata (ivory cane palm).  The latter two prefer shade.  Look around your neighborhood to see how the  Dypsis lutescens around there are performing.  Just a suggestion, but you might also want to consider something like Arenga engleri or a group planting of Chamaedorea plumosa for that screening bamboo effect.

[Walter John]

Dypsis lutescens and/or Ptychosperma macarthurii

[ruskinPalms]

Well, a pretty good size clump of dypsis lutecens is in the ground now.  I went with the dypsis lutecens because it was cheap and there are some nice big clumps that look good in the older neighborhoods around here. How fast do these grow? Thanks for input!

[Palmy]

My cat palm gets full sun and has burn. It grows at a rapid rate, and the fond burns after a few weeks out.

Go with the dypsis

[DoomsDave]

Go with the D. lutescens.  They take the sun well, though they want lots of water, and perfect drainage.  They're all over the place out here.

I've got a number of them, and I'd put them in the medium growth rate, though I'll bet they'll speed up a lot in Florida where it stays nice and hot much longer.

dave

[surgeon83]

Even if you had the shade to support a cat palm, that would never get tall enough to screen a first-floor window.  Mine has grown out a lot in the last 18 months, but it hasn't grown up and stays less than 4'.  I've heard they can reach 6' though, but obviously the dypsis gets much taller.

[MattyB]

Like Dave I'd rate the D. lut. speed of growth as moderate.  Florida should help speed that up though.  I think it's pretty much my fasted med. sized clumping dypsis.   D. pembana might be faster but mine is still too small to tell.  It's starting to find it's groove though.  I think you'll be happy with a D. lutescens as a screening palm for that location.  Sounds like you got a nice size to start with.  That's another advantage of the species, is it's availabiltiy in a cost effective large size.  The dense clumping habit will give you lots of options to play with when pruning.  You can make it as dense or open as you choose.  I really like this palm...too bad it can sometimes be tempermental here in CA.

[SunnyFl]

(ruskinPalms @ Jul. 08 2006,01:21)

QUOTE

I know this a boring palm to most of you but I need a clumping palm of some sort on the south side of the house to block  a bathroom window. The old 'golden cane palm' is easy to find around here but so is the 'ivory cane palm' and 'cat palm'.

Bill,

I don't think a well-trimmed clump of lutescens is boring.  It can be quite beautiful, when not allowed to grow as a dense thicket.

Unfortunately, these palms are usually crowded, 10+ to a container - most nurseries pot them up that way.  It can be difficult separating them after they've grown together in that pot, although it can be done.  That's what I did with mine.

When trimming them, it's a good idea to select the stems to be removed before they get woody - the earlier the better.   Cutting out woody stems can invite really nasty diseases.

I think it ought to do well for you.  They grow pretty fast over here in St. Pete.

Where are you finding pinangas locally?

[Daryl]

Go the Golden Cane! It will take the sun and grow to some size. The Ivory Cane will not take much sun, but the chamedorea cataractum should be OK in the sun. Trouble is they don't get very tall. They take full sun here and stay dark green, provided they get enough water...they are a very tough palm..even surviving without water too! As mentioned previously, it's hard to go past  a clumping Ptychosperma too.

Daryl.

[SubTropicRay]

I find D. lutescens to be a beautiful palm regardless of its over abundance in local landscapes.  To me, they are not boring at all.  If it were a new discovery, collectors would be chomping at the bit to get one.  I've seen gorgeous specimens in full sun and shade.  

Ray

[Daryl]

Ray, one of our prominent local palm nurserymen once told me that he could give up selling collector palms and make a living simply by selling Dypsis lutescens! The general public in the part of the world just love them, and they are always in demand. You can't find any large ones for sale here because they all get sold too quickly when they are younger. You are right though...they are a very elegant and beautiful palm, despite being so commonly grown.

Daryl.

[Walter John]

I agree with you guys on Dypsis lutescens. I wonder how they grow naturally, I've never seen photos. You see they are always sold in thick clumps in one pot here, not the natural way really.

They like to do the splits a lot don't they ?

[spockvr6]

(SunnyFl @ Jul. 09 2006,07:00)

QUOTE

Where are you finding pinangas locally?

Sunny-

Quite a few of the local Home Depots have been carrying them.   Ive come close to buying one since they are a bit different, but they are generally on the pricey side ($50-60 for a 7 gallon clump if memory serves).

[Daryl]

Yeah, it would be good to see some 'in the wild' photos of them. Here is one from 'captivity' on the Gold Coast...

Daryl.

[spockvr6]

(SunnyFl @ Jul. 09 2006,07:00)

QUOTE

I think it ought to do well for you.  They grow pretty fast over here in St. Pete.

I agree....with sun and lots of water, these things are actually decently quick.

In my experience, if they get lots of heavy sun, and not enough water, they wont look as good.

[John]

Ruskin,Lutecen will fry in Ruskin sooner or later. It could take a year to look good.They sure fried here 50ft from the water in Sarasota. Acoelorrhaphe wrightii,if grown well in full sun will never burn and look a hell of a lot better than a lutecens. You can use a lutecens as an annual,a good looking one 6ft can be found in Miami for about $25.A lot of folks do.John

[spockvr6]

John-

Good idea re: the Everglades Palm.  When those are larger they are real lookers!  And...no worries at all with cold.

[Trópico]

D. lutescens, if properly taken care of, can look spectacular anywhere in Central Florida. In total neglect they look bronzed out by the sun but still grow like a weed. I have to help my brother take out one of the clumps from his pool planter which is outgrowing the space. It's been there for more than five winters. Love the colors too. Green, glaucous blue, golden, orange!

On the other hand, I saw some down in PR and they look their best in a tropical climo. Much greener, robust and full of seeds.

[DoomsDave]

Here's a bouncing baby D. lutescens at my dive, and that asphalt is hot enough to fry a brain, on drugs or not.

The palm's been in the sun since I've had it.  It's a bit yellow and gnarly, but it'll green up a lot in the ground, with plenty of water.

dave

[MattyB]

Puerta Vallarta

[ruskinPalms]

Well, here are a couple of pics the new Dypsis Lutecens - I think I paid too much now that I think about it. It cost like $29.99. It's not that big but the pot was quite large. At least it was being kept outside in full sun already so it should not need to acclimate too much.

Bill

[ruskinPalms]

It has a few decent canes and then about 5 million little ones...I guess I will wait to see what becomes dominant before pruning.

[DoomsDave]

Bill:

Yours is more than one plant, for sure.  They procude about 5-10 canes naturally, a few only one or two, and I guess the odd freak maybe more . ..

nice specimen, and I'm sure it'll rock in a couple of years, make my poor sad sacks look like, well, poor sad sacks . . .

dave

[Walter John]

In a series of Bump threads, this being the first, could Bill tell us what happened here and how is it today ?

[ariscott]

I guess I shouldn't say that it is one of 2 palms I wouldn't have   . Oh wait, I have one single stem golden canes - does it count?

Regards, Ari

[ruskinPalms]

Hi Wal. It got a little beat up this winter but the tallest fronds are over the eaves of the house now. Looking back at that old picture, it was a really "grassy" specimen. Way too many seeds were planted in one pot. This has made it a fertilizer hog and it has never looked as good as some of my other full sun D. lutescens that I have planted in other places since this post. I am probably going to thin it out a bit in a couple days on my day off. I'll take some pics then.

Hi Ari. These are one of the better, more tropical looking clumping palms that actually do pretty good in my area. When they are well cared for (i.e. thinned out, well watered and fertilized) they can be truly stunning ranking up there with some of the best clumping Areca and Pinanga. Dypsis lutescens are extremely colorful. Neat palms in my opinion. That being said, I wish I had a better clinate where I could grow some of the different Areca and Pinanga out there

[Mark_NoVA]

I saw a beautiful one on vacation--couldn't believe it was the same thing as the palm in my pot at home!

[ruskinPalms]

OK Wal, here are som pics of the one you were asking about. I cleaned some of the suckers out yesterday. Keep in mind this just saw 29F this winter and is looking a little shabby.

[ruskinPalms]

In case you were interested in the V. arecina in the old pic here they are. They took a good spanking from the freeze but look like they will make a full recovery - hopefully rapidly.

Foxtails are a better choice for here.

[ruskinPalms]

Other full sun  (or at least full sun 1/2 day) D. lutescens in the yard. Also a little freeze damaged.

[ruskinPalms]

Some in what will be more jungle like someday but are in full sun now:

[ruskinPalms]

As you can see, I really like D. lutescens . They are beautiful little crownshafted palms that area easy to find and grow. Their foliage is a little freeze and frost sensitive but I am guessing they are fairly long term here since the older neighborhoods have plently of flowering and fruiting size.