Florida Palm Prices

[MDPalm]

Does anyone know of anyway to find out retail prices for palms in Florida? I am again thinking of driving down in the next couple months to buy some trees. But I figure I have to rent a truck, gas, hotel, etc. and am trying to figure if the cost is worth it. Not knowing how much the trees are I can't determine if its worth it over just paying the expensive prices locally when they are brought up here. Looking to get some trees in the 5-10' range. I like the Adonida , Foxtails, and palms with a nice smooth truck that will tolerate being brought into a sun room for the winter. But in all the times I have been to Florida I have never gone to a nursery to look at palms so I have no idea what the cost of them would be. I do assume they are a lot cheaper than what I can buy locally.

[Palmdude]

I guess it would depend on how many trees you want, if it's just a few you might be better off just paying the higher prices, if it's a truckload then it would make sence to take a little road trip. You certainly won't find palms cheaper than they are in Florida.

[MDPalm]

Probably a few or more. If I go I will definitely buy more than I would buy locally. A 6'+ tree that looks good is typically going to cost $200+. A few of them, depending on the cost in Florida could be more expensive than driving down and picking them up. Plus the enjoyment of looking and and finding new varieties (to me anyway).

[sur4z]

...at Home Depot

[Ben in Norcal]

Well, coconuts are that cheap everywhere, aren't they? They are here (where they have zero chance of making one winter).

[Ken Johnson]

You may not have to pay retail. I would think though that the cost of transportation will FAR outweigh the cost of the palms. If you used UPS it might be a LOT less expensive. I would imagine that you can find all your connections before you come down by using the internet. Start with PlantAnt.com or some other location web site and most nurseries will send you pictures as you talk to them on the phone, just that easy. You may not even need to come to look! If I just saved you a ton of money just send the extra and I will treat you to stone crabs...lol

[Cindy Adair]

As one who has flown from Virginia to Florida multiple times over the past decade or so, I can say that visiting the nurseries and gardens public and private are worth the trip alone. I have never felt I had the time to drive.

Time your trip to coincide with a palm sale from one of the IPS members on this forum and attend a Florida Palm Society meeting and/or sale while you are there. Of course some of the gardens sponsor Palm sales too.

If you belong to any Maryland Botanical Gardens there is often reciprocity allowing you to stop by Florida gardens for free.

I went in Sept/Oct. of 2014 and will go again this May. If you are interested in a list of places I went PM me and I will send the list.

Of course my purchases were limited to what would fit in one box on a plane which kept my bank account more intact than if I were driving!

So I am no help answering your price question because I have never bought any large palms but go for the adventure alone!

[MDPalm]

STONE CRABS?!??! I am from Maryland, the blue crab is the only crab to eat!

Although the mallet is for tourists, and who has ever heard of "Bay Rub".

But more importantly, PALMS....

As far as UPS, wouldn't a 8' or so palm tree be expensive to ship?

Here was my initial plan. I can get a small 12' moving truck for $200-300, of course that doesn't include all the expenses. But if I buy 4 or 6 8' trees, maybe a few smaller ones too, I would think this would be cheaper than buying locally or shipping UPS?

I have looked at PlantANT and the prices are very good at some places but would they want to deal with someone just buying a few trees? I figured that would just be an annoyance to them.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

I will probably be doing the same thing in May after attending my son's high school graduation in the Tampa area. I will be specifically looking for some Jamaican Talls in the 5+ft. range, since the Malayans just don't seem to make it very well through Corpus Christi chilly (but not freezing) winters. I will may also be looking for some Christmas palms in the 3+ft. range. I specifically want Jamaicans from Central Florida, not South Florida due to the slightly increase cold hardiness of the ones growing in the central part of the state. Some of you are looking for some Jamaican sprouts for me and some viable nuts that I can sprout, but I also need some bigger for a client who wants some at his new home just north of Brownsville.

John

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

Hey Rick,

One of the things you and I will have to keep in mind with taking palms out of the state, especially in a rented truck (which I am considering renting), is the Lethal Yellowing quarantine restrictions on some palms, like the coconut palm (which is what I specifically want). They have state Ag inspection stations at ALL interstate highways and state highways leaving the state. I have a 10ft. enclosed cargo trailer I would like to take with me, but they also stop all personal trailers too, from what I understand. If any of you Floridians have any suggestions of how we can get around the inspection stations, we would appreciate it.

Thanks,

John

[Ben in Norcal]

  On 3/19/2015 at 2:42 AM, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Hey Rick,

One of the things you and I will have to keep in mind with taking palms out of the state, especially in a rented truck (which I am considering renting), is the Lethal Yellowing quarantine restrictions on some palms, like the coconut palm (which is what I specifically want). They have state Ag inspection stations at ALL interstate highways and state highways leaving the state. I have a 10ft. enclosed cargo trailer I would like to take with me, but they also stop all personal trailers too, from what I understand. If any of you Floridians have any suggestions of how we can get around the inspection stations, we would appreciate it.

Thanks,

John

Wouldn't be that breaking the law?

[MDPalm]

I didn't even think of inspections. I had thought of that in the past but have no clue as to when or if i needed to stop. I have only driven a car or suv into and out of Florida.

guess thats more to look into.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

That's a matter of opinion about "breaking" the law. It is more like a policy that is enforced. I used to be cop here in Texas and I have a degree in Agriculture, so I can tell you a lot of this kind of stuff is just pure crap to harass the public and extort more money out of us through fines and citations. Some degree of government regulation for health and safety is a good thing, but sometimes the system goes way overboard. In the case of Lethal Yellowing, we have had it in our Canary Island Date Palms here in Texas for decades, yet it is only a sporadic problem, even in our Tall coconuts in the Valley. I need some Jamaican Talls for their increased cold hardiness. North of the Rio Grande Valley, the Malayans are just too marginal. Besides, people bring sprouted coconuts both Jamaicans they find and Malayans they buy at Home Depot or Lowe's out of Florida ALL the time in their own personal cars and SUV's, since these don't have to stop for inspection if they are not towing a trailer. I wouldn't call the average tourist taking home a sprouted coconut a criminal.

[MDPalm]

if you purchase from a commercial grower, would they provide papers that will allow you to take trees out without any issues? Or is there a list somewhere of what you can and can't take?

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

There are certain palms on the list. These palms are prohibited from being shipped out of Florida, but they are. I have bought some here in Texas, so I know for a fact that they are shipped on commercial 18 wheelers out of Florida. I think the way the nurseries here and trucking companies get around the restriction is that they put the restricted palms at the front of the trailer and don't list them on the shipping manifest, combined with the inspectors not having the desire to unload the whole trailer to inspect everything. I think that is how a local nursery gets 15 gal. Green Malayan Dwarf coconut palms from Florida, but like I said, the Malayans can't take our chillier winters here in Corpus Christi, though they do survive our normal winters.

Since I am not one of the big boys with a big budget to hide coconut palms at the front of a large trailer, I need some ideas on how to get about 8-12 coconut palms out of Florida in my small cargo trailer.

Thanks,

John

[MDPalm]

Before this turns into talking about smuggling palms across state lines, I am just looking to purchase some and am not trying to do it illegally. Last thing I want is to get stopped and fined for trying to take a palm tree across state lines. If that means I have to purchase from a grower or someone special and have papers, I am fine with that. And if it means I can't go to Home Depot or some nursery to just get stuff, I am fine with that too. I am just here for information on how to get some nice looking palms to my yard as cheaply as possible.

[PalmatierMeg]

My experience is that Ag inspection stations are placed to monitor plants entering FL, not leaving it. FL is not very concerned about plants destined for MD. But you can avoid them by using back roads instead of I95 to leave the state. Also, keep an open mind about coldhardier palms than Cocos and Christmas palms, which will be very tricky for you. By coldhardier, I mean Butia, pygmy dates, Trachies, needles. If you must have coconuts and dime-a-dozen Adonidias, also look for rarer tropicals, i.e., Licualas, Pinangas, Chamaedoreas, Heterospathe and many more.

[MDPalm]

Yeah I can't imagine why Florida would be concerned about me taking something outside of the state.

I already have cold hardier palms, in fact I have some all the ones you mentioned. But I like to have the taller, in my opinion more tropical looking palms outside during the summer. And I am just finishing a sun room to house them all during the winter.

I am open to rarer tropicals but what you call dime-a-dozen Adonidias are pretty rare here. Plus I would assume they are cheaper so if they don't make it I am not out as much money. But I have never been to a real palm nursery so who knows what I might find that I would like/want/have to have. But I am also looking for stuff that will tolerate being inside during the winter.

Thanks.

[Palmdude]

Wow! Never been to a real palm nursery! How exciting! You're in for a real treat coming to Florida I would say head to the Miami area and prepare to have your mind blown and your truck full

[PALM MOD]

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[NorthFlpalmguy]

I feel a little inclined to reply. AG inspections are routine stuff for Fl registered nurseries. Anyone worth their palms knows how to comply with soil and tree rules- it's easy for us whom do it regularly. Home Depot and lowes won't have a clue and I doubt can provide you the necessary paperwork to carry palms out of the state legally. It deals as much with your own state's regulations as well.

Bare-root is and will always be your best bet for carrying plants out of the state but not easy with some species.

And I can shed a little light on the shipping, an 8 foot Palm via UPS is going to be shipped less than truckload (LTL) freight and is expensive unless you buy close to a full semi load. If you can get them 5-5.5 feet, that's about the max height to ship regular UPS. If I remember correctly, the largest box I ship is a 72x12x12 and I've been dinged for going over the 112 inch maximum and it's expensive as well.

Good luck on your palm journey!

[PalmatierMeg]

Some of the Chamaedoreas take being indoors quite well. Also, genus Howea make good indoor palms. Cocos & Adonidia need lots of sun/light, heat & humidity, which makes them dodgy indoors during winter. My potted tropical palms start to decline after several days indoors when temps fall below 45 even though we seldom turn on the central heat.

[Alicehunter2000]

Various Fishtails make great inexpensiv

e large indoor palms.

[Ken Johnson]

MD, I am guessing you really want to tour south Florida nurseries and are looking for an excuse. If you do then for just a few more dollars you could get some very interesting palms .

Another way to get palms shipped that is far more unusual is to remove ALL the leaves. Spear and all. Then take the pot off and jam then as tight as possible in a box, several per box. A good grower will have no problem getting them to put out new leaves. That would economize things a lot.

Most nurseries will be able to give you a certificate to show the plants were inspected for ag station and I would bet that MD has no import restrictions!

[Moose]

To answer the Topic, you need a Florida Plant Finder, a publication of Betrock's. These are wholesale prices so typically you need to add 25% for retail. Now for rarer palms the price is what the grower thinks the palm is worth, no standard on those.

It's price of seed, % of germination + cost of soil, fertilizer, irrigation + time = grower's price.

[MDPalm]

I would really like to go down and take my time and see where all the trees are grown, see the different varieties, and be in a nursery where if I see something I like I can buy it. That said it's a bad time for me to go that far but I think if I try to do it quickly then I can make it work. That is why I was hoping to maybe only go as far south as Orlando, buy some trees, load them up then head home. But it sounds like south Florida is really the place to go. And if I are traveling 14+ hours whats another few more. I know I can make it to Orlando in 1 day and have made it as far as the Palm Beach area in a day but that was a bit hard, so knowing I can do Orlando in a day that was sort of where I was hoping to stop. Then maybe visit some nurseries another time.

The goal is to get some decent trees to put in my back yard and not pay the over the top prices locally and be limited to their stock. I don't think that taking all the leaves off would work for me, I can barely leave them outside for 6 months of the year and would rather have a nice tree to look at instead of trunks all summer.

I was hoping maybe a nursery owner on here might respond and allow me to come one day, look around, get some trees, and head back home. But since I am new here I don't know anyone and was just trying to get some more information on where to go and costs. I understand that me coming to pick up a few trees and look around is not really profitable enough to take the time out of their day, but thinking maybe on here there would be some palm nut that is so proud of their nursery maybe they would want to show it off to someone.

I did email a few nurseries that I found on PlantANT and got some responses back ranging from people saying they were wholesale only to one saying I was welcome to stop by and look around, so I am looking more into that. And wasn't aware of the Florida Plant Finder, so that too is good information to look into.

It does sound like I need to go to a nursery who already ships out of state to get the correct papers. One of my earlier thoughts was to just hit some big box stores off I-95 and hope they had something but sounds like that will not work for me, again some more good information that I have received here. I do remember seeing the inspections entering Florida but can't remember seeing them in any other state between Maryland and Florida but I probably was not paying attention. In Maryland there are some inspection stations I pass regularly and 99% of the time they are closed, its rare to see them open and they usually slow traffic then they are. Maybe there are some that are always open that I don't see or pay attention too but I don't anticipate having any problems within Maryland.

I just want some Palm Trees

[MDPalm]

These are perfect. The description says they are 15 gallon, 4-8' and cost $40. I would gladly take a few of these.

[Ken Johnson]

I'm going to guess those are in South Florida?

[MDPalm]

yes. found it on Florida Plant Finder. But pretty much exactly what I am looking for.

[Jeff zone 8 N.C.]

Others have mentioned this but I will chime in. Florida Ag inspections do take seriously plants leaving Florida. If you are in a car you can just drive by. If you are in any van or truck or towing a trailer (even rentals) then you must stop. Trying to sneak through at 3:00 A.M. does not work. I tried it (twice) and got pulled over. Luckily I had all my paperwork and all was in order, I just was ready to get home and so took the risk. The officers did not make me offload everything. That is your responsibility, to do, if they want to make you do it. You must have certified paperwork for where the plants were purchased. Any good nursery will provide that if you ask. If they cannot provide the papers then they are not legal to sell to you after you tell them the plants are going out of state. I do NOT suggest you try to circumvent the law. They could confiscate and burn the whole load for one illegal or diseased plant. In reality illegal and diseased plants cross the border every day. Just do your homework before you go and you will breeze through with little more than a couple minutes stop in most cases and a clear conscience. Just the trip to Florida nurseries is worth a ton of money so take that into account. You may also want to check out Georgia and the Carolina's. I have seen plants there as cheap as in Florida. Oh by the way, cash talks. Also there are no Ag inspections after leaving Florida.