Chamadorea hooperiana

[ghar41]

C. hooperiana cruised through January and is now flowering.  It has grown quickly...a great plant named after a legendary grower and friend.

I recommend it to all in 9b or above.

[Kev Spence]

Mine succumbed to our 05 -06 winter with 50+ frosts all in the -2 C -3 C range and so this winter I dug mine up and we only had 9 days frost and so it would have probably been Ok..........

Nice palm though and this week I will be planting another out of the 3 that came in the pot.  

kev zone 8b

[Jim in Los Altos]

I have a large (12 feet tall) clump that sailed through the freeze with no damage too. Kentias and Kings nearby suffered damage, especially the Kentias. If I had it to do over, I'd have planted C. hooperiana everywhere I planted Kentias instead. Interesting though that my Howea belmoriana suffered no damage at all...thought they were supposed to be more tender that H. forsteriana.

[Don Little]

I planted a C hooperiana at my sisters house in Fontana 3 years ago.  It survived the freeze unscathed, while one of their newly planted Majesty palms croaked.  It has several plants that are nearing 10 feet and countless smaller smaller ones.  It is also seeding like crazy with seedlings popping up which I plan to collect and plant at my house.  In my book, it's a winner

[Al in Kona]

Very big plants of Chamaedorea hooperiana are available locally at Costco,  Home Depot and Lowes at various times.  I have not planted one yet tho'.  

Question:  How much sun can they handle?  How tall will they eventually grow?

[paulgila]

glad to hear they can handle low temps--thanks for the info!i planted mine in deep shade.palmgrover found it for me at dixieline for $44,at home depot its 2-3 times that much!

what a cool plant :cool:

[SubTropicRay]

In case ya didn't know, these are one of the better indoor Chams.

[Jeff Searle]

Chamaedorea hooperiana has always been one of my favorite Cham.'s to grow and enjoy. An easy palm to grow here with no problems what so ever. What I like even more so, is that it's named after Lou Hooper in Calif. I once made a visit to his home many years ago to see his collection and he has paid many visits over the years to South Florida. A great gentleman he is.

Jeff

[redant]

I have a nice large one planted in my yard. It's done great under the pines in some enriched soil. One of my favorite chams.

[BigFrond]

Yes, this is one of the best because it requires less lighting and doesn't get mites.  I have two in 15 gal pots that are flowering now.  I should put them in the ground but do not have the time.

[Trópico]

How can I distinguish that one from the common C. cataractum?

[Geoff]

While C costaricanas sort of 'shoot' strainght, up out of the ground as they sucker, C hooperiana 'swoops' out from usually just above ground level in a graceful curve outward.  It is a shorter, slightly less robust palm than C costaricana, but still a great , hardy palm... not hardy enough to keep from being defoliated here in Los Angeles this last January freeze, though.  Even planted against a building, my 5' tall plant was reduced to a brown stem and the root ball... but is recovering already. It probably saw about 26F-27F where it was, but that freeze lasted a good 5-7 hours.  Killed most of my other Chamaedoreas completely.

[Jim in Los Altos]

Geoff,

Most of us up here in Nor Cal that have C. hooperiana were colder than you were and our's were unscathed. Are you sure your's is a C. hooperiana?

[Phil]

Comparing hooperiana with costaricana is a great question, because they are quite similar.  As he have both at the nursery, I put one of each side by side and did a visual comparison.  The main difference (in gross appearance) between the two is that the leaf (trunk to tip) length of the hooperiana is longer at a comparable plant size.  This makes the costaricana look a little more compact than the hooperiana.  Also, it seemed that the leaflets of the hooperiana werre longer as well.   In terms of what Geoff called "swooping out", I would say they are comparable in that regard.  Trunk size was similar, both sort of "thin", bigger than microspadix for sure, but not approaching tepejilote at all.  Both of the species are great, but I'd pick the hooperiana if I had to chose just one.

Phil

[Shon]

One of very first palm purchases from a palm nursery was a hooperiana on Phils advice. Been a great grower,sailed through the freeze with just a sheet covering it while the nearby kentia had damage. One nice palm thanks again Phil.

[Geoff]

Yes, true C hooperiana... though perhaps my temps were a degree or two lower than I recorded, since, as I mentioned, all other Chamaedorea were killed save C microspadix, C oreophilla, C ernesti-augustii and some well protected C elegans (C oblongata still hanging by a thread but it was well protected, too)... Even Dyspis decipiens 15 gal was mostly defoliated.... hmm. ... the C stoloniferas are trying to come back out of the ground, so may not have lost those.

[Kamipalms]

Heres a few base photos to help distinguish the differences .....

First up is C.cataractarum

All divisions start within the main stem then divide downwards to ground level.

C.cataractarum take eons to form any type of above ground stem.

Number 2- C.costaricana

C.costaricana throws side shots at or just below ground level

And....

[Kamipalms]

C.hooperiana throws side shoots above ground level which look very much like flower bracts

Hope this helps

J.

[chris.oz]

As I understand it, C. hooperiana has much more persistent dried  leaf bases than other similar species like some forms of C. costaricana.

[Tyrone]

Jay, I need to get me a costaricana. C hooperiana is a winner in my book. Very interesting side growth with hooperiana. Do these produce aerial roots as well and strengthen up the main stem?, cos with all those stems coming off the side, the main stem will need to take a lot of strain I would think.

Tyrone

[Kamipalms]

(chris.oz @ Apr. 16 2007,14:10)

QUOTE

As I understand it, C. hooperiana has much more persistent dried  leaf bases than other similar species like some forms of C. costaricana.

Chris,

I would have to disagree, I find the leaf bases come away reasonably easy whether by hand or by nature.

I'd say C.klotzschiana or C.cataractarum are right buggers to remove and if left to nature, they wouldn't come away at all.

[Kamipalms]

(Tyrone @ Apr. 16 2007,21:57)

QUOTE

Jay, I need to get me a costaricana. C hooperiana is a winner in my book. Very interesting side growth with hooperiana. Do these produce aerial roots as well and strengthen up the main stem?, cos with all those stems coming off the side, the main stem will need to take a lot of strain I would think.

Tyrone

T,

Hooperiana is defiantly preferable and more hardy . C.costaricana in our climate is a little more finicky and doesn't  withstand the heat as well as C.hooperiana.

All Chammies produce areal roots in the right conditions. low humidity equals no areal roots.

[Tyrone]

What a cute little pic Jay.

My hooperiana's are sending off shoots like crazy. Now if I could get 80% humidity all the time I'd get the roots as well.

Tyrone

[ghar41]

Bump my own post.

C. hooperiana has decided once again that January is a great time to open a new leaf and send up flower spikes here in Northern California. Many of my marginal palms look marginal, with weak color and vigor. Not so with this plant. So much more attractive than C. radicalis or C. microspadix. I didnt get any more planted last year but wont make the same mistake this spring.

Any one else try this one in marginal climates? Geoff, how did your Chams do? Mine are all under shade cloth so Im sure it helps a lot.

[ghar41]

Ok...I had to bump this post one last time because my plant....isn't C hooperiana after all! So....all the great things I said about C hooperiana I meant for Chameadorea benziei, the palm in the picture I posted in #24.....Even though I didnt get the palm I ordered, I've been very impressed with benziei.

[Wai`anae Steve]

Very big plants of Chamaedorea hooperiana are available locally at Costco,  Home Depot and Lowes at various times.  I have not planted one yet tho'.  

Question:  How much sun can they handle?  How tall will they eventually grow?

Go for it Al. I have 3 clumps I picked up at Wal Mart last year. I"ve posted pictures before and will do again here. The are in very light shade now and are planted around a young African Tulip. Someday they will be in full shade. Right now w/1 hour water twice a week they look great.

Pictures are about 1 year apart.