Kannonchiku

[rhapis]

Does anybody know if there is a new Kansokai Top20

list for 2006 or 2007?

      Steve in Cairns, Australia

[eastern.nurseries]

It depends on who you talk to Steve

  Obannoshima

 kobanshiroshima

 Hakusieden

 Taiheinishiki

 Aikokudennoshima

 Tenzanshiroshima

 Benkei

 Diakokutennoshima

 Tenmanishiki

 Shiroganenishiki

 Tenzannoshima

 Hakuchonoshima

 Juko

 Hakusetsunohikari

 Seikonishiki

 Hakuryuho

 Hakuju

                 These are first ranking at the present as far as I am lead to believe.

[PalmGuyWC]

Come on Jon....show us some pictures.  We know your the King of Rhapis.

Dick

[rhapis]

Yeah go on Jon show us some white striped ones

  Steve

[eastern.nurseries]

Sure, but first we need to see what the new fellow is capable of -- Steve

 show us what you got there buddy, come on , don't be shy

[MattyB]

Are we talking about palms?  Sounds like another language. (end of joke)

[rhapis]

Hi Jon

          I've got all my photos on my home computer and won't be there until later tonight but i'm still trying to work out how to post a photo.I'll have a go later

   Steve

[eastern.nurseries]

The Japanese names for rhapis can at first be quite confusing there is no doubt. Noshima on the end of a name means the new leaf comes out green then slowly colours. Shiroshima means the new leaf comes out showing the colour immediately.And nishiki seems to mean that the emerging leaf shows the stripe pattern that is even over the entire leaf. Any other names refer to Japanese pornstars I think.

[PalmGuyWC]

You guys!!  Funny, funny......

Growing the dwarf Japanese Rhapis and the vearigated ones is a lonely hobby in the USA. Not many seem to be interested in them because of the prices and they are hard to get into the USA.  Seems the Agg. people confiscate many of them that are shipped in. I'm very reluctant to spend big $$$ only to have them taken by the Agg. people, and I hate to see rare plants stolen or destroyed. I have deep suspicions there are Agg. people with nice Rhapis collections, but then of course, we would never hear about them.

I have a nice vearigated Rhapis that has a history of its own.  I purchased the plant from Dr. Hollenberg, the co-auther of The Miniature Palms of Japan. I purchased the plant many years ago and even though I've lost it's name, I remember I paid a lot of money for it because it was quite rare at the time.

After a few years of growing Rhapis, my intrest deminished for a while and my Rhapis collection was neglected. Some friends were visiting me from Florida and I was told later that the Rhapis in question was in my "death heap" and it was "rescued" and taken to Florida. I didn't even miss it, but was told about the "rescue" several years later.

The plant was grown up in Florida and flourished.  Some years later the new owner told me I could remove a pup and bring it back to California.  The original cane with perfect vearigaton was still there, but most of the new pups were all green except one. He turned me loose to remove a pup, so naturally I took the most perfect one.  With good care back in California the plant grew nicely and soon produced 3 nice pups with 360 degree color. I removed the pups when they reached sufficient size and now I have 4 plants.

I have no idea what the plant is, but it's a "noshima" type with rather wide bright yellow strips when they show color. The color is hardly detectabale when the fronds first open. They all got a little burned last summer during our heat wave, but I'm hoping for better luck this growing season and I'll post some pictures at the end of summer.

This plant has quite a travel history, from Japan, to S. Calif, to N. Calif, to Florida and back to N. Calif. Incidently, the original plant perished two years ago when Hurrican Wilma swept through Ft. Lauderdale.

Dick

[eastern.nurseries]

Here are some images of white striped rhapis, some slowly turn white others are white on emerging.

The first up is Ayahime

[eastern.nurseries]

Next we have Benkei. It is from Taiheinishiki

[eastern.nurseries]

This one is Hakuseiden. One of the hardest to grow because the white stripe is too broad and burns so readily. A fine striped plant is most valuable And it is a humilis!

[eastern.nurseries]

This is Tenzanshiroshima. A truly beautiful plant in shape and form. A benchmark for variegated rhapis and it is rare to find an evenly variegated plant. Check my avatar

[eastern.nurseries]

Shiroganenisihiki originally bred from Kodaruma. A true pixi. Its a beauty

[eastern.nurseries]

Tokainishiki- Love the broad leaf shape and stocky trunk

[eastern.nurseries]

Believe it or not this is a Zuikonishiki that I developed for that 'bleached out' look. The Japanese consider this very low quality but most visitors to my nursery seem to focus on it immediately

[eastern.nurseries]

And last but not least This little number is called Seedling number 5 ( or as a friend of mine has tagged it 'Chanel #5'. It is one of my own seedling selections that I have been working on now for eight years.

[PalmGuyWC]

Hi Jon,

Thanks for the photos of your beautiful vearigated Rhapis.  They are beautifully grown. Thanks for identifying your avatar, as I've been wondering what it was.

I have a R. Toyonishiki, but it's not very "nishiki," since it is all green on one side and wide white stripes on the other. I have removed pups from the mother plant and there is some improvement in color on a couple of them. There is a new pup on one that looks like it will be better in color. Toyonishiki is the slowest growing Rhapis I have, but, it has a stockey trunk and broad heavy textered fronds, but sooooo slow.

I have choice plants of R. Nanzannishiki, Eizannishiki, Shiroganenishiki and Darumanoshima and a couple that I have lost the names of. Darumanoshima grows like a weed for me, even faster than the all green Daruma, and I can't keep it small, as it produces very robust pups. I rarely see Darumanoshima mentioned. Is it considered a common vearigated now? Mine have nice stripes 360 degrees around.

I have others that are less then choice, but that show promise. I keep hoping for that perfect pup to show up. I guess that's what makes growing the vearigated Rhapis so much fun, as you never know what you might get. Sometimes you get a choice plant from an ugly duckling, but most often, vice versa.

Dick

[eastern.nurseries]

Hello Dick,

          Toyonishiki is a new plant for me, as I only got two canes of it last year. One cane has choice variegation but has produced very ordinary pups. The other plant is of poor quality and the two pups it has are nothing special. Darumanoshima I've had for several years, I brought in six plants of it from Mr. Oka in Japan. Quarantine did them in good. I think they gassed them then fried them then left them out of their pots then lost them. Eventually I got them home. Some have survived but are not of any quality.

  Kannonchiku are a '' Koten engei ''  meaning individual exhibition .  Some types will display choice variegation only rarely, such as Darumanoshima, these plants are the ones the Japs like and value highest.

   My aim has been to find those plants that have high quality variegation that is relatively easy to replicate. This way the average person can enjoy their beauty . The types that fit the bill so far are Ayanishiki, Zuikonishiki, Nanzanishiki, Heiseinishiki and Taizannishiki.

[rhapis]

Hi Jon,

         Thanks for posting those photos.You have some

great specimens.I also have a Hakuseiden but with thin stripes.I'll show you when I work out how to post the image

               

Steve

[Zac in NC]

OH!!!!!!!!!!! MY!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Superb. Fabulous. I am in lust with those, I must have some when I can afford them, hahahaha.

Zac

[eastern.nurseries]

Thanks Zac , they should grow well for you if you have humid summers.

[Zac in NC]

Yes, I have very humid summers. I was just looking on Asiatica Nursery's homepage last night and they have a good number of cultivars available.

Zac

[eastern.nurseries]

make sure you get a pic of the plant your buying as they are priced according to grade of the variegation

[PalmGuyWC]

Another Rhapis question:  Has anyone had any luck in dividing R. humilis? I've been told that the chances are slim if only one cane is removed, and that at least two or three canes attached improve the chances. I have a large clump of R. humilis growing in my garden and I'd sure like to get a couple of divisions from it, but I'm afraid of failure.  I'm sure the roots would be messed up if it were dug from the ground.

I have another R. humilis growing in a large container and it's produced 3 new canes in the past few years.  It needs repoting and I'm tempted to try to remove one of the new canes when I repot it. In the USA Rhapis humilis are scarce and very expensive, if you can find one. The nicest specimans I've seen are growing around the library at Huntington Botanical Gardens. The ones I've seen in S. Fla. don't look particularly robust and I think it's because they like a cooler climate.

The one I have in the ground very rarely sends up a new cane.  Sometimes a "nub" will emerge at the surface of the ground, a swollen bulb looking growth.  The nub may lay dorment for 2 or 3 years, then produce a new cane, or it may just sit there for years and do nothing. When they do start to grow, they shoot up very fast and in less than 5 years are taller than one's head. Once in the ground, it took years for mine to become established. I have a clay soil and I added lots of organic material in the planting hole. Now the rhizomes have extended beyond the original hole and a clay soil is not the best to grow Rhapis.

Dick

[waykoolplantz]

AMAZING...good to know there are those even crazier than I

To the untrained eye (such as mine) they all look the same

....but not quite

[rhapis]

Just wondering if anyone has a good remedy for

phomopsis or leaf blight.I have had some trouble

recently and used mancozeb but this takes a while with

some good results but I sill have some plants suffering

12 months from the first mancozeb aplication.It mostly

affects the yellow or white colouration on the leaf

 Steve in Cairns, Australia

[Carlo Morici]

So what happens if one of the expensive dwarfs is planted in the ground in the right conditions? Why always juveniles?

Carlo

[eastern.nurseries]

Dick,

          Big humilis are difficult to propagate especially in the ground. Taking young single canes about 6 ins high from containerized plants is relatively easy. Sometimes I cut them with only 2 roots and they grow fine as long as you don't shade them to much. They don't produce as many pups as excelsa.

[eastern.nurseries]

Carlo,

          Kannonchiku is the culture of miniature Rhapis palms, so you try and keep them as small as you can this can help keep the leaves in a juvenile form. You can also grow them more vigorously , they are still quite slow and the better the variegation the smaller the plant .  Some types are more suitable for landscape, Taizannishiki , heiseinishiki , Kinponishiki , Zuikonishiki and Ayanishiki . Well grown plants can reach a meter in 10 years.

[palmtreesforpleasure]

Hi Carlo

Nanzannishiki would grow there easily outside, it is the most vigorous grower of the variegated species in the garden

regards

colin

[PalmGuyWC]

Carlo,

There are several reasons variegated Rhapis are not planted in the ground. A nice choice plant might cost several hundreds or even thousands of dollars, much to valueable to risk being exposed to the elements or preditors, or even two legged preditors. As Jon stated, the object is to keep them small and this can only be done growing them in small containers where the roots can be contained. If a plant produced a nice pup growing in the ground, it would be much to hard to remove it without damaging most of the roots. Being grown in a container, it's fairly easy to untangle the roots and seperate the new pup from the mother cane.

Since the object is to grow these plants to prefection, it's easy to move a container grown plant around during the year as temprature and lighting conditions change. The variegated ones burn eaisly with to much sunlight and heat. Also better nutrient control can be maintained with plants grown in a container. They brown tip eaisly with to strong a fertilizer.

With that said, I have planted a couple of Rhapis in the ground where it only had few if any stripes and there was a slim chance it would ever produce a nice variegated pup. Quite often a variegated cane will revert back and produce an all green pup. Some varieties are more reliable than others to produce good color, and this is the reason some choice plants can be very expensive.

One might say that variegated and minature Rhapis palm culture is just opposite of the way most palms are grown. The object is to keep them small, and the Japanese grow them in river sand and pebbles and even go to the lengths of removing some of the roots to keep them small. Rhapis culture has reached an art form in Japan.

I think we should start a thread soon called "Palm Snobs" and I'll describe my own personal reaction when I see a nice variegated Rhapis growing in the ground. I think we could have fun with that thread. I'm sure there are some very strong opinions out there and it would give us a good opportunity to laugh at ourselves. A good chuckle is needed every now and then.

Dick

[TikiRick]

Richard,

Should one cut off the reverted green shoots from a variegated Raphis? I did and now I wonder if it was the right thing to do.

[PalmGuyWC]

Rick,

I NEVER cut off any shoots, regardless of the color. I carefully remove all the shoots, roots intact, and pot them up. I treat them all the same. Sometimes a green shoot left attached will supply energy to a weak mother cane that is to vearigated to maintain itself, but yet, the mother cane might produce a nice vearigated pup later on. If a shoot is all white with no green, then it will die when it's removed, because it can't produce any food for the plant to grow.  Sometimes when a shoot is all green, I save them because they have reverted back to a clone that I might not have in my collection.

Dick

[Carlo Morici]

Thank you all for the good replies. Now I understand much better the many advantages of pot colture, yet I still do not see why a solitary juvenile is so often preferred to a larger potted plant with few larger stems. Do they all eventually produce split leaves after a few nodes? What happens to an entire leaved Benkei or Tokainishiki when they reach 30 cm? And when they become 1 m tall, should the older stems be discarded and disposed even if they are $€$€$?

I have so many more questions in my mind, I forgot to comment how beautiful are the pictures posted by Jon. I especially liked Ayahime, Bankei, Shiroganenisihiki and in general I like the ones with few broader segments. These palms are cute and tough!

I understand some differently named Rhapis correspond to different growth expressions of a same clone or cultivar. It is often explained that "B-shiku originated as a sucker of A-shiku". Are those stable mutations? or how often does B-shiku revert to A-shiku?

One more question: R.excelsa produces different kinds of shoots. Some new "pups" grow adjacently to the mother stem, clumping, such as in the first picture posted, of Ayahime. Some other start as long horizontal shoots, travelling for some distance without true leaves before emerging. Sometimes they emerge from by the side of the pot but they can "overdo" and appear from the bottom holes. Are all kind of shoots"good" ? I heard the long runners ruin the appearance of the plant.

Carlo

[PalmGuyWC]

Carlo,

There are many different clones and veariations of Rhapis excelsa, and they have different growth habits. There are dozens of different clones that are so distinct that the Japanese have given them vearital names. Some differ so much that one might think they are a different species. Some will have many leaf segments, while others may have only two or three segments and a few will tend not to have a divided frond or only a couple. Some are glossey while others tend to have a matt finish. Some tend to cluster and grow from a central point while others have long rhizomes that may emerge several feet away from the mother plant, if in the ground and grown in a loose sandy or humisey soil.

When grown in a container, those that tend to have long rhizomes will reach the edge of the pot and then sprial around the edge of the pot and sometimes they will grow down and emerge from one of the drain holes at the bottom of the pot. When this happens, I cut the plastic pot away from the root ball so as not to damage the roots or the emerging shoot. The rhizome is usually long and flexible enough to rearrange it and force it to the surface of the soil. The cultivar "Mangetsu" is notorious for having rhizomes that want to grow down instead of up, and since it's rather rare in the USA, I try to save every shoot.

Most, however, when the rhizome reaches the edge of the pot will turn upwards and grow into a new shoot. When the new shoot has 5 or 6 fronds and has grown several roots, it can eaisly be removed to make a new plant.

My favorite green Rhapis is "Taiheiden." It has wide leaf segments and has a very heavy texture. It's slow growing but is quite distinct in its apperance and it's easy to recognize. It is considered the king of the Japanese greens. "Koban" is probably the favorite of most Rhapis growers. It tends to not grow tall and it has wide leaf segments, which tend to curve in at the tips, and is very glossy, and it's easy to propigate. Another of my favorites is "Daikokuten." The foliage is not so glossy but it grows rather fast and is robust and easy to propigate. If sheltered from rain and overhead watering, the ridges in the new blades are covered with a rust colored tomentum. Eventually the tomentum will be washed away, but this is an easy way to identify this clone.

This is probably more than you wanted know, but I get carried away when I talk about Rhapis. Rhapis are easy to grow and are sutied for indoor culture and a great palm for beginers to start with.  They are almost fool proof if you don't overwater them or let them get to dry and give them adequate light. They like a loose, gritty, well drained soil.

The variegated Rhapis are a different story, as they are difficult and it takes many years to learn how to grow them properly. If I were a beginer, I would start with a green.

Dick

[eastern.nurseries]

This first picture is of a Koban in a 400mm tub

This second image is a Mangetsu in a 400mm tub

[eastern.nurseries]

Taizannishiki on left and Zuikonishiki on right. Both are in 200mm diameter pots

This is a Zuikonishiki in a 400mm diameter pot

This is the same Zuikonishiki showing the canes!

[Carlo Morici]

(PalmGuyWC @ Apr. 21 2007,13:47)

QUOTE

This is probably more than you wanted know, but ...

No. It is never enough. Thank you for the clear tips to tell apart the different clones. I have looked for some images of Taiheiden and it is really unusual... sort of "licualaish".

So the "best" plants are the "worst" ones.   That is, the most expansive variegated clones are the hardest to keep, being the least stable ones, tending to lose their choiciest features.

I still have one of the questions unanswered: I understand some differently named Rhapis correspond to different growth expressions of a same clone or cultivar. It is often explained that the variegated "B-shiki originated as a sucker of the variegated "A-shiki". Are those stable mutations? or how often does B revert to A?

Thank you Jon for the showy pictures. I do like the Zuikonishiki and Koban in 40 cm pots. I see you have a great clean nursery, with big palms and big carts!

What happens to an entire leaved Benkei or Tokainishiki when they grow like those in 40 cm? Is there any reminiscence of their unusual juvenile leaves?

[PalmGuyWC]

Jon,

Thanks for posting those pictures. Each Rhapis is truely a magnificant speciman. I have never seen vearigated Rhapis that size and so perfectly grown. I'm curious, what would a R. zuiconishiki in the large container sell for, or would that be a canidate to divide? Also the same question for the 200 mm R. Taizannishiki?

Carlo, I'm certainly no expert, and Jon is, so perhaps he can answer your questions.  I do have a R. zuiconishiki that after the 3rd generation reverted to finer and finer lines of variegation and it seems to be stable. It does seem the harder to grow ones are the most expensive, but sometimes a new clone will develop, either from a seedling or from a vegitative pup from a "common" form and they can be quite expensive if they are scarce or are particularly distinctive. I put common in quotations because none of the Japanese clones are common, at least outside of Japan, and even there, they are very prized plants.

Many years ago when Eizannishiki first appeared on the scene, it was a one of a kind plant and a gentelman from Japan paid $10,000 for it. Now that it has been propigated and is more common, it's much more reasonably priced.

The wider striped ones are the most difficult to grow, for me, at least, as they tend to burn and brown tip with to much heat or light. The ones with narrow stripes seem to be more stable and eaiser to grow.  Remember, each vearigated pup that is produced is an individual, and no two are quite alike, but some are more dependable to be uniform than others.

Dick