Majesty palms will survive dormant, and leafless.

[siege2050]

Well, my experiment worked. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see if my Majesty palms would survive stored under the house in winter with the bananas, etc. Now I did not cut the roots, they were potted, but I did remove all the leaves for storage,and they have never been watered in storage. They have been under there since last October and look very good, very green. I dont know if the foliage will grow back in time to be worth it each summer, we shall have to wait and see.

[siege2050]

Funny thing is, they actually look better than most stuff that comes out from under the house in spring.

[sashaeffer]

Will be interesting to see if they start pushing a spear.

[Ben in Norcal]

Interesting experiment, but why not just bring them inside?  I can't imagine they will survive long term if that happens to them every winter.

[Pando]

Does this work for coconuts?

<wait.... checking trash can....... nope, it's still dead>  

 

[siege2050]

5 hours ago, Ben in Norcal said:

Interesting experiment, but why not just bring them inside?  I can't imagine they will survive long term if that happens to them every winter.

Just curious to see if they will do it. I am always looking for ways to store stuff over winter as it gets pretty cold here. The roots are very healthy looking also. They pretty much just look like when I put them under the house. I would like some tall plants eventually, taller than the height of my ceiling. I figured cutting the roots would be a no no as I have read recently about the way palm roots die and regenerate, and would be too much stress on the plants with leaf loss as well.

[siege2050]

I imagine the bigger the trunks the better for stored energy to regrow.

[enigma99]

To me, this is the same as a palm fully defoliating during the winter. And my guess is it won't make two in a row. Good luck though!

[siege2050]

Being defoliated from mechanical, and cold would be different though wouldn't it? I imagine the cold does serious damage to the trunks and roots as well, causing general setback. Now I have to know for sure. Let's see how many years these palms will do this lol

Edited March 4, 2016 by siege2050

[Ben in Norcal]

1 hour ago, siege2050 said:

Being defoliated from mechanical, and cold would be different though wouldn't it? I imagine the cold does serious damage to the trunks and roots as well, causing general setback. Now I have to know for sure. Let's see how many years these palms will do this lol

I would think you are still removing much of it's ability it has to photosynthesize, for much of the year - I wouldn't think they will keep coming back from that.  But I suppose if you are going to experiment on palms, might as well make it disposable ones like Majesties! 

[Kim]

I can't help it, this just seems very sadistic to me.  Palm torture. I predict a fairly rapid decline once the warm-up hits.

[siege2050]

They were in the clearance section and were already in decline a bit. Stores here sell these by the hundreds to unknowing people who buy them, and they usually die the first winter anyway because of spider mites, or poor indoor conditions. Majesty palms are of course not a very good choice as an indoor palm. If I had not bought these, I am sure they would be dead by now. I want these palms to make it, that's the whole purpose of this experiment, and as good as they look, I have high hopes. What started the idea was when I was a kid many years ago, I saw a story on the local news about a lady that did this every year with some kind of palm that had fairly slender stems. She and her family would take these 8 foot stems and store them under the house with the leaves cut off and had been doing it for years with the same palms. By late summer the leaves would be restored, and she would repeat the process in fall. My guess is it had to be majesty palms and they probably started out as houseplants that became too tall to keep indoors. I dont like to kill anything, but its no different than buying annuals and planting them in flower beds each spring. Petunias, and Impatiens are perennials in their native habitat but each year millions succumb to frost. At first I wanted to plant in ground and dig up each fall like I do my bananas. but after doing research, I came across the info that palm roots dont grow like most plants so that option was tossed out. I hope these guys make it.

[Kim]

I get your point of the experiment.  A healthy majesty is a very fat palm, not a slender stemmed palm.  They are tough, but I'll be amazed if you can repeatedly treat the palm this way and have a healthy specimen.  Seems very doubtful to me. Keep us informed.

[empireo22]

why not just tie the fronds up tight then store it.

[DoomsDave]

Keep

 

us

 

apprized

[siege2050]

On 3/4/2016, 5:10:47, empireo22 said:

why not just tie the fronds up tight then store it.

I will have to try that, I was not sure if the fronds would survive zero light.

[nitsua0895]

45 minutes ago, siege2050 said:

I will have to try that, I was not sure if the fronds would survive zero light.

This is encouraging for me in zone 8b. I bought one for only $10 and it's already pretty big so I'm going to plant it tomorrow and try and keep it protected during cold snaps each winter.

I've heard it can handle down to 25F and that was our minimum temp this year.

[Ben in Norcal]

50 minutes ago, siege2050 said:

I will have to try that, I was not sure if the fronds would survive zero light.

It will do a lot better in zero light than with its fronds cut off.

Again, just bring it in and stick it in your livingroom for a few months, I say.

[pigafetta]

hmmm if it's still alive next year when you pull it out to replant, i think you should go buy a lottery ticket.

[enigma99]

3 hours ago, Ben in Norcal said:

It will do a lot better in zero light than with its fronds cut off.

Again, just bring it in and stick it in your livingroom for a few months, I say.

Yep +1. Could even get a LED growing light (http://www.amazon.com/Efficient-TaoTronics-Lights-Growing-Garden/dp/B014ZZLP8G/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1457238255&sr=8-4&keywords=LED+growing+light) for it if you wanted to, but the very least keep the leaves on

For these current palms, they will be sick/weak going into this winter and if you do it again they are done. But even if they do somehow survive, these are going to be looking pretty bad. 

Edited March 6, 2016 by enigma99

[siege2050]

Will update in summer if they make it.

[richnorm]

You may be on to something.  Certainly worth continuing with the experiment imo.   I would try with leaves left on one next winter. Good luck!

[siege2050]

The largest ones spear appears to have started opening/expanding a little, doesn't look like its ailing yet. What surprised me is the two little one foot companion trunks in each pot are nice and green as well. At least I am guessing they are not a multi trunking species. I figured they would be too small and would die first. 

[Alicehunter2000]

SCIENCE! ...... Your blinding me with Science!

[Funkthulhu]

On bringing the Majestic Palm indoors for the winter, a tale from the wastelands of Nebraska.

The very first palm I ever owned as a Ravenea rivularis that I purchased on a whim from Walmart.  I bought it very nearly 10 years ago and within a few years had followed it up with another and several other species.  They love the sun, but would be okay indoors if they had a window and enough water.  Nearly impossible to kill (I thought) and easy to maintain.  Every year I would take them out on my balcony, or deck and let them thrive in the sun.  Then cut off the down and browns and bring them in for the winter.  They just kept getting bigger and bigger, taller and taller, but always mostly upright and "narrow".  But as large as they were getting I always looked forward to bringing them inside in the fall because all of that foliage made my living space feel more alive.

Then, these last 3 years something shifted.  I lost one to crown rot, my first every disease loss palm (I think I got fertilizer water in the top by accident).  However, the second one, the "smaller" one, stayed on and started to spread.  At this point the Majestic started to show leaf scars above the soil surface, "trunking" if you will.  And the leaves went from mostly upright to a beautiful arcing outward in every direction.  I really loved that palm and seeing it come to some maturity was a majestic feeling.  

However, I only have so much room in the house....   The last winter in the house was obviously the last one it was going to be allowed back inside.  It was pushing spear-tips to over 9 feet (we have 8 foot ceilings) and the graceful arc of frond was pushing out for several feet in every direction.  I used our library as a staging area last spring before putting everything out on the deck again, mostly because of the high ceiling.  The library is a room about 12 foot square with an exposed stairway on one side.  Once in the room there was no way to actually walk through the library without touching one of the fronds, it was that big!  

After one last summer of glory I trimmed it up to look nice, loaded it in my car (easier said than done), and drove it to the local botanical gardens as a donation.  I hope it is still happy and healthy where it is, but I will not buy another.  They just get too big, too quick.  In just 5 short years it became too large for any reasonable apartment, and in the following 3 it became too big for my then house.  

I'm keen to see how this experiment progresses, but to be honest, I miss those big green fronds in my room in the winter.  They mad it all seem less cold.

Cheers,

[Hammer]

On 3/3/2016, 5:32:51, Ben in Norcal said:

I would think you are still removing much of it's ability it has to photosynthesize, for much of the year - I wouldn't think they will keep coming back from that.  But I suppose if you are going to experiment on palms, might as well make it disposable ones like Majesties! 

I think you are right Ben.  Palms have very limited capacity to store energy in the form of carbohydrates.  Much less than many other plants.  One year...MAYBE. Two years...no way.

[Hammer]

On 3/4/2016, 3:26:59, siege2050 said:

They were in the clearance section and were already in decline a bit. Stores here sell these by the hundreds to unknowing people who buy them, and they usually die the first winter anyway because of spider mites, or poor indoor conditions. Majesty palms are of course not a very good choice as an indoor palm. If I had not bought these, I am sure they would be dead by now. I want these palms to make it, that's the whole purpose of this experiment, and as good as they look, I have high hopes. What started the idea was when I was a kid many years ago, I saw a story on the local news about a lady that did this every year with some kind of palm that had fairly slender stems. She and her family would take these 8 foot stems and store them under the house with the leaves cut off and had been doing it for years with the same palms. By late summer the leaves would be restored, and she would repeat the process in fall. My guess is it had to be majesty palms and they probably started out as houseplants that became too tall to keep indoors. I dont like to kill anything, but its no different than buying annuals and planting them in flower beds each spring. Petunias, and Impatiens are perennials in their native habitat but each year millions succumb to frost. At first I wanted to plant in ground and dig up each fall like I do my bananas. but after doing research, I came across the info that palm roots dont grow like most plants so that option was tossed out. I hope these guys make it.

Slender stems?  Wasn't a majesty then.

[siege2050]

I was thinking later maybe a queen palm? They had no foliage as it had already been removed when they were putting them under the house on the news story. Are Queen palms able to go dormant?

[Hammer]

1 hour ago, siege2050 said:

I was thinking later maybe a queen palm? They had no foliage as it had already been removed when they were putting them under the house on the news story. Are Queen palms able to go dormant?

Palms don't go dormant in the same sense that a maple tree or cannas do in fall/winter.  

Palms "want" to grow constantly. Sometimes weather doesn't cooperate.

[siege2050]

Largest one is definitely pushing new growth, frond is opening. Plants are greener. Will post pic when it opens.

[Tropicdoc]

On March 7, 2016 at 11:04:57 AM, Hammer said:

I think you are right Ben.  Palms have very limited capacity to store energy in the form of carbohydrates.  Much less than many other plants.  One year...MAYBE. Two years...no way.

Interesting though Walt in central Florida keeps the meristem of his coconut warm through winter. The palm often defoliated but comes back. He reports the palm has enough carbs to regenerate.

[Hammer]

But does it happen consistently year after year and how long each season does the tree get exposed to those temps?  I would guess that would be a big factor too.

Here in California that is the reason us 10a and 10b folks can't grow Cocos like 10a and 10b folks in Florida.  The long cool periods of our winters.  Not the absolute lows.

[siege2050]

I have had them in dim light because I was afraid to stress them after 6 months in the dark so they have been growing slow, then kinda forgot to move them in bright light lol, but they seem to be alive, even the little extra stems in the pot are doing well which I am guessing are different plants. I am moving them in brighter light now.

[Hammer]

2 hours ago, siege2050 said:

I have had them in dim light because I was afraid to stress them after 6 months in the dark so they have been growing slow, then kinda forgot to move them in bright light lol, but they seem to be alive, even the little extra stems in the pot are doing well which I am guessing are different plants. I am moving them in brighter light now.

I wouldn't worry about stressing them with bright light.  Get them into the light as soon as possible.  If all that was there was a spear, there is nothing to stress.