Acanthophoenix rubra finally in ground

[quaman58]

Hey all,

I've wanted to plant one of these for over 10 years. They have always been difficult to find, & I've not had much luck with them when I have found them. The teeny ones always damp off for me. I had a couple one gallons shipped to me from Florida that died within days. (Which taught me that they're root sensitive). I've tried to get them straight from Reunion, only to have them confiscated--twice. So a few years ago when my neighbor suggested that he & I go in on a couple 5 gallon plants from Florida, I was pretty skeptical. I asked "How are going to ship?" He responds by telling me that the guy will reduce the rootball so that it fits in one of those "If it fits, it ships" packages. Knowing full well that this would be a recipe for disaster, I told him to go ahead & sign me up for one, being pretty certain I'd just lit a match to about $300. They arrived about 3 days later, and sure enough, Terry's was dead 3 days after that. Mine was just mostly dead. But I put it into a 15 gallon pot, watered it & put it in the ICU part of my yard. No direct sun, no wind, damp & humid. After 2 weeks, it still was not all dead, so I marked the spear & waited. Nothing. Winter arrived & it was moved inside & became a mostly dead houseplant. Time passed & in March of the following year, I took it back outside to the ICU. 14 months after I received it, I looked at the marked spear, and although I could not be sure, it looked to be maybe 1/16" higher than where I had marked it. A week later, it was 1/4" higher. About 6 weeks later, it actually opened a frond! Wow, a palm with 2 fronds. It looked so lush. It then decided to get busy & re-join the living. It's grown briskly ever since. Two years ago, I moved the pot to a part of the yard where I eventually planned on planting it. Not wanting to temp fate, I would bring it inside during freezing spells. But this winter, I figured it was now or never, so it spent all winter outdoors. There was a bit of cold damage to a couple fronds, but nothing out of the ordinary. Anyway, last week, I started digging the hole...

[quaman58]

Here's the palm waiting to be freed. More to follow later..

[Danilopez89]

Wow! I admire your patience.

I've been learning that sometimes they are just pretending to be dead...

I've yanked a couple palms out the ground only to find a bunch of root action down ther.

[quaman58]

Thanks Daniel. Much of that "patience" comes from not knowing where I'll eventually be able to put it the ground. Getting pretty cramped for planting space these days..Anyway, the strategy for planting on the hillside depends on whether the palm needs always available water, or not. Acanthophoenix does, so I've been using my old, worn though 35 gallon trash cans as in ground liners. It works really well for keeping a large area of soil moist for water hungry plants, UNLESS there's a larger aggressive tree close-by. Pines, large olive trees, even queen palms will  find the buried  container's weep holes, invade the pot, & effectively strangle what's inside.

[quaman58]

Here's the process: gigantic hole..

[quaman58]

Getting close..

[quaman58]

Starting to back fill with 50/50 palm mix & native soil..

[quaman58]

Not wanting to disturb the roots, I opted to cut the pot away. I think it was ready for a change..

[quaman58]

Getting it level..

[quaman58]

Back fill & mulching, & final new home. Thanks for looking.

[Danilopez89]

Cool technique! I'm gonna have to do that when I plant near my neighbors ficus tree. I always find its roots in my yard when I dig a hole. They grow under and over the my brick wall looking for water. 

 

[Josh-O]

6 hours ago, quaman58 said:

Back fill & mulching, & final new home. Thanks for looking.

did you finish your pale ale?  

[Josh-O]

wait a minute...

did you bury that 33 gal trash can in the hole?

[quaman58]

Ahhh, several Josh.  First day of spring ya know; got pretty warm.

[Josh-O]

26 minutes ago, quaman58 said:

Ahhh, several Josh.  First day of spring ya know; got pretty warm.

nicely done Sir  

I remember seeing that A. Rubra beauty when I was over there last.

[comic097]

Great score, an awsom looking Palm 

[Palm Tree Jim]

Looks like you have done everything on your end to make sure it makes it.

Good luck!

[quaman58]

10 hours ago, Josh-O said:

wait a minute...

did you bury that 33 gal trash can in the hole?

Sure did. It's a lot of work. It's usually a 2 to 3 day process, me being only good enough for about 45 minutes of digging at time. 

[quaman58]

Thanks Paul & Jim, hopefully I'll see some good growth on it as the weather warms up!

[DoomsDave]

Bret:

There's a couple neighbors up in Huntington Beach who also have one, that's about 20 feet tall after a number of years.

We had a PSSC meeting there in November, about 3 years ago.

[quaman58]

4 hours ago, DoomsDave said:

Bret:

There's a couple neighbors up in Huntington Beach who also have one, that's about 20 feet tall after a number of years.

We had a PSSC meeting there in November, about 3 years ago.

Dave,

I've always loved medium size individuals of this species. Just so tropical looking. Dennis Witherby's is so gigantic now that it's kind of lost in the canopy. Even around here, they're pretty fast growers when they're happy. 

[quaman58]

So I figured I'd post an update after about 8 months. This is proving to be a very fast palm as long as the weather stays warm. It's thrown 4 fronds this year & is about 6' in height. Water is the key to all 3 Acanthophoenix species. Thanks for looking..

[Stevetoad]

Looks awesome!!! I want to give it a snuggle. 

[LJG]

Looks really good Bret. This is a hard plant for me to grow here. I have killed all mine.

[quaman58]

Len,

i could not get one to grow to save myself. The size seems to make all the difference. Now that better ones are coming from Jeff, I'm finding them to be no problem to grow either. But the small ones I had absolutely no luck with. I would have never guessed they would grow this rapidly around here. 

[quaman58]

Steve, any time. You're a sick man; probably one of those guys who's growing Calamus..

[Sabal Steve]

That palm looks fantastic Bret!  Looks like it loves the change in it's environment.

[quaman58]

Thanks Steve. Also hardier to sun than I would have guessed.

[Palm Tree Jim]

Glad to see the success on the this palm!

[Mandrew968]

Mine is bulletproof. But is yours crinita? I don't see any red...

[quaman58]

Nope, rubra. A whole lot easier to see red when super young. The white leaf undersides are the giveaway. This originally came from Steve Stern... 

[LJG]

Andrew, yours is bulletproof in Florida? Really? How is your Lip Stick Palm? A guy in Singapore told me they were bulletproof.

Bret, are the undersides of the leaflets glaucous? Not sure if this trait carries over when larger, but as small plants only Rubra has this of the three species. 

[quaman58]

Yeah Len, the rubras have it from seedling size right thru Dennis Wiloughby size. The rousellis stay green underneath like the crinitas..

[Josh-O]

wow Bret! that's some great growth you have there. I planted out a 5 gal a couple months ago at the Fair view garden in full sun. its growing like a weed and I hope it will look as good as yours someday soon?

 

 

[foxtail]

Both are beautiful, congrats Brett and Josh.

[LJG]

Shoot that with an iPhone 1 Josh?

 

[Mandrew968]

17 hours ago, quaman58 said:

Nope, rubra. A whole lot easier to see red when super young. The white leaf undersides are the giveaway. This originally came from Steve Stern... 

Ahh. So did mine--his came directly from habitat. That's settled!

[Mandrew968]

17 hours ago, LJG said:

Andrew, yours is bulletproof in Florida? Really? How is your Lip Stick Palm? A guy in Singapore told me they were bulletproof.

Bret, are the undersides of the leaflets glaucous? Not sure if this trait carries over when larger, but as small plants only Rubra has this of the three species. 

I will get a pic. Both are fine. My rubra I do nothing to besides drop delonix limbs on it--no water and little fertilizer and she doesn't grow too fast but she is fine. The lipstick is at my father's by the canal. It is rhizoming out!

[erin]

Bret,

I see that you planted the entire 33 Gallon into the ground,... I was wondering did you cut out the bottom of the 33 gallon?

[quaman58]

Erin,

It was a fully worn out trash can that I also scored the sides on. Seems to be the only way to keep enough water on super thirsty palms planted on a hillside.