Trachycarpus Fortunei in Shade

[nitsua0895]

My yard has huge trees in every direction and while they're good for keeping the house cool they don't help when trying to grow palms and banana trees that would prefer 12 hours of sunlight each day.

And now I'm trying to find a good palm to plant in a spot that only gets sun from about 8-11am. Should a T. Fortunei be able to grow at a decent pace in these conditions? I've got 4 in one gallon pots and have the idea of creating a row of them along a fence.

[Ben in Norcal]

2 hours ago, nitsua0895 said:

My yard has huge trees in every direction and while they're good for keeping the house cool they don't help when trying to grow palms and banana trees that would prefer 12 hours of sunlight each day.

And now I'm trying to find a good palm to plant in a spot that only gets sun from about 8-11am. Should a T. Fortunei be able to grow at a decent pace in these conditions? I've got 4 in one gallon pots and have the idea of creating a row of them along a fence.

I'd think in your location it would do better in less than full sun, as it does in mine.

[Brad Mondel]

Actually they do better in the shade if you have hot blistering summers. Just make sure they get the moisture they need. 

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Fortunei look better in part shade and protected from the wind. Blistering sun and constant wind shreds and desiccates their fronds. 

[palm789]

From what I heared is that they will look streched if grown in shade I.e longer petioles,crown is more open than compact.but are more slower growing but get a more darker green leaves.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

7 hours ago, palm789 said:

From what I heared is that they will look streched if grown in shade I.e longer petioles,crown is more open than compact.but are more slower growing but get a more darker green leaves.

That depends on how shaded they are.  In full shade they will stretch out, but in partial shade (in Texas) they don't stretch out at all.  I have a few that only receive full sun from 7am to 11am and they are as compact as the ones in full sun.   This may vary in the pacific northwest, England, and other cooler and cloudy climates that do not have nearly as intense sunshine as we do year round.  Montgomery will be close to the same conditions that we have therefore I believe partial shade will yield the best looking windmill for nitsua0895 .

[NorthFlpalmguy]

16 minutes ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

That depends on how shaded they are.  In full shade they will stretch out, but in partial shade (in Texas) they don't stretch out at all.  I have a few that only receive full sun from 7am to 11am and they are as compact as the ones in full sun.   This may vary in the pacific northwest, England, and other cooler and cloudy climates that do not have nearly as intense sunshine as we do year round.  Montgomery will be close to the same conditions that we have therefore I believe partial shade will yield the best looking windmill for nitsua0895 .

x2 I had a few hundred that were in partial shade (maybe 2-3 hours at noon) and they looked much better than the full sun or shade palms.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

10 minutes ago, NorthFlpalmguy said:

x2 I had a few hundred that were in partial shade (maybe 2-3 hours at noon) and they looked much better than the full sun or shade palms.

Bryant brings up another good point.  My above comments were for mature windmills.  I grow 1, 3, 5, 15G windmill in virtually full shade during the summer as they look absolutely awful in full texas sun.  Even during winter the 1 & 3G must remain shaded from Noon to nightfall or they will burn in the sun.

[NorthFlpalmguy]

5 hours ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

Bryant brings up another good point.  My above comments were for mature windmills.  I grow 1, 3, 5, 15G windmill in virtually full shade during the summer as they look absolutely awful in full texas sun.  Even during winter the 1 & 3G must remain shaded from Noon to nightfall or they will burn in the sun.

Here too and all mine are in partial sun. Some types of trachycarpus fortunei have the look of longer petioles even in full sun as well, it is just genetic. You can tell even at the liner stage of growth as I receive them a lot from central Fl liner nurseries.  

[palm789]

I also heared the frinds grow bigger in full shade yet I have yet to see a comparison picture to confirm this.

[nitsua0895]

6 hours ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

Bryant brings up another good point.  My above comments were for mature windmills.  I grow 1, 3, 5, 15G windmill in virtually full shade during the summer as they look absolutely awful in full texas sun.  Even during winter the 1 & 3G must remain shaded from Noon to nightfall or they will burn in the sun.

After I trim some overhanging tree limbs I should be able to get up to five hours of sun each day in the location I'm thinking of and that should be perfect.

I've actually noticed a lot of smaller T. Fortunei in Montgomery that are planted in full sun and look nice. I wonder if it's the humidity and the fact that we rarely have temps over 100F? I remember going to a Texas Rangers game in Arlington one summer and it was 110F, dry, and windy. I imagine that's tough for any palm that's not a desert native. 

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Its a tough area.  The heat index is around 105-115 for several months in a row. Half the time we get to that heay index in the high 90s and a dew points of 70-77 degrees, sometime we're 105-110f with less humidity.  Either way its hot and we see more and more nights every year in downtown dallas and fort worth where it is 100 degrees at midnight.

[dalmatiansoap]

Seen them planted in clusters in full shade looking beautiful, it was even hard to guess what they are.

[maesy]

This one is grown in only morning sun here in Switzerland.

 

Marcel

[rice]

I have a few in the ground and one of my best looking ones is in shade most of the day, only getting early morning sun in summer. It is planted next to a wall so mostly windfree. It doesn't have particularly long fronds or bigger leaves but is quite dark green, I love it.

 

 

[cm05]

My Trachy in part sun looks healthier than the one I have in full sun, its fronds are a deeper green, the other is lime green with brown tips. Growth rate is similar right now, although the palm in full sun is normally the faster of the two. Their crowns are about the same size.