Only noticed it today, Basselinia eriostachys 1st ever spathe pushing through..The white you see where Ive cut off old fronds is white tree sealer to stop bugs getting in, it goes hard as a rock within an hour.   Pete  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                               

 

Very good news Pete, beautiful looking palm, how old is your eriostachys mate.

 

 

Wow, that palm is gorgeous! 

wishing...

It looks awesome!

Beautiful palm Pete , as are most in your garden! This is one I tried repeatedly as a seedling with no luck. Then I got a somewhat larger one gallon plant that had gone pinnate,  & she's fine now. Looking forward to the day it's as great looking as yours.

Thanks all above for comments, I really took the pic to show how better the colour is when its not in "direct" sunlight, its a beautiful coloured Basselina.

Paul, Ive had it growing  for many years, and glad its got all new fronds after the severe hail storm a few yrs ago, all best with yours .

Bret, plant it in "plenty" of shade and place some broken up chunks of concrete near its base, this 1 hasnt got any but 2 that where slow as snails picked up speed after a while  once I added the concrete to the bases, I hit the concrete with a sledge hammer so they would break up a little and go underground and all best with your also.

Thought I'd go out and take 2 pics after a little hose to highlight some colour.          Pete

 

It's a sensational looking Palm. 

Nice one Pete, what's the diameter of the stem?  My one is really skinny (about 2cm) and has a couple of pups.

Edited August 18, 20169 yr by richnorm

1 hour ago, richnorm said:

Nice one Pete, what's the diameter of the stem?  My one is really skinny (about 2cm) and has a couple of pups.

Thank Rich, a good 4cm down low and just over 3 cm at the top of stem before the C/shaft.. She has only 1 pup as the pic shows.     Pete 

 

 

 

 

 

Pete, did you plant this the same time as the Cyphokentias? 

Pete, please elaborate on the function of concrete chunks.  Is this to increase the rigidity and firmness of the medium around the roots, or to modify the pH toward alkalinity ?  Thanks !

13 hours ago, LJG said:

Pete, did you plant this the same time as the Cyphokentias? 

Pretty much so Len, the Cypho's get a mention and pics below.

 

11 hours ago, Darold Petty said:

Pete, please elaborate on the function of concrete chunks.  Is this to increase the rigidity and firmness of the medium around the roots, or to modify the pH toward alkalinity ?  Thanks !

Darold, the "best" way to answer your Q is by the pics below. The  Cyphokentia's where all the same size when put in a good 20 yrs ago, they all grew at the same snail pace until a slab was poured less than a foot away from the now largest Cyphokentia. It wasnt until a few yrs ago I wondered why 1 was growing at a far far better rate than the other 2 and all I can put it down to is the roots have gone under the slab of concrete and its getting what it likes "slowly" but all the time. Our soil ph is low at around 3 , I dont dolomite/Lime the Newcals as thats too fast acting. Hope that answers your Question, the pics certainly tell the story and show the difference of the 3 Cyphokentia's. The Largest has a base of over 200mm and the other 2 are only 120mm at the base but seem to be filling out slowly since adding large pieces of concrete near their bases  so thats why I add concrete to the Eriostachys and a few other New cals.    Pete                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That Cyphokentia has really fattened up Pete. I noticed on my K. magnifica that it is finally doing that too. 

1 hour ago, LJG said:

That Cyphokentia has really fattened up Pete. I noticed on my K. magnifica that it is finally doing that too. 

It certainly has Len, thanks to the concrete slab, hopefiully it flowers in the next 2 yrs, look fwd to yr pic of Magnifica.    Pete

                                                                                                

Unlike Dypsis those NewCals can take almost two years from the time you see a flower spathe to the time you get seed. I will send photo when sun is up tomorrow.

8 minutes ago, LJG said:

Unlike Dypsis those NewCals can take almost two years from the time you see a flower spathe to the time you get seed. I will send photo when sun is up tomorrow.

Has Jeffs  Cyphokentia macrocarpa flowered yet?

I thought he had flower spathes on his. Or maybe it was another of his rare, slow NewCals. I will be in Hawaii in Nov. to snap some photos. 

 Look fdw to pics , I was hoping our Macro flowered n seeded 1st  pretty low chances of that though.       Pete

Nice pics Pete!! Not only do the new cals take ages to set seed but the germination phase can be very frustrating..... I have tried many batches of this basselinia without any success at all

Pete, once it starts flowering, it gets pretty prolific producing them. Even with all the inflorescence, it rarely produces seed and none viable at this point. 

With our soil and rainfall, it's a moderately fast grower and suckers freely. These were planted late 2008 from 1 gal. pots. 

Tim 

A couple more......

 

Tim

Very beautiful palms, Pete and Tim! Incredible colors. Must add this beauty to my "list"! 

Here you go Pete. 

 

 

13 hours ago, Kennybenjamin said:

Nice pics Pete!! Not only do the new cals take ages to set seed but the germination phase can be very frustrating..... I have tried many batches of this basselinia without any success at all

Thanks Ben, all I know is Baselinia's can take over a yr to germinate... The fastest  Basselinia Ive germinated was in a Polystyrene box ( closed of course)  with 50/50 perlite n vermiculte out in "full sun" so maybe extra heat is the key, it germinated in just a few mnths, it was a Basselinia moorei which grew great to a4 leafer till I  repotted it up rather than planting it out and the mix was too wet.  "When" my Eriostachys sets seed, prob on the 2nd or3rd flowering Im happy to give you fresh seed..   Pete

 

Tim, you have   excellent Eriostachys  I Envy yr climate... When you say the seed is not  "viable",  are all the seeds floaters ??

 

Len, your Kent  magnifica is really on its way and fattening up thats for sure     Pete

Nice one Len.  Any way to tell these apart from oliviformis when really young?  I have a super slow and cold sensitive "oliviformis" with pink new leaf, just wondering if I got lucky!

21 minutes ago, richnorm said:

Nice one Len.  Any way to tell these apart from oliviformis when really young?  I have a super slow and cold sensitive "oliviformis" with pink new leaf, just wondering if I got lucky!

 

What about a pic Rich, magnifica has the grey streaky stem  when V small and thinner leaflets than KO at same V small size.    Pete

1 hour ago, richnorm said:

Nice one Len.  Any way to tell these apart from oliviformis when really young?  I have a super slow and cold sensitive "oliviformis" with pink new leaf, just wondering if I got lucky!

Yes, very easy actually. KM doesn't have a heel (just like KP) and has the brown tomentum almost right away. Also, it opens orange to red new leaves. KO I have never seen open with color. Plus KM is WAY harder to grow  The two heeled Kentiopsis, pyriformis and oliviformis are much faster and easier to grow. 

Got to a pic? 

7 hours ago, richnorm said:

Nice one Len.  Any way to tell these apart from oliviformis when really young?  I have a super slow and cold sensitive "oliviformis" with pink new leaf, just wondering if I got lucky!

The pink new leaf could be cold related? I do believe I have seen a tiny bit of colour on young oliv before. 

As they other gents say.... A picture would get you a definitive id 

Thanks for the offer of fresh seed Pete, people that know me well know I never decline generous offers like that... It would be much appreciated!!

30 minutes ago, Kennybenjamin said:

Thanks for the offer of fresh seed Pete, people that know me well know I never decline generous offers like that... It would be much appreciated!!

No Problemo Omego  

Pete your Cyphokentias are nuts mate, can't say ive seen a cyphokentia macrostachya in australia ?

Thanks guys, looks like  I have a runt of a KO.  At least I have one doing OK in the ground - I haven't seen any others in NZ!

sorry I cant delete this, I tried to quote Pauls comment when I edited but it put me on a new page below

55 minutes ago, comic097 said:

Pete your Cyphokentias are nuts mate, can't say ive seen a cyphokentia macrostachya in australia ?

Thanks Paul, the 1 near the slab is 4 Xs the size of the other 2, I dont know of any others in Oz, and Im    "forever"    grateful to Maria for her offering them to me.

22 minutes ago, richnorm said:

Thanks guys, looks like  I have a runt of a KO.  At least I have one doing OK in the ground - I haven't seen any others in NZ!

Rich, your Cypho must have put on some good growth