Here at Leu Gardens we have a specimen of Cyrtystachys renda in a container that we keep in submerged in a pond. The first forecast below about 43-45F I move it into the greenhouse for the winter. Its big and heavy so it doesn't get moved in and out once it warms back. It stays until mid to late March. Usually I pull it in anywhere from late Nov.-mid Dec. This is the latest I have ever pulled it in. So far the lowest here this winter is 44F. But Sat. night is forecast in the low 40sF and Sun. night at 40. This one has really developed a bright, vivid color. I apologize for the pics being a bit fuzzy.

 

 

I am going to have to stop drinking so early.....

Beautiful palm, it's looking very good considering it's a hyper-tropical species, although Orlando is nearly tropical.

And it does look extremely heavy, I can only imagine the struggle it takes to pull it out of the pond, especially if it ever manages to root itself into the ground below.

How do you remove it from the pond? Do you have a crane or is it pure muscle to get that out? Either way it is vivid and spectacular, well done.

Perfect 

I'm sure it's moved with a machine. That looks back breaking heavy...

Does it get a bunch of roots that grow out the bottom?

If I moved it, I would put a couple of those trailer tie down screws into the soil and lift it with a machine and straps.

 

This specimen looks like a great candidate for splitting in the spring.

Its heavy but I pulled it out myself and lifted it into a golfcart. The container looks like stone but its plastic. Suprisingly it did not grow roots out and anchor itself. There is a container with the aquatic aroid Montrichardia that sits next to it. It hs rooted in and now stays out for the winter. This will be its third winter out, it survived the last 2.

11 minutes ago, Jerry@TreeZoo said:

 

This specimen looks like a great candidate for splitting in the spring.

 

Jerry I was thinking the same thing! 

That's pretty stunning!

9 hours ago, Eric in Orlando said:

Its heavy but I pulled it out myself and lifted it into a golfcart. The container looks like stone but its plastic. Suprisingly it did not grow roots out and anchor itself. There is a container with the aquatic aroid Montrichardia that sits next to it. It hs rooted in and now stays out for the winter. This will be its third winter out, it survived the last 2.

Sorry to ask a non palm question and perhaps your reply is better in another area on this site.   I am very interested in growing Montrichardia.   Do you have any idea of how warm the water must be to successfully grow?   Do you know when the water is too cold?  It is fantastic to see these growing wild on the Amazon River.   I saw I could buy one from a grower in Florida, I live at 1500' and often in winter it gets to low 60's.   Tropical lotus don't like it here when the water is cold.    I've been reluctant to try and grow beautiful Montrachardia.    Thank you, Mahalo,    Don

I am at the same latitude as you Eric, inside of Baja California though. Do you think that cyrtostachys can survive in a small pond perhaps with a small aquarium type heater. My all time low is about 49°  highs can be in 60s for a month or so. To cold?

On 1/6/2017, 5:27:57, Donald Sanders said:

Sorry to ask a non palm question and perhaps your reply is better in another area on this site.   I am very interested in growing Montrichardia.   Do you have any idea of how warm the water must be to successfully grow?   Do you know when the water is too cold?  It is fantastic to see these growing wild on the Amazon River.   I saw I could buy one from a grower in Florida, I live at 1500' and often in winter it gets to low 60's.   Tropical lotus don't like it here when the water is cold.    I've been reluctant to try and grow beautiful Montrachardia.    Thank you, Mahalo,    Don

 

The Montrichardia in the pond doesn't get protected or have heated water. I had 2 separate pot of it; the one in the pond and a "spare" in the greenhouse. The one in the pond used to get taken out of the water when the Cyrtostachys went in for the winter. But 2 years ago it had rooted into the bottom so I left it. I would guess the water temperature probably goes down to 60F at the coldest so far. The other pot of it I had I planted in the ground this past summer in a swampy wet location so will see if it survives in ground.

On 1/6/2017, 6:21:09, tacobender said:

I am at the same latitude as you Eric, inside of Baja California though. Do you think that cyrtostachys can survive in a small pond perhaps with a small aquarium type heater. My all time low is about 49°  highs can be in 60s for a month or so. To cold?

 

I would guess that would be too cold for it. They just don't like prolonged cool/cold periods.

 

 

Beautiful! I remember admiring it (and many other wonderful plants!) when you gave me and Lucinda such a special tour!

I do not tire of looking at mine in PR.

By the way they are not in my wettest spots and still do just fine with no supplemental water.

We are in our dry season now and I can see cracks in the soil around two of mine from lack of rain.

Of course even now we get rain every few days, usually for a short while as opposed to most of the year where it rains every afternoon.

I am glad your Cyrtostachys has someone like you to provide such TLC!

On 1/6/2017, 7:59:26, Eric in Orlando said:

On 1/6/2017, 7:46:37, Jerry@TreeZoo said:

If I moved it, I would put a couple of those trailer tie down screws into the soil and lift it with a machine and straps.

 

This specimen looks like a great candidate for splitting in the spring.

 

Jerry I was thinking the same thing! 

 

I have a really big one in a pot on my patio here in Key Largo. It is outgrowing it's space and I have considered selling it but I did not know you could split these. How do you do that? Mine has laterals growing horizontal then turning vertical. Can you break those off and stick them in a pot? Thanks for teaching me something new!

On 1/5/2017, 4:54:25, Eric in Orlando said:

 

 

Looking at Eric's photo you can see the palm almost looks like two clumps in the pot.  I would cut right down the middle getting two vigorous clumps.

 

First remove from the pot, Then cleanup anything that obscures your view to making a precise division by removing dead leaf bases, the spider plant, any mulch, etc.  Then, right through the middle, between the clumps, you can use a saw or some other sharp instrument to start the cut, sawing through the rootball.  Teasing and cajoling the two separate clumps away from each other carefully so as not to be too traumatic,  Once separated, just pot the two clumps each in their own pot (or the ground in Key Largo).  I would not rely on the little runners to start a separate plant as they have no roots yet.

I split this palm several years ago into 2. The other is in a container that sits on a patio but it dried out back in Dec. and needs to recover. It split very easily and had no issues or stress. It looks like it will split easy in the spring.

 

 

21 hours ago, Cindy Adair said:

Beautiful! I remember admiring it (and many other wonderful plants!) when you gave me and Lucinda such a special tour!

I do not tire of looking at mine in PR.

By the way they are not in my wettest spots and still do just fine with no supplemental water.

We are in our dry season now and I can see cracks in the soil around two of mine from lack of rain.

Of course even now we get rain every few days, usually for a short while as opposed to most of the year where it rains every afternoon.

I am glad your Cyrtostachys has someone like you to provide such TLC!

 

 

It was nice meeting you, glad you both got to stop by! I would love to come to PR one day and see your garden!