Cyphophoenix nucele...Anyone Growing This?

[Jim in Los Altos]

I have two Cyphophoenix nucele in my garden that have been in place three years and I'm really impressed with the species' ease of care and cold/cool hardiness as well as the relatively fast growth. Do any of you have mature trunking ones to show off and anything to say about this species. I'm quickly getting more and more into the genus with C. elegans and C. alba doing really well as well. They all need lots of water I noticed and seem to like shade.

[Ben in Norcal]

15 minutes ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

I have two Cyphophoenix nucele in my garden that have been in place three years and I'm really impressed with the species' ease of care and cold/cool hardiness as well as the relatively fast growth. Do any of you have mature trunking ones to show off and anything to say about this species. I'm quickly getting more and more into the genus with C. elegans and C. alba doing really well as well. They all need lots of water I noticed and seem to like shade.

I have one Jim, in ground maybe 3 years from Floribunda?  Doesn't look great because I put it in full sun, but I don't have the heart to try and move it.  They can certainly take more of a freeze than purported - and C. elegans is a definite winner here.

[PalmTreeDude]

They look so cool. 

[quaman58]

Looks great Jim. You're correct; they can motor along when they're content. Ditto on the need for shade. C. elegans seems fine with a lot of sun, but not nucele.

[Tropicgardener]

I obtained a small one recently and look forward to growing it....... This time last year I visited its natural habitat of Lifou, New Caledonia. I only managed to find one mature plant but it had no seed on it. It was growing in an exposed, dry looking spot. Incidently Lifou is almost the exact same latitude 20.9448S compared to Airlie Beach 20.2675S....... So hopefully it should do well for me here.

[Josh-O]

I also enjoy this plant very much. I have one growing at my house in Carlsbad. Unfortunately it will need to be removed soon since I planted it to close to my dypsis oropedionis 5 yrs ago

[Jim in Los Altos]

1 hour ago, Josh-O said:

I also enjoy this plant very much. I have one growing at my house in Carlsbad. Unfortunately it will need to be removed soon since I planted it to close to my dypsis oropedionis 5 yrs ago

Josh, as you can see in my pic, I don't worry about closeness when it comes to palms. In the 5' x 5' area that the nucele resides in there are eight other palms. As long as their canopies are at different heights, there's plenty of room.

[Josh-O]

8 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Josh, as you can see in my pic, I don't worry about closeness when it comes to palms. In the 5' x 5' area that the nucele resides in there are eight other palms. As long as their canopies are at different heights, there's plenty of room.

I agree.

I'm guilty of cram planting my stuff.

But..........

Having a very large and virtually impossible to find dypsis oropedionis that is now 7' tall and actually growing I'm forced to remove the nucele out so this palm can be clearly seen. I'll probably plant one at the fairview garden and nursery soon.

 

yours is looking real nice BTY

[Rafael]

I am growing one of these, below dense canopy and just filtered light. It is smaller than Jim's but is producing continuosly bigger leaves  it is loving our cool atlantic climate. later i will upload a pic.

[Matt in OC]

Slow, but steady for me. It doesn't like too much sun. Hopefully this year it starts to pick up some speed.

[Monòver]

This is mine. Slow grower but healthy after cold winter.

 

[NatureGirl]

Here's mine planted 'after" the big freeze of 2010. So it's cold hardiness hasn't really been tested. But, one great thing about it is, it's super salt tolerant. Not a brown leaf tip anywhere to be found and that's a real plus here on the beach. (who would have thunk?)

[Oside92054]

I have two in my garden. One is in the shade under canopy and doing well. The other in a south facing full sun planter in the hottest part of my property. I wasn't the most informed palm grower at the time or I would not have planted it there however my ignorance has paid off as the tree is now almost 9 feet tall with four or five rings of trunk. It is absolutely thriving and is one of our favorite plants! I will post a picture as soon as I can.

[Daryl]

Here is one of mine from my old garden...I really need to get some more as they are very tough palms here...will take a good beating and still shine through. Same with the entire genus.

 

[Steve Mac]

Mine is relatively fast, faster than the elegans and the oli that went in with it.

It is a bit ratty with the wind too, it looks as if it should be tougher than the others in the wind, but it isn't. 

 

[Rafael]

On 13/03/2017, 10:33:53, Rafael said:

I am growing one of these, below dense canopy and just filtered light. It is smaller than Jim's but is producing continuosly bigger leaves  it is loving our cool atlantic climate. later i will upload a pic.

Here is mine.

[BPK Palm Addict]

On 3/13/2017, 4:02:40, NatureGirl said:

Here's mine planted 'after" the big freeze of 2010. So it's cold hardiness hasn't really been tested. But, one great thing about it is, it's super salt tolerant. Not a brown leaf tip anywhere to be found and that's a real plus here on the beach. (who would have thunk?)

Hey NatureGirl, how much sun is that guy getting.  He looks fantastic.  I wonder if he will become more upright with age?

Joe

[NatureGirl]

It's only getting a little sun, there's a large Sabal yapa that blocks the afternoon sun completely.

[Zeeth]

Weird how successful everyone is with this species. Mine has only been shrinking since I got it 3 years ago. It behaves more like my Dypsis decipiens than any other species I grow. 

[BS Man about Palms]

I have seen the same issue Keith. My elegans grows at 3 times the speed... I only occasionally hear from people with nucele out pacing their elegans. 

[Palmə häl′ik]

Central FL checkin' in....

[Tracy]

On 3/11/2017, 4:53:36, Jim in Los Altos said:

Cyphophoenix nucele in my garden that have been in place three years and I'm really impressed with the species' ease of care and cold/cool hardiness as well as the relatively fast growth. Do any of you have mature trunking ones to show off and anything to say about this species. I'm quickly getting more and more into the genus with C. elegans and C. alba doing really well as well. They all need lots of water I noticed and seem to like shade.

There is/was a beautiful one nearby in the Quail Botanical Garden (now SD Botanical Garden).  It got beat up when a tree above it crashed down taking out a few palms and trees.  I haven't seen how it has recovered.  Before that incident, I liked it so much that I planted one.  Cyphophoenix elegans seems to take both significantly more sun and grows faster for me than C nucele, but I still have high hopes for it.  Replacing my fence and in preparation moved pots so I was able to get a "clean shot" of my little C nucele.

[Matt in OC]

Super slow for me in half day sun, compared to C. Elegans. 

[D. Morrowii]

On 3/13/2017 at 4:02 PM, NatureGirl said:

Here's mine planted 'after" the big freeze of 2010. So it's cold hardiness hasn't really been tested. But, one great thing about it is, it's super salt tolerant. Not a brown leaf tip anywhere to be found and that's a real plus here on the beach. (who would have thunk?)

Charlene is this one still going? I’m getting ready to plant one that I picked up at the Palm Beach sale and would be glad to get any tips for this area.

[Tracy]

On 3/11/2017 at 4:53 PM, Jim in Los Altos said:

I have two Cyphophoenix nucele in my garden that have been in place three years and I'm really impressed with the species' ease of care and cold/cool hardiness as well as the relatively fast growth. Do any of you have mature trunking ones to show off and anything to say about this species. I'm quickly getting more and more into the genus with C. elegans and C. alba doing really well as well. They all need lots of water I noticed and seem to like shade.

Jim time for an update on yours as well.

 

7 hours ago, D. Morrowii said:

I’m getting ready to plant one that I picked up at the Palm Beach sale and would be glad to get any tips for this area.

That is a nice looking specimen you will be planting.  I would imagine you would want some shade in Florida as the sun is more intense there than here in California.  Like Jim mentioned in his original post, I'm growing mine in only part day sun, and mostly filtered or indirect sun.  I'm curious if either of Jim's are now growing up into the sun, as his was larger back when this post started than the one I have in the ground.  My Cyphophoenix elegans seem to handle more sun than the nucele as well as being less likely to show any signs of damage from cool in winter than nucele.

[D. Morrowii]

@Tracy Thanks!
I’ve had one older frond peeking into the full sun over the last week for testing. Its getting maybe 3 hours a day and so far only very slight tinge of burn on the tips. Unfortunately I don’t have much cover at this point. I’m using potted bananas and Adonidia to shield some other stuff but this guy is a bit tall for that. I have one spot that gets cover from afternoon sun so maybe I’ll try it there for a while but leave it in the pot.  

[Tracy]

16 minutes ago, D. Morrowii said:

I’m using potted bananas and Adonidia to shield some other stuff but this guy is a bit tall for that. I have one spot that gets cover from afternoon sun so maybe I’ll try it there for a while but leave it in the pot.  

Good call.  Adding a couple more bananas might be a reasonably fast solution as well.  In one summer they can attain enough height to easily protect your plant if its in the ground, especially if you plant a couple of bananas to provide some shade.  At the end of the season or next year, you get the added bonus of getting to pick and eat some bananas.  It is a solution recommended to me many years ago, that came in handy several times.

[NatureGirl]

On 4/19/2022 at 11:23 AM, D. Morrowii said:

Charlene is this one still going? I’m getting ready to plant one that I picked up at the Palm Beach sale and would be glad to get any tips for this area.

Yes Dean, it's doing very well. Next time you come by, remind me and I'll show it to you. 

[bubba]

Saw this topic recently and it took some time to get back to ANSG’s to get a shot:

[Harry’s Palms]

On 3/11/2017 at 4:53 PM, Jim in Los Altos said:

I have two Cyphophoenix nucele in my garden that have been in place three years and I'm really impressed with the species' ease of care and cold/cool hardiness as well as the relatively fast growth. Do any of you have mature trunking ones to show off and anything to say about this species. I'm quickly getting more and more into the genus with C. elegans and C. alba doing really well as well. They all need lots of water I noticed and seem to like shade.

Het Jim , any updates on these ? I just planted a small one a few weeks ago . I am treating it like a Chambeyronia ( shade and only fractured sun , at least while young) . Mine has only been in the ground a few weeks and shows signs of growth , still quite young . I know our climates are similar even though I am south of you . I am hoping that it won’t be harmed by our occasional heat waves. It was 94 at our house last weekend . I planted it in a cooler portion of our west side yard , no direct sun over there . I would love to see yours after about 8 years. Harry

[Jim in Los Altos]

4 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Het Jim , any updates on these ? I just planted a small one a few weeks ago . I am treating it like a Chambeyronia ( shade and only fractured sun , at least while young) . Mine has only been in the ground a few weeks and shows signs of growth , still quite young . I know our climates are similar even though I am south of you . I am hoping that it won’t be harmed by our occasional heat waves. It was 94 at our house last weekend . I planted it in a cooler portion of our west side yard , no direct sun over there . I would love to see yours after about 8 years. Harry

Both of mine have done well over the years and have grown steadily but still under ten feet tall. Each new frond only increases trunk height about 1/2”. Very deep green and lush though. I don’t have a recent photo but will try to take a new one soon. 

[Harry’s Palms]

1 hour ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Both of mine have done well over the years and have grown steadily but still under ten feet tall. Each new frond only increases trunk height about 1/2”. Very deep green and lush though. I don’t have a recent photo but will try to take a new one soon. 

Thank you Jim . I am glad they can survive warmer weather. My cold here at my house is only 38f in winter so not too worried about the cold. It is just the warm weather. Harry

[Fusca]

7 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Het Jim , any updates on these ? I just planted a small one a few weeks ago . I am treating it like a Chambeyronia ( shade and only fractured sun , at least while young) . Mine has only been in the ground a few weeks and shows signs of growth , still quite young . I know our climates are similar even though I am south of you . I am hoping that it won’t be harmed by our occasional heat waves. It was 94 at our house last weekend . I planted it in a cooler portion of our west side yard , no direct sun over there . I would love to see yours after about 8 years. Harry

Harry, is yours nucele or elegans?  For what it's worth my elegans has done fine in 90-95°F every day and upper 70's/low 80's at night for the past couple of weeks.  Elegans is more sun tolerant but mine is in part shade and seems to be fine with high heat and high humidity.

[Brad52]

Mine has been a tad slower than C elegans.

[Harry’s Palms]

1 hour ago, Fusca said:

Harry, is yours nucele or elegans?  For what it's worth my elegans has done fine in 90-95°F every day and upper 70's/low 80's at night for the past couple of weeks.  Elegans is more sun tolerant but mine is in part shade and seems to be fine with high heat and high humidity.

Mine is Nucele , and pretty young. It is in mostly shade on the cooler side of the house. I can take a pic a bit later and post it. We get some heat waves here but almost always cools off in the evenings. Kentia palms do well in full sun here. My Chambeyronia is fine in full afternoon sun. Harry

[Jim in Los Altos]

2 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Thank you Jim . I am glad they can survive warmer weather. My cold here at my house is only 38f in winter so not too worried about the cold. It is just the warm weather. Harry

 

Mine have easily withstood occasional temperatures into the 100°sF, however, temperatures are more often like those shown below of our current forecast. 
 

[Harry’s Palms]

They look very happy , Jim . I think my little palm will be ok . Like here , you get a nice cooling at night that helps. My belief is that the cool period is imperative for some of the more heat sensitive palms. With proper planning , they can survive occasional heat spells with adequate shade and water. This my small palm . I planted it where some of the small Dypsis and a few Chamaedorea are planted . The others have all been there over a year with a few heat waves behind them . Even a small Rhopalostylus Bauri ….no burn! Maybe I’m just being paranoid? Harry

[Harry’s Palms]

Upcoming weather for my area. I will add that up on our hill the lows are a bit different , usually warmer with good down flow . Harry