Hey all, 

Most anyone who's grown NewCal palms knows that sometimes you just have to get what's available. Palms like Chambeyronia have become more common due to their relatively quick growth, but there's not many 5 gallon Moratias floating around. The trouble is that the teeny seedlings available at irregular intervals can be difficult to get to any size. So it's a bit of a cause for celebration for me when those teeny spikes actually grow. About 4 years ago, I got a couple Clinosperma bracteales & a couple Clinosperma vaginatas. I lost the vaginatas within a few weeks, but both bracteales have chugged along year round since then. Now I just need a place to plant them next Spring!

Another one I got about a year ago is Cyphokentia macrostachys; very small, very expensive for a palm half the size of my pinky, & one I knew nothing about. But so far it's grown perfectly and reasonably briskly. It has a beautiful stem. Feel free to share your experiences as well..

Kudos on getting that C.macrostachys to that size, sometimes not an easy feat. That stem is NICE.

Tim 

I think the Cypho will do well for you.   There are a few around here at about the 20 y/o mark.  Don't look the best after our cool and windy winters but I can imagine an extra 0.5 to 1.0c in average temperature would make a lot of difference. Good luck!

Great thread and great pics!!! I'm a Newcal guy and yes they are tough to germinate and tough get the rare stuff. I agree with the buy what you can theory but here in Australia most of it is totally unavailable unfortunately

Edited September 17, 20178 yr by Kennybenjamin

As a super keen collector I am extremely lucky to have a couple of rare ones.... these 2 tiny seedlings are my 2 newest additions 

Wow! A Basselinia porphyrea! I posted a thread years ago after seeing a picture of one in an IPS journal in habitat. There were zero responses, so I figured it hadn't yet made its way out of new caledonia yet. Very cool. 

Edited September 17, 20178 yr by quaman58

Fantastic Bret!!!! I planted my little bitty bracteale about a month ago. My cerifera is finally looking decent, my teeny lowland lepidota is starting to get slightly bigger. VERY sad I missed out on some in the past. Yours are looking GREAT!

Bill,

Great to hear your lepidota is still going. Mine grew well for about 2 years & then declined into nothingness for about 3 years. I talks to Jeff Markus several months ago & he mentioned that he has a seeding vaginata, so that those should hopefully become more available before long. Not so with the bracteale apparently, so give yours lots of TLC. Post a picture of your lepidota when you can!

Edited September 18, 20178 yr by quaman58

On 9/17/2017, 6:08:11, quaman58 said:

Bill,

Great to hear your lepidota is still going. Mine grew well for about 2 years & then declined into nothingness for about 3 years. I talks to Jeff Markus several months ago & he mentioned that he has a seeding vaginata, so that those should hopefully become more available before long. Not so with the bracteale apparently, so give yours lots of TLC. Post a picture of your lepidota when you can!

Got some others to try recently, but heres that little lepidota..

1 hour ago, BS Man about Palms said:

Got some others to try recently, but heres that little lepidota..

I have found those lowland ones are so much slower and trickier than the mid-altitude.