Phenakospermum guyannense

[Josue Diaz]

Has anyone had experience with this species? Its cousins in the strelitziaceae family are fairly hardy for my zone, with the exception of ravenala madagascarensis . Other strelitzia (reginae, nicolai, juncea...) are no-hassle plants, I wonder if phenakospermum is a good alternative to ravenala. 

[Really full garden]

Josue, I am growing these from seed and so far they are really slow in my cool highland climate. They are all still in pots and when they get a little larger I might try one at the beach.

These seem to need lots of water, but excellent drainage.

[Mangosteen]

Phenakospermum guyannense is native to Suriname which is located  just a few degrees north of the equator. Hot and humid year round. Its a very different climate compared to South Africa where Strelitzia is from. There is one growing near my home in Pepeekeo in the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden just north of Hilo on the Big Island where temperatures rarely drop into the low 60s F. ( So far I've been too cheap to pay the entrance fee ($20.) to go see it in person.)

Doubtful it would survive in Nor Cal.

This place sells rhizomes.

http://www.tropilab.com/palulu-big.html

[Josue Diaz]

On 4/28/2018, 8:15:32, scottgt said:

Josue, I am growing these from seed and so far they are really slow in my cool highland climate. They are all still in pots and when they get a little larger I might try one at the beach.

These seem to need lots of water, but excellent drainage.

 

On 5/3/2018, 7:54:01, Mangosteen said:

Phenakospermum guyannense is native to Suriname which is located  just a few degrees north of the equator. Hot and humid year round. Its a very different climate compared to South Africa where Strelitzia is from. There is one growing near my home in Pepeekeo in the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden just north of Hilo on the Big Island where temperatures rarely drop into the low 60s F. ( So far I've been too cheap to pay the entrance fee ($20.) to go see it in person.)

Doubtful it would survive in Nor Cal.

This place sells rhizomes.

http://www.tropilab.com/palulu-big.html

On 4/28/2018, 8:15:32, scottgt said:

 Josue, I am growing these from seed and so far they are really slow in my cool highland climate. They are all still in pots and when they get a little larger I might try one at the beach.

These seem to need lots of water, but excellent drainage.

Good news! I checked my seed pots today and saw a sprout from this batch of seeds. I'll grow it in a greenhouse a few years before I try it outside. 

[Josue Diaz]

[Botanicus]

I had one in a pot for years, then planted it out under a high canopy of oaks and it perished in the first winter with lows of only around 27F

[Josue Diaz]

If anyone was curious, I had 5 sprouts, each grew well over summer and had 3 to 4 leaves each. Then, they all suddenly fell over and died when our overnight temps started hovering around the 40s F. 

[Really full garden]

1 hour ago, Josue Diaz said:

If anyone was curious, I had 5 sprouts, each grew well over summer and had 3 to 4 leaves each. Then, they all suddenly fell over and died when our overnight temps started hovering around the 40s F. 

Josue, dont feel bad. I am down to one plant. Mine just dropped dead for no apparent reason. My temps are never below 60.

[Really full garden]

On December 10, 2018 at 8:00 PM, scottgt said:

Josue, dont feel bad. I am down to one plant. Mine just dropped dead for no apparent reason. My temps are never below 60.

This is my last surviving Phenakospermum guyannense. It is about 50-60 cms tall . I WILL plant it out at the beach in a protected(mostly shade) spot. These do seem to require special care to grow from seed.

 

[Mangosteen]

After numerous tries with seeds and rhizomes, I bought a pretty good size plant locally here on the Big Island. Its doing well and even suckering two decent sized offshoots. Here's a shot of the plant shortly after I put it in the ground.

[Really full garden]

Mine has been planted in my beach garden since June. It seems to like the heat . It gets bright filtered sun with about  one hour of direct late afternoon sun.

[ahosey01]

On 10/29/2019 at 10:16 PM, Mangosteen said:

After numerous tries with seeds and rhizomes, I bought a pretty good size plant locally here on the Big Island. Its doing well and even suckering two decent sized offshoots. Here's a shot of the plant shortly after I put it in the ground.

How is this doing?

[Mangosteen]

My Phenakospermum guyannense is doing well; it has almost doubled in height and is surrounded by numerous pups, With 150 inches of rain spread out through the year and year round warmth, almost anything grows well.  Don't have any recent photos, though.

[hbernstein]

On 4/27/2018 at 6:00 PM, Josue Diaz said:

Has anyone had experience with this species? Its cousins in the strelitziaceae family are fairly hardy for my zone, with the exception of ravenala madagascarensis . Other strelitzia (reginae, nicolai, juncea...) are no-hassle plants, I wonder if phenakospermum is a good alternative to ravenala. 

And where did you find Phenakospermum? Cool!

[ahosey01]

On 6/19/2024 at 8:56 PM, Mangosteen said:

My Phenakospermum guyannense is doing well; it has almost doubled in height and is surrounded by numerous pups, With 150 inches of rain spread out through the year and year round warmth, almost anything grows well.  Don't have any recent photos, though.

Can you take a more recent photo?  Would love to see the development.

[Mangosteen]

On 6/21/2024 at 8:26 AM, hbernstein said:

And where did you find Phenakospermum? Cool!

PlantGroupHawaii, however they are very unreliable. They never get back to you. The only reason I got mine was because I have a home near Hilo and finally found someone at their growing grounds after several times. I had paid for the plant months before. Never returned an email, text or phone call after many tries. They do have some beautiful Phenakospermum on their grounds, but I honestly wouldn't bother.

[Mangosteen]

Latest Phenakospermum photo from today, August 30  '24.