Beccariophoenix alfredii 8 years growth.

[thallo]

On 9/20/2021 at 3:10 PM, ExperimentalGrower said:

started it on a drip cycle and fed it Palm Gain.

 Mine also appreciates the drip. The new petioles are way more purple than those that grew when it was potted … have you noticed that, too? I’m hoping that’s a sign it’s receiving enough sun. 

[ExperimentalGrower]

On 9/23/2021 at 2:42 PM, thallo said:

 Mine also appreciates the drip. The new petioles are way more purple than those that grew when it was potted … have you noticed that, too? I’m hoping that’s a sign it’s receiving enough sun. 

I haven't necessarily noticed purple coloration on the petioles. But mine get's blasted with around 10 hours of direct sun a day, so I'll have to take a closer look. It's just really starting to get established after a set back earlier this year. An air conditioner tech accidently sprayed half of my alfi with compressor oil and as you can imagine I was very unhappy when I discovered it, but the palm was a lot more unhappy. It's finally starting to outgrow the damage. 

[pj_orlando_z9b]

On 11/3/2019 at 12:47 AM, pj_orlando_z9b said:

You all have great BAs. Nothing special here but mine is on the right track. 18 months growth. 

March will be 7 years. Pic taken in early Jan, Orlando, FL

[Billeb]

1 hour ago, pj_orlando_z9b said:

March will be 7 years. Pic taken in early Jan, Orlando, FL

@Palmiz and I were just discussing this today. These things pick up size pretty quick. 
 

-dale 

[happypalms]

Nice palms Merlyn your garden is looking healthy and growing well I can see the effort and love of gardening you have five to ten years you will be amazed then twenty years time you be blessed by  all the effort it’s a vision in your mind that you will see and be completely connected to your palms with the vision you had twenty years ago I see the same in my garden now it’s around 25 years old cheers 

Richard 

[Merlyn]

Here's a spring 2024 update, in the same photo order as the 11/3/2019 post.  These are about 5.5 years from ~5' tall big 3 gallon plantings.  The front yard one is still the smallest, but is around 15 feet tall:

The East side of the house has the biggest, and at about 20' tall is very close to trunking. 

The backyard SE pair is towering over everything nearby, here is one of them crowding a 5' tall Chamaerops Humilis:

And the SW center of the bed is my favorite placement out of the big ones:

 

[Merlyn]

And because I'm just a wee bit loony, here are two triples!  In the backyard I planted a "close triple" using a bit less than 1' spacing between them.  Theoretically the huge 4+ foot trunk diameter will start pushing them apart in a couple of years.  If I'm *extremely* lucky it'll even look like a curved set of cocos!  This is in the exact center of the backyard bed, so I hope it'll turn out interesting:

In the front yard NW corner I planted another triple with around 3-4' spacing between them.  They are about 2-4' tall overall.  I'm guessing it'll look like a chaotic mess for a while...maybe forever!  In the foreground is a Butia x Jubaea...and the side of my wheelbarrow for size reference:

[Bkue]

I love these! Won’t spend for a big enough one if I can even find. And don’t have the patience to wait a decade to get to the minimum size I want. Doubt I will be at this house by the time it gets to size. Jealous of those that started them early. Certainly a show piece. 

[Billy]

12 hours ago, Bkue said:

I love these! Won’t spend for a big enough one if I can even find. And don’t have the patience to wait a decade to get to the minimum size I want.

They’re actually not that slow. You should be able to get a nice 15g for around $125-$150 depending on your location. Drop that sun grown 15g plant in the ground throw the hose on it and watch it blow up. You’ll be surprised and happy that you did so.

[RainforestCafe]

@Merlyn those are looking amazing! Really good growth rate too. I tried one several years ago and it just sat there and went from green -> yellow -> almost white, and I ended up just trashing it. It seemed like it needed a ton of iron. I'm going to have to try another one after seeing yours.

[FlaPalmLover]

The trunks on these beasts when they get some trunk going are incredible. I took a couple of pictures of MB Palms in Orlando's "showcase" alfrediis. Pictures don't even really do them justice.

 

[Merlyn]

37 minutes ago, RainforestCafe said:

@Merlyn those are looking amazing! Really good growth rate too. I tried one several years ago and it just sat there and went from green -> yellow -> almost white, and I ended up just trashing it. It seemed like it needed a ton of iron. I'm going to have to try another one after seeing yours.

Yeah, they grow pretty quick in ground...not rocketship fast but 5' to 20' in 5.5 years is around 3' per year.  I am sure they'll slow down now that the fronds are mostly matire length, as the trunk doesn't seem to grow in height too fast.  To me that's ideal.  They are prone (like many palms) to magnesium deficiencies.

I did hear that they need extra iron when young, and that could be a factor if your soil is slightly high in pH:

[sonoranfans]

yep when well watered and fed these get thick trunks.  My largest is 14 years int he ground from a 3 gallon.   

[Chris Chance]

4 hours ago, sonoranfans said:

yep when well watered and fed these get thick trunks.  My largest is 14 years int he ground from a 3 gallon.   

That's amazing! My largest has been in the ground for 8 years and I suspect it has a ways to go. 

[Chris Chance]

It's hard to get a good picture but here's mine now.

[RainforestCafe]

@sonoranfans wow, yours looks amazing! Do you have an overall picture of the whole thing? I assume it might be kind of hard with ~20' fronds.

[sonoranfans]

On 4/14/2024 at 10:12 PM, RainforestCafe said:

@sonoranfans wow, yours looks amazing! Do you have an overall picture of the whole thing? I assume it might be kind of hard with ~20' fronds.

yeah I dont have an unobstructed view far enough from the palm to get it all in a frame without distortion.  The crown is a lot wider than I expected, between 30-35 feet is a guess.  Id estimate its about 30' tall.  

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

26 minutes ago, sonoranfans said:

The crown is a lot wider than I expected,

Absolute stunner what I would give to be able to grow this palm to that size ! 

T J 

[ExperimentalGrower]

54 minutes ago, sonoranfans said:

yeah I dont have an unobstructed view far enough from the palm to get it all in a frame without distortion.  The crown is a lot wider than I expected, between 30-35 feet is a guess.  Id estimate its about 30' tall.  

Exemplary! 

[Chris Chance]

5 hours ago, sonoranfans said:

yeah I dont have an unobstructed view far enough from the palm to get it all in a frame without distortion.  The crown is a lot wider than I expected, between 30-35 feet is a guess.  Id estimate its about 30' tall.  

That's amazing! Really does look like a giant coconut. I think mines about half way there. I'm going to need a bigger garden! 

[Bkue]

On 4/13/2024 at 10:24 AM, Billy said:

They’re actually not that slow. You should be able to get a nice 15g for around $125-$150 depending on your location. Drop that sun grown 15g plant in the ground throw the hose on it and watch it blow up. You’ll be surprised and happy that you did so.

Idk Billy. 14yrs to get to 4ft clear trunk feels slow. 

[Merlyn]

@Bkue I guess it depends on how you look at it...and what you want.  They get to 20-25' tall fronds pretty fast, especially if you find one that's got a base diameter of 6-12" or so.  So if you want a palm that gets a BIG crown it may take ~2 years from this size:

If your target is a lot of bare trunk, then Alfredii is probably not your huckleberry.    I'm not sure that anyone knows the real "average rate of trunk growth," since Alfredii is a newly discovered palm.  Based on pictures at Searle and @sonoranfans, maybe 1 foot per year?  That's a bonus to me.  You get a large palm with an impressive crown, and it doesn't turn into a 50' tall lightning rod in 5 years.  I'm currently chopping down some Queens with 20' of trunk.  One died of apparent Thielaviopsis, and two more look like they are infected and dropping fronds fast.  5 years to go from a 3G pot to 20' of trunk is not a bonus, imo.  I'd much rather have ones that get a full crown fast, and then get trunk at a moderate to slow rate.

[sonoranfans]

8 hours ago, Bkue said:

Idk Billy. 14yrs to get to 4ft clear trunk feels slow. 

I do not cut off leaf bases so it like like 4' trunk, but 8'+ of actual trunk is there.  There is a stage where the trunk does not grow much and leaves just lengthen.  An archie or royal will grow much taller in that time.  My bismarckia and sabal causiarum are 5' taller overall at 35'.  If you want fast those two are faster in height.  But in canopy shade area thrown and span of canopy, its really not that close, its my largest palm in the crown, right there with a 40' royal but BA has more leaves just as long at ~20 feet.  The Alfredii leaflets are super long, up to 54"  measured.  Royals might be 30-35" its a different look for sure.   After 14 years growing palms I made a lot of mistakes, planting out  (3) 3 gallon Alfredii was not one of them.  If you want a tall palm fast, in a cold 9b sabal causiarum or bismarckia will do that.  They are my two fastest growing palms right there with royals.    

[RainforestCafe]

On 4/16/2024 at 12:35 PM, sonoranfans said:

yeah I dont have an unobstructed view far enough from the palm to get it all in a frame without distortion.  The crown is a lot wider than I expected, between 30-35 feet is a guess.  Id estimate its about 30' tall.  

What an amazing specimen! It looks really good. I'm definitely going to have to try another one of these. Thanks for the pic, it's really inspiring.

[FlaPalmLover]

I would agree with @Merlyn and @sonoranfans on this. With alfies, you're getting a palm tree that is very aesthetically pleasing and tropical looking even when it's smaller and isn't quite yet trunking. I bought one Sunday and spent less than $200 on it. Its crown is already quite large, with some of the largest fronds extending up probably 12-14' into the air. (I bought one in a 25 G pot that was outgrowing the pot and had roots growing out of the bottom. I'm hoping that it will be okay even if I may have had to cut a couple of roots to get it out.) I had a good, full-sun location in mind where I thought one could provide good shade and a tropical vibe. I'm very pleased with the purchase thus far. It is great to see it in my yard. I would definitely recommend them to anyone. 

[Merlyn]

@FlaPalmLover I think Alfredii are fairly tolerant of root distubance.  I have repotted and mixed singles into doubles and triples, and all kinds of odd things.  I also moved one of the original batch around (I think) 9 months after I planyed it.  I chopped through some big roots in the process.  I am sure it set that one's growth rate back a bit, since it is still the smallest out of the original five.  But it otherwise didn't seem to mind, and didn't get aan infection that I noticed.

[FlaPalmLover]

1 hour ago, Merlyn said:

@FlaPalmLover I think Alfredii are fairly tolerant of root distubance.  I have repotted and mixed singles into doubles and triples, and all kinds of odd things.  I also moved one of the original batch around (I think) 9 months after I planyed it.  I chopped through some big roots in the process.  I am sure it set that one's growth rate back a bit, since it is still the smallest out of the original five.  But it otherwise didn't seem to mind, and didn't get aan infection that I noticed.

That's good to hear! It was a huge pain getting the roots disentangled and getting it out of that pot, though!

[ExperimentalGrower]

2 hours ago, Merlyn said:

@FlaPalmLover I think Alfredii are fairly tolerant of root distubance.  I have repotted and mixed singles into doubles and triples, and all kinds of odd things.  I also moved one of the original batch around (I think) 9 months after I planyed it.  I chopped through some big roots in the process.  I am sure it set that one's growth rate back a bit, since it is still the smallest out of the original five.  But it otherwise didn't seem to mind, and didn't get aan infection that I noticed.

I also transplanted one and it responded fine, the roots are virulent though.