Lucuala Mattanensis Mapu at last

[Gbarce]

After 2 and a half months of searching- delays, dead ends  and overpricing vendors (come on guys I know its a nice plant but its already a sin to take it at THOSE prices)

I finally was able to obtain a plant.  Special Thanks to Els my South African friend/vendor who labored and texted his way to getting us the plants.  His Blood Pressure and Cellphone Bill must have shot up quite a bit this past months!!

But now on with the plant---TADAAAAAHHH!!!!

[Gbarce]

another shot

[Gbarce]

another pic

[Gbarce]

another shot.  I will have to repot this baby very carefully though I hear it has sensetive roots and the are a bit exposed at the base

[Gbarce]

I am also trying to germinate seeds of these but I hear it is very difficult to do so.

Probably becuse the Supposedly variegated gene makes the plant weaker in general.

[BS Man about Palms]

Beauty!

[tropicalb]

I love that plant...i just can't justify spending the $$$ people want for them.............yet.

[Kris]

Dear Gene  

that's a Queen amoung all Fan palms_such a beauty she is ?

and i have not ventured much on the verigated species yet

i think i have keep the best for the last in terms of palm tree

collection.

Hey,i must say you have terrefic taste for all excotic varities.

and do you know one memeber by name Redvdox.he is in

thailand and also deals with yuccos,agaves,verigated palms..

i hope you speak to him.if you are in for some serious plants

collection for your collection or for nursery use.i think you

should have contacts with heavy weights of every country

which has some unique plants to offer.

love,

Kris  

[XYZ]

A truly great & gorgeous dwarf palm but, slooooowwwwww....

SJ

50 babes from last year, photo taken about a month ago:

[LJG]

Nice. I wish I could grow that plant.

[metalfan]

I have had one of these palms for about 5 years now and it has hardly grown at all. But it is very lovely.

[Johnny]

I love Mapu's. I have one in the ground in Huntington Beach that I planted after the freeze. I am going to erect a small pop-up greenhouse over it in the fall. Mine is about 1.5' tall but is flowering. I can't wait until I get seeds. I have a few of these left at the nursery. one 3g and one 1g are outdoors in shade. I have one 1g in the cold-frame. All have been growing similarly this year and are probably the largest ones for sale on the west coast. If I still have them in the fall, they will be moved into the cold frame. I will have these on sale during the last weekend of this month but even after the discount they still won't be "budget" palms. Ha Ha! These guys are pricy.

[metalfan]

If you guys don't mind, I'd just be curious as to how much you paid for yours.

I paid $35 for mine about 5 years ago. I'd post a photo of it for your perusal, but I can't seem to figure out how to do that. If I click "image" I get an error message. If I try to attach a file at the bottom, it doesn't work.

I must be doing something small wrong, picture posting varies from site to site

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Gene, that palm sure is a beauty...  Congrats on the find...  I got one for my mother about a year ago...  She immediately took it home and planted it directly in Florida sand!  OUCH!   It was dead in less than a month.    I only have a two leafer that I germinated last year...  It has to be the slowest palm I have...  even slower than the Pseudophoenix ekmanii ??? ... (but not by much! :: )

Gina, Welcome to the board...  I saw your post about what was in your collection...  Very impressive!    I can't wait to see some photos!  :cool: If you would like to figure out how to post pictures, someone was good enough to write a blurb on how to post photos in the FAQ forum...  You can get to it here...  

http://palmtalk.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboar...=ST;f=16;t=4191

[Gbarce]

Thanks for the complements guys .  this was one of those that was a real challenge to hunt for.  By hunt it means find a plant in the first place which is hard enough as it is, but what makes it even harder is to find one that you can afford.  Some of the mapus I inquired around here were for over $400!   I actually like starting with juvenile plants for one they are more affordable but also because you get to know the growing habits of teh plant.

I am also trying out seeds of the Mapu.  I have ten seeds and I heard that its a real challenge.

[tew]

Beautiful Plant!!

I picked up a "mapu" last Fall and am growing it inside here in Baltimore. Humidity would be a problem but I use a Habba Mister which automatically mists the plant every three hours for thirty seconds.  It has worked great.  Since I got the palm, it has opened up two new fronds with the third on its way.  Of the thirty six palms I'm growing in pots, that has to be one of my favorites!

Good luck; great find!!

[metalfan]

This is mine. This photo is over a year old. But the palm has been planted in this spot for about 4 years. It has put on a frond or 2 since this photo was taken. Just a very very slow grower I guess.

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Here is a photo of the one I took at Fairchild this past weekend... That coloration is just awesome! (Please disregard the lizard poo!)

And a photo of my only one that germinated...  It has another half leaf emerging currently...  It is a bit washed out and I'm thinking of putting it in heavy shade... Such a tough balance, enough light to grow fast or enough shade to look pretty...  I think maybe after several years in the sun (if I don't kill it by then) I will move her to a bit more shade so she'll develop a better color...

[Gbarce]

How long does it take Mapu seeds to germinate?  I hear that it wil really test your patiemnce--from 1 to 2 years --is that accurate.  

I just sowed my seeds a week ago!!!

[wendisplantation]

I received my seeds on 4-4-07, kept in container inside on heat for a month. They started to get fungus, I potted them and placed outside in the shade, but nice warm spot. On 6-24-07, I dug up each seed, and found one that had germed. I don't know what the rest will do, but took only 2 1/2 months for that one to germinate. No sprout yet, but all well so far-

Hope it doesn't take yours a year or 2......

That would be torture!! Now, the real trick is to get it to grow.

Good Luck!!! What a wonderful little plant!!

[rhapis]

Below are my seven year old plants from the same batch of seeds.Very difficult plants to grow and many seedlings were lost in the process

  Steve in Cairns

[metalfan]

Those are SEVEN YEARS OLD? I guess I better stop whining about mine being so little then at only about 5 years. I thought mine just maybe needed some growth hormones or sumthin'....

[www.dadluvsu.com]

(Gbarce @ Jul. 07 2007,08:30)

QUOTE

How long does it take Mapu seeds to germinate?  I hear that it wil really test your patiemnce--from 1 to 2 years --is that accurate.  

I just sowed my seeds a week ago!!!

The one I got to pop only took about 3.5 months....  Heat in a plastic house from 105 to 85 day to night and watering all the time...  Hot and wet...  Nothing on the remaining seed...

[Gbarce]

To Steve in Cairns - the plants in the picture are from the same batch?  what accounts for the huge difference in size?

Maybe the bigger one is a mutant fast growing strain? wishful thinking!!!

[rhapis]

Hi Gene,

           The two plants picured are the largest and smallest from a batch of about 100 seeds.Only 80 germinated and 40 survived past five years.They were all grown under identical conditions so that should give you some idea as to the differing rates of growth.I must admit that I did change the growing media after a couple of years due to many casualties because of my original mix.From this I have learnt that they prefer a very well drained mix with frequent watering.Never let them dry out or they will die.I made that mistake

 Steve in Cairns

[Gbarce]

Is the Mapu sensetive when it comes to transplanting?  I am tempted to repot my Mapu but I hear that some palms like the Joeys sometimes die out becuase they are disturbed.

[Kris]

(metalfan @ Jul. 07 2007,14:07)

QUOTE

Those are SEVEN YEARS OLD? I guess I better stop whining about mine being so little then at only about 5 years. I thought mine just maybe needed some growth hormones or sumthin'....

Why not try superthrive...?

here is a link of those site...

http://www.amazon.com/gp....Reviews

http://www.superthrive.com/index.html

I hope it helps !

Kris  

[metalfan]

GBarce, I agree about the Joey palms. I moved one and it set it back so far I thought it was gonna die but it seems to be recovering now.

But I have planted and replanted my little Mapu 3 times. I planted it in a spot in the greenhouse very early on, but it got completely overshadowed by some huge growing stuff, so I dug it up and put it back in a pot for a bit. then I chose a new spot, but later removed it again and decided to put it in the house (mistake, not enough humidity). Then I put it back in th egreenhouse in its present location, which it seems to like a whole lot. I haven't killed it yet by moving it.

My soil is just sand. Its the native FL soil, "Myakka fine sand", and it drains like a boat full of holes. I water daily, a good drench.

[Gbarce]

I was also advised by a friend to use a good draining medium with a lot of organic stuff.  That agrees with your experience as well as Steve's.

I am planning to mix 1 part perlite + 1 part garden soil+ charcoaled rice husks and and 1 part compost.-- How does that sound?

[aussiearoids]

Au$55 for a 3" tube plant with a few leaves from specialist nursery in Cairns .

[Gbarce]

This one was a bit over $120 U.S..  Considering the size I think its pretty good.

A lot higher than what I would normaly comfortably pay for.

Other plants that I would bust my piggy bank  for are Licuala Cordata, Licuala Orbicularis, Coccothrinax Borhidiana and Coccothrinax Crinita, Caryota Zebrina and the snakeskin Caryota.  At least based on what I have researched on in books and the internet.

[HellJ]

I've been trying to find seed of this palm for a while, but the few places advertising it have non in stock, and don't know if/when they can get more.

Anyone know where I could get seeds?

[Gbarce]

I think like a lot of palms specially the rarer ones the availability is seasonal.  i was able to buy from borneo-seeds.com but they just ran out of it about 3 weeks ago.

Given that assumption I would expect seeds to be available again maybe may next year again

[HellJ]

I just missed the seeds at Borneo-seeds! As you say, they recently ran out! I'll have to just set up some auto searches and wait for them to come back.

[bgl]

I lsot a few smaller ones (4 inch size) that I had planted, for so now, I'm keeping all mine in pots until I decide what to do with them... Here's one.

[BS Man about Palms]

(bgl @ Jul. 11 2007,18:17)

QUOTE

I lsot a few smaller ones (4 inch size) that I had planted, for so now, I'm keeping all mine in pots until I decide what to do with them... Here's one.

??? (insert shocked face here) ???

Bo?

lost a palm?

Wait, he said lsot, that is probably another word for something else.  OR, see how foreign the word "lost" is to Bo ?

[bgl]

Bill,

Anyone who says they havn't lost any palms, havn't been into this very long. Or they're not telling the truth! I've lost oodles of palms ("oodles" is a code word for a number that I don't want to reveal... ), and I'm not talking about simply losing track of where I planted a particular palm, even though that certainly has happened as well!

I've lost palms for all sorts of reasons (but cold weather wasn't one of them!! ), and the most common was probably planting tiny (4 inch) palms in places where they were completely shaded out by taller palms (great canopy I thought!!), and simply dried out.

Bo-Göran

[BS Man about Palms]

Hope springs eternal........... :cool:

[Utopia Palms]

I must say I never get tired looking at L mattensis var. mapu, and all the photos look Fantastic! As a few have mentioned these like a wet spot or do not like to dry out also they grow best in a high humitidy area that does not change much that stays consent! Although they will handel some colder and tuff conditions you still have to pick your spots when planting or gorwing these. The other thing is not to use too much fert and be very careful with chemicals around them as this can kill them, along with many of the borneo species i have found! I can see there are some very patient and good growers out there that are growing some very nice plants but I bet all have killed a few ?I’m guilty of this a few times before working out the problems and how to grow them!  As it’s not the easiest of palms to grow especially for those that have a subtropical or colder climate.

For those who cannot grow this species and would like to grow one of the mottled licualas there is Licuala radula which will grow much easier in colder climates, it’s just as mottled although not quite as stunning, you will find some plants have more mottling than others so make sure you pick the ones that have the best mottling from a small size, these will hold that mottling and might even get better with age, they also grow quite fast, very fast compared to Licuala mapu and will grow to about 2m tall. Jeff Marcus should have these for sale for those in the US so give him a try, I’m sure you will be very happy with Licuala radula as well.  

[Gbarce]

To BGL,

The mottling of your plant seems to be very pronounce light green bas colow and the dark green spotting/mottling is very distinct.

Is that genetic or do you think its how you grow it?