Any Livistona Chinensis in PNW?

[Paradise Found]

I've been thinking of planting one soon.  and like to know if anyone else has any experience with them in the PNW? Good or Bad results. 

Edited September 12, 2021 by Paradise Found

[matthedlund]

On 9/12/2021 at 12:11 PM, Paradise Found said:

I've been thinking of planting one soon.  and like to know if anyone else has any experience with them in the PNW? Good or Bad results. 

I don't have any experience with them yet (Seattle), but did pick up some plants this spring.  It'll be an experiment for sure.

[Paradise Found]

Yeah a good one to try out thats for sure.  Hardiness depends on which website you look at. Anywhere from 8a to 9a in some places.  I plan on protecting mine with a pop up greenhouse it small and will be easy to heat during a bad snow or deep freeze. Otherwise it will be off to get some rain to make those roots grow in fall. 

[Chester B]

I have 3 in the ground.  One has a lot of overhead protection the other two less so, but they have been untested.  Realistically I think my last 4 winters wouldn't have phased them so I guess we'll see.

I do have one Nitida in the ground that went through last winters ice storm.  It did take damage to the newest spear, so one frond is only half the size but the fronds after have all been fine.

[Paradise Found]

Yeah it been mild the last few winters, I keep hearing on TV that this year might be the same as last year but colder. I hope not! 

Nitida is a nice one to try if your in 8b.

Looking forward to some rain this weekend and then back to nice normal weather a little under the normal temps.

 I hope your palm recovered.  I had chinensis years ago and it would grow three new leaves in the summer. 

[Chester B]

I counted this afternoon and the nitida did 5 new fronds, even in a shady spot. I cut back a rhododendron that was blocking a lot of sun so I hope it does better. 
 

I find chinensis to be such a slow grower. So three sounds about right. 

[Paradise Found]

I finally got one in the ground. Single trunk and its in part shade next to some younger mules and sabal.  It's a tight fit but I think it will work for now.  It looks like crap now but it will look better in a few years.

Edited September 28, 2021 by Paradise Found

[Chester B]

Mine don’t look great either. They’ve finally recovered after I separated a pot of them. I put 3 in. 

[Chester B]

Livistona nitida is a much faster grower. 

[Paradise Found]

The nitida Looks Great! 

Those chinensis will look a lot better with more leaves and another growing season.  

How do you plan on protecting them?

[Chester B]

1 hour ago, Paradise Found said:

The nitida Looks Great! 

Those chinensis will look a lot better with more leaves and another growing season.  

How do you plan on protecting them?

What protection?  Sink or swim. Some overhead canopy is all they’ll get. 
 

If they can survive in Texas after last winter they surely must be able to survive my winters.  Last year they were outside in pots after my greenhouse got smashed without issue. 
 

Nitida has received no protection so far as well and handled the ice storm well. 
 

The only plant that gets a little help is the tree fern. I’ll throw a towel over if it’s projected to go below 30. Usually only 3 or 4 nights per year. 
 

 

[LivistonaFan]

3 hours ago, Chester B said:

What protection?  Sink or swim.

That's exactly how I am treating my in-ground palms. In my opinion, Livistona chinensis is a surprisingly tough palm even for more northern Mediterranean climates.  Cool-wet tolerance is better than that of a Washingtonia filifera, because it looked marvelous after this winter whereas the W. filifera did not. 

In its first summer, my palm has lost all its leaves, because it had a comparatively small root ball (for transport) and barely got any irrigation despite several weeks of heat and drought. This is what it looked like in late June/early July 2019 and still at least two arid summer months to come:

Two years later, early September 2021. Now it is producing about 3 leaves/ year and I expect faster growth for the next years.  With irrigation it would probably produce at least 5/6 leaves per year. 

The leaves are in very good shape although there is some yellowing on older leaves due to the sun. 

 

I also have a Livistona nitida, but it is much smaller and not as established yet. It has only produced one leaf this season so far. It coped well with the drought. I hope, it will grow at a reasonable pace without irrigation (I read somewhere that they are water hogs if you want fast growth)

[Chester B]

@LivistonaFan looking good. My nitida is on frond 5 or 6 of the year despite being in a spot where it was not getting enough sun. I’ve since trimmed back some plants blocking it. It appears to be faster growing than chinensis. 
 

I know we never get cold enough to kill chinensis but I don’t want to keep a palm around that takes all summer to look good after winter. 

[Paradise Found]

This winter I will protect the leaves on chinensis,  below 25F they will get damaged.  I'm using a tomato pop up greenhouse protector along with some small amount of heat.  If it doesn't work than I will just leave them be.

Both Chinensis and Nitada are rated 8b Has endure much more cold and lived.  

Edited September 29, 2021 by Paradise Found

[Swolte]

21 hours ago, Chester B said:

If they can survive in Texas after last winter they surely must be able to survive my winters.  Last year they were outside in pots after my greenhouse got smashed without issue. 

Have there been any reports of Nitida surviving in Texas? I can't recall there were many. Mine is doing great (see pic) now after the 3F event but I did wrap it quite nicely (no heat source, though...). I vaguely recall the one from@Fusca did not do as well (might be wrong here)

Edited September 30, 2021 by Swolte
Added pic!!

[Fallen Munk]

I've tried seeds from several sellers over the last two years with zero germination.  I do have one Livistona lanuginosa that another palmtalker sent me a seedling of that is doing fine.

[Chester B]

3 hours ago, Swolte said:

Have there been any reports of Nitida surviving in Texas? I can't recall there were many. Mine is doing great (see pic) now after the 3F event but I did wrap it quite nicely (no heat source, though...). I vaguely recall the one from@Fusca did not do as well (might be wrong here)

Wow that’s cold. Even with being wrapped that palm was exposed to some seriously cold temperatures. I looked it up and only 4 times on record has it been that cold here and 3 of those days were in 1950 and the other in 1943. 

[Fusca]

Yes, my Livistona nitida was about 7' overall height and didn't survive.  It was unprotected as I was protecting other palms.  My L. chinensis is doing great since I performed surgery.

 

[Trustandi]

I grew some of Livistona chinensis var. Subglobosa from the seeds. They are still in the pot unfortunately.

I planted the nitida this spring in my garden, I was inspired by @Chester B 

 

[Chester B]

@Trustandi I’m glad to see someone else trying one. These seem to be pretty hard to get a hold of these days. You’ll have to keep us posted on its progress. Here’s to a mild winter.