I just got these two baby palms this week shipped,  I would like to know wether I should bring them in the greenhouse right now or ever this winter, since they are so small. As of now temps are between 12C(night) and 25C(day) I'm in zone 10b. Next spring (april/may) they're surely going in the ground. 

6 hours ago, tropicalplantdude said:

just got these two baby palms this week shipped,

A few things to consider to answer.  First question to answer is what sort of environment were they in before you got them?  If in a greenhouse, they will need to adapt to both outside temperatures and sun exposure.  As opposed to looking at your average highs and lows, look at your lowest low temps for December, January and February the last several years.  All it takes is one cold night for these smaller palms where you drop down to 0 degrees C.  I know that a lot of websites will list the average daytime high and average daytime low for a location, which paints only a limited picture if one doesn't understand the variance around the averages reported.  So rather than answer the question, I hope these considerations can assist you in answering the question.  Just out of curiosity, do you get snow ever or frost and if so how many days on average in the winter?

@Tracy thanks for the answer. Yes they were growing in a non heated greenhouse in spain, basically the same exact climate.  My lowest in winter is 0 in the coldest part of the garden while it's 1/3 in the warmest ones (this if it's a particularly cold winter),In normal warmer winters our absolute low is 2/3 (coldest) 3/5 (warmest). Funnily enough it does snow here but it doesn't even reach the ground most times as even at night temps raise readily after thanks to the warmth of the sea. On a really cold winter we have 2/3 frost days, normal ones 0days

1 hour ago, tropicalplantdude said:

My lowest in winter is 0 in the coldest part of the garden while it's 1/3 in the warmest ones (this if it's a particularly cold winter),

It is your call, but I would be inclined to bring them into a protected area if you have a greenhouse and take them out in the spring for planting.  One friend once shared that he tries to minimize the number of shocks he introduces plants to, so 1 shock is coming out of the non-heated greenhouse, 2 shock is heading into winter.  Giving these the opportunity to get a little more established through next Spring, Summer and Autumn will increase your probability of success.  It sounds like it was a little project getting them over from Spain, so ease of replacement would also factor into my decision.  Forgive me, but I'm not sure which Pritchardia species you are referring to by the shorthand "bm".

15 minutes ago, Tracy said:

Forgive me, but I'm not sure which Pritchardia species you are referring to by the shorthand "bm".

I think it's Pritchardia hillebrandii 'blue moon'.  I guess they start out green and turn blue later. 

@tropicalplantdude bellissima!

I think. 
 

I’m with @Tracy and strongly suggest over wintering your new plants in a safe place and not planting out till spring.

When you’re ready to plant talk some more.

With a decade or so you could have something like this:

@Tracy thank you so much for the help! I think I'm just going to put them in the greenhouse as soon as we get temps below 10 at night. Let's hope it's going to be a mild enough winter so that it will even do some growing! 

@Fusca yup i referred to "blue moon" 

@DoomsDave thanks! I have pretty high hopes for it to be come that big since there are many people currently starting to grow them successfully in the Mediterranean. 

7 hours ago, tropicalplantdude said:

@DoomsDave thanks! I have pretty high hopes for it to be come that big since there are many people currently starting to grow them successfully in the Mediterranean. 

The big thing is good soil and lots of water, plus shade to start when small.

@DoomsDave yeah that's pretty much a rule of thumb for all plants here because of our boiling hot summers. I already have good soil thankfully (I'm in a volcanic area, one the most fertile in italy and potentially even in Europe actually). It's basically 40%pumice n lava rocks, 20%-ish  volcanic ash and the rest is organic matter with only 10% clay. Ofc i will have to water, like almost everything else in the garden, once or even twice a day!

2 hours ago, tropicalplantdude said:

It's basically 40%pumice n lava rocks, 20%-ish  volcanic ash and the rest is organic matter with only 10% clay. Ofc i will have to water, like almost everything else in the garden, once or even twice a day!

Sounds like a good soil.  Add some mulch over the top and it will help you to retain moisture and use a little less water.

@Tracy good suggestion! I definitely will, do u think it would be better to mulch with leaves (like i do in the rest of the garden) or compost?

oh and yeah I mean 1/2 times a day with mulch... we get blazing hot summers with low humidity so it's a must with or without it

Edited November 12, 20214 yr by tropicalplantdude

Hey! Here's an update on my chambeyronia! It has clearly got hit a bit by frost this winter (it's been particularly long and cold), unfortunately it was my fault since I brought it in n out depending on the temps and i pushed it too far in February. I then planted it on the first days of spring in the ground.  Seems to be greening up again and it's quickly throwing out a new spear, so I think i can call this a win considering what this little seedling has gone through.