Starting over

[John in Andalucia]

I seem to post less and less as the years go by, but my enthusiasm for palms never wanes. For the past 6 years my username hasn't really reflected my true status, having moved to the UK to work in the heart of Central London; a crazy and hectic 6 years that is now behind me.

In January of this year, my wife and I moved back to our 'home town' in Spain once again. I'm a Brit, but shan't be going back. My wife is Peruvian, so it'll be here, looking after my mother, or Peru, one day in the future. 

So many happy memories on PalmTalk since joining in 2007.

Here's a little video of the seedlings I started growing in London. A special thanks to Colin Wilson, and Paul in Thailand for their ever-generous seed gifts, whilst not forgetting the EPS member in NZ who sent me over a thousand R. sapida seeds to share among EPS forum members. I was left with about 300 for myself, and I think they will do really well here on the coast of Andalucia.

We're staying at my mom's apartment until we find a bigger place, hence everything is piled up on the balcony.

How's your year shaping up? The last couple of years have been crazy for everyone, and we're still not out of the woods yet, but when you have a hobby like growing palms, it acts as a great leveller, don't you think?

 

 

[bubba]

Sensational to hear from a great bud and iconic poster from the good old days! I can see the palm bug remains deeply and inherently embedded. I hope all things are good with you and yours!

[John in Andalucia]

7 minutes ago, bubba said:

Sensational to hear from a great bud and iconic poster from the good old days! I can see the palm bug remains deeply and inherently embedded. I hope all things are good with you and yours!

Hey bubba - thanks for the shout! All good here, you stalwart you! 

[Las Palmas Norte]

My "palm bug" started in 1981, and then I never dreamed of devices that where capable of communicating world wide in an instant. I've started over a number of times since then, and most recently 3 years ago, albeit a scaled back version of previous efforts. 

[TheMadScientist]

@John in Andalucia, some of us use the search app. for this forum and your posts of the past are valid today.  Your Spain location is closer to matching portions of my climate at times in the northern part of Los Angeles County....I still only read about something called RAIN, but all of us hope for more contributions from you.  Scott

 

According to Wiki, your GPS is 36, 45 deg. North and I am 34, 36 NORTH....very helpful

Edited June 7, 2022 by TheMadScientist

[John in Andalucia]

55 minutes ago, TheMadScientist said:

@John in Andalucia, some of us use the search app. for this forum and your posts of the past are valid today.  Your Spain location is closer to matching portions of my climate at times in the northern part of Los Angeles County....I still only read about something called RAIN, but all of us hope for more contributions from you.  Scott

 

According to Wiki, your GPS is 36, 45 deg. North and I am 34, 36 NORTH....very helpful

Thanks Scott. I shall endeavour to keep going! Incidentally, I'm slightly south of Motril town, right on the coast at 36, 43 N. 

[PalmatierMeg]

Glad to hear you made it back to Spain, John. Do check in with us often. I learned a lot from you.

[John in Andalucia]

55 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Glad to hear you made it back to Spain, John. Do check in with us often. I learned a lot from you.

Meg, I learned everything I know about palms from this forum, so it must be infectious!

As soon as Gina and I find our own place to live, it will be 'business as usual' as far as my palm meanderings are concerned. 

[palmfriend]

John,

I just joined a couple of years ago but I do remember very well your posts from UK with all those incredible (potted) palms.

I like your video - especially the part when you passed the seedlings in those little plastic bags! I still have the images you posted

at that time in my mind because this method of growing seedlings definitely impressed me. (I apologize for not remembering the species' name

but I do remember that it was not a very common one...) 

I am looking forward further updates and

wishing you all the best for your family and your palms at your new place of stay!

 

Lars

 

 

[pohonkelapa]

Hi John. I remember you! Glad to see you're still at it with palms!

[Kim]

Oh my, a blast from the past! So good to see you on here again. Best wishes for your seedlings and a future garden. 

[pohonkelapa]

The old palm talk crew is coming back! 

[Tyrone]

Hi John. All the best with your new garden creation and starting again. At 36N you are almost the same distance from the equator as me at 35S. I can't wait until you get all those Rhopalostylis planted out. You will have to keep us updated with how it turns out. Exciting times ahead then. 

[John in Andalucia]

2 hours ago, palmfriend said:

John,

I just joined a couple of years ago but I do remember very well your posts from UK with all those incredible (potted) palms.

I like your video - especially the part when you passed the seedlings in those little plastic bags! I still have the images you posted

at that time in my mind because this method of growing seedlings definitely impressed me. (I apologize for not remembering the species' name

but I do remember that it was not a very common one...) 

I am looking forward further updates and

wishing you all the best for your family and your palms at your new place of stay!

 

Lars

 

 

Thank you, Lars. Those plastic sleeves were a great way for me to restart my collection from the confines of a London basement studio.

Most have been bumped up to pots. The few still remaining are P. vinifera and a large batch - out of shot - of Satakentia seedlings.

[John in Andalucia]

1 hour ago, pohonkelapa said:

Hi John. I remember you! Glad to see you're still at it with palms!

Paul, your reputation precedes you. Swiftly followed up by MattyB, in most cases. 

Or was it the other way around? 

Either way, guys like you and Matt are the cornerstone of a good forum, IMHO; a bridge, if you will, between science, learning and understanding.

[John in Andalucia]

1 hour ago, Kim said:

Oh my, a blast from the past! So good to see you on here again. Best wishes for your seedlings and a future garden. 

It may yet happen! Thanks Kim. 

[John in Andalucia]

1 hour ago, Tyrone said:

Hi John. All the best with your new garden creation and starting again. At 36N you are almost the same distance from the equator as me at 35S. I can't wait until you get all those Rhopalostylis planted out. You will have to keep us updated with how it turns out. Exciting times ahead then. 

Thanks, Tyrone. Those R. sapida seedlings are so slow to begin with, aren't they? The growth spurt is just beginning though, I've noticed.

I have 2 that came from a previous seed batch a year earlier, and the difference in size is phenomenal. 

 

[Tyrone]

47 minutes ago, John in Andalucia said:

Thanks, Tyrone. Those R. sapida seedlings are so slow to begin with, aren't they? The growth spurt is just beginning though, I've noticed.

I have 2 that came from a previous seed batch a year earlier, and the difference in size is phenomenal. 

 

Yes, they're in no hurry to begin with. Like slow grass. How old are yours? I notice from about year 3 they pick up, and then once in the ground away they go.

I have about 4000 in pots that I'm preparing to plant up the world with. I found some local seeding specimens which are likely North Island form, possibly East Cape or Great Barrier Island according to the NZ guys here. I asked the owner for a hand full of seed. She got out a saw and gave me 3 full infructenses. 3500 seed later. Pretty much all came up, even the ones that had a bit of green on them. I didn't want to waste a single seed. The Chatham Island version is by far the quickest. I have some in the ground getting big that in a few years time may start fruiting. I want to plant up enough different species to become a seed source for the future, as trading across borders is going to get harder and harder. 

I got my first R bauerii seed from my own trees earlier this year and just this week had a second one flower again. Hopefully the seed will set again. 

I think your new environment should work well for them and maybe R bauerii more so as they are a little more suited to warmer weather coming from further north. 

I took a look at the climate of your new area. Nice and warm. A bit warmer than my area in summer and a bit drier too. But with good planning you should be able to make an awesome garden there. Keep us updated. 

[John in Andalucia]

 

1 hour ago, Tyrone said:

Yes, they're in no hurry to begin with. Like slow grass. How old are yours? I notice from about year 3 they pick up, and then once in the ground away they go.

I have about 4000 in pots that I'm preparing to plant up the world with. I found some local seeding specimens which are likely North Island form, possibly East Cape or Great Barrier Island according to the NZ guys here. I asked the owner for a hand full of seed. She got out a saw and gave me 3 full infructenses. 3500 seed later. Pretty much all came up, even the ones that had a bit of green on them. I didn't want to waste a single seed. The Chatham Island version is by far the quickest. I have some in the ground getting big that in a few years time may start fruiting. I want to plant up enough different species to become a seed source for the future, as trading across borders is going to get harder and harder. 

I got my first R bauerii seed from my own trees earlier this year and just this week had a second one flower again. Hopefully the seed will set again. 

I think your new environment should work well for them and maybe R bauerii more so as they are a little more suited to warmer weather coming from further north. 

I took a look at the climate of your new area. Nice and warm. A bit warmer than my area in summer and a bit drier too. But with good planning you should be able to make an awesome garden there. Keep us updated. 

It turns out, I acquired my R. sapida seeds back in July 2018! I remember keeping them in a bag of soil under the bed until the following Spring, and potting them up over the course of 2019. The seeds came from a New Zealand EPS forum member called Alan Hancox. He collected them himself, from Karamea, quote: "in northern westland, south island, at latitude 41.16 degrees south".

In contrast, the 2 R. sapida seedlings from an earlier batch came from an eBay seller around the same time. They probably got potted into liners in early Autumn 2018. I don't have any further details, but the difference in growth rate makes me confident that my Karamea bunch are going to take off soon.

[dalmatiansoap]

Hey John, nice to sea you back on palmtalk.

Super silver Brahea from your seeds says hello!

 

[bubba]

Ants…

[John in Andalucia]

1 hour ago, dalmatiansoap said:

Hey John, nice to sea you back on palmtalk.

Super silver Brahea from your seeds says hello!

 

Hi Ante, glad to see all is well in your Croatian garden! You must have quite a collection by now. 

[John in Andalucia]

15 minutes ago, bubba said:

Ants…

Are we getting the band back together? 

[Tyrone]

5 hours ago, John in Andalucia said:

 

It turns out, I acquired my R. sapida seeds back in July 2018! I remember keeping them in a bag of soil under the bed until the following Spring, and potting them up over the course of 2019. The seeds came from a New Zealand EPS forum member called Alan Hancox. He collected them himself, from Karamea, quote: "in northern westland, south island, at latitude 41.16 degrees south".

In contrast, the 2 R. sapida seedlings from an earlier batch came from an eBay seller around the same time. They probably got potted into liners in early Autumn 2018. I don't have any further details, but the difference in growth rate makes me confident that my Karamea bunch are going to take off soon.

They come from just south of the famous Heaphy Track, where the nikaus grow almost on the beach. They will be awesome when they get older. They’re meant to be the toughest of the nikau varieties, especially of the cold. Well done getting hold of them. 

[bubba]

Not a bad idea…We can ruminate together in our maturity…

[Rafael]

Hi John, you were my first supplier by mail, in 2010 and you inspired my more than ten spanish PRA 

Hope you get your new own paradise overthere.

And I hope it’s like Paul said, old palmtalk crew coming back 

[Aleitalyyy]

https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/56974-a-coconut-in-london/?page=2

jhon please