Exotic Palm wish list - Will they thrive in Southern California (San Diego) ?

[Chadwick]

Hello friends! This is my first post here. I have been really getting into exotic palms lately and found some killer looking palms on Etsy.. I have absolutely no idea regarding price ect but I’m assuming they are priced fairly for many of the seller have great feedback and also from nursery. Anyhow here is my short wish list as of late… any help would greatly be appreciated. 
 

Chamaedorea radicalis 

Dypsis baronial 

Pheonicophorium borsigianum

Areca vestiaria

 

I had also purchased Cyphophoenix Nucele (baby seedlings), a 3 foot bare root Dypsis leptocheilo, and a Chambeyronia Macrocarpa palm.
 

I’m very excited although I’m not gonna lie, I’m a bit worried about the triangle palm surviving out here. I know it’s possible for I actually had one that was pretty healthy but I decided to put it in a awesome pot and it died :/  any tips on taking care of these would be so cool as far as best type of soil/potting mix and size of pot ect!

 

 

[JohnAndSancho]

Since you're in SD, I think you should check Phil's website or visit his nursery - junglemusic.net - he has an entire blog dedicated to what will thrive in your area. 

[Silas_Sancona]

11 minutes ago, Chadwick said:

Hello friends! This is my first post here. I have been really getting into exotic palms lately and found some killer looking palms on Etsy.. I have absolutely no idea regarding price ect but I’m assuming they are priced fairly for many of the seller have great feedback and also from nursery. Anyhow here is my short wish list as of late… any help would greatly be appreciated. 
 

Chamaedorea radicalis 

Dypsis baronial 

Pheonicophorium borsigianum

Areca vestiaria

 

I had also purchased Cyphophoenix Nucele (baby seedlings), a 3 foot bare root Dypsis leptocheilo, and a Chambeyronia Macrocarpa palm.
 

I’m very excited although I’m not gonna lie, I’m a bit worried about the triangle palm surviving out here. I know it’s possible for I actually had one that was pretty healthy but I decided to put it in a awesome pot and it died :/  any tips on taking care of these would be so cool as far as best type of soil/potting mix and size of pot ect!

 

 

Chadwick, Welcome to the forum..

Would take some time and look through the numerous threads created by various members from SD  showcasing a ton of awesome palm options.. Some quite exotic for the area, -depending on which side of town you're located, and how much space you have to play around with of course..

As mentioned, Jungle Music is a great resource for species / information. That said, there are numerous smaller / backyard sellers out there who grow some pretty neat stuff ..and have created some amazing gardens to look over for ideas..  Great people to connect with as well.

Needless to say, you're in one of the optimal spots in California / the Southwestern U.S.  for growing some really cool species w/ minimal effort or worry about the effects of cold in the winter.

[DoomsDave]

1 hour ago, Chadwick said:

Hello friends! This is my first post here. I have been really getting into exotic palms lately and found some killer looking palms on Etsy.. I have absolutely no idea regarding price ect but I’m assuming they are priced fairly for many of the seller have great feedback and also from nursery. Anyhow here is my short wish list as of late… any help would greatly be appreciated. 
 

Chamaedorea radicalis 

Dypsis baronial 

Pheonicophorium borsigianum

Areca vestiaria

 

I had also purchased Cyphophoenix Nucele (baby seedlings), a 3 foot bare root Dypsis leptocheilo, and a Chambeyronia Macrocarpa palm.
 

I’m very excited although I’m not gonna lie, I’m a bit worried about the triangle palm surviving out here. I know it’s possible for I actually had one that was pretty healthy but I decided to put it in a awesome pot and it died :/  any tips on taking care of these would be so cool as far as best type of soil/potting mix and size of pot ect!

 

 

Come up to la Habra in OC and see big palms in the flesh 

[Kim]

Yes. Yes. No. No. Among the alsos, 2 nos, 1 yes. A lot depends on your location within San Diego. My notes relate to coastal growing. If you are way inland, could be more challenging. Or better. Depends on species.

[Tracy]

4 hours ago, Chadwick said:

I’m very excited although I’m not gonna lie, I’m a bit worried about the triangle palm surviving out here. I know it’s possible for I actually had one that was pretty healthy but I decided to put it in a awesome pot and it died :/  any tips on taking care of these would be so cool as far as best type of soil/potting mix and size of pot ect!

 

6 minutes ago, Kim said:

Yes. Yes. No. No. Among the alsos, 2 nos, 1 yes. A lot depends on your location within San Diego. My notes relate to coastal growing. If you are way inland, could be more challenging. Or better. Depends on species.

Kim has already provided you the answer on the 4 palms on your hit list.  "San Diego" is a pretty big bucket, with some very diverse micro-climates, so you will have to nail that down a bit tighter to get the best advice.  Even within a zip code or city, elevation, cold drainage are factors that can play into how whether a specific palm might survive or where best to plant it in your garden.  In addition to climate, planting and irrigation advice will also revolve around soil type and sun exposure, shade availability as you start looking into fun palms to plant.

On the bareroot Dypsis decaryi or Triangle Palm, these are pretty readily available at a lot of places in pots.  Using Etsy or online shipping when there are many good growers to choose from here in the San Diego area just adds another complication.  There is a section on this forum for palms for sale as well as information about growers, see:  https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/forum/28-palm-exchange-plants-seeds-palmy-items-for-sale-swap/

Back to your Triangle Palm, they like good drainage, so well drained soil is key.  Normally they can handle and prefer a good deal of sun but that also depends on whether it just came out of a greenhouse or shade grown area versus an outdoor hardy environment.  Buying on Etsy, you might not get that insight versus going to a nursery or growers yard.  You are fortunate being close to many growers and not having to rely on distance online sources for all your plants.  Looking forward to hearing a little more about where in the County or City you are, which will probably help you connect with someone on the forum that lives in a close or very similar climate zone.  Welcome aboard the forum Chadwick.

[PalmatierMeg]

Pheonicophorium borsigianum, Areca vestiaria - NO - too tropical for a mediterranean climate

Chamaedorea radicalis, Dypsis baronii - YES - D. baronii won't grow here in SWFL; we are too sweltering most of the year

[Chadwick]

Wow! What a great community I stumbled across! I was not expecting so many responses this soon!! Thank you all for your feedback! To be exact, I’m located borderline Melrose and Bressi Ranch. I’m about 10minutes / 7miles from the beach (area code 92078). As for the nurseries within 7-12 miles, I have had no luck… its been a few years since I have come across any triangle palms and if anything hoped I’d run into one from a box store by now and surprisingly some nurseries I inquired had never heard of them!! We have quite a selection of nurseries too and dropping a exotic palm may raise some brows haha. It seems as if many of the exotic palms Im finding are from Florida vendors* I’m sure they come from all over. Anyhow I will definitely check out  junglemusic and this forum (I should have done that first) I had just never heard or seen the palms I had listed 

[Chadwick]

13 hours ago, Kim said:

Yes. Yes. No. No. Among the alsos, 2 nos, 1 yes. A lot depends on your location within San Diego. My notes relate to coastal growing. If you are way inland, could be more challenging. Or better. Depends on species.

Nice! We may be near the same area. I’ll have to check your notes! I’m guessing I’d fall into costal category but then again my home isn’t overcast when the beach is

[Chadwick]

25 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Pheonicophorium borsigianum, Areca vestiaria - NO - too tropical for a mediterranean climate

 

Chamaedorea radicalis, Dypsis baronii - YES - D. baronii won't grow here in SWFL; we are too sweltering most of the year

Bummer I was hoping the red palms would do well out here. I did read that the Latania lontaroides palm actually retains the “red” color pretty well compared to those that grow them in Florida… apparently the red doesn’t retain for very long 

[rprimbs]

There are people succeeding Areca vestaria here, but it is a challenge. 

[Dusty CBAD]

Hey there’s tons of places to find exotic palms and plants in North San Diego county. Your order from Etsy will probably be fine but that should be your last online order except for when you really dork out and order from Floribunda. 
 

Here’s a great resource:

http://www.palmpedia.net/palmsforcal/Category:Palm_Genera

As far as nursery’s, now that you’ve discovered rare palms you might as well forget about Home Depot and Lowes.

Here’s your new spots:

Jungle Music in Encinitas

Joe at Discovery Island palms in San Marcos (really close to you)

Josh at Fairview Nursery in Vista

Jungle Jacks in Vista

Plus tons of backyard hobby growers that always have extra plants laying around.
 

Careful, once you really go down the rabbit hole, there’s no going back.

[Blueman]

7 hours ago, Chadwick said:

It seems as if many of the exotic palms I'm finding are from Florida vendors 

 

Homestead, in SE FL, is where a huge number of tropical landscape plants in the US are grown.  Nurseries all over. 

[Chadwick]

On 8/12/2022 at 2:09 PM, Dusty CBAD said:

Hey there’s tons of places to find exotic palms and plants in North San Diego county. Your order from Etsy will probably be fine but that should be your last online order except for when you really dork out and order from Floribunda. 
 

Here’s a great resource:

http://www.palmpedia.net/palmsforcal/Category:Palm_Genera

As far as nursery’s, now that you’ve discovered rare palms you might as well forget about Home Depot and Lowes.

Here’s your new spots:

Jungle Music in Encinitas

Joe at Discovery Island palms in San Marcos (really close to you)

Josh at Fairview Nursery in Vista

Jungle Jacks in Vista

Plus tons of backyard hobby growers that always have extra plants laying around.
 

Careful, once you really go down the rabbit hole, there’s no going back.

Thanks friend! I’m so glad I found this site. I just got back from jungle music (first time) and i was very impressed! I had no idea this place existed. I actually met Phil and spoke with him for a while he knows his palms. very  cool guy.. he mentioned he started this site!
 

Anyways I’ll definitely check out these nurseries. I’m getting pretty serious about gardening lately and I’m addicted lol if you know of any really awesome looking exotic palms plz share with me! Phil told me about the tribear hybrid palm and I’m already trying searching for one now haha

[96720]

Triangles grow in phoenix you should have no problem in San Diego!!

[Justin]

I used to live not far from where you described, but north of the 78.  I had several triangle palms growing very well in decomposed granite soil.  The big thing for them is making sure they have decent drainage.  From seeing them at my old place - plus seeing them in habitat in Madagascar - they would very much like full sun whilst growing on the side of a hill.  I'm not sure whether there is any topography to your lot, or whether it was dozed flat, but if there is a hill, and/or if you can mound the palm when you plant it, that would be preferable.

[Kim]

There are a few Dypsis leptocheilos around, so maybe I shouldn't have made that a flat 'no' but they require a perfect microclimate and expert care. I know of a garden in Vista with several that look really fine, but that is exceptional.

[Mangosteen]

On 8/12/2022 at 2:09 PM, Dusty CBAD said:

Hey there’s tons of places to find exotic palms and plants in North San Diego county. Your order from Etsy will probably be fine but that should be your last online order except for when you really dork out and order from Floribunda. 
 

Here’s a great resource:

http://www.palmpedia.net/palmsforcal/Category:Palm_Genera

As far as nursery’s, now that you’ve discovered rare palms you might as well forget about Home Depot and Lowes.

Here’s your new spots:

Jungle Music in Encinitas

Joe at Discovery Island palms in San Marcos (really close to you)

Josh at Fairview Nursery in Vista

Jungle Jacks in Vista

Plus tons of backyard hobby growers that always have extra plants laying around.
 

Careful, once you really go down the rabbit hole, there’s no going back.

I've seen big, beautiful Bottle and Triangle palms at Home Depot in Mission Viejo (south Orange County, CA). They bring them in from Florida in the early summer.  They also have very nice, tall Foxtails.  HD in SD will surely have a good selection of these palms.

[Dusty CBAD]

13 minutes ago, Mangosteen said:

I've seen big, beautiful Bottle and Triangle palms at Home Depot in Mission Viejo (south Orange County, CA). They bring them in from Florida in the early summer.  They also have very nice, tall Foxtails.  HD in SD will surely have a good selection of these palms.

Ya that’s true, they do. And I’ve bought tons of companion plants from HD. I guess I meant it more as a mentality to tropical landscaping. Get rare stuff and avoid the “Home Depot Tropical Package”. Which is filling your yard with nothing but Pygmy dates, queen palms, giant birds of paradise, and the occasional king palm.

[Billy]

If you like the look of a coconut, Beccariophoenix Alfredii (native to Madagascar like the "triangle palm") does a pretty good mimic and thrives here in San Diego county. I went crazy and acquired 8 from Joe at Discovery Island palms. A pretty drought tolerant palm and does fine with our cold winters (mine all saw 37 last winter and are completely fine) here in San Diego. These palms eventually get massive (before even trunking) but as long as you have enough room in your yard I think they're a super cool option. Starting to become more popular in cultivation but I still consider it a rare palm. Another plus is that when it finally does seed, you don't have to worry about heavy nuts falling like you would with an actual coconut, as B. Alfredii seeds are about the size of a strawberry. Just one suggestion, as there's tons of cool palms that thrive here in San Diego county. A few "must haves" for San Diego county gardens would probably be Chambeyronia Hookeri and Macrocarpa, Dypsis Leptocheilos (plus a million others of the Dypsis genus), Arenga, Cyphophoenix, Rhopalostylis, Pritchardia, etc. As for the more common, or usual suspects in my neighborhood, perhaps would be Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, Bismarckia nobilis, Caryota gigas, Howea fosteriana&belmoreana, Wodyetia bifurcata. I'm a rookie grower so my only advice to you is make sure the palms you acquire are sun grown palms as exposed to greenhouse grown. Whatever you decide, have a blast! 

[Tracy]

On 8/12/2022 at 11:42 AM, Chadwick said:

Melrose and Bressi Ranch. I’m about 10minutes / 7miles from the beach

 

19 hours ago, Justin said:

I used to live not far from where you described, but north of the 78.  I had several triangle palms growing very well in decomposed granite soil.  The big thing for them is making sure they have decent drainage.  From seeing them at my old place - plus seeing them in habitat in Madagascar - they would very much like full sun whilst growing on the side of a hill.  I'm not sure whether there is any topography to your lot, or whether it was dozed flat, but if there is a hill, and/or if you can mound the palm when you plant it, that would be preferable.

As Justin points out, the soil and drainage is key.  I have palms growing in a garden almost due west of you in Carlsbad, just south of Palomar Airport Road, on the east side of the 5 freeway.  I had clay soil and planted a couple of Dypsis decaryi in a flat part of the garden and they died from rot.  I have since added one on a slope there and even in the clay soil, it is growing fine, albeit not as fast as another one I have in sandy soil.  My experience walking around Bressi Ranch area and riding my bike up there before any of it was developed is that you may very well have a rocky decomposed granite soil like Jason had.  I would expect that Dypsis decaryi will do well there.

As my neighbor Billy points out, there are plenty of other interesting palms you can grow as well.  Plant selection should be guided by exposure of your lot to cold drainage.  That area is full of rolling hills and mesas.  If you are up higher your winter lows and exposure to coastal breezes will be moderating factors on high and low temps.  Down in some of the valley's cold will settle in during winter.  All these are important to share when discussing plant selections.  A few degrees in winter may make the difference in a plant's survival.