Coconut or Kentia?

[Victor G.]

1 hour ago, Apostolos05 said:

I want to try to plant a kentia in athens but i am not pretty sure it will live ! The frost we get the last years makes it very difficult to survive! Although i will try it

I think they would do fine in winter. Kentias can take some cold.

But the problem, is the summer sun. Most grown kentias will suffer horrible burns when exposed in full sun.
They say, however, that if you grow a kentia from seed in full sun, it will do fine.

[Tomas]

4 hours ago, Victor G. said:

I think they would do fine in winter. Kentias can take some cold.

But the problem, is the summer sun. Most grown kentias will suffer horrible burns when exposed in full sun.
They say, however, that if you grow a kentia from seed in full sun, it will do fine.

As young plants, kentias need shade, but when mature, they can take full sun. In Sicily, which is roughly at the same latitude as Athens, there are many mature plants in full sun

[Jim in Los Altos]

8 hours ago, Apostolos05 said:

I want to try to plant a kentia in athens but i am not pretty sure it will live ! The frost we get the last years makes it very difficult to survive! Although i will try it

Please make sure you plant it in full shade. Any direct sun on it in your summer climate will burn the leaves badly. A shady position will also help protect it from winter frost.

[Victor G.]

Hmm there appear to be different opinions here.

Anyway, the one I posted above (from Rhodes island) receives full sun many hours a day in the summer. Plus it's located within the old city, which is made up from stone and marble. It get crazy hot in there is summer.

[Aleitalyyy]

@Victor G.it's a little more resistant than coconut... now mine grows at home and looks great.... beccariophoenix instead is dying!

[Victor G.]

23 minutes ago, Aleitalyyy said:

@Victor G.it's a little more resistant than coconut... now mine grows at home and looks great.... beccariophoenix instead is dying!

Really? I heard about a kentia growing in a 9b zone near my place. Never seen it though

[Aleitalyyy]

4 minutes ago, Victor G. said:

Really? I heard about a kentia growing in a 9b zone near my place. Never seen it though

I mean the bottle palm! kentia is very resistant I would say up to zero degrees celsius there is no problem ... here in liguria in northern italy they grow happily outside in the condominium gardens

[Victor G.]

16 minutes ago, Aleitalyyy said:

I mean the bottle palm! kentia is very resistant I would say up to zero degrees celsius there is no problem ... here in liguria in northern italy they grow happily outside in the condominium gardens

Ah yeah, sorry, I got confused! Yeah, kentia can take some cold.

You're probably moving the bottle palm inside the house in the winter, right?

And I'm surprised that beccariophoenix is dying. Many have said that it can easily grow from zone 9b and on.

I'm asking about bottle and beccariophoenix palms because I want to plant them in the future as well!