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Anyone here from the Colorado River area?


Desertlife4me

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Hello everyone, 

I have always been a fan of palm trees, bamboo and tropical plants. I was born and raised in Seattle where I started a palm nursery in my back yard, I had over 400 Chinese Windmill palms growing.....had to get rid of them when I moved. Now I live in Arizona, Mohave Valley along the Colorado River. Elevation is 500ft +/- and growing zone 9B/10A, we get sub-freezing temps, but not a hard/deep freeze and not for very long, usually just a few min-to hours just before and just after dawn.

Soil conditions are a mix of clay and sand, very few rocks. Our water table is just 15 feet down or so and the well water has salt (about 1200ppm) along with calcium and iron.

We have lots of Mexican and California fan palms growing here, along with plenty of Date palms (pygmy, Canary Island, Medjool and even some Senegal).

I am hoping to grow a variety of palms here, so far I have both mex and CA fan palms and some pygmys, two Pindo Palms and some Sagos. What else can I grow here? I had two Queens that died on me the 1st year, not sure what got them, they died before the cold weather set in.

Looking for tropical palms that can handle the sun/heat and are also salt tolerant. Any advice?

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I should mention that I have some palms in mind

Royal Palms & Foxtail Plams and some Christmas Palms (dwarf royal palms) which I have growing in pots in the house. I would also like to get some Areca palms growing (Dypsis Lutesens)

I recently bought some seeds for the Bismarkia palm, going to try to get them to germinate.

 

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38 minutes ago, Desertlife4me said:

Hello everyone, 

I have always been a fan of palm trees, bamboo and tropical plants. I was born and raised in Seattle where I started a palm nursery in my back yard, I had over 400 Chinese Windmill palms growing.....had to get rid of them when I moved. Now I live in Arizona, Mohave Valley along the Colorado River. Elevation is 500ft +/- and growing zone 9B/10A, we get sub-freezing temps, but not a hard/deep freeze and not for very long, usually just a few min-to hours just before and just after dawn.

Soil conditions are a mix of clay and sand, very few rocks. Our water table is just 15 feet down or so and the well water has salt (about 1200ppm) along with calcium and iron.

We have lots of Mexican and California fan palms growing here, along with plenty of Date palms (pygmy, Canary Island, Medjool and even some Senegal).

I am hoping to grow a variety of palms here, so far I have both mex and CA fan palms and some pygmys, two Pindo Palms and some Sagos. What else can I grow here? I had two Queens that died on me the 1st year, not sure what got them, they died before the cold weather set in.

Looking for tropical palms that can handle the sun/heat and are also salt tolerant. Any advice?

Hello and welcome to the forum...   While this might get noticed more up in the main section of the forum,  can offer some ideas to help get the ball rolling here..

For your area, would look into palms like  Bsimarcks,  Nannarrhops, ...Any and all Brahea  species... Sabal uresana ( best adapted to our heat, closest native Sabal species )..and other Sabal species..  Stuff from the Caribbean, such as Coccothrinax, Thrinax, and Copernicia / Zombia are worth looking into.. Some are hardier than others. Some are easier to find than others as well..

For Pinnate-type palms, Royals may work, though they will need lots of water / fertilizer to look good. Same with Majesty Palms ( which need lots of water / fert / shade in the afternoon ) Pseudophoenix do pretty well here and if you're 9b /10a, would look into those as well.  Mules are pretty bullet-proof in our heat / dry air also.

Our heat / dry air makes other palms like Kings, ..and most of the more sun-tender tropical-esque looking palms, tougher here..

As for additional, non palm stuff,  list of options is long..  but if your winter cold spells are short enough, you could consider some of the tougher ( -to cold exposure- ) Plumeria cultivars, Trees like  Royal Poinciana, and some other, more obscure Delonix species.. Tropical Crepe Myrtle, Hong Kong Orchid Tree, various " regionally native " Ficus species,  and the spectacular Guaiacum coulteri, -and numerous other unusual native plants- from both Baja and mainland N.W. / Western Mexico..

Lots of interesting Cycads too which will handle desert heat if positioned correctly ( some Genus / species will take more direct sun than others.

If interested in Cacti, other deserty- tropicals like Agave, Yucca, etc... would check out Destination Forever Ranch.  Jan Emming, the owner,  has put together quite a paradise in the middle of the desert up that way though the years.

Regardless, hope this helps,  and feel free to post some pictures of what you're growing, up in the main section of the forum  sometime.. We always appreciate pictures here..

Link to Jan Emming's property: https://janemming.com/

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have a couple of ideas.

Plant some Eucalyptus to the west of your palms, to shade them after 3 or 4 PM.  Also, consider a well and filtration system to remove salts from that free water.

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2 hours ago, SeanK said:

I have a couple of ideas.

Plant some Eucalyptus to the west of your palms, to shade them after 3 or 4 PM.  Also, consider a well and filtration system to remove salts from that free water.

Eucalyptus = garbage trees, especially in areas like W. AZ that get a lot of wind..  Far better options that will tolerate frequent high wind events better.

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4 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Eucalyptus = garbage trees, especially in areas like W. AZ that get a lot of wind..  Far better options that will tolerate frequent high wind events better.

👍

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On 3/27/2023 at 4:44 AM, SeanK said:

I have a couple of ideas.

Plant some Eucalyptus to the west of your palms, to shade them after 3 or 4 PM.  Also, consider a well and filtration system to remove salts from that free water.

only two ways to remove salt from water, Reverse Osmosis and distillation, neither of those are very efficient, the salt content is 1000-1200ppm, not too bad, many tropical palms are salt tolerant and this much salt is no problem.

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The valley I live in has a ton of trees like the Eucalyptus....and mesquite and rosewood, any tree that can develop a deep tap root grows here without water as our water table is only 12-17 feet down.

Eucalyptus is a messy tree, looses bark and leaves all the time, have one on the front of my property.  Also the refuse takes forever to compost.

What about Bamboo as a shade provider?

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2 hours ago, Desertlife4me said:

The valley I live in has a ton of trees like the Eucalyptus....and mesquite and rosewood, any tree that can develop a deep tap root grows here without water as our water table is only 12-17 feet down.

Eucalyptus is a messy tree, looses bark and leaves all the time, have one on the front of my property.  Also the refuse takes forever to compost.

What about Bamboo as a shade provider?

Only trouble w/ Bamboo is how thirsty it is -typically speaking, some tolerate X deg. of drought a little better than others-  Can't see it providing too much shade either, especially under our less than optimal -for lush growth- conditions.  Mesquites, native sp. are best / less wind damage prone than hybrids / S. American sp., Rosewood, Ironwood, several regionally native Ficus sp. ( if someone has a larger property ) are great for larger tree-created shade / wind blocks.  Albizia sinaloensis also.  Trees like Olive, Texas Olive / Ebony ( while smaller. Real nice shade when big too ), various Acacias, Desert Willow, Lysiloma watsonii / thornberi,  and certain " Caesalpinia " like Mexican Yellow Bird of Paradise, and/or Cascalote can provide decent shade over smaller areas in a yard.

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