Growing Sabal Palmetto in the landscape from seed..

[Georgia_Palms]

Hello, I’ve been a member on the forum for a little while now but this is my first actual post.. so I just had a question and I believe I’m in the right section on the forum.. So I’ve grown a few Sabal Palmettos from seed and they have about 4-5 strap leaves and I have planted them in my landscape here in my warm 8a zone in central GA (15 miles away from what’s considered 8b, so very close) and so my question is, are palmettos worth the time to wait on them to grow as opposed to planting, say, Windmill palms I’ve grown from seed that are already going palmate that will grow circles around the palmettos as far as rate of growth (I’m familiar with the fact that they take a long time to develop a visible trunk) so I know that people say they are slow indeed..

So is there anybody that has any experience with trying to grow these from seed that had enough patience to wait on them? I know you can purchase hurricane pruned palmettos, but I’m on a bit of a budget so I don’t plan on doing that.. Thanks I’m advance to anybody that can help me out!

-Caleb

[LeonardHolmes]

You are in for a long wait growing Sabals from seed.  Mine take around 30 years to start to trunk, in the shade in zone 7b.  Others have reported more like 10-15 years in the heat in the sun.

Grow some windmills too!

[Allen]

I guess do you want to pay $700+ for a trunked palmetto now or wait 20-30 years to be even close to that size.  The Windmill Palms will be big in 5-10 years,  Why not both and save for a trunked palmetto.  The good news is the seed grown one will be fuller and healthier - Bad news is it has to make it 20-30 years in 8A GA which might not happen if a severe cold comes along or bad luck with the palm.

Edited April 23, 2023 by Allen

[Georgia_Palms]

Yes that is true, and that’s kind of what I was already thinking was how slow these sabals would be.. But windmills are my one of my favorite palms so it sounds like to me if I’m not willing to save up to purchase the mature sabals dug from the wild then I’d be better off waiting on my seed grown windmills to grow up over the years.. Which is more rewarding IMO then waiting on a sabal to just start gaining size when I’d be nearing retirement in 30+ years (I’m 31 now lol). Trachys that age from seed, I could be walking and sitting under by then.  

[Georgia_Palms]

Not that there’s anything wrong with waiting on a seed grown Sabal to grow to maturity, but I just know that life on this people planet called Earth is already short enough as it is so I would like to watch my palms grow big lol. I may leave the Sabals I have planted out of the way to grow on their own and remove the ones I have in my patio area and replace them with my Trachycarpus.

[Allen]

23 minutes ago, Georgia_Palms said:

Not that there’s anything wrong with waiting on a seed grown Sabal to grow to maturity, but I just know that life on this people planet called Earth is already short enough as it is so I would like to watch my palms grow big lol. I may leave the Sabals I have planted out of the way to grow on their own and remove the ones I have in my patio area and replace them with my Trachycarpus.

If you have a wet/full sun spot, plant a palmetto there if you want to try to speed it along.  Someone in another thread mentioned by a HVAC/AC Drip line. 

Here is my palmetto planted at just maybe one year younger than the Trachy in this pic.  The palmetto is the one behind the light on the left almost hidden by the Trachy in the pic

 

Edited April 23, 2023 by Allen

[Georgia_Palms]

13 minutes ago, Allen said:

If you have a wet/full sun spot, plant a palmetto there if you want to try to speed it along.  Someone in another thread mentioned by a HVAC/AC Drip line. 

Here is my palmetto planted at just maybe one year younger than the Trachy in this pic.  The palmetto is the one behind the light on the left almost hidden by the Trachy in the pic

 

Wow, yeah that’s the difference in growth I was picturing.. That’s an awesome looking Windmill you got there btw!