p. Sargentii question:

 

I know these are slow growers but do the leaves open and continue to grow outward during their life span?

 

I’ve got one opening and it’s been a couple weeks but it’s nowhere as long as the others.

 

 

They start to open early as they push out, but continue to open and lengthen as they do.  Even after they open all the leaflets, the stem may push out another foot.  When young, each one that pushes out is later significantly bigger than the last, if conditions are equal.  If going from shade to full sun, any palm can temporarily become more compact.  

This one will be much bigger than the others in a few months, but it’s already starting to open….

11 hours ago, Looking Glass said:

They start to open early as they push out, but continue to open and lengthen as they do.  Even after they open all the leaflets, the stem may push out another foot.  When young, each one that pushes out is later significantly bigger than the last, if conditions are equal.  If going from shade to full sun, any palm can temporarily become more compact.  

This one will be much bigger than the others in a few months, but it’s already starting to open….

Awesome. Everyone told me these were snail pace growers so I had figured this would extend to all forms of growth including leaves.

 

thanks for satiating my curiosity!

 

one more question: where is the “protection point” for cold on this? I had heard 35-38 degrees would be fine as long as it has direct sun. I’ll probably give mine some mini light treatment regardless in the winter but just wondering 

Mini lights generate little to no heat. If you are considering lights to stave off cold,C9 incandescent light strings are the best solution.

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

15 hours ago, byuind said:

Awesome. Everyone told me these were snail pace growers so I had figured this would extend to all forms of growth including leaves.

 

thanks for satiating my curiosity!

 

one more question: where is the “protection point” for cold on this? I had heard 35-38 degrees would be fine as long as it has direct sun. I’ll probably give mine some mini light treatment regardless in the winter but just wondering 

People say these are slow, and I think they are really slow when it cools down.  But during the hot time of the year, they aren’t that slow.  When it’s 90 during the day, and 75 at night, in full sun, they chug right along.   Faster than the New Caledonia species and Cuban palms that I’ve got.   You can also push them along to some degree with fertilizer and strategic watering when it’s dry.   Mine get about 3.5 fronds per year for the regular subspecies.   

It doesn’t get cold down here, so I can’t speak about protection much.   You shouldn’t get damage at 35-38F.   Below 28F I think you’ll start to see some damage, depending on the duration.  At 26-24F you risk death.  I’d bet duration of cold has a lot to do with the damage.

But again, people in colder spots can speak about this better.   

Yours might look like this in 10 years….   
 

 

20 hours ago, aztropic said:

Mini lights generate little to no heat. If you are considering lights to stave off cold,C9 incandescent light strings are the best solution.

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

There are actually plenty of gas powered (non LED) mini light strains still for sale. 
 

i Know they give off plenty of heat because I actually fried a baby Satake with them last winter!

For me, P. sargentii has been thee most cold hardy crownshaft palm.  In the epic January 2010 11 day cold snap, it did very well with 3 consecutive nights below freezing and a low of 26F.  The Royals were pretty well fried but the Buccaneer had about 25% damage mainly due to frost.  As Dr. Larry Noblick once wrote, a palms drought tolerance is a good indicator of its cold tolerance.  This is a classic example.

Slow can be your best friend to palm enjoyment 😉. Less maintenance overall and after you have decent traditional fast palm canopy or otherwise, then the slow, rarer ones are pretty darn gratifying. 

I’m waiting for my double Adonidia to succumb to the mysterious frond cleaving disease plaguing central Florida at this time. Once they fly the coup, I’ll probably invest in a decent P. sargentii to put in its spot. 

I have a triple planting of buccaneer palm and also heard they are extremely slow growers. My experience is that they are faster growers than I anticipated. Full sun, water, fertilizer and warm temperatures have them putting out new shoots regularly. I've had these palms for 4 years now and they went unprotected from  a 30 degree night around Christmas 2022.....no damage whatsoever. They are beautiful and relatively rare palms to be cherished!!