Show us your Beccariophoenix alfredii

[DoomsDave]

Lady’s crystalline voice: “What’s it all about, Alfie?”

Booming macho basso: “It’s about getting enormous across the base and taking forever to make a trunk.”

The shoe is 13” long, 30 cm. 
 

[Jadd Correia]

Beast Mode!!!

[JubaeaMan138]

Anyone seen randy decker lately . Miss that guy haven’t seen him in a few years . He had a huge one 3 to 4 years ago in Corona . Wonder what that beast looks like now 

[Breaktheory]

MONSTEROUS

[96720]

Can’t wait till mine looks like that!!! May have planted it too close to the pond!!!

[pogobob]

Juvenile monsters 

[sonoranfans]

Just letting leafbases fall off, this one went into the ground august 2010 as a just going pinnate 3 gallon and was burned just about to the ground in the 2010 dec cold event with heavy frost(28Fx2 plus frost).  The adirondack chair is 30" wide at the handrests.  The distance from house to black fence at the border is 35'. that is about the width of the palm.  This is one year out from hurricane IAN which spread out the previous more upright form.  By comparison my 30' bismarckia is about 25' wide.  I have two others planted same size same time in less than full sun and the are no more than 2/3rds the size of this one in all day sun.  They do grow notably slower/smaller in shade it seems.

 

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

I absolutely adore this palm tree,  wishing I could grow this reliably. Unfortunately I don't think it's in the cards for me. 

T J 

[96720]

You never know if you don’t try I don’t know what the cold tolerance is I have never had any problems with cold but I’m sure you are colder than us!! Maybe someone else may know how much cold they will take!!

[DoomsDave]

58 minutes ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

I absolutely adore this palm tree,  wishing I could grow this reliably. Unfortunately I don't think it's in the cards for me. 

T J 

 

29 minutes ago, 96720 said:

You never know if you don’t try I don’t know what the cold tolerance is I have never had any problems with cold but I’m sure you are colder than us!! Maybe someone else may know how much cold they will take!!

They’re hardy to 25 F for sure.

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

1 hour ago, DoomsDave said:

They’re hardy to 25 F for sure.

Well I was growing one in my front yard about a 5g sized one and it didn't survive 17° F with minimal protection. All of my Patric hybrids did survive with some having spear pull. Palmageddon was 15° F and we have dropped below 20° 3 out of the last 8 years. I do have 2 more to try tho =/ 

T J 

[LJG]

They get way bigger than I had planned when I put it in the ground. 

[flplantguy]

Hoping my little one gallon from floribunda is like this one day.  I'm planting it asap this coming spring so it can settle in as a small plant and maybe not be so wobbly in the sand here like some are.

[DoomsDave]

1 hour ago, LJG said:

They get way bigger than I had planned when I put it in the ground. 

Yowza. 
 

Obscenities screamed! I planted my specimens in June or July 2009; when did you plant yours?

[UK_Palms]

There is a Beccariophoenix Alfredii in central London that is about 6 feet tall now and growing pretty rapidly. It got damaged last winter, since it was a pretty bad winter, but it has recovered extremely well this summer. It probably saw -1C on a few occasions during the December and January freezes, but has put out about 3-4 new fronds this growing season. I saw a video of it doing the rounds on Facebook, but cannot link it here anyway. I wish I took a screenshot of it at the time (several weeks back) as I can't seem to find it now.

I don't believe it has ever been protected and it was planted very small about 4-5 years ago. I first saw/heard about it around 3 years ago. It benefits from the central London microclimate and is in a very sheltered garden. There is also an enormous 40-50 foot Washingtonia Robusta right nearby to it as well, which may be the biggest Washie in London and is as tall as the 4 story building it sits behind. I will do some digging and try to find photos of both. There is an enormous Sabal Bermundana in a London back garden as well, which must be over 20-25 foot in height.

[LJG]

22 minutes ago, DoomsDave said:

Yowza. 
 

Obscenities screamed! I planted my specimens in June or July 2009; when did you plant yours?

Mine was planted in 2008 as a 15 from Pete Balasky out of Florida.

[donalt]

alfredii suburb of orlando, fl.  bought as 7 gallon. only wish I hadn't planted so close to house, however, the palm compensated with beautiful curvature

[BayAndroid]

Wow, great examples in this thread. I have one in the ground, as of this past Spring. I hope it does ok over the winter. My lows the past 2 winters were 26 & 27.. Bought it as a 15 gallon size and it's slowly pushing its first new spear since planting. We'll see, they're saying this winter should be more mild. 

[WaianaeCrider]

Probably posted this in another post, but here goes.  Mine is doing great here on O`ahu's dry side.  About 30" of rain a year on average.  Temps NEVER BELOW say 58.  Planted out 1 gallon size in 2020 during covid w/nothing else to do but yard work.  LOL

This was July this year.  I've had to pile soil around the trunk as it seems soil compacted since planting and some roots were showing and palm was wobbly.

[sonoranfans]

6 hours ago, WaianaeCrider said:

Probably posted this in another post, but here goes.  Mine is doing great here on O`ahu's dry side.  About 30" of rain a year on average.  Temps NEVER BELOW say 58.  Planted out 1 gallon size in 2020 during covid w/nothing else to do but yard work.  LOL

This was July this year.  I've had to pile soil around the trunk as it seems soil compacted since planting and some roots were showing and palm was wobbly.

Steve, planning on removing those small trees nearby?  More sun and free root area will improve growth.  It will be interesting to see how it grows there on dry side O'hau.

[WaianaeCrider]

4 hours ago, sonoranfans said:

Steve, planning on removing those small trees nearby?  More sun and free root area will improve growth.  It will be interesting to see how it grows there on dry side O'hau.

YES.  I've taken down a few since planting.  Summer time they lose most of their leaves so it's a good time to cut them down.  Only problem is the loading on my truck and the trip to the dump.

[-2 brian]

Starting to get some size. 

 

[Josh-O]

Great post Dave

[Jim in Los Altos]

Still very young and a bit leggy but a robust grower in partial shade. 
 

[JohnAndSancho]

I dropped this one into the yard when the fire ants decided it looked cozy. FYI cinnamon works GREAT to get rid of them. 

 

And after poking the white stuff on it with a stick I can 10/10 confirm that those are spider eggs, not spider mites or mealybugs. 

 

Should be an absolute unit by *checks notes* 2045. 

[WaianaeCrider]

It was suggested I cut down the "scrubs" to give Alfy more sun.  Good idea since they not providing that much shade this time of the year.

Well I topped one the other day and yea it does look better.  That's Cyphophoenix alba in the bed with it.  Both were 1 gallon plants around 10/20 when the got planted out.

Even Butia yatey in the background looks better.

Left the stump until I can get a strong stake to give Alfy more support at ground level.  Added some soil around it;s base as well and another spray head to both palms.

 

 

[Axlhoss]

Planted as a 1 gallon in 2009. 

[Zeeth]

Here's mine, sprouted from seed in late 2009. They're pretty much bulletproof over here. I had irrigation set up to them for the first few years but they no longer get any supplemental water and don't seem to mind.