Pindo palms

[Hamandah]

Hello! 
 

I love the how the canary date palms look but they are way too big for where we want to put some palm trees and when I saw a Pindo palm, it kind of reminded my of a canary, just a lot smaller. But I didn’t realize it looks like the drop fruit? 
 

Are these messy? How long to they drop fruit? 

[Fusca]

  On 4/3/2024 at 9:25 PM, Hamandah said:

Hello! 
 

I love the how the canary date palms look but they are way too big for where we want to put some palm trees and when I saw a Pindo palm, it kind of reminded my of a canary, just a lot smaller. But I didn’t realize it looks like the drop fruit? 
 

Are these messy? How long to they drop fruit? 

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They can be messy for sure, but you can always cut off the flower stalk (inflorescence) before they set fruit.  Thankfully they are easily removed since they form relatively low on the palm.  The fruits are delicious so they can attract wasps or other critters but they make excellent jelly!  They are quite variable palms - below is a photo of mine from 2 years ago that is now about 10' overall height and has not flowered yet.  It was purchased as a 7-gal (4' tall) in 2020 and is growing faster than any Pindo that I have grown in the past.  Many times they are already flowering at this size - I'm looking forward to getting fruit but not getting any yet!  Depending on your location in CA they can flower a couple of times per year.  Welcome to Palmtalk!

[Hamandah]

  On 4/3/2024 at 9:37 PM, Fusca said:

They can be messy for sure, but you can always cut off the flower stalk (inflorescence) before they set fruit.  Thankfully they are easily removed since they form relatively low on the palm.  The fruits are delicious so they can attract wasps or other critters but they make excellent jelly!  They are quite variable palms - below is a photo of mine from 2 years ago that is now about 10' overall height and has not flowered yet.  It was purchased as a 7-gal (4' tall) in 2020 and is growing faster than any Pindo that I have grown in the past.  Many times they are already flowering at this size - I'm looking forward to getting fruit but not getting any yet!  Depending on your location in CA they can flower a couple of times per year.  Welcome to Palmtalk!

Oh wow! I didn’t realize they would flower multiple times! Is it just one big glob that you can cut out easily to prevent them from dropping? Where we would out it (or them) would be close to light cement and out pool so I wouldn’t want them to drop if possible. We also have a dog that would probably go crazy eating it. If I it’s easy to cu them off, I still may go for it! The fruit dropping does scare me a bit though! 
 

 

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[SeanK]

 Careful trimming of the Butia can have it looking like a Phoenix, to about 90% of your friends.

[FlaPalmLover]

Depending on where you are in CA, it might be prudent to avoid the canary island date palm for now anyway, as they're, sadly, essentially slowly being systematically destroyed there by the South American palm weevil, at least as far north as SoCal. Another nice option in CA is jubaea chilensis, which some have hybridized with butia. 

[Harry’s Palms]

To me , the arching fronds of the Butia O. look different than the canary island date palm. They are very slow growing and can be attractive palms but still fairly large , not as large as the CIDP . Mine has not been particularly messy . Harry

[Merlyn]

@Hamandah I have 9 Pindo palms in my yard, and three of them are seeding age.  The male flowers just end up as a pile of small white/yellow flowers on the ground, and they degrade and disappear pretty quick.  The seeds also sort of fall into a pile, so you could just scoop them up and toss them out if they bother you.  They really aren't messy like some palms...Queens come to mind.  And because they are fairly slow growing, you can easily snip off the seed pods before they mature.