Sabal Causiarum can it tolerate partial shade ?

[MarcusH]

I got this palm tree a few weeks back now I'd like to decide it to plant it in the ground.  I have quite a few palms that already take up a good amount of space in future in the backyard . So I have only one spot left with space but most of the sun that shines through our trees is filtered . It won't get 6 to 8 hours of full sun probably until it reaches a certain height.  I will dig out my Filifera which didn't seem to like it there too much.  I also didn't water it too much at all.  What are your opinions. Should I try or not ?  It's 10am and I took some pictures where the sun will move ( clockwise) . There will be some shade coming from our neighbors huge oak tree.  I also have to take into consideration that my smaller palms eventually will cause some shade one day . The sun will set behind the house (front side of the house towards the street) 

[Cindy Adair]

The seedlings I have planted in full sun in their native Puerto Rico get routinely covered in overgrowth but still grow fine when I eventually rescue them. 
 

However they clearly respond positively to full sun. 
 

I never use supplemental water, but it does rain a fair amount most of the year. 
 

The only thing that kills them on my farm in the ox rhino beetle. 

[MarcusH]

1 hour ago, Cindy Adair said:

The seedlings I have planted in full sun in their native Puerto Rico get routinely covered in overgrowth but still grow fine when I eventually rescue them. 
 

However they clearly respond positively to full sun. 
 

I never use supplemental water, but it does rain a fair amount most of the year. 
 

The only thing that kills them on my farm in the ox rhino beetle. 

Thank you for the quick response.  I understand that most palms thrive in full sun . My thoughts are the bigger the palm gets the more sunlight it will absorb due to bigger/longer/more fronds.  I  possibly can cut off a few branches from our trees here and there. 

[amh]

I wish I could give you a proper answer here, but the Sabal genus appears to be shade tolerant and any young plant will like some protection from the South Texas sun. The palm will need supplemental water for a few years, but once it is established you should be good. I have plans to grow Sabal causiarum in the shade.

[mnorell]

I grew some in Natchez when I lived there...I planted them on the property-line in the shadow of our house and lots of other foliage, bamboo, trees, etc. around them. They started slowly but ultimately grew like crazy and were above 27' overall height (that's the height of the peak of the house) between 1gal size planted in 2005 and 2019 when we sold the house. Make sure you give enough room for the large crowns which will want to stand proud of any other vegetation both laterally and vertically. I'm sure you already realize it, but it's worth emphasizing that these have significantly larger crowns than both S. palmetto and S. mexicana.

So I would say that you're fine as long as they get a few hours of sun when young, they will grow up into the sun and really start cranking once they have a trunk. Mine had the large papery ligules, sourced from the old Yucca-do Nursery in Texas (just in case you have something different--there seems to be a lot of confusion about the ligule as a diagnostic). Note that Natchez has rich loess soil and can get a good deal of rain (more than S.A.) so their growth may be water-dependent, possibly also soil-quality dependent. Mine grew at roughly 1.5x the speed of S. palmetto (at least those that were in full sun) and maybe 5x the speed of several S. mexicana I planted in semi-shade in our courtyard. Also note that, unlike S. causiarum, S. palmetto if planted in sun was like a Ferrari compared to those I planted in north-facing shade in our courtyard...those grew so slowly, they still had not trunked after 14 years while the sun-drenched south-west-facing specimens were about as tall as the house. So shade can make a big difference with that species, I just didn't see any such problem in S. causiarum, I think it's just a robust species and really wants to get up to the sky. I don't know if S. mexicana is naturally just a bit pokey or if that was also because they weren't in full sun. I didn't have any other specimens to compare it with under differing conditions.

[Xenon]

If it were me, I'd try to give it as much sun as possible...as close to 360 degree unobscured sun. Mine absolutely thrives in baking sun next to burning magnolias and parched bahiagrass.

It's a big imposing palm and deserves all the space it requires to shine imo. I'd move the washy you have in the front to this spot and replace the front spot with the Sabal! Once you plant the Sabal, you can't move it (while Washies are hard to kill). 

[MarcusH]

Very useful information,  thanks ya'll.  Thinking about my options I decided it to plant it at a sunnier location and I would say it gets a good amount of sun every day.  I cannot dig out any palm in front since I don't make those decisions by myself.  I give my wife a lot of headache with my palms , already . The robusta and filifera will look good together.  My wife doesn't like to cover the entire front side of the house I already will have it half covered in future.  So I'm going to plant it at a spot where it can spread out its fronds and give us a good amount of shade . I'm scared lol I know this palm is going to look gigantic.  Hopefully the neighbors will be OK with some fronds hanging over the fence

 

[RFun]

7 hours ago, Cindy Adair said:

The seedlings I have planted in full sun in their native Puerto Rico get routinely covered in overgrowth but still grow fine when I eventually rescue them. 
 

However they clearly respond positively to full sun. 
 

I never use supplemental water, but it does rain a fair amount most of the year. 
 

The only thing that kills them on my farm in the ox rhino beetle. 

Yep, it's probably likely going to be a difference in growth rate in full vs. partial.