Possibly this will be my greatest addition to cold hardy palm growing ?

[WSimpson]

I hope some of you who grow palms and who have created seed from various Trachycarpus species chime in and tell me if I'm making sense by  trying to combine a Trachycarpus nainital and the green form princeps . My green form princeps is close to being  mature and I'm hoping it's a female . If it's a female I will cut all the male inflorescences off of my other  2 mature Trachycarpus males and only leave pollen from my  male Nainital which is only a few feet away from the green form Princeps Trachycarpus  . 

I'm looking to combine the robust and cold hardy aspects of my Nainital with the elegant look of the green form Princeps . Is this going to be as easy as it seems to be ? 

My Princeps looks a little beat up because when I had the house painted the painters were a little rough with my palms . It will grow out of that issue , and again start looking like that perfectly elegant palm that it was before the painters . 

Please tell me about your experiences crossing palm species , and did the palms have the characteristics that you were hoping for ? 

 

 

Below are images of my 2 male Trachy Taylor forms  that I will cut off their inflorescences before their pollen fertilizes the female in the middle . Then I will fertilize that female also  with the pollen from my Nainital . 

 

 

 

The female below will also get the pollen from the Nainital :

 

 

Below are the Nainital male and the green form Princeps :

 

 

 

 

Below ; A closer look at the trunk of the green form Princeps . At the base it looks fully mature so I hope it flowers this spring . If it doesn't flower this spring I'm almost sure it will next spring hopefully ?

 

 

I think that the combination of the green form Priceps with the Nainital will make for one tough and beautiful palm . Again , anyone who has   experience crossing palms tell me about your results   .

Thanks ,

Will

 

[Fusca]

I don't have any experience with that but seems possible.  I've seen references to different Trachycarpus hybrids on this forum.  You might want to contact the original poster in the first thread.  He didn't do the actual cross but might get you in touch with the guy in the UK who did.

 

 

[Arecaceus]

Do you mean T. princeps green form in as not the super blue/silver form or do you mean T. "Nova"?

Generally here in Europe all types of Trachys are crosspollinated and it works very well. There are often rare hybrids for sale and even 3 species get crossed sometimes. You will have good chances of success. How the features of the parents will turn out varies like with any other palm. Some will have more features from either side.

[Chester B]

They do crosses like this all the time in the UK.  They have so many different species and hybrids available.  I think  @Vic is one of the main people working on them.

[SailorBold]

I need to enter the realm of trachies..

[Arecaceus]

2 hours ago, SailorBold said:

I need to enter the realm of trachies..

Princeps probably a good start in a desert climate.

[Drew N Carolina]

I have a trachycarpus Nanital x Princeps that I grew from seeds purchased in the UK. Victor Silver made the cross. I had several and sold the others but kept one for myself. I recently purchased another group of hybrid seeds from him and will have more coming along. My Nanital x Princeps seem slower than many of the other Princeps hybrids but are very beautiful and the new growth has more blueish white newer growth the other hybrids. They may be more hardy but it's too early to say for sure yet. So far wagnerianus x princeps and fortunei x princeps have been hardy. The princeps hybrids do seem to prefer better drainage than regular fortunei but definitely are much less picky than species princeps. Other than planting a species princeps on a pile of sand, I'm not sure I'm going to have much luck here with my heavy clay soils. The hybrids seem fine, I do mound them up a bit and try to give them as much sun as possible.

[WSimpson]

Sounds good Drew . Do you have a picture of the Princeps Nainital ?

Thanks ,

Will

[SeanK]

@WSimpson - Is the Washie pushing green yet?

[WSimpson]

15 hours ago, SeanK said:

@WSimpson - Is the Washie pushing green yet?

Yes , it's growing fast now .

Will

 

[Drew N Carolina]

I will need to take a picture of the Nanital x princeps. I planted more princeps hybrids seeds so I'll have more in the future as well.

[tarnado]

Good luck! Fingers crossed on your T. princeps being a girl. I really hope for a lot more Trachycarpideae hybrids in our future!