Brahea armata

[chris.oz]

I have a Brahea armata groing in a raised bed,  in the sun for  4-6 hours per day.  It grows from October to April and puts out one leaf per month during that period.  This makes it much faster than other palms I have growing in shady places in my garden and it grows leaves at about the same rate as my Syagrus.  It also holds lots more leaves than many palms I have growing.

Is there anyone out there who calls this "slow"

[DoomsDave]

(chris.oz @ Dec. 07 2007,18:58)

QUOTE

I have a Brahea armata groing in a raised bed,  in the sun for  4-6 hours per day.  It grows from October to April and puts out one leaf per month during that period.  This makes it much faster than other palms I have growing in shady places in my garden and it grows leaves at about the same rate as my Syagrus.  It also holds lots more leaves than many palms I have growing.

Is there anyone out there who calls this "slow"

That is an interesting comment.

And yeah, they're slow, though they do put out  a lot of leaves.  I have one that I saved from death's door about three years ago that's starting to reach full size across the crown.

They're slow to put on vertical height.  100-year old specimens are only about 15 feet (5 m) tall.

Pokier than Congress in Molasses in January.

dave

[chris.oz]

(Dave from So-Cal @ Dec. 07 2007,19:39)

QUOTE

They're slow to put on vertical height.  100-year old specimens are only about 15 feet (5 m) tall.

Dave,

Thats interesting.

Lots of leaves in the crown, but slow growth of trunk.  Not like syagrus,  which shows up to 1 ft of trunk growth per leaf.

I think Brahea armata may have the same characteristics as Copernicia in that regard,  and co-incidently both named after astronomers......

[Kris]

Dear Chris  

i fully agree with you on the growth rate of the Blue hasper palm..they are growing like mad and love our wet tropical climate too..

here is a still of that_

Love,

Kris  

[sonoranfans]

(chris.oz @ Dec. 07 2007,18:58)

QUOTE

I have a Brahea armata groing in a raised bed,  in the sun for  4-6 hours per day.  It grows from October to April and puts out one leaf per month during that period.  This makes it much faster than other palms I have growing in shady places in my garden and it grows leaves at about the same rate as my Syagrus.  It also holds lots more leaves than many palms I have growing.

Is there anyone out there who calls this "slow"

In my experience, Brahea armata are like sabals in that they grow faster in the hot climates.  My largest Brahea went from 3' to 10' in 3 years, I wouldnt call that slow, perhaps moderate.  My sabal blackburniana was even faster.  And yet some socal folks report sabals as "slow".  My braheas are actually still opening palms in december, but very slowly now.  Our lowest temp has been 37F and we have had 2 consecutive weekends with ~ 1 inch of rain!  My largest has opened over 10 fronds(lost count) this year. but has only added about 2' of height.  I have 7 braheas and all have put on more than 1' this year in height.  For braheas to grow quickly, the soil drainage should be good according to U of Arizona horticultural extension.  I think keeping alot of healthy fronds on them will make them grow faster as more photosynthesis area will result.  Several of my braheas have 25+ healthy fronds.  I did trim some up this year to make room for smaller plants/palms underneath or to remove the ones in contact with the ground(granite rock groundcover used here is pretty hot in summer, burns them on contact).  Mine are planted on small mounds(4" above level ground) in heavily ammended clay(almost half sand, compost) and see up to 8 hours of direct sun a day.  Brahea armata actually like basic soil from what I've read.  They do demand a full dry cycle to be healthy, according to U of A.  Raised beds will work wonders for drainage if you dont want to break your back ammending and mounding soil.

[PalmGuyWC]

I am growing both Sabals and Braheas in Walnut Creek Calif, and I would have to say they are very slow in trunk growth, but do produce a lot of fronds each growing season. Both genera do require a lot of warmth to grow.  Mine come to a virtual stop around mid Nov, then resume growth in March or April.

I have two Brahea nitidas and they actually grew two fronds last winter, and it was a nasty cold winter. I also have an old B. elegans. It's 30 plus or minus years and the trunk growth is very slow, but two different years I marked it and it grew 14 fronds in a 12 month period which is pretty darn fast for any palm in my area. I estimate my Butias, Jubaeas, and Queens grow from 6 to 8 fronds a year. I plan to mark my T. wagnerianus on Jan 1st, as I think they probably grow more fronds than any palm in my garden. Here it is Dec. 9th and they are still pushing, and with cold nights too.

Dick

[Cycadcenter]

Here are a couple of photos of our Brahea clara or armata for those who don't think it should be separated.

It was planted in the ground in 1997 is a one gallon with three leaves.  it now has 4-5 feet of clear trunk.

Bruce

[DoomsDave]

Bruce!

That's not an armata, trust me.

Clara and armata are very different.  

LOVELY specimen!  Stunning!

dave -- stunned!

[sonoranfans]

(Cycadcenter @ Dec. 08 2007,17:02)

QUOTE

Here are a couple of photos of our Brahea clara or armata for those who don't think it should be separated.

It was planted in the ground in 1997 is a one gallon with three leaves.  it now has 4-5 feet of clear trunk.

Bruce

The petioles on that brahea are at least twice as long as those on my armatas.  Surely the brahea clara should be considered a different species.  And I suppose if you measure growth in clear trunk the numbers would be much smaller.  I referred to my braheas growth in overall height, not in clear trunk.

[Geoff]

Brahea armatas grow slowly from an East Coast point of view... but here in California I would say they are in the top 20 fastest palms we can grow here.  A 3-4 leaf seedling will have a big trunk and leaves that reach up to 10' in less than 8 years... that is FAST for California.  Yes there are much faster palms, but hundreds of MUCH slower ones.  Slow is Pseudophoenix here... 10 years and it's the same size as it was at planting, save maybe with 3-4 more leaves.  Some Coccothrinax seedlings I have, germinated about 9 years ago, still only have 2-3 strap, grass-like leaves, and are on pace to make a trunk in about another 30 years, if I'm lucky (and still alive)

[freakypalmguy]

Beautifull Bruce.

Don't you have a larger clara as well? I was at your place about 7 months ago and I thought you had one with more trunk on the south side of your house? If so, how old is that one?

Thanks,

Matt

[TonyDFW]

Here are some images of my Brahea armata growing in Dallas.

Here is a picture of it in 2000

Here is is during the winter in 2003

Here it is in 2005

Here are some from 2007

[TonyDFW]

Here is an overview of the brahea armata

[Gileno Machado]

Wow... Bruce, that Brahea clara is breathtaking !

I'm still learning how to adequately grow a few small Braheas at the beach, all of them germinated from Californian and Mexican seed: armata, clara, brandegeei, edulis, sp "San Carlos" and hybrid edulisxbrandegeei. They are all awfully slow growing in my humid and mostly warm conditions and prefer direct exposure since early age. The fastest one in the genus for my climate is probably brandegeei and even those are still in transition for characteristic leaves with less than 30 cm overall height, after more than 2 years in full sun.  The armata and clara are still tiny blue strap leaves, sitting there and moving in the breeze. They seem to slow down the growth rate during my wet winters.

The previous pictures in this thread are all very inspirational for me, including the nice grown up seedling from Kris...

[TonyDFW]

Here is the brahea armata during an ice storm in 2000.

I'm also growing a Brahea brandeegei.

It is twice as fast a grower as an armata, not as blue or as cold hardy. It is readily damaged by frozen precipatation but grows back quickly in the spring.

[iamjv]

The palms are looking good Tony.  Jv

[Kris]

Dear Tony  

thanks for those lovely stills_ i just enoyed seeing them !

lots of love,

Kris  

[freakypalmguy]

Tony,

Your yard rocks!

Matt

[Exotic Life]

That's a beautifull clara!

Robbin

[_Keith]

(TonyDFW @ Dec. 13 2007,19:29)

QUOTE

Here is an overview of the brahea armata

It is not easy to put that many palms in that small of a space and have them look good.  You have done it plus some.  Thanks for the inspiration.

Keith

[palmmermaid]

Does anyone here in south Florida have these growing?  I always assumed these were desert palms.  The color is wonderful.

[Cycadcenter]

(freakypalmguy @ Dec. 13 2007,18:35)

QUOTE

Beautifull Bruce.

Don't you have a larger clara as well? I was at your place about 7 months ago and I thought you had one with more trunk on the south side of your house? If so, how old is that one?

Thanks,

Matt

Matt,

The photo is of the one on the south side of the house at the bottom of the lower driveway.

Planted in 97 from a one gallon.

Bruce

[freakypalmguy]

(Cycadcenter @ Dec. 14 2007,10:35)

QUOTE

(freakypalmguy @ Dec. 13 2007,18:35)

QUOTE

Beautifull Bruce.

Don't you have a larger clara as well? I was at your place about 7 months ago and I thought you had one with more trunk on the south side of your house? If so, how old is that one?

Thanks,

Matt

Matt,

The photo is of the one on the south side of the house at the bottom of the lower driveway.

Planted in 97 from a one gallon.

Bruce

OK, that must be the one then. They always look smaller in pics. When we were there, my wife fell in love with your clara, so now we have three. You were not there that day, but all the plants we bought from Suzi are doing great.

Thank you,

Matt

[Gaston in Argentina]

I have some growing here in Cordoba, Argentina, with a simmilar climate then...

Melbourne or.... some places in California, just with rains in summer as difference.-

Brahea armata is not a slow palm for me, in fact they seems very happily growing and perfect for our climate.-They seems to enjoy the strong full sun of our summer.--

[swamptreenelly]

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums....per.jpg

Old Brahea armatas Roeding Park Fresno, Ca.

[Kris]

Dear Nelson Kirk  

lovely link to lovely palms..i loved the blue hasper palm & their were my favouriate can can's too_CIDP..i just love it !  

thanks & love,

Kris