Does this Pindo palm look healthy? Looking to buy.

[palmaddict83]

Hey all, I'm about pull the trigger on a mature Pindo. Found these and will be purchased, deliver and installed with 1 year warranty at a good price. But some of the fronds seems gray/brown like it's either freeze damage (I'm zone 8B, had a couple cold snaps in Jan to Feb) or nutrient deficiency. 

Does it look healthy based on these photos? I forgot to get a look at the new fronds it's putting out. I'm concerned because I've read of some folks never having fully blue green fronds on some of their Pindos. So it might be a health issue on this one. 

The other tree behind it is sold, but looked completely green with it's fronds. 

 

[Las Palmas Norte]

I think it might be struggling a bit from the root pruning it took, unearthing it.

[palmaddict83]

Oh, this was grown in the ground you think and they uprooted it or was it uprooted from a box? Is that every tree that has a plastic bag on the roots are grown? 

[Allen]

Yep will struggle for a while since it was dug.  Actually looking at how few roots they left I would stay away

[Las Palmas Norte]

All of what @Allen has stated unless you're in a very safe zone where these are known to thrive without issues. Even then, don't expect much from it for a few years while the roots re-establish. 

Get a written one year guarantee. Verbal agreements have a way of vanishing .

[palmaddict83]

Ok sounds good. This was the best deal I could find in my immediate area. Most of the Pindos I've seen are too small. They do offer a 1 year warranty for one time tree replacement (I just need to install an irrigation unit to honor the warranty). But if you guys are saying it's a bad idea, I don't think it will die in a year so might go downhill beyond 1 year..

[palmaddict83]

Btw here's a better shot at the roots compared to the "healthy" one behind it. 

[Allen]

Is this a nursery or someone selling temporary?  Anyway I am not 100% on how big a pindo needs to be to survive that degree of roots cut.  You would be better off getting a large potted 15-30 gallon one if you could find it.  

[palmaddict83]

This is a nursery. They are almost 5 star rating and have lots of palms for a non palm nursery. They do have a 30 gallon Pindo for about 35% of the price of this one. It's about a third of the size. I'll see if they have a plant expert on staff. 

[VA Jeff]

I bought several from a guy in Northern Florida last fall.  The ones the size of the two smaller ones I paid $150 - $250 each.  Bigger ones several feet over my head were $350 - $450.  The smallest one was planted 3 weeks after being uprooted due to my circumstances.  It suffered root damage before planting and was exposed to 23 F this winter.  It faired badly, but the other three look fine.  I did have to buy a trailer and spend some money on gas to get them so cheap though.

From experience, Butias can survive with most of their roots cut.  If they are planted in the spring, they should recover quite a bit by next winter.

[palmaddict83]

I'm in Dallas area and it's already high 90s. Our winters are mild but we had 2 days of single digits this year and maybe 10 below freezing. This guy will probably be stressed for the foreseeable future if I buy and plant it but I do have a 1 year warranty which we should see how bad it is by next May. 

[Chester B]

This is how you will typically see the palms they dig up from the RGV and offer for sale throughout Texas.  There are lots of sellers on Marketplace that do this sort of thing.  

Have I ever bought a palm like this? No.  I have reservations about getting one of these ripped out of the ground, roots cut and wrapped in plastic.  If it were me I'd buy a smaller palm in a pot with a well developed root system.  Within 2 years the smaller will likely catch up to the bigger one and then surpass it from there.  Smaller palms and plants in general adjust better and always outperform a bigger palm in the long run. 

I moved into my new place in January  2024, and the biggest palm I bought was a 15 gallon Butia on clearance at Lowes for $90.  The rest of my palms were 3 gallons or smaller and I have no regrets.  The 3 gallon Butias I planted are already outperforming the 15 gallon, and I expect by the end of next year they will be the same size or larger.

My last house I originally bought three Trachycarpus fortunei that were 5-7 feet of trunk the first summer.  The next year I bought a number of smaller ones with 18" or so of trunk.  Guess which ones were bigger after a few years?  The big ones took about three years to actually add trunk and they did that a few inches per year whereas the smaller ones were growing a few feet per year.

A bigger palm provides instant impact but it is often a static fixture in the landscape for years. Sometimes its nice to have a couple of larger ones to kick things off and add some height but I wouldn't have any expectations as to it growing.

[palmaddict83]

10 minutes ago, Chester B said:

This is how you will typically see the palms they dig up from the RGV and offer for sale throughout Texas.  There are lots of sellers on Marketplace that do this sort of thing.  

Have I ever bought a palm like this? No.  I have reservations about getting one of these ripped out of the ground, roots cut and wrapped in plastic.  If it were me I'd buy a smaller palm in a pot with a well developed root system.  Within 2 years the smaller will likely catch up to the bigger one and then surpass it from there.  Smaller palms and plants in general adjust better and always outperform a bigger palm in the long run. 

I moved into my new place in January  2024, and the biggest palm I bought was a 15 gallon Butia on clearance at Lowes for $90.  The rest of my palms were 3 gallons or smaller and I have no regrets.  The 3 gallon Butias I planted are already outperforming the 15 gallon, and I expect by the end of next year they will be the same size or larger.

My last house I originally bought three Trachycarpus fortunei that were 5-7 feet of trunk the first summer.  The next year I bought a number of smaller ones with 18" or so of trunk.  Guess which ones were bigger after a few years?  The big ones took about three years to actually add trunk and they did that a few inches per year whereas the smaller ones were growing a few feet per year.

A bigger palm provides instant impact but it is often a static fixture in the landscape for years. Sometimes its nice to have a couple of larger ones to kick things off and add some height but I wouldn't have any expectations as to it growing.

That's exactly my thinking. I want a nice big palm for appearance and am planting younger 15-30 gallon palms around my property as well. Just need 1 statement peice until the rest catch up. 

[Allen]

I did this video concerning this same thing a couple years ago now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3gpCNx0934

 

[Las Palmas Norte]

On 5/13/2025 at 11:58 AM, palmaddict83 said:

... They do offer a 1 year warranty for one time tree replacement (I just need to install an irrigation unit to honor the warranty). But if you guys are saying it's a bad idea, I don't think it will die in a year so might go downhill beyond 1 year..

This could quite conceivably survive the year with green emergent spears, but as you have mentioned continue a decline in the following years after which point the warranty has expired. A palm in a state of uncertainty and recovery is more vulnerable to failure. A smaller healthier palm would be the wiser choice.

[palmaddict83]

8 hours ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

This could quite conceivably survive the year with green emergent spears, but as you have mentioned continue a decline in the following years after which point the warranty has expired. A palm in a state of uncertainty and recovery is more vulnerable to failure. A smaller healthier palm would be the wiser choice.

Agreed. I might do a 30 gallon. Btw, I took more pictures today and I realize that one side of the root ball is exposed. Perhaps this tree is not taking up enough water or nutrients leading to drying out of leaves.

Another thing, I asked a worker there about that tree and they said "it was out in the sun all day and that it's not diseased when their manager inspected it from the grower. I don't know if I trust that since these things love full sun...

[Allen]

2 hours ago, palmaddict83 said:

Agreed. I might do a 30 gallon. Btw, I took more pictures today and I realize that one side of the root ball is exposed. Perhaps this tree is not taking up enough water or nutrients leading to drying out of leaves.

Another thing, I asked a worker there about that tree and they said "it was out in the sun all day and that it's not diseased when their manager inspected it from the grower. I don't know if I trust that since these things love full sun...

What is the price on this palm?  What I guess would happen is the palm will lose most of it's fronds except the spear and 1-2 fronds while it tries to grow roots over the next 1-2 years and slowly renew it's fronds probably by year 2.  A potted one will keep all it's fronds and grow well once it gets settled after 1 year

[palmaddict83]

It's $1200. Plus 200 to plant and you get the warranty.  But I have to install a bubbler irrigation installed to honor the warranty 

[N8ALLRIGHT]

Buy the 30 gallon or if you just really want a statement palm ,look at a healthier one. You could buy a regenerated sabal, they're hardier and quite possibly cheaper. If you get a sabal Mexicana they're even native. 

[Allen]

9 hours ago, palmaddict83 said:

It's $1200. Plus 200 to plant and you get the warranty.  But I have to install a bubbler irrigation installed to honor the warranty 

Pass and get a potted one is my recommendation

[PAPalmtrees]

@Allen I agree.

[Chester B]

12 hours ago, palmaddict83 said:

It's $1200. Plus 200 to plant and you get the warranty.  But I have to install a bubbler irrigation installed to honor the warranty 

WAY TOO HIGH a price.  Thats a $400 palm

[palmaddict83]

That's probably best. Plus if it's smaller I can plant it myself. I also found another nursery that has this beauty for $1k but with no warranty and 800 to deliver and plant. Haven't seen it in person. But is a 65g container grown tree it seems. 

[palmaddict83]

14 minutes ago, Chester B said:

WAY TOO HIGH a price.  Thats a $400 palm

Are you sure? It has a 3 foot trunk and is about 7 feet tall With fronds. Lowes sells a 6 gallon for $85 around here. I'm in North Texas, so not a lot of options. 

[Chester B]

21 minutes ago, palmaddict83 said:

Are you sure? It has a 3 foot trunk and is about 7 feet tall With fronds. Lowes sells a 6 gallon for $85 around here. I'm in North Texas, so not a lot of options. 

Yeah I'm sure.  Lots of places down here sell Pindos.  Prices have gone up significantly, The last two larger ones I bought were in 24" boxes and there were $150 delivered.

These are $225 as of today

 

These are listed as 2ft clear trunk $425 3ft clear trunk $625 4ft clear trunk $825 including delivery

 

[palmaddict83]

1 hour ago, Chester B said:

Yeah I'm sure.  Lots of places down here sell Pindos.  Prices have gone up significantly, The last two larger ones I bought were in 24" boxes and there were $150 delivered.

These are $225 as of today

 

These are listed as 2ft clear trunk $425 3ft clear trunk $625 4ft clear trunk $825 including delivery

 

Which nursery is that. Houston is a more tropical zone so probably has more inventory. North Texas isn't a huge palm market. 

If you want a rip off, go check out Moon nurseries.. 

[Chester B]

2 hours ago, palmaddict83 said:

Which nursery is that. Houston is a more tropical zone so probably has more inventory. North Texas isn't a huge palm market. 

If you want a rip off, go check out Moon nurseries.. 

These are from a couple of vendors that bring them up from the RGV.  Some have fixed locations other I don't know if they do.  These are all Marketplace ads.  If you go to a palm nursery they tend to upcharge a bit.

Butia are relatively fast growing palms so the prices aren't bad.  Sabals tend to be the highest cost per trunk foot.

[WSimpson]

I think it looks decent . It's just really wanting get planted and for its root system to spread out into the soil imho .

[MarcusH]

On 5/16/2025 at 12:15 PM, palmaddict83 said:

That's probably best. Plus if it's smaller I can plant it myself. I also found another nursery that has this beauty for $1k but with no warranty and 800 to deliver and plant. Haven't seen it in person. But is a 65g container grown tree it seems. 

I mean if money doesn't matter to you , go for it and see what happens. If you hesitate to buy a palm for whatever reason,  don't buy . The only palm I would buy at a larger size is a Sabal but that's a different story.   Butias take a long time to establish their root system .  I have 2 young ones but different sizes. The smaller one looks way better and grows faster than the bigger one I've put in the ground this year. 

[Allen]

You may have seen this but here is a growth video of mine to show you the speed it grows in TN in case you get a potted one.  This video is about 2 years old so it's bigger now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVPLL05Q6Ho

 

[palmaddict83]

On 5/19/2025 at 5:17 PM, Allen said:

You may have seen this but here is a growth video of mine to show you the speed it grows in TN in case you get a potted one.  This video is about 2 years old so it's bigger now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVPLL05Q6Ho

 

How far is your butia from the house? I have a nice spot that is 5 feet from the house but that might not be enough

[Allen]

13 minutes ago, palmaddict83 said:

How far is your butia from the house? I have a nice spot that is 5 feet from the house but that might not be enough

4 feet but it is hitting the house.  I measured the fronds on mine are 6' from the center of the palm.

[Harry’s Palms]

They do get really large in time . I would give them a lot of space . I planted mine down on my hill when it was just a strap leaf seedling about 25 plus years ago. I’m glad I didn’t plant it near my house , too big. Harry

‘These get pretty big in time . I have posted my concern before when I see folks plant them too close to a structure or pathway . I had no idea this thing would get this huge . Harry