For people just starting out on their palm journey, buying a hardy to your area palm from the local big box will probably get you the most for the least. Prices they can offer due to their volume purchasing just can't be beat.

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

That's a bargain. 

That's true.  20 years ago Kmart had a roebelenii on sale for $5.00.  It looked half dead in the Florida heat.  Took it home. Still alive today.  One of my first palms.  

Yep, good start to a great hobby. I would buy clearance palms . Most of my common palms are from this approach. Harry

8 minutes ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Yep, good start to a great hobby. I would buy clearance palms . Most of my common palms are from this approach. Harry

My first palm was a $12 Majesty from the orange store that I bought to add some life and color to my apartment. It didn't live very long but it led me to finding Palmtalk. It's also how I found out r/palmtrees on Reddit is actually a forum about weed. 

18 minutes ago, 3 Milesfrom Gulf of Mexico said:

That's true.  20 years ago Kmart had a roebelenii on sale for $5.00.  It looked half dead in the Florida heat.  Took it home. Still alive today.  One of my first palms.  

That's b/c none of the BB stores bother to water the plants. The grower is on the hook for anything that dies.

On 5/30/2025 at 12:50 AM, aztropic said:

For people just starting out on their palm journey, buying a hardy to your area palm from the local big box will probably get you the most for the least. Prices they can offer due to their volume purchasing just can't be beat.

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

That $5 Kmart roebelenii story is classic. My first "real" palm was a clearance queen palm from Home Depot that looked like it was on its last legs. Tossed it in the ground, gave it water, and a few years later it's pushing fronds like a champ. The bargain bin is where it's at for beginners.

On 5/29/2025 at 5:50 PM, aztropic said:

For people just starting out on their palm journey, buying a hardy to your area palm from the local big box will probably get you the most for the least. Prices they can offer due to their volume purchasing just can't be beat.

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

Looks similar to 2010 prices in FL to me. I could get a 3 gallon bucket full of dypsis lutecens seedlings for $10 or a 3 gallon livistona chinensis(5) multi for $10, and oversized 1 gallon Archontophoenix Alexandre 2' tall for $3. If you like pygmy dates that is a great price. A 4-5 years after 2010, the smaller nurseries where I purchased 90% of my palms kind of vanished as the post banking collapse economy left only big box stores. But I was lucky to have purchased several dozen palms before that happened. Worked out great for them, they raised prices in response to lack of competition and inflation.

Our selection here in big box stores is just common variety palms . That said , I watch the clearance rack for flowers , and occasionally , palms (not often). A short while back there were two 3 gallon Majesty multi on the rack with very minor leaf tip browning . The palms were in good shape so I put t]hem on my cart . The clearance rack is marked 50% off and the palms would be great in pots along my fence line , original price $20 and about 3-4’ tall. When I got to check out I reminded the clerk that they were “clearance” items. He replied “how does $3 sound?” I repotted them and they are doing precisely what I wanted them to do. If you need fill in palms to maintain a tropical look , they are perfect . I will , at some point need to keep repotting them as they grow pretty fast here , eventually rehome them as I already have a huge one in my yard and the trunks get rather large. Large , corporate places have little concern over pricing when they want to get rid of old stock. Unfortunately , in my area , they will not stock anything of interest to collectors . They used to have many varieties but now it’s just the generic stuff. Harry

Hi there,

When going to the local DIY home center I ALWAYS start my journey through the palm and other plants section.

I am usually doing it when in need to buy a tool or something else necessary for our house, so, I am not

a weekly regular but go there from time to time. But today - I am sorry, I didn't take a pic - I came across

some roughly two year old coconut palms sold for 9.800 Japanese Yen (60US$) , that is almost the double compared

to three, four years ago and completely ridiculous if you know the places were to look for washed ashore seeds...

Since my own company already throws germinated coconut seeds away due to lack of need - they have already asked

me because they are aware of my hobby - I might consider starting a business over here....😂

One more thing. A couple of months ago some imported C. lutescens (Golden Canes) - in the meaning of

shipped in from other parts of Okinawa - were sold for 8.000 Japanese Yen (50US$), a jaw dropping price if you

know better - just to be replaced weeks later by local grown ones...

...almost men-high for 2.000 Japanese Yen (12US$). (I couldn't resist despite its commonness... A beautiful palm is a beautiful

palm, period...)

So, to keep it short, the pattern is so obvious that you just stay patient and wait for the right time or mind your own -

alright, just my two cents -

Lars