Areca Vestiaria in Moraira Spain: should I risk it.

[maxum2610]

I'm thinking of planting my Areca Vestiaria in my Garden in Moraira Spain because it's getting a bit too big for the greenhouse. It's about 2.5 feet taal and in a 2 gallon pot (which is too small). To my knowledge, it's never frozen where I am in Moraira and the coldest it gets on rare occassions is around 6C at night in Januari with daytime temps of around 16-18C. Usually the night time temps in Januari are around 12-14C. I currently have the following palms in my garden Pritchardia hillebrandii, Pritchardia Pacifica (supposedly but I have my doubts), Chambeyronia Macrocarpa, Chrysalidocarpus lutescens, Chrysalidocarpus lanceolata, Chrysalidocarpus pembana, Howea forsteriana, Archontophoenix alexandrae, Adonidia merrillii and Hyophorbe lagenicaulis. All are doing well, albeit slow to grow except H. lgenicaulus which is a rocket. My house is only 800 meters from the mediterranean and gets a constant breeze from the north african continent: sahara winds with all the red dust that comes with it. I have this spot in the garden that gets only morning sun and shade from noon to sunset. Humidity is generally 60-80%. The only problem is that I'm not there very often, so watering is by irrigation only which I control via internet. The leaves in the picture are a bit crispy due to sun exposure in the greenhouse in spring. The palm is I think 5 years old and grown from seed. Should I risk it or keep it in the greenhouse to grow some more?

 

[Navarro]

Guau no me esperaba esas temperaturas estando en alicante , yo vivo en murcia y soñaría con un clima como el tuyo , a mí me sobreviven en el exterior hyophorbe lagenicaulis, chrysalidocarpus lanceolatus  y johannesteijmania altifrons .si fuera tú hasta probaría con cyrtostachys  asique sin duda lo plantaría 

[maxum2610]

Navarro. I know you've tried Johannesteijmania A in the past ... and failed. But our climate is fine for all the palms I mentioned. My hyophorbe lagenicaulis has been on the terrace in the pot (impossible to bring inside in the winter) for four years now and as you can see looks great. All palms are, as I mentioned, slow growers, but have gone through four winters now and done ok. I had a visit from Miguel of Babypalms in Murcia a few years back when he came to pick up some Chambeyronia seedling. He was impressed to see the Hyophorbe on the terrace. I think you are near Elche if I'm not mistaken. Somewhat of a challenge in my opinion as you do get freezing temperatures in winter. On the coast however that's an entirely different prospect as the temperatures never go that low. In any case, have a search in this forum. I think there's a member not far from you "TropicalGardenSpain". I believe he has a Hyophorbe lagenicaulis in his amazing garden. Also a lot more. Perhaps you could ask him for some advice if you are having trouble growing certain palms. And by the way: cyrtostachys won't grow here, in case you were thinking of trying (LOL). Cheers.   Sorry these are old pictures and I need to take more recent ones soon.

[maxum2610]

In any case the only reason I'm even considering this is because of this post: 

Looked promising.

[Navarro]

12 hours ago, maxum2610 said:

Navarro. Sé que has probado con Johannesteijmania A antes... y no te ha funcionado. Pero nuestro clima es ideal para todas las palmeras que mencioné. Mi Hyophorbe lagenicaulis lleva cuatro años en la terraza, en maceta (imposible meterla en invierno), y, como puedes ver, se ve estupenda. Todas las palmeras, como ya he dicho, crecen despacio, pero han aguantado cuatro inviernos y les ha ido bien. Hace unos años, recibí la visita de Miguel, de Babypalms, en Murcia, cuando vino a recoger unas plántulas de Chambeyronia. Le impresionó ver la Hyophorbe en la terraza. Creo que estás cerca de Elche, si no me equivoco. En mi opinión, es un reto, ya que en invierno hay temperaturas gélidas. Sin embargo, en la costa, la situación es completamente distinta, ya que las temperaturas nunca bajan tanto. En cualquier caso, busca en este foro. Creo que hay un miembro cerca de ti: TropicalGardenSpain . Creo que tiene una Hyophorbe lagenicaulis en su increíble jardín. Y muchas más. Quizás podrías pedirle consejo si tienes problemas para cultivar ciertas palmeras. Y, por cierto: la cyrtostachys no crece aquí, por si estabas pensando en intentarlo (jajaja). Saludos. Disculpa, estas fotos son viejas y necesito tomar fotos más recientes pronto.

Estarás confundido de miembro , de las cuatro johannesteijmania que germine una la plante en el suelo y no tuvo ningún daño en invierno , el poco daño que recibió fue del sol este inicio de primavera ,pero sigue viva , mi única hyophorbe lagenicaulis que está plantada en suelo ya lleva tres inviernos ahí  también tengo otras en maceta que crecen peor pero sobreviven en invierno , yo también germine areca vestiaria hace un par de años pero todas murieron en su primer invierno , asique si, yo me arriesgaría 

[iko.]

Another vote for Hyophorbe lagenicaulis being a rocket in Spain. Some winters may get a bit battered by winds but recovery is quick. 

I would also recommend leaving outdoors the Areca vestiaria but I wouldn't plant it in the ground yet. I had an Areca triandra (which I think is a bit hardier) north of Valencia and went through for two winters or so. Look for a spot sheltered from the harsh sun and surrounded by more plants to help maintain a good level of humidity. 

A bit off topic but, does the pozzolan volcanic rock work for you? My experience is bad and I called it kryptonite. It altered the soil's pH and I have noticed that plants covered by that rock eventually develop yellow leaves. The common pine bark available at most retailers not much better either. Instead, shredded palm fronds or other garden waste work perfect for me.

[happypalms]

I had one in a container for 23 years and was always scared to plant it in the ground. It had survived temps down to 2 degrees Celsius in the greenhouse. So I  planted it in the ground and it went backwards losing a couple of the suckers, then after a year it started to get growing again and it’s doing nicely now. 

[maxum2610]

23 hours ago, Navarro said:

Estarás confundido de miembro , de las cuatro johannesteijmania que germine una la plante en el suelo y no tuvo ningún daño en invierno , el poco daño que recibió fue del sol este inicio de primavera ,pero sigue viva , mi única hyophorbe lagenicaulis que está plantada en suelo ya lleva tres inviernos ahí  también tengo otras en maceta que crecen peor pero sobreviven en invierno , yo también germine areca vestiaria hace un par de años pero todas murieron en su primer invierno , asique si, yo me arriesgaría 

Apparently I misunderstood. Glad to hear the johannesteijmania and hyophorbe are still alive.

[maxum2610]

23 hours ago, iko. said:

I would also recommend leaving outdoors the Areca vestiaria but I wouldn't plant it in the ground yet. I had an Areca triandra (which I think is a bit hardier) north of Valencia and went through for two winters or so. Look for a spot sheltered from the harsh sun and surrounded by more plants to help maintain a good level of humidity. 

The problem is I'm only there a couple weeks in the year. So leaving it in the pot is unfortunately not an option. I do however have a perfect (I hope) spot selected which gets only morning sun and is in the shade from noon onwards. Noon or afternoon sun would probably toast the leaves.

23 hours ago, iko. said:

A bit off topic but, does the pozzolan volcanic rock work for you? My experience is bad and I called it kryptonite. It altered the soil's pH and I have noticed that plants covered by that rock eventually develop yellow leaves. The common pine bark available at most retailers not much better either. Instead, shredded palm fronds or other garden waste work perfect for me.

Not sure about the volcanic rock the only palm covered with it is a chrysalidocarpus pembana which isn't growing very fast at all. I chalked it up to the fact that it doesn't get a lot of ferti, but you could be right. I'm going down in a couple of weeks. I'll remove it and see if that helps. And yes, I give all the palms slow release fertilizer due to a lack of any better option. The pine bark could explain why my A. Alexandraes in the back garden are turning more and more yellow. I thought it was a watering issue seing as these guys are water hogs, but you could be right about the pine bark. I'll have to rethink my weed control strategy. Weeds seem to be the only things that grow super fast here 😔.

[maxum2610]

23 hours ago, happypalms said:

I had one in a container for 23 years and was always scared to plant it in the ground. It had survived temps down to 2 degrees Celsius in the greenhouse. So I  planted it in the ground and it went backwards losing a couple of the suckers, then after a year it started to get growing again and it’s doing nicely now. 

That's encouraging to hear. Would hate to lose it. Pictures please😃

[happypalms]

5 minutes ago, maxum2610 said:

That's encouraging to hear. Would hate to lose it. Pictures please😃

I don’t blame you I was the same way about my one. It was the only one I had now I have over a hundred of them in containers. Will get some pics for you.

[maxum2610]

4 minutes ago, happypalms said:

I don’t blame you I was the same way about my one. It was the only one I had now I have over a hundred of them in containers. Will get some pics for you.

Getting fresh seeds has become near impossible over here. No one from the states will ship here (why?), and direct import from asia get's confiscated without a permit. So I was thinking of harvesting the one sucker it has. Problem is, best I can tell, it has no roots yet. 

[happypalms]

10 minutes ago, maxum2610 said:

Getting fresh seeds has become near impossible over here. No one from the states will ship here (why?), and direct import from asia get's confiscated without a permit. So I was thinking of harvesting the one sucker it has. Problem is, best I can tell, it has no roots yet. 

They have short shelf life ever since phytosanitry certificate s become the rule it’s getting harder to get good seeds. I wouldn’t risk removing a sucker with no roots. Patience is the key.