North Carolina Container Ranch

[MrTropical]

My container ranch in coastal southeastern North Carolina...

Windmill Palm (Trachycarpus fortunei)

This palm joined the club in March 2025 as a 7-gallon. It has exceeded my expectations...

March 2025:



July 2025:



Needle Palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix)

This palm was purchased in 2022 from Northeast Ohio Palms as a 3-gallon. It was briefly planted in the ground in western N.C. before I moved across the state. It has been through multiple tropical storms since 2023; Idalia, Ophelia, Debby, and PTC 8. It developed what I suspect was an iron deficiency in early March of this year, but that has since been addressed... 

July 2025:




Mexican Fan Palm (Washingtonia robusta)

July 2025:




Pygmy Date Palm (Phoenix roebelenii)

This palm was purchased in 2023 as a 3-gallon from a Lowe's in northwestern North Carolina, the last place I'd expect to find a palm tree. Along the southeastern coast in North Carolina, it can stay outside from late March to late November in most years...

July 2025: 




Smaller Windmill palms (Trachycarpus fortunei)

July 2025:





Pindo Palm (Butia odorata)

December 2024:



July 2025:




Lady Palm (Rhapis excelsa)



Sabal palmetto & Trachycarpus fortunei popping up...





Sabal Causiarum seedling...



Washingtonia robusta seeds sprouting, alongside a couple more Trachycarpus fortunei...



Some non-palm extras...




 

[JohnAndSancho]

Hell yeah, looking nice. A Causarium is definitely on my needs list, or the Causarium Palmetto hybrid. 

[Harry’s Palms]

Looking great . Container gardening is a bit more challenging , so good job. I just added a Needle palm to my hill along with a few others that were in nursery containers. I keep a few container plants but almost everything ends up in the ground at some point. Harry

Rhapidophyllum Hystrix

I had never thought about adding one of these to my collection until I stumbled on this one from a private grower , @DoomsDave They are pretty cool looking palms , and very hardy. Perfect for “ the hill”. 

[MrTropical]

19 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Hell yeah, looking nice. A Causarium is definitely on my needs list, or the Causarium Palmetto hybrid. 

Thank you. If you can locate one, Causiarum should do well in your area of Mississippi. The Causiarum x Palmetto is definitely a safe bet.   

[MrTropical]

4 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Looking great . Container gardening is a bit more challenging , so good job. I just added a Needle palm to my hill along with a few others that were in nursery containers. I keep a few container plants but almost everything ends up in the ground at some point. Harry

Rhapidophyllum Hystrix

I had never thought about adding one of these to my collection until I stumbled on this one from a private grower , @DoomsDave They are pretty cool looking palms , and very hardy. Perfect for “ the hill”. 

Thank you. My container ranch has certainly had its ups & downs over the years.

Good looking Needle you have there. My Needle in a 10-gallon pot went through 4 days of highs below 32°F & lows around 15°F in January. Now it's working on its 4th frond of the season. They're tough palms.

[MrTropical]

Earlier today, I removed the remaining marigolds from the pots of my trunk cut Pindo Palm & trunk cut Windmill Palm. I've experienced issues with my larger 3-gallon Windmill recently and was advised by members of the forum to remove the flowers. So I went ahead and performed preventative maintenance on the other two. The marigolds are now in their own pots. That thread is linked below...

Anyway, here's what they look like now. Both were trunk cut in mid-April...

[PAPalmtrees]

Everything looks great!

[MrTropical]

This morning I treated the droopy Windmill with copper fungicide, just as a precaution. We'll see how this ends up... 

[MrTropical]

The Washingtonia robusta seedlings are moving along fast (plus a couple T. fortunei)

Shoutout to DandSBotanical on Etsy for the quality Washy seeds! 

[palmsweez]

As others have mentioned, this isn't an easy path in the palm world. Especially with the most recent winter and now the extreme heat. I enjoy these posts and look forward to your progress. Great job here @MrTropical

Side note, I hope you have loads of pots on standby for those washies. In a few weeks it will be all hands on deck lol

[MrTropical]

On 7/19/2025 at 10:10 AM, MrTropical said:

This morning I treated the droopy Windmill with copper fungicide, just as a precaution. We'll see how this ends up... 

Checked on this Windmill tonight and I now have a partial spear pull. The remaining spear is firm and green. The crown is droopy, but green. Treated with another shot of hydrogen peroxide and copper fungicide. I understand Trachycarpus tends to struggle to recover once the hot summer months arrive, but I remain optimistic. 

[JohnAndSancho]

On 7/19/2025 at 10:45 AM, palmsweez said:

As others have mentioned, this isn't an easy path in the palm world. Especially with the most recent winter and now the extreme heat. I enjoy these posts and look forward to your progress. Great job here @MrTropical

Side note, I hope you have loads of pots on standby for those washies. In a few weeks it will be all hands on deck lol

Might as well throw them in 3 or 5 gallons once they start popping. 

[MrTropical]

Facebook Marketplace Freebie!

4 hours round trip, an hour to dig up, and another hour to get it situated in its pot...I think I am officially an addict 
 

[Fusca]

12 minutes ago, MrTropical said:

Facebook Marketplace Freebie!

4 hours round trip, an hour to dig up, and another hour to get it situated in its pot...I think I am officially an addict 
 

Nice save!  Looks like it has some nice blue color on it.  I'd keep it in a partly shaded spot for awhile to allow it to regrow roots.  Butia actually do well in containers if you end up keeping it that way for awhile.

[MrTropical]

8 minutes ago, Fusca said:

Nice save!  Looks like it has some nice blue color on it.  I'd keep it in a partly shaded spot for awhile to allow it to regrow roots.  Butia actually do well in containers if you end up keeping it that way for awhile.

Will do, and good to know! Thank you! 

[happypalms]

Here’s a couple of containers for you!

[palmsweez]

On 7/23/2025 at 2:11 AM, JohnAndSancho said:

Might as well throw them in 3 or 5 gallons once they start popping. 

This is true lol. They are quick fellas!!

[MrTropical]

On 7/19/2025 at 11:24 AM, MrTropical said:

The Washingtonia robusta seedlings are moving along fast (plus a couple T. fortunei)

Shoutout to DandSBotanical on Etsy for the quality Washy seeds! 

Tonight's update on the Washy seedlings...

[JohnAndSancho]

1 hour ago, MrTropical said:

Tonight's update on the Washy seedlings...

I'll never do Washies in a bag again. They're way too fast germinators. I had some pure Filifera and I figured it'd be at least 3 or 4 weeks and by then they looked like steamed asparagus. Cooked. 

[MrTropical]

On 7/19/2025 at 10:10 AM, MrTropical said:

This morning I treated the droopy Windmill with copper fungicide, just as a precaution. We'll see how this ends up... 

This Windmill is beginning to rapidly deteriorate. Several days ago, I repotted it into a smaller pot (3-gallon) because I noticed quite a few rotten roots while trying to pinpoint the issue. So I assumed something was going on with the soil. I added perlite and ensured good drainage. Now, I have a total spear pull on my hands and the lower fronds are beginning to die off. I've been treating with hydrogen peroxide & copper fungicide throughout this process...




What should my next course of action be? Any advice is appreciated. 

[palmsweez]

25 minutes ago, MrTropical said:

This Windmill is beginning to rapidly deteriorate. Several days ago, I repotted it into a smaller pot (3-gallon) because I noticed quite a few rotten roots while trying to pinpoint the issue. So I assumed something was going on with the soil. I added perlite and ensured good drainage. Now, I have a total spear pull on my hands and the lower fronds are beginning to die off. I've been treating with hydrogen peroxide & copper fungicide throughout this process...




What should my next course of action be? Any advice is appreciated. 

I would continue to treat the palm for a week or so. If it continues to go downhill a trunk cut may be in order. Not the best time of year for this to happen that's for sure. Wishing you the best of luck and keep us updated!!

[MrTropical]

Well, I checked on the Windmill earlier this afternoon. As I was about to treat the palm with another round of H2O2, I noticed a whiteish spot in the area where the center spear should be. I felt it, and I am fairly confident that there is a new spear on the way...




Also, no additional fronds have died off since the last update. This palm has performed exceptionally well through this process given the extreme heat and humidity of the past 2 weeks.

In other news, I don't flinch at extreme heat warnings anymore. 

[JohnAndSancho]

6 hours ago, MrTropical said:

Well, I checked on the Windmill earlier this afternoon. As I was about to treat the palm with another round of H2O2, I noticed a whiteish spot in the area where the center spear should be. I felt it, and I am fairly confident that there is a new spear on the way...




Also, no additional fronds have died off since the last update. This palm has performed exceptionally well through this process given the extreme heat and humidity of the past 2 weeks.

In other news, I don't flinch at extreme heat warnings anymore. 

What I was doing was taking a chopstick or a bamboo skewer and gently poking until I hit something solid and kind of eyeballing the movement. It's taken it all summer to finally start to push a frond but it's green and pretty.

 

As far as heat warnings go, our central AC has crapped out so I'm probably better off sleeping outside until it gets fixed. 

[MrTropical]

24 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

What I was doing was taking a chopstick or a bamboo skewer and gently poking until I hit something solid and kind of eyeballing the movement. It's taken it all summer to finally start to push a frond but it's green and pretty.

 

As far as heat warnings go, our central AC has crapped out so I'm probably better off sleeping outside until it gets fixed. 

Looking good! Glad to see it recovering. 

Damn, hopefully you can get the A/C fixed soon! This heat is brutal. 

[JohnAndSancho]

1 hour ago, MrTropical said:

Looking good! Glad to see it recovering. 

Damn, hopefully you can get the A/C fixed soon! This heat is brutal. 

Me too. I'm never leaving anything outside when it's that cold again unless I'm trying to kill it! 

 

There's - stories about the AC lol. And I'm going to overshare. It's the bearings in the blower motor fan, and the coils are probably frozen over from the humidity. I've dealt with lots of AC issues in my life, a good friend of mine was an HVAC tech, but my brother is convinced he needs to spend $13,000 and everyone else is dumb and the reason this 35 year old unit seized up is because my window was opened in April. 🙄 The fun part is my meds make me hypersensitive to heat so yeah. Good chance I sleep on Mom's floor (she has a window unit) or in the car. I've been keeping Sancho in her room the past few nights... He's got enough health problems too. 

[MrTropical]

Well, I have an update...albeit a tragic one. I did two treatments of hydrogen peroxide since the last update, along with a dose of copper fungicide due to the heavy rains of the past week. What appeared to be a spear last week was in fact not a spear, but rather a portion of the inner core of the palm. This afternoon, I tugged on the newest frond and almost the entire core pulled out. So I performed a trunk cut...to no avail. The core was rotted down to the very bottom. Unfortunately, I think it is safe to say this one is a goner. The Windmill palms of coastal North Carolina, especially the ones on the barrier islands or along the adjacent waterways, seem to struggle with our lengthy heat & high humidity. They also seem to dislike the sandy soils of the area, although that was not a factor for this particular Windmill. Notably, my potted XL 7-gallon Windmill from Lowe's is thriving, and it has received the same level of care throughout the summer. My much smaller trunk cut 3-gallon Windmill from Northeast Ohio Palms is also in good health. 

What I saw just before reaching the very bottom of the core...



August 4, 2025

[MrTropical]

Not all is lost. Here's an update on my Washingtonia...

July 17, 2025:




August 4, 2025: