North Carolina Container Ranch

[JohnAndSancho]

33 minutes ago, MrTropical said:

For real. These offshoots emerged on a potted 3-gallon Sago that experienced several nights around 15°F and a few days that failed to reach 32°F this past January. Very cold by coastal N.C. standards. Sagos are definitely underrated when it comes to hardiness. 

For the heat-loving palms, you could get a can of black spray paint for your fast food cups and bottles. That would help with absorbing heat as well as retaining heat.

 

Lol I've literally got Sabals I can only identify by what cup they're in right now. I broke down and bought some masking tape to make some extra fancy labels for the community pots outside. Hopefully I don't have to move anything inside until Christmas. 

[MrTropical]

Well, an unexpected but pleasant surprise yesterday. I bought a Sago from Walmart in April 2024 for $20. It did very well last year, but then we got hit with some nasty cold and that destroyed its growth. I pruned off the dead growth sometime in February 2025, and waited. And waited. And waited some more. June arrives, still nothing. So I put it back in its original nursery pot with some old soil and and forgot about it. Yesterday, I was mowing around the shed and noticed something different about the Sago...it is finally sending out new growth!




After repotting with fresh soil and a healthy watering...



Also, I noticed that there are three areas where new growth is pushing out. Will these eventually form individual trunks? 

[MrTropical]

Lady Palm Update! 

[JohnAndSancho]

5 minutes ago, MrTropical said:

Lady Palm Update! 

From seed? And is that a big fancy grow tent? 

[MrTropical]

8 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

From seed? And is that a big fancy grow tent? 

No, I bought these on Etsy in June. The listing said the palm would be 24 inches tall and I was sent a tiny nursery pot with these two crammed in it. Contacted Etsy and they refunded me. They have each pushed out 4 new fronds since June.  

I need to get a grow tent. I bought two indoor gardening mats from the clearance section at Walmart in January to help contain any water spills that might occur. There’s two storage totes underneath this mat, and the other mat is underneath my Cat Palm on the floor. 

[JohnAndSancho]

Oh you still fancy. 

 

My pots are sitting in lasagna pans from Dollar General 😂

[MrTropical]

Well, it's finally time for an update...

The Facebook Marketplace Freebie (Pindo Palm) I acquired in July:



Needle Palm:



Washy:




Sago:




More Washingtonia + a few Windmill seedlings:




The indoor jungle...

Two lady palms, two citrus seedlings grown from a store-bought orange, some Spanish moss, a Washy + Windmill seedling, a spoonleaf sundew, and a parlor palm. In the two Ziploc bags are Serenoa repens & Chrysalidocarpus decipiens. 

[JohnAndSancho]

1 hour ago, MrTropical said:

Well, it's finally time for an update...

The Facebook Marketplace Freebie (Pindo Palm) I acquired in July:



Needle Palm:



Washy:




Sago:




More Washingtonia + a few Windmill seedlings:




The indoor jungle...

Two lady palms, two citrus seedlings grown from a store-bought orange, some Spanish moss, a Washy + Windmill seedling, a spoonleaf sundew, and a parlor palm. In the two Ziploc bags are Serenoa repens & Chrysalidocarpus decipiens. 

The store bought orange is something I never thought of, but I really need to pot up some more papayas and I bought a dragon fruit today. And hell yeah to the masking tape labels. I use those too and people can't hate because it's genuine Dollar General PROFESSIONAL masking tape. My grow room bench is filled with 1g pots with baggies over them right now. 

[MrTropical]

15 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

The store bought orange is something I never thought of, but I really need to pot up some more papayas and I bought a dragon fruit today. And hell yeah to the masking tape labels. I use those too and people can't hate because it's genuine Dollar General PROFESSIONAL masking tape. My grow room bench is filled with 1g pots with baggies over them right now. 

Yessir. It only took a month to get a 2” seedling from the orange seeds.

Eventually I will be forced to buy another heat mat. A load of Foxtail Palm seeds will be in my mailbox (hopefully) on Monday. 

[MrTropical]

Some more palmy pics...

Sabal causiarum...



Sabal palmetto x5...



Some of my Washingtonia seedlings from seed I bought in July...grasshoppers really dealt their damage

[MrTropical]

Noticed my first Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens) sprout this evening...



Thanks again for the seeds!
@Boca Palms

[JohnAndSancho]

51 minutes ago, MrTropical said:

Noticed my first Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens) sprout this evening...



Thanks again for the seeds!
@Boca Palms

Maybe I'll get some sprouts soon. Yours in a baggie?

[MrTropical]

21 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Maybe I'll get some sprouts soon. Yours in a baggie?

Hopefully! And yes. 

[JohnAndSancho]

You do YouTube? It'd be nice to follow someone else who's going balls to the wall with indoor stuff. I'm about to order some paint for my table and I really need to hang more lights, germinate these palmettos and dragonfruit seeds and just keep adding on. 

[MrTropical]

52 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

You do YouTube? It'd be nice to follow someone else who's going balls to the wall with indoor stuff. I'm about to order some paint for my table and I really need to hang more lights, germinate these palmettos and dragonfruit seeds and just keep adding on. 

I do not at the moment, although I should probably start one.

I do have an Instagram for progress pics on the indoor & outdoor stuff in the garden, if you want to check it out. I have some videos from last year I need to post on there as well. 

My @ is SoutheastNCPalms on Instagram. 

[JohnAndSancho]

1 hour ago, MrTropical said:

I do not at the moment, although I should probably start one.

I do have an Instagram for progress pics on the indoor & outdoor stuff in the garden, if you want to check it out. I have some videos from last year I need to post on there as well. 

My @ is SoutheastNCPalms on Instagram. 

I can't explain why, but I am auto banned from Facebook and Instagram. I tried to create an account and it told me I violated community standards and couldn't appeal this. I dunno how I'm auto banned from someplace I haven't been in 6 years for violating standards when the worst thing I ever did was call a guy a butthole and post a picture of a butthole and said "This you?" and I did my 7 day suspension for that but my god that was in 2015 lol. And hell, it was hilarious. Who knows now that AI runs everything. 

[MrTropical]

5 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I can't explain why, but I am auto banned from Facebook and Instagram. I tried to create an account and it told me I violated community standards and couldn't appeal this. I dunno how I'm auto banned from someplace I haven't been in 6 years for violating standards when the worst thing I ever did was call a guy a butthole and post a picture of a butthole and said "This you?" and I did my 7 day suspension for that but my god that was in 2015 lol. And hell, it was hilarious. Who knows now that AI runs everything. 

Oh jeez. Have you tried creating a new account recently? I doubt they would go as far as an IP ban or a hardware ID ban. But it's Meta, so who knows. 

[JohnAndSancho]

55 minutes ago, MrTropical said:

Oh jeez. Have you tried creating a new account recently? I doubt they would go as far as an IP ban or a hardware ID ban. But it's Meta, so who knows. 

Yep. And made a new email and used the library Wi-Fi to try that. Did the video selfie and got a note saying I had 180 days to appeal and then 3 minutes later saying my appeal was denied, I appealed nothing because I didn't even get a chance to. Soooo 

 

Anyway I'm on YouTube lol 

[MrTropical]

17 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Yep. And made a new email and used the library Wi-Fi to try that. Did the video selfie and got a note saying I had 180 days to appeal and then 3 minutes later saying my appeal was denied, I appealed nothing because I didn't even get a chance to. Soooo 

 

Anyway I'm on YouTube lol 

Damn. They really want to keep you off there 😟

I subbed to you a few months back. I enjoy your content. 

[MrTropical]

Foxtails are in the baggie! Let's hope for some sprouts in a few months. 

[JohnAndSancho]

4 minutes ago, MrTropical said:

Damn. They really want to keep you off there 😟

I subbed to you a few months back. I enjoy your content. 

I ain't even done nothing! How am I gonna violate community standards without being in the community? I legit just want access to Marketplace to sell plants. 

[MrTropical]

On 10/27/2025 at 9:40 PM, JohnAndSancho said:

You do YouTube? It'd be nice to follow someone else who's going balls to the wall with indoor stuff. I'm about to order some paint for my table and I really need to hang more lights, germinate these palmettos and dragonfruit seeds and just keep adding on. 

Just uploaded some YT Shorts. The footage ranges from 2022 to early 2025. I will upload fresh content in the coming days. 
 

Link: https://youtube.com/@southeastncpalms

[JohnAndSancho]

On 10/27/2025 at 6:09 PM, MrTropical said:

Noticed my first Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens) sprout this evening...



Thanks again for the seeds!
@Boca Palms

I've got another one that's just starting to push a root but I left it in the baggie to marinate a little while longer. 

[MrTropical]

November update! Here’s some of the palms this evening…

Needle Palm:

Washy:

Pindo Palm:

 

[MrTropical]

Some non-palm updates…

[MrTropical]

Sabal causiarum 

I’ve noticed that ample heat & keeping the soil moist is key to fast growth (by Sabal standards) with these, even indoors. The room stays around 75°F and receives several hours of morning sun + additional light from the grow lights. 

[NC-Key-Bar]

On 8/26/2025 at 10:18 PM, JohnAndSancho said:

Those look amazing, but size 18? Jesus Christ dude 

Lol my same though. Who tf wears a size 18 croc. That like a boat paddle. @MrTropical

ive not read through many of the Palms in Pots”. Very interesting. And I’m pushing for a lot of these similar plants. Lady Palm for sure. Got a Sabal X Pamarum from PDN this summer. Also their Sabal rosei. 
 

Very nice set up. Are you going to put any of these in ground?

[JohnAndSancho]

1 hour ago, NC-Key-Bar said:

Lol my same though. Who tf wears a size 18 croc. That like a boat paddle. @MrTropical

 

 

It'd be hilarious if he's like 5'1 or something. 

[MrTropical]

2 hours ago, NC-Key-Bar said:

Lol my same though. Who tf wears a size 18 croc. That like a boat paddle. @MrTropical

ive not read through many of the Palms in Pots”. Very interesting. And I’m pushing for a lot of these similar plants. Lady Palm for sure. Got a Sabal X Pamarum from PDN this summer. Also their Sabal rosei. 
 

Very nice set up. Are you going to put any of these in ground?

LOL

Thank you. I currently rent, so planting in the ground isn’t an option for me at the moment. I do hope to get these in the ground on my own property in the coming years though. 

[MrTropical]

1 hour ago, JohnAndSancho said:

 

It'd be hilarious if he's like 5'1 or something. 

Thankfully I’m 6’2. My girlfriend is 5’1 though. She wears a women’s size 6, so you can imagine the stark contrast in our shoe size.

[MrTropical]

Time for an update...

I acquired some Christmas Palm seeds in late November thanks to @kinzyjr - and nearly all of the seeds germinated within 2 weeks. From what I've read in various threads, this species produces a long taproot, so I quickly potted up the sprouted seeds. Hoping for small healthy seedlings by spring. The cups in the photo below each contain a sprouted Christmas Palm seed. The baggie on the far side contains 15 Foxtail seeds from eBay, which I've had since late October and none of those have sprouted as of now. 


 

[MrTropical]

Photos around the garden after a minimum of 19F. The Pindo & Sago were stored in an unheated shed with plenty of straw for insulation. The carnivorous plants were totally unprotected. This was nothing for a Needle Palm so it did not receive protection either. 

[MrTropical]

Today, I got my hands on some PalmGain. The price was advertised as $5.94 but only paid $4.16 at checkout. At the MCX in Camp Lejeune of all places too. 

[MrTropical]

I bought 60 1-gallon nursery pots for $20 on eBay, and they arrived yesterday. Potted up the two offshoots on my Needle Palm today. I’ll keep them indoors during freezes while they get accustomed to their new pots. 

[JohnAndSancho]

1 hour ago, MrTropical said:

I bought 60 1-gallon nursery pots for $20 on eBay, and they arrived yesterday. Potted up the two offshoots on my Needle Palm today. I’ll keep them indoors during freezes while they get accustomed to their new pots. 

Buying pots in bulk will only lead to bad things 😂 

 

Merry Christmas homey. 

[MrTropical]

16 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Buying pots in bulk will only lead to bad things 😂 

 

Merry Christmas homey. 

You're not wrong! 😂

Thank you, and Merry Christmas to you as well. 
 

[JohnAndSancho]

38 minutes ago, MrTropical said:

You're not wrong! 😂

Thank you, and Merry Christmas to you as well. 
 

Just don't turn into me lol. I'm about to buy a pile of 3 and 5g pots and I pray I can sell this stuff before it gets any bigger than that.