Christmas Palm seeds update. Received these seeds in late November & nearly every seed germinated by the middle of December, so these seedlings are around 3 weeks old now. 

Thank you again! @kinzyjr

Update #2: Several more Serenoa repens seeds from @Boca Palms germinated. They’re in their own cups now. 

Update #3: Currently soaking the Buccaneer Palm seeds that @Johnny Palmseed sent my way. Thank you again for the seeds! 
 

I need springtime to hurry up. 😂

On 1/5/2026 at 12:14 AM, MrTropical said:

Christmas Palm seeds update. Received these seeds in late November & nearly every seed germinated by the middle of December, so these seedlings are around 3 weeks old now. 

Thank you again! @kinzyjr

What potting mix is that? Looks awful chunky with synthetic fertilizer present

17 minutes ago, Enar said:

What potting mix is that? Looks awful chunky with synthetic fertilizer present

Part of the mix is Sta-Green Vegetable & Flower Garden Soil, and the rest of it is a unknown mix from a palm that was shipped to me in November. Top layer of soil is the unknown stuff. 

Repotted the Lady palms before the cold weather sets in tonight…

Lady Palms are one of those palms I wish were cold hardy, to me it has that look that it should be 😂

Who wants to play Spot The Needle Palm?

6 hours ago, MrTropical said:

Who wants to play Spot The Needle Palm?

I have some seeds soaking now. I built another bench so I need to fill it up. Got some Tallifero (sp? The cold hardy blue Georgia Sabal minor) and Bald Head Island seeds in baggies too. Thanks to the homie @N8ALLRIGHT for sending them. I don't know if they needed it but I cracked a couple of the needle palm seeds and I'm gonna throw the rest of the Butia seeds from @Scott W on the mat too, and then go through my other Sabal seeds. They're thawing after freezing the weevils.

The carnivorous plants have been indoors for the past few days. They can handle this level of cold, especially with deep snow to insulate, but I did not want to put them through this period of extreme weather. 

The potted Sagos are inside an unheated shed under a heavy layer of straw & some snow. 

Around 2 weeks ago, I sold the large Pindo Palm that I had dug up back in July 2025. 

All other palms & plants are indoors until spring. 

Needle Palm update this afternoon...



Largest Christmas Palm seedling so far...

4 hours ago, MrTropical said:

The carnivorous plants have been indoors for the past few days. They can handle this level of cold, especially with deep snow to insulate, but I did not want to put them through this period of extreme weather. 

The potted Sagos are inside an unheated shed under a heavy layer of straw & some snow. 

Around 2 weeks ago, I sold the large Pindo Palm that I had dug up back in July 2025. 

All other palms & plants are indoors until spring. 

Needle Palm update this afternoon...



Largest Christmas Palm seedling so far...

How much snow did you get?

54 minutes ago, PAPalmtrees said:

How much snow did you get?

I wasn't able to get an accurate measurement in my yard due to all the drifting, but Swansboro in Onslow County recorded 17 inches and Peletier in Carteret County recorded 19.5 inches. Both communities are within a few miles of me. 

1 hour ago, PAPalmtrees said:

How much snow did you get?

Snow totals map from the NWS office in Newport...

33 minutes ago, MrTropical said:

I wasn't able to get an accurate measurement in my yard due to all the drifting, but Swansboro in Onslow County recorded 17 inches and Peletier in Carteret County recorded 19.5 inches. Both communities are within a few miles of me. 

That's crazy! We only got 8" Last week

3 hours ago, PAPalmtrees said:

That's crazy! We only got 8" Last week

Yeah tell me about it! Down here, the snow bands set up a little earlier than expected and were more intense than expected. At times on Saturday night into Sunday morning, snow rates were between 1" and 2" inches an hour. HUGE flakes might I add. Lived in northwestern NC (the tundra of North Carolina lol) for 18 years and have never seen anything quite like this. 

12 hours ago, MrTropical said:

Yeah tell me about it! Down here, the snow bands set up a little earlier than expected and were more intense than expected. At times on Saturday night into Sunday morning, snow rates were between 1" and 2" inches an hour. HUGE flakes might I add. Lived in northwestern NC (the tundra of North Carolina lol) for 18 years and have never seen anything quite like this. 

wow that's crazy!

Crazy to see NC low country with a foot+ of snow.

On 2/2/2026 at 7:08 PM, MrTropical said:

I wasn't able to get an accurate measurement in my yard due to all the drifting, but Swansboro in Onslow County recorded 17 inches and Peletier in Carteret County recorded 19.5 inches. Both communities are within a few miles of me. 

😳😳😳

 

Holy poop on a stick. That's insane. Did a bunch of penguins show up too? 

 

I guess the good news is your size 18s are practically cross country skis. 

1 hour ago, JohnAndSancho said:

😳😳😳

 

Holy poop on a stick. That's insane. Did a bunch of penguins show up too? 

 

I guess the good news is your size 18s are practically cross country skis. 

I think this is nature’s way of trying to tell me to move further south. This is the second winter in a row with significant snowfall for coastal North Carolina. 

LOL - if only we had some hills around here. Maybe I can swing by one of the hills next to an overpass before all the snow melts away. 

Yesterday, the girlfriend got me a European Fan Palm as an early birthday present. I repotted it this morning. This is my first time growing one of these. 

 

8 minutes ago, MrTropical said:

Yesterday, the girlfriend got me a European Fan Palm as an early birthday present. I repotted it this morning. This is my first time growing one of these. 

 

Looks really good! Happy early birthday!

28 minutes ago, PAPalmtrees said:

Looks really good! Happy early birthday!

Thank you!

1 hour ago, MrTropical said:

Yesterday, the girlfriend got me a European Fan Palm as an early birthday present. I repotted it this morning. This is my first time growing one of these. 

 

Nice! Merry early Birthmas! 5 gallon?

4 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Nice! Merry early Birthmas! 5 gallon?

Thanks! This palm was in a 1.75 gallon pot at Lowe's. Repotted to a 10 gallon this morning. 

1 hour ago, MrTropical said:

Thanks! This palm was in a 1.75 gallon pot at Lowe's. Repotted to a 10 gallon this morning. 

Ngl I'm scared to go to Lowes right now. I'm gonna walk out with something I don't have room for. I'm already eyeballing my benches seeing how I can stack them into shelves to free up more space, so I can build more. Spring can't get here soon enough for me, man. 

Happy early birthday 🥳🎈

Late February update!

The Washy has been outdoors for the past week and is doing great. Most of my plants are still indoors for the time being. Spring is right around the corner though! 

My Venus Flytraps and some Carolina Reaper seedlings towards the back…

This photo has quite the variety. Pineapple plant, Adonidia seedlings, a yucca, and a Sabal Causiarum seedling…

 

I’ve also had several Trachycarpus fortunei seedlings pop up in an indoor community pot. They were repotted over the weekend into their own Solo cup. 

I want to try peppers again - Poblano. I can't figure out if I did something wrong or if I'm just impatient. 

 

But I can't wait until Spring. I just don't have the energy to move stuff in and out, and I need to get some cheap soil for all the crap I'm selling. These 80s to 20s temperature swings are just stupid. 

March update. Started a new job with Metrolina Greenhouses so I’ve been less active on the forums.

Got these two Pygmy Date palms last week for $5 each. They sustained some cold damage and were marked 75% off. I couldn’t resist…

Washy update…

Non-palm update on my pitcher plants…

May update! 
 

I've been away from the forums for a while due to work & relocating. I no longer live in coastal North Carolina…I recently purchased a home in Northwest Florida. Looking forward to finally getting my palms in the ground. I will have more updates on the garden soon!

On 5/1/2026 at 6:39 AM, MrTropical said:

May update! 
 

I've been away from the forums for a while due to work & relocating. I no longer live in coastal North Carolina…I recently purchased a home in Northwest Florida. Looking forward to finally getting my palms in the ground. I will have more updates on the garden soon!

Congratulations on buying the new home and I'm sorry about moving to the panhandle. 

 

I can say that, I grew up there. 

Everything related to my garden has now been moved to this thread…

https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/93505-northwest-florida-happenings