How long until Caryota urens begins to flower

[MattyB]

I'd also like to get your opinion on about how tall you think these flowering plants are.

[LJG]

I know some that are 15 years old that flowered this year. Right in San Marcos. Maybe the freeze brought it on?

[osideterry]

Looking at mine, my heart says 20+ but my brain says 15-20.

It's tough when you find a really nice one, and a year later you see it's starting to flower.

[freakypalmguy]

I think what you do is grow them in a group of say three or four. Plant one or two initially then 5 years down the road plant another, then another 5 years plant another. That way when the oldest flowers and dies, remove it and plant another small one. Urens don't get that big of a spread so they could be planted failrly close together and I think the staggered look is nice.

Matt

[LJG]

Many people that have grown these have said they would not do it again. ~15 years is not that long and removal can be a nightmare. It is not like you can chainsaw them down. Plus you will probably plant some nice rare stuff under the canopy? Go luck not damaging that during the removal of the dead urens. After talking to some, I decided to rip my Gigas and Urens out - they were small (24" box) anyway, and plated by my original landscaper. I know the argument that 15 years is long time to spend with a pretty palm. But for me there are far too many others I can plant and not have to worry about removal.

[MattyB]

Matt, that's a good crop rotation idea.

Len,  strange as it may sound, I'd like my C. urens to grow as fast and tall as possible, and flower and die as soon as possible.  I plan on growing two on the edge of a gully.  Then when they've reached maturity, cut them down, let them fall across the gully and put boards across them so I can use it as a foot bridge.  Sweet idea?  Whatcha think?  I'm basically growing my own structural lumber on site.  I need crazy ideas like that to give my garden some character and I've never seen that done before.  Either that or half bury a bunch of car chasis and make it look like a scene of a bad accident from the road above.  The wife didn't like that idea.

[Jeff Searle]

My guess would be between 12-15 years for you guys. Back here, it can be more like 8-10 years, or less even.

Jeff

[paulgila]

if you are gonna grow some freaky palm guys idea seems pretty sound to me.they are so interesting its hard not to plant any,for me.

[LJG]

(MattyB @ Dec. 19 2007,14:43)

QUOTE

Matt, that's a good crop rotation idea.

Len,  strange as it may sound, I'd like my C. urens to grow as fast and tall as possible, and flower and die as soon as possible.  I plan on growing two on the edge of a gully.  Then when they've reached maturity, cut them down, let them fall across the gully and put boards across them so I can use it as a foot bridge.  Sweet idea?  Whatcha think?  I'm basically growing my own structural lumber on site.  I need crazy ideas like that to give my garden some character and I've never seen that done before.  Either that or half bury a bunch of car chasis and make it look like a scene of a bad accident from the road above.  The wife didn't like that idea.

Hey, I like it. The wood is strong enough to hold the golf cart you will be driving over it.  

I have no where in my back yard I can get the tree out without damaging my other stuff. I would love to have a Gigas.

[paulgila]

len just plant one in yer neighbors yard

[Kim]

Len, let go and live a little.  Plant a Caryota.  I went with the obtusa.  When the time comes I will hire a crane operator who played a lot of video games as a kid, no problems plucking it from the back alley.  But I think it will take much longer to flower than a urens, so maybe it will be someone else's problem!!

[madagascarbob]

My Gigas is flowering it's probably about 15 years old .

[happ]

I think patience is in order Matty.  Planted a 10 gallon urens last spring with one new leaf   Can't wait to watch it grow over the many years  :laugh:

[Phil]

Matt,

Onset of flowering does depend on where one lives.  In hotter areas like HI or Florida, it comes much sooner.  And, these plants don't obtain the height and girth of those grown in cooler areas like in So Cal.  In my garden, I've planted quite a few urens.  All were planted between 1981 and 1986 from 15 gallon plants.  The tallest of these obtained an ultimate height of about 80 feet.  Most began flowering about 4 to 5 years ago.  All except one are still standing.  Several are close to removal presently.  So, in summary, my experience is blossoming starts approximately 20 years after planting a 15g in San Diego, CA.  But, they can remain for another three to five years after blossoming starts.  Postponing removal may increase the risk of the tree's falling over.

Phil

[DoomsDave]

I don't know how long they'll llive, but I'll sure find out, unless I croak first.

Three years from big fivers, and they're approaching 30 feet (that's right three-oh!) tall, starting to trunk.

Not much crown, though.

dave

[Ken Johnson]

A farmer down here planted some for sale and never sold one. They all started blooming after 5 years! They were ratty and stressed looking and I bet this contributed to their early maturity.

[MattyB]

(LJG @ Dec. 19 2007,18:01)

QUOTE

(MattyB @ Dec. 19 2007,14:43)

QUOTE

Matt, that's a good crop rotation idea.

Len,  strange as it may sound, I'd like my C. urens to grow as fast and tall as possible, and flower and die as soon as possible.  I plan on growing two on the edge of a gully.  Then when they've reached maturity, cut them down, let them fall across the gully and put boards across them so I can use it as a foot bridge.  Sweet idea?  Whatcha think?  I'm basically growing my own structural lumber on site.  I need crazy ideas like that to give my garden some character and I've never seen that done before.  Either that or half bury a bunch of car chasis and make it look like a scene of a bad accident from the road above.  The wife didn't like that idea.

Hey, I like it. The wood is strong enough to hold the golf cart you will be driving over it.  

I have no where in my back yard I can get the tree out without damaging my other stuff. I would love to have a Gigas.

Yeah, the trick will be to decide where I want the trunks to fall and not to plant anything special under them for 15 years.  Next is to figure out a system for getting the trees to fall exactly where I want them.  I think I can tie down the trunk end so that it dosen't bounce away when it falls down.  But getting the crown end to fall precisely where I want it and not to bounce or roll down the gully will be trickier.  My dad and I cut down a 50 foot tall pine tree in his tiny backyard and we got it to fall exactly where we wanted it without hitting the garden shed, the roof, or the neighbors house.  I was on the roof of the neighbors garage with a rope pulling like hell to get it to come back and not crush the house.  

[Daryl]

And don't forget to keep the potassium fertiliser away from them!

My Caryota no only has 3 ft of trunk and 5 inflos loaded with flowers and fruit. Result of too much potassium fert used nearby...

While we're on the subject of C.urens, they appear different in each country. I often wonder whether we are all growing the same species??

Daryl

[Tomsky]

I had a David Barry mountain C. urens for 19 years. It was defoliated and trunk was damaged in 1990. It seemed to be recovering, but for the next two years the woodpeckers would peck away at the trunk, leaving a gaping hole. Then in 1992 a wind storm blew it over. It might have been close to flowering. At least it was easy to cut up with a chain saw.

Jack

[rozpalm]

My Caryota no is 25' and about 12-14 y/o. I am hoping it can make it another 4 years so that I can plant a Tahina in its place.

[DoomsDave]

i voted for 11-15, but it's arbitrary.

But maybe not

[pogobob]

Many people that have grown these have said they would not do it again. ~15 years is not that long and removal can be a nightmare. It is not like you can chainsaw them down. Plus you will probably plant some nice rare stuff under the canopy? Go luck not damaging that during the removal of the dead urens. After talking to some, I decided to rip my Gigas and Urens out - they were small (24" box) anyway, and plated by my original landscaper. I know the argument that 15 years is long time to spend with a pretty palm. But for me there are far too many others I can plant and not have to worry about removal.

What Len said. I grew 3 and they all flowered in 12yrs.