Current age demographics for PalmTalk (End of 2025)

[BayAndroid]

I wonder what the current age demographics of active PalmTalk users are at the end of 2025. To be clear, you do not need to post here, but are regularly checking and reading the threads. Please share your answers in the polls and if you wish, discuss below in the thread. 

[Silas_Sancona]

21 minutes ago, BayAndroid said:

I wonder what the current age demographics of active PalmTalk users are at the end of 2025. To be clear, you do not need to post here, but are regularly checking and reading the threads. Please share your answers in the polls and if you wish, discuss below in the thread. 

My "age"?

If I don't know ya ..Personally..  that info is nunoftha the random faces on a screens business.

Simple as that.

 

[Harry’s Palms]

I recently turned 71 , about 2 weeks after getting my new hip. I started palm collecting in the early 1990’s . Harry

[Than]

1 hour ago, BayAndroid said:

I wonder what the current age demographics of active PalmTalk users are at the end of 2025. To be clear, you do not need to post here, but are regularly checking and reading the threads. Please share your answers in the polls and if you wish, discuss below in the thread. 

Why would you like to know that?

[BayAndroid]

41 minutes ago, Than said:

Why would you like to know that?

I want to see if there's a clear trend towards who's currently interested in the hobby / subject and I want to see if the trend skews heavily in any specific direction. I'm also interested in how that trend impacts PalmTalk specifically. I don't want to say too much now, as I don't want to suggest any assumptions before the poll has time to populate results. 

[Than]

9 minutes ago, BayAndroid said:

I want to see if there's a clear trend towards who's currently interested in the hobby / subject and I want to see if the trend skews heavily in any specific direction. I'm also interested in how that trend impacts PalmTalk specifically. I don't want to say too much now, as I don't want to suggest any assumptions before the poll has time to populate results. 

"If you are into gardening in your 20s you have issues. If you are not into gardening in your 50s, you have issues" - W. Churchill

No offense to the younger members. I was into plants in my teens! 

[JohnAndSancho]

Let me put it like this. 

 

It's time for me to get my prostate checked, but I don't get discounts at Denny's yet. 

[tim_brissy_13]

I’ve been on Palmtalk for 23 years and according to the poll results so far there are no members in a younger group. Need the next generation coming through to pass on the passion. 

[NC-Key-Bar]

I’m 35 (and a half). Got into palms and plants in highschool, but never had any. Just liked them. That’s what pushed me towards picking Biology as a major in college (when I had no idea what to do). And choosing Plant Bio classes as electives  

Fast forward - we moved out of our first home in 2022 to a place with more room. My toddlers were now more independent, and gave me more time for hobbies. Gardening, Birds, Lawncare, ect. My wife and I both. 

[Harry’s Palms]

Interesting information . Good to see the younger crowd . I was living on a sailboat through my 20’s and into my late 30’s . Grew up on the beach in Southern California . I still have always been into nature but palms were just telephone poles with hair . I was too busy  sailing , surfing , anything to do with the ocean . I used my racing bicycle for transportation , pedaling all around the beach and beyond. Now , it is gardening and cycling . Ocean is too cold for me now and my memory banks are full of my ocean loving days , afternoon breezes filling our sails and early morning swells. Now I patiently await the next new frond or a new addition sprouting up! Harry

[iko.]

Only 20 people have responded to your survey so far, but it’s kind of hard to believe the results. I get the feeling that some of the people in the younger age groups are actually baby boomers joking around or maybe those they didn’t bother replying. I understand you’ve asked people who check the forum, not just those who actively participate.

As for participation, you can get a sense of people’s ages from the way they write or the photos they post… Based on that, I’d say the average Palmtalk user is a male well over 45. If not, they really sound like much older fellas. If you’re looking for younger people actively posting about palm trees, I’d think you probably need to check other platforms but it doesn’t get much expert than here.

[idontknowhatnametuse]

Gen Z palm collector here. I've liked palms since I was like 3. First discovered PT in 2016. Started collecting around 2017, but I only started collecting rarer species in 2021.

[BayAndroid]

2 hours ago, iko. said:

Only 20 people have responded to your survey so far, but it’s kind of hard to believe the results. I get the feeling that some of the people in the younger age groups are actually baby boomers joking around or maybe those they didn’t bother replying. I understand you’ve asked people who check the forum, not just those who actively participate.

As for participation, you can get a sense of people’s ages from the way they write or the photos they post… Based on that, I’d say the average Palmtalk user is a male well over 45. If not, they really sound like much older fellas. If you’re looking for younger people actively posting about palm trees, I’d think you probably need to check other platforms but it doesn’t get much expert than here.

Truthfully, I would hope people would vote accurately, since it's important to me to see that people aren't just stuck in the new aged internet sandbox, where you jump between your Facebook, Google and Netflix. I personally came across Palm Talk for the first time around the early 2000s. I saved a bunch of palm photos I found here and dreamed of what I would someday try to achieve when I eventually had my own garden. It's interesting to to see the perspective that some members obviously had other interests earlier in life, I definitely get that. I did as well, but this interest was always in my back pocket. I wonder if some members are just worried about their age being visible somehow and so they didn't vote, but I don't think anyone can see that, unless it were a moderator, perhaps. 

Anyways, interesting results so far, I am glad to see there's a lot of young folks interested in the topic and are using PalmTalk!

[quaman58]

Been at it a while now; started paying more attention to palms in the mid-nineties. Funny story: my wife's family was all from Germany, having left after WW-2. Her uncle Ernie was droning on to me in the early nineties that he belonged to an organization called the International Palm Society. I remember thinking to myself at the time, "What a nerd"..  Only to catch the bug myself a couple years later. Life's funny that way. Before he passed (by which time he'd observed my newfound obsession), he gave me his old copy of the original "Cultivated Palm Encyclopedia"  by Robert Lee Riffle & Paul Craft, which I still have. As to the younger guys, I have a nephew that is crazy (& knowledgeable) about palms and Cycads, as well as 2 sons who have the gardening bug. So, I think we'll be in good hands for the future.  

[BayAndroid]

3 minutes ago, quaman58 said:

Been at it a while now; started paying more attention to palms in the mid-nineties. Funny story: my wife's family was all from Germany, having left after WW-2. Her uncle Ernie was droning on to me in the early nineties that he belonged to an organization called the International Palm Society. I remember thinking to myself at the time, "What a nerd"..  Only to catch the bug myself a couple years later. Life's funny that way. Before he passed (by which time he'd observed my newfound obsession), he gave me his old copy of the original "Cultivated Palm Encyclopedia"  by Robert Lee Riffle & Paul Craft, which I still have. As to the younger guys, I have a nephew that is crazy (& knowledgeable) about palms and Cycads, as well as 2 sons who have the gardening bug. So, I think we'll be in good hands for the future.  

What a nerd... LOL 
Some may remember the show Breaking Bad, where Hank Schrader gets injured on the job (police officer) and then turns towards collecting rare geodes. Life is like that. 

[Silas_Sancona]

2 hours ago, iko. said:

Only 20 people have responded to your survey so far, but it’s kind of hard to believe the results. I get the feeling that some of the people in the younger age groups are actually baby boomers joking around or maybe those they didn’t bother replying. I understand you’ve asked people who check the forum, not just those who actively participate.

As for participation, you can get a sense of people’s ages from the way they write or the photos they post… Based on that, I’d say the average Palmtalk user is a male well over 45. If not, they really sound like much older fellas. If you’re looking for younger people actively posting about palm trees, I’d think you probably need to check other platforms but it doesn’t get much expert than here.

Yep, that's the thing about " surveys"  ...info can be skewed one way or another to fit an end..

Age is just a number anyway and I personally don't care.

You could be 30 or 70 and less mature / knowledgeable than a 3rd grader,  or 70 and more in tune w/ less afraid of the world around you than " old " folks your own age..

Same w those who post their birthday info..  might as well hand over a bank account number too.

Sadly, some probably would,  without hesitation ..just to fit in, lol.

[Bill H2DB]

I am  81- 1/2 year old.  Joined this Forum in 2013 .

Grew up in Daytona Beach , but only discovered the Palm Society in about 1964 , while spending time in one of the local Libraries looking for palm info , and in one of the books , it slowly dawned on me that many of the pictures looked like my town !!

Further searching revealed the Palm Society , and the Dent Smith connection etc .  Been hanging in there for all of this time .

   Still active , and occasionally adding a new palm , but my yard is limited in size , so.....

   

[Hillizard]

14 hours ago, BayAndroid said:

I wonder what the current age demographics of active PalmTalk users are at the end of 2025. To be clear, you do not need to post here, but are regularly checking and reading the threads. Please share your answers in the polls and if you wish, discuss below in the thread. 

I just got a few more little palms delivered this past month or so from small growers and Floribunda, but I'm definitely considering an 'edit' of my garden to make room for them.  Several of these species will be considered (wildly) borderline for my location, but WTH, life is short and I want to try them. If they start to decline, I can always donate them to a public garden in a more suitable microclimate. I did that recently with my seedling Ceroxylon sasaimae. I'll post pix soon.

[Xenon]

I'm 28 now and started posting when I was 13 (lurked for a bit before). Surprised (but glad) this forum is still around! I think palmtalk has really started to skew younger overall (as in 30s and 40s) compared to when I first joined (55+). Not sure what all the negativity about sharing age is about, feel free to steal my age info 😆

 

[JLM]

Currently 19, joined in 2019. Do the math haha

Been interested in palms since 2014 but didn't start growing until 2019 (right before I found and joined the forum).

[Jonathan]

54 minutes ago, Xenon said:

I'm 28 now and started posting when I was 13 (lurked for a bit before). Surprised (but glad) this forum is still around! I think palmtalk has really started to skew younger overall (as in 30s and 40s) compared to when I first joined (55+). Not sure what all the negativity about sharing age is about, feel free to steal my age info 😆

 

I remember you and @tim_brissy_13 being young kids back in the day and being super impressed with your knowledge and maturity, great that you're both still posting here.

Think I joined PT in 2008, so would have been 38 at the time. Had been sporadically into palms since the age of about 20 when I germinated a few CIDP seeds that I found locally.

I just added my vote to the mid 50's category...I imagine my age is already out there in cyber space, freely available to any rapacious corporation, identity thief or corrupt dictatorship who desire it. Maybe they might steal 20 years and I'll wake up tomorrow aged 35 again!

[Josue Diaz]

7 hours ago, iko. said:

Only 20 people have responded to your survey so far, but it’s kind of hard to believe the results. I get the feeling that some of the people in the younger age groups are actually baby boomers joking around or maybe those they didn’t bother replying. I understand you’ve asked people who check the forum, not just those who actively participate.

As for participation, you can get a sense of people’s ages from the way they write or the photos they post… Based on that, I’d say the average Palmtalk user is a male well over 45. If not, they really sound like much older fellas. If you’re looking for younger people actively posting about palm trees, I’d think you probably need to check other platforms but it doesn’t get much expert than here.

I think we need a qualitative study on WHO responded vs who didn't lol. If you attend any of the society meetings, you'll see the average age is much higher - and wealthier. And they do participate here, but perhaps not as often as the younger folks. Same typically goes for other societies too. In my area at least, the orchid societies, cacti & succulent society, etc. I mean, it does take time and money to accumulate a big collection. I was collecting palms as young as 15 or 16, but as you might imagine, I had no property of my own, and very little money of my own. fast forward 20 years and I've got better means and better conditions for collecting palms. My only regret is not buying a specimen Pseudophoenix sargentii when I was 15! It would be so big and grown by now lol

[David B]

Great thread …. Inspired me to write AVerse

 

I am nearly 70 

And some call me a grumpy old man     I see

I see I and Us and them

I see politics and war and religion and war

 

I see humanity

I see a planet overwhelmed 

 

I wonder

Am I fatalist or nihilist 

Its not my job to have hope

I grow palm trees

[BayAndroid]

20 minutes ago, David B said:

Great thread …. Inspired me to write AVerse

 

I am nearly 70 

And some call me a grumpy old man     I see

I see I and Us and them

I see politics and war and religion and war

 

I see humanity

I see a planet overwhelmed 

 

I wonder

Am I fatalist or nihilist 

Its not my job to have hope

I grow palm trees

I always view things this way: 

I will make "my corner" of the world so bright and joyful, that others will follow. I think all of us, whether we intend to or not, inspire some kind of hope and interest in those who peer past their bright little handheld screens. 

[MrTropical]

I'm currently 20 & joined PalmTalk in 2022. My interest in palms developed during the early days of the pandemic. 

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, Josue Diaz said:

I think we need a qualitative study on WHO responded vs who didn't lol. If you attend any of the society meetings, you'll see the average age is much higher - and wealthier. And they do participate here, but perhaps not as often as the younger folks. Same typically goes for other societies too. In my area at least, the orchid societies, cacti & succulent society, etc. I mean, it does take time and money to accumulate a big collection. I was collecting palms as young as 15 or 16, but as you might imagine, I had no property of my own, and very little money of my own. fast forward 20 years and I've got better means and better conditions for collecting palms. My only regret is not buying a specimen Pseudophoenix sargentii when I was 15! It would be so big and grown by now lol

Agree 100% w this..  and the last part, lol.

[Butch]

22 hours ago, Bill H2DB said:

I am  81- 1/2 year old.  Joined this Forum in 2013 .

Glad to see I'm not the oldest here, at 77-1/2... I was beginning to wonder.... I've always been interested in nature and gardening, but got the palm bug in the '90s when doing some major landscaping of my yards...  I wanted some palms, and lurked this site, long before joining... It has been a wonderful resource, and I hope it continues for many more years..

Butch

[Darold Petty]

I am older than dirt, and have walked the Earth with dinosaurs.  

[gyuseppe]

I made my first palm trees from seed in 1986, nothing rare, the seeds I found in my city, then in the 90s I started to wander around the botanical gardens, finally at the beginning of 2000, thanks to the internet I discovered rarepalmseeds, I remember that when I made my first order, after paying I said how stupid I was, they took the money and didn't send me anything, after 25 years I'm still buying seeds from RPS

[JohnAndSancho]

I'm actually a little relieved to see some younger blood. @PalmatierMeg sent me a care package a while ago with a really nice note telling me that I was part of the next generation of palm enthusiasts, and I took it as a great compliment but I'm so used to working with people in their 20s so it's nice to know that there's still at least a few people here who won't get my pop culture references. And I can tell them their music is trash. And I can tell them to get off my lawn. I still don't pull my pants up to my armpits though, I still wear baggy jorts and t shirts like it's still the 1990s. 

 

Anyway, it's crazy that my insane plant journey and everything that I'm doing now all started with a $12 big box plant because I thought my apartment looked like an institution, and I ended up here looking for help with it. Words on a screen or not, I consider a lot of you to be friends and whether it was kind words, advice, jokes, or boxes full of plants and seeds y'all have gotten me through some really dark 💩 and continue to do so. I hope my babbling and my continuous eff ups provide some knowledge the way others have shared their knowledge with me. 

 

Ok rant over..

[Billeb]

On 11/19/2025 at 9:33 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

My "age"?

If I don't know ya ..Personally..  that info is nunoftha the random faces on a screens business.

Simple as that.

 

 

On 11/20/2025 at 9:14 AM, Silas_Sancona said:

Yep, that's the thing about " surveys"  ...info can be skewed one way or another to fit an end..

Age is just a number anyway and I personally don't care.

You could be 30 or 70 and less mature / knowledgeable than a 3rd grader,  or 70 and more in tune w/ less afraid of the world around you than " old " folks your own age..

Same w those who post their birthday info..  might as well hand over a bank account number too.

Sadly, some probably would,  without hesitation ..just to fit in, lol.

Pretty simple concept……don’t answer the poll then. Move on. 
 

…..or you can degrade others for doing what they want.  Seems logical. 
 

-dale 

[Harry’s Palms]

“I’m growing older ,but not up! My metabolic rate is presently stuck .”  Jimmy Buffett 

Always a man of words. Harry

[WaianaeCrider]

Didn't read all the posts, but  I just might be the "old man" of the crew at 82 1/2.  Born in May of '43.  My self description:

Born in the Bronx,

Raised in Brooklyn

Matured in Waiʻanae (got here at age 20)

I wonʻt be held responsible for anything I say or do because of the above facts.  LOL  

I weigh in at 160 lbs, 5ʻ 10".  I use to be 6ʻ but w/time bone joints compress.  I have Mitral valve prolapse, (is a heart condition where the mitral valve flaps bulge backward into the left atrium when the heart contracts, which may cause the valve to leak. While often asymptomatic, it can cause symptoms like palpitations, chest pain, shortness of breath, and fatigue) I have none of those problems.  I can still do a 8 mile round trip hike gaining at least 1000ʻ in elevation w/little problems with a 15lb pack on my back.  My only real problem is I canʻt lift much over 30 lbs because of a minor hernia.

Been doing palms since 1998.  I have about 100 in the ground from some 27 year old big ones to some 1ʻ tall newbeʻs planted just 2 years ago.  Not gonna buy new ones until we get this CRB creature under control.

[JohnAndSancho]

Jesus Christ @WaianaeCrider, I got tired as hell just reading that. There must be something in those papayas, man! 

[Phoenikakias]

Around 30% Xers, de consolatione horticulturae...

[donalt]

I vividly remember the day school I went to at about age 5. Whenever we played outdoors, I was fascinated to pick up fallen coconuts (Miami) and bring home one or two. Even then, I was drawn to palms and fascinated by them. In those days, the cities in Florida hadn't started removing coconuts from trees and the streets were lined with tall Jamaican coconut palms full of fruit. (Cities realized that coconuts become flying missiles in hurricanes and began removing them sometime in the late 60s or early 70s). 

Interest in palms is  a life long obsession....and a good one. Glad to see young peoples' interest!

[donalt]

[guillerman]

Anyone in the range 18-40 or in very good shape in Spain if possible, interested in assembling risky palm expeditions, feel free to reach out; have some interesting trips in mind that shouldn´t be done alone 😅

[Tyrone]

I germinated my first palm in 89 when I was 16. A phoenix canariensis and it’s a big palm at my dad’s place with about 3.5m of clear trunk. I decided to start collecting palms in 99 when I bought my first house. The palm bug bit hard and I’ve been on Palmtalk in its various forms for 25 years back when Robert Lee Riffle was here on the forum. I’m so infected by the palm bug it’s well and truly in my blood now. No cure, and I don’t want to be cured either. 

[Kim]

I try not to let the old lady in, but the chart at the top of the page is pushing on the door.