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.