Extreme heat affects on a chamaedorea plumosa

[happypalms]

I have friend phil who lives in town and I have him a couple of plumosa palms. He planted them in basically full sun with temperatures that reach at least 42 degrees Celsius and in a scorching hot brick paved backyard, and last summer was a hot one as well, it was one of those hot days you can cook egg on a frypan day, the poor plumosa basically cooked its heart and burst out. Now it’s in full recovery and growing somewhat well with a bit of a scare as a reminder of that one hot day. 
So I will say plumosa can take an absolute beating in heat and hot sun, but it was watered well and it did have a cool root run, but took a beating and still does! 

[Harry’s Palms]

There was a house near me that planted some groupings in their yard in full sun. I used to walk by the house and see them suffering on hot days . I haven’t been by the house in months so I don’t know if they survived . They were mature specimens when they planted them , I just don’t think they got enough water. We do get very hot days here , I would give them partial shade just to be safe , especially in areas that can get hot in the summer and fall. They need a lot of water and can handle a bit of sun , but like some other palms , benefit from a bit of shade. Harry 

[Tyrone]

They sure are tough. They just need some foliage around them for company. These would tolerate being an emergent in a rainforest if the canopy trees fell down I would think. They’d like shade though. 
It mustn’t get strong winds where they are. If I planted a thin palm like that in the open without company the wind would just snap it off. 

[happypalms]

12 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

There was a house near me that planted some groupings in their yard in full sun. I used to walk by the house and see them suffering on hot days . I haven’t been by the house in months so I don’t know if they survived . They were mature specimens when they planted them , I just don’t think they got enough water. We do get very hot days here , I would give them partial shade just to be safe , especially in areas that can get hot in the summer and fall. They need a lot of water and can handle a bit of sun , but like some other palms , benefit from a bit of shade. Harry 

There tough little palms, he does water his garden a bit, and the soil is beautiful for vegetables. It’s amazing what you see around in some peoples gardens. 
Theres one house in my hometown thay has two Bismarckia palms planted either side of the house steps, that’s fine to do that but he’s planted them so close to the steps and house, they are in for a big surprise and bill later on when they grow up past the juvenile stage. 
Richard 

[happypalms]

13 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

There was a house near me that planted some groupings in their yard in full sun. I used to walk by the house and see them suffering on hot days . I haven’t been by the house in months so I don’t know if they survived . They were mature specimens when they planted them , I just don’t think they got enough water. We do get very hot days here , I would give them partial shade just to be safe , especially in areas that can get hot in the summer and fall. They need a lot of water and can handle a bit of sun , but like some other palms , benefit from a bit of shade. Harry 

There tough little palms, he does water his garden a bit, and the soil is beautiful for vegetables. It’s amazing what you see around in some peoples gardens. 
Theres one house in my hometown thay has two Bismarckia palms planted either side of the house steps, that’s fine to do that but he’s planted them so close to the steps and house, they are in for a big surprise and bill later on when they grow up past the juvenile stage. 
Richard 

[mnorell]

I have a group of about four in a 3-gallon pot, I keep them in dappled shade but they are doing fine, no problem, and have endured up to about 50C (low 120s F) without flinching. I imagine it would be a different story if they had to endure the wrath of the direct desert sun heating up that crownshaft/meristem! I've also noticed in some palm species that the roots are far more sensitive to heat than the tops (which seems logical in terms of their evolution in the moderating effects of soil-temperature during the long process of speciation) and they can survive in the ground but tend to cark it in a pot during summer here...but I've seen no obvious stress in that regard for this species here in the low desert of the Palm Springs area. I was concerned about their survival because this species apparently thrives in the constant cool/chill of San Francisco and I've lost other Chamaedorea, apparently to heat (e.g., Chamaedorea woodsoniana).

I've seen fairly tall specimens of Chamaedorea plumosa grown in full sun at a Mexican restaurant in Carlsbad, northern San Diego County, I would think about two miles from the coast, and they have pretty good appearance. There is a lot of cloud-cover there, particularly in spring, but occasional heat-waves over 100F do occur throughout coastal SoCal. But I think they could do with wind-protection there more than sun-protection in the fogbelt/immediate coastal zones. Here in the low desert I will definitely make sure to plant them in a decent amount of shade/dappled morning sun.

[happypalms]

3 hours ago, mnorell said:

I have a group of about four in a 3-gallon pot, I keep them in dappled shade but they are doing fine, no problem, and have endured up to about 50C (low 120s F) without flinching. I imagine it would be a different story if they had to endure the wrath of the direct desert sun heating up that crownshaft/meristem! I've also noticed in some palm species that the roots are far more sensitive to heat than the tops (which seems logical in terms of their evolution in the moderating effects of soil-temperature during the long process of speciation) and they can survive in the ground but tend to cark it in a pot during summer here...but I've seen no obvious stress in that regard for this species here in the low desert of the Palm Springs area. I was concerned about their survival because this species apparently thrives in the constant cool/chill of San Francisco and I've lost other Chamaedorea, apparently to heat (e.g., Chamaedorea woodsoniana).

I've seen fairly tall specimens of Chamaedorea plumosa grown in full sun at a Mexican restaurant in Carlsbad, northern San Diego County, I would think about two miles from the coast, and they have pretty good appearance. There is a lot of cloud-cover there, particularly in spring, but occasional heat-waves over 100F do occur throughout coastal SoCal. But I think they could do with wind-protection there more than sun-protection in the fogbelt/immediate coastal zones. Here in the low desert I will definitely make sure to plant them in a decent amount of shade/dappled morning sun.

Heat wave conditions is what they endure, but as you say a different story in a desert heat with low humidity they would cook. 
Containee growing is another story in the heat, the roots just cook especially the the ones on the sides of the containers, and the direct sunlight on the container will definitely be part of that cooking process. The more humidity the more sun a palm can endure, but most definitely a cool root run makes a huge difference. But I think for most home gardeners you can pretty well much plant one in any situation if given enough water. 
I have a self sown one growing in basically a crack in the sandstone rocks with absolute beating sun and heat not only from the sun but also from the rocks, it’s a bit stunted looking and a tad light green colour from such enduring conditions, but surviving. It would be interesting to see how one would go further inland away from any ocean influence. But for now there tough and will tolerate a beating in the gardens in my area. Be interesting also to see how they would go in a frost area in the sun!