Good evening PalmTalk,

I have recently acquired a Coccothrinax borhidiana and will be planting this weekend. What are your practices that you recommend for ensuring drainage? I plan to add limestone gravel from my local rock supply to the hole and try to mound it up a few inches. Will this suffice? Any other recommendations for raising a healthy specimen?  My main worry is sudden frond death and perhaps giving it too much love as they come from very tough habitats.  Im located in sunny South Florida!

Kim, I don't think you have any problems at all. This palm comes from Matanzas, directly across the straits from where I used to live in Big Pine Key, and with just about the same substrate (good old calcium carbonate, near the beach). If you are on Miami limestone (I believe Kendall qualifies) you should be fine without any significant amendments to speak of unless you want to add a little organic material or just a touch of low-intensity organic fertilizer to help it get going. You probably have good drainage to begin with, so probably not a worry, but if for some reason you have standing water then maybe raise it a bit and use mostly limestone with a bit of humus on top (as is typically encountered in nature).

There is a saying when it comes to planting a palm, a $200 well amended planting hole for $2 palm, or a $2 planting hole for a $200 dollar palm. Sometimes it doesn’t really matter, but what does matter is watering for a palm. In general a well amended planting hole gives your palm a good jump start in life. Remove all the soil in the planting hole place your good soil in the hole, turn all that soil over with the soil you removed, then remove enough soil to place your palm in the hole and back fill with the soil you removed. And create a dam around your newly planted palm for ease of watering. Good luck. 

12 hours ago, Kim B said:

Good evening PalmTalk,

I have recently acquired a Coccothrinax borhidiana and will be planting this weekend. What are your practices that you recommend for ensuring drainage? I plan to add limestone gravel from my local rock supply to the hole and try to mound it up a few inches. Will this suffice? Any other recommendations for raising a healthy specimen?  My main worry is sudden frond death and perhaps giving it too much love as they come from very tough habitats.  Im located in sunny South Florida!

Sounds like you got the right plan. Besides if your im south florida you will have plenty of that alkaline soil.

 

It's good to be aware of how much light it was getting where it was. If it was in full sun then you can continue that but if it is less you want it probably in some shade. I was advised this species doesn't like too much light and that seems to have held up in my greenhouse specimens.

You won't have any trouble with a borhidiana,no matter how you plant it! The purebred and it's hybrids are some of the hardiest of the Coccothrinax species. While the purebred is slower growing, both literally grow like weeds, slow but steady, even in the harsh conditions of the Arizona desert.

First pic is a purebred, second pic is a hybrid.

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

I planted mine (one gallon) a couple years ago here in Northern CA and it’s in a particularly wet area of my front yard in partial shade. Soil is neutral to slightly acid. It’s done well. A slow grower especially up here but nonetheless a healthy happy palm. 

The borhidiana is probably my favorite Coccothrinax species due to its compact growing nature and extreme hardiness. Lately, I've been growing more of these from seed to add to the collection. 🌴

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona