Help me identify my palms

[newbie101]

Hello, We have two palms in the house we've moved to, can anyone help me as to what variety they are and what I can  do to make them look better. Excuse the mess underneath, have just been trimming. Thanks 

[gyuseppe]

are butia odorata

[quaman58]

Nice ones too..

[Fusca]

10 hours ago, newbie101 said:

Hello, We have two palms in the house we've moved to, can anyone help me as to what variety they are and what I can  do to make them look better. Excuse the mess underneath, have just been trimming. Thanks 

Next spring you should see them flower and set A LOT of seed.  The fruits are sweet and delicious - I make jelly from the fruits from mine.  Each fruit contains a fairly large seed and can contain a lot of fibers.

[gyuseppe]

45 minutes ago, Fusca said:

Next spring you should see them flower and set A LOT of seed.  The fruits are sweet and delicious - I make jelly from the fruits from mine.  Each fruit contains a fairly large seed and can contain a lot of fibers.

They are also good to eat, I eat them all the time, here they ripen in September

[awkonradi]

Overall, those two palms look healthy.  I think maybe there is some yellow on the fronds, especially on the closer palm.  So, I think maybe those palms would benefit from some fertilizer.  PalmTalkers wiser than me may suggest specific fertilizer.  I looked up monthly rainfall in Whangerei, and I think Butia doubtfully ever will need watering in your climate.

And, Welcome to PalmTalk!

[Fusca]

4 hours ago, gyuseppe said:

They are also good to eat, I eat them all the time, here they ripen in September

Yes, I ate my share of the fruit as did a few squirrels!  What I harvested for the jelly in the photo is only about 1/4 of the total fruit produced!  Thankfully the fruit on mine isn't nearly as fiberous as fruits that I have eaten from other palms.  Lots of variation with this species.

[Harry’s Palms]

I have tasted the fruit of mine because I had heard they made jelly or jam out of them. It was like a sweet apricot flavor but mostly seed. The squirrels love them! The inflorescence is a pretty pinkish /red color that shows up in the silver back drop of the palm. I have only had one volunteer after almost thirty years of growing it . The Syagrus have volunteers everywhere. I think the squirrels and birds keep the fruit from falling off the Butia , unlike the Syagrus. Harry

‘This was last summer after trimming . I used quite a few band aids ! They have very sharply thorned petioles.

I don’t have a picture of the colorful inflorescence right after emerging the spathe but this shows the fruit prior to ripening . Good luck getting to it , I would not stick my arm in there! You can see the spathe is very similar to Syagrus.  (Reddish brown)

[Merlyn]

@newbie101 very nice pair of Butia, common US name is "Pindo Palm."  As others noted the right one has a few yellow tips on the lower fronds.  That's a sign of a mild Magnesium deficiency.  Adding a palm fertilizer like PalmGain (or similar local equivalent) will help avoid the yellow tips.  You can also add maybe 2 or 3 handfuls of Magnesium Sulfate (or Epsom salts) to help stop the yellowing from spreading.  Once it's turned yellow it won't turn back green, but the extra fertilizer should slow/stop the spread.  Essentially the palm is "eating" the older fronds to provide Magnesium for new frond growth.

The trimming job looks great!  The general rule of thumb is to only cut up to horizontal (like in your photo) unless necessary for clearance or appearance.  So while the lower fronds on the right palm might not look the greatest, I'd leave them on there unless they are hitting your car driving in and out. 

Also make sure you sanitize the cutting tool between palms.  Rubbing alcohol and bleach solutions on the saw blade are common.  I use a battery-powered reciprocating saw and I have a glass jar full of rubbing alcohol.  My 6" (15cm) pruning blades fit perfectly in there, so I just use a blade on 1 palm...wipe it off...toss it back in the jar...grab another for the next palm.  It's fairly easy to transfer diseases (bacteria, fungi, etc) from palm to palm if the blades aren't cleaned.