Copernicia baileyana 10 years later

[Cape Garrett]

Hey palmtalkers.  Just wanted to share the progress of my bailey palm.  I planted this one from an overgrown, rooted in the ground, 1 gallon baby palm back in May 2016.  A picture of that at first planting is shown as well with it being the tiny palm, center of the pictures.  It has about an overall height of 9 to 10 feet now to the top of the leaf.  Has been slower growing for me than I would like.  It gets way to much shade from the surrounding palms now that they outgrew the bailey.  It's hard to show in the photos, but this one has that blue-green color.  One I prefer.  Has been through 3 major hurricanes.  Irma, Ian, and Milton.  Some winds from Helene as well.  It still holds damaged leaves from Milton, but I didn't want to over trim.  Took some leaves off and left the others.  Hopefully now that it's getting larger and a bit more sun, it will start to grow a bit faster.  

[Cape Garrett]

A few more pictures of the entire garden growth and shows the blue color better.  Notice the Ptychosperma schefferi on the left.  It was blown bent from Hurricane Ian.   It was not uprooted.  It's just got a little more swagger now.  Kind of curvy.

[donpachino1983]

Wowo very nice growth on copernicia baileyana as well as other palms . I see a nice chambeyronia hookeri in there as well

[Cape Garrett]

2 hours ago, donpachino1983 said:

Wowo very nice growth on copernicia baileyana as well as other palms . I see a nice chambeyronia hookeri in there as well

Yes.  That hookeri was in a little 3 gallon when I planted it.  Love that red leaf when it appears.  About 6 foot to the bottom of the crownshaft now.  Again, 10 years later.  Lost 2 Old man palms in there.  One to crown rot and the other from Hurricane Irma.  

[Cape Garrett]

This garden has a few palm species.  Red spicata coconut, Florida thatch(Thrinax radiata), Chrysalidocarpus lanceolata, the Bailey, a Chambeyronia macrocarpa hookeri, a single McArthur palm through trimming(self seeded), Ptychosperma schefferi, a newly planted Dwarf Areca catechu (that was over potted as usual before planting...just how I roll), and a Sabal minor Emerald Isle Giant.  Behind this garden is a Tri-bear, Ptychosperma elegans Paddleleaf, Sabal palmetto Lisa, 2 Chambeyronia oliviformis, a Buccaneer(Pseudophoenix sargentii), and a Fiji fan.  To the right of the garden in the picture is a maypan x green dwarf coconut and a Christmas palm(self seeded).  That's all.  😆  

[Tropical Toni]

just goes to show even in FL where its hot & humid copernicias are still slugs !

 

That is a nice size now - only took 10 years. Gives me an idea what mine will maybe look like down the line.

[sonoranfans]

Garret, yours an excellent looking example of copernicia baileyana!  Mine started growing faster once it trunked.  They are not fast for sure but the slower growth at that height is desirable, its a better view than looking up there.  These are great palms for florida, but as they get tall, the hurricane damage is greater.  Milton hit my yard at 100-110mph, the damage increased with height seemingly regardless of species.  My bailey was spared some as it was about 15-16 feet tall, as tall as the house.  My C. Fallaense was not so lucky at 25' overall, about 70% damage to the crown.  Palms taller than the house saw the worst winds.  My neighbor said my 40' royal was bent horizontal in the wind and it lost all 18-20 leaves, just a spear left.  My bailey is still in recovery mode, it lost half the leaves to wind damage, lowest first.  At this time 3/4ths of the crown is back,  though it still holds 6-8 leaves that saw some damage in Milton.   Milton seems to have stimulated trunk growth some as it has for several other palms of mine.   This palm was planted in this time of year in 2011 about so 5 years older from a 3 gallon.  The trunk, from ground to the last dead leafbase is 10'

first, 6months in the ground sept 2011. New growth had smaller leaves since it was grown in shade and I put it in full sun.

Next 15 months later Dec 2012 it was pumping out leaves at a good rate.

Then it started to go vertical and carry more leaves by june 2015.

Then it was hit by a hurricane IRMA in 2017 and suffered a spear bundle infection (caused by spear fracture) that persisted for two growing seasons till I managed to kill off the fungus with repeat treatments of daconil. Just when I was wondering if it the fungus was still present, it started to grow faster.  This was a period of slow growth for 2 seasons as the infected spears grew out.  In sept 2020 about 10 years in the ground, it was trunking and looking fully recovered with a good growth rate.  Here it is with a full crown sept 2020, pictured with my larger Fallaensis.  Frankly, I wish they both stopped growing at that size as the colors are best when you can see into the crown.

Then it was hit by two hurricanes the next 4 years.  The sharp thorns on petioles of the newer leaves shred the leaflets on the older ones in the hurricanes.  Now here it is 20 months after Milton damage, still recovering.  It is 16 years in the ground.  I am hoping for a full crown late this summer.  Trunk is about 6 1/2-7' clear and 10' including the dead leafbases waiting to fall off in the wet season.  Let it rain please!