Marojejya darianii In SoCal

[gavilan1]

I also came across this 6 year old M. darianii near my office in Torrance (no, not at the HD - this isn't Florida).  It actually spoke to me.  Honest!  "Take me home, pleease!"

So here it is.  I understand that there are a few folks growing juveniles here in So.Cal.  Any recommendations on culture?  Thanks in advance.  Not bad for $65 bucks ($20 less than the A. vestiaria in the previous post), if you ask me, but then I'm the guy who bought it, anyway.  It seems like I've begun to live closer to the edge with every new specimen that I add to my "collection".  What's marginal, anyway?  It's all in the mind.

[el-blanco]

Where are you getting these palms?  Off of Hawthorne Blvd?  Nice!

ROn Lawyer has one of these I am told that looks great.

Still need pots?  I have a landscaping job coming up and will have some left for you.

Jeff

[DoomsDave]

Yow that's a lot, but . . .

I've killed all I've had.

Bad palm grower!  (Hit me with a rolled up newspaper, no donut!)

dave

[bgl]

Doug,

My experience is that these beautiful palms are absolutely dependant on high rainfall & probably fairly high constant humidity. I lost a big one a few years ago after a particularly long dry spell (that's anything longer than ten days here without rain). It was fairly exposed, and the 10 ft long fronds turned crispy real fast. This year (2007) we had a VERY dry May (only 3.7 inches) and in early June I had to cut off dozens of M. darianii fronds that simply turned brown and crispy. The more exposed the palm is, the more of a problem. I don't know what the cold tolerance is, but assuming they can take down to the low 30s, which I think is a possibility, then it's not (usually) the occasional cold front that darianii growers in SoCal have to be concerned about, but dry weather, exposure to hot sun and particularly during Santa Ana wind conditions.

Bo-Göran

PS. That's a good looking darianii. How do you know it's 6 years old?

[gavilan1]

Jeff, there's this place up in Rancho Palos Verdes that's having new fencing put in all around the perimeter of this huge property, and while the fence is out, there's all these palms a few yards from the street...

Actually, funny you should ask - I am getting these off of Hawthorne Blvd.  Paul Isley's place, Rainforest Flora, is down the street from my office, and I noticed that Paul has more than just tillandsias today as I drove by (the automatic sides were rolled up and open this morning as I drove by), so I went back at lunch, and had a look.  I then returned at 5PM to pick up a few items.  Steer clear for a while, though, because I still have to go back for some Euterpe and some 4' tall V. arecina that I noticed lurking inside his coldframe <g>  One of his staff told me to come back next week when Paul is back in town, as he keeps larger palms in the coldframes behind the main rainforest "showroom" coldframe facing Hawthorne Blvd. (you see, Jeff?).

Yes, I still need pots, so save me some and PM when when they're available (I'm off this week until Monday).  Thanks.

Dave, for all of the palms that we've all killed with our good intentions, Heaven must have almost as many beautiful palms as Bo's place.  It's the ones that we keep alive here that we can enjoy and share in this lifetime.  I water my coconuts and other container palms twice a day religiously, and I hope to still be doing it (albeit a bit less) in another 10 to 15 years.  My sprinklers take care of the ones in the ground on a daily basis (hence my nice trunk on my big S. romanzoffiana).  

Bo, we're having the dryest year in recorded history here in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, but my sprinklers have kept my Alocasia and bromeliads and bananas lush in my back yard planters, and I supplement that manually as needed (read "hose in hand").  I just haven't been able to coax my Heliconia scheidiana out from my coldframe into full sun yet without burning their leaf edges.  In your experience, how sun tolerant is M. darianii?  I might acclimate this young palm to partial sun and slowly move it into full sun, in the hope of planting it in my rear lawn , in a wind protected spot.  I say 6 years old, since the container has a nursery marker indicating the species name and a potting date of 8-11-01.  I just don't know if this was grown in Fallbrook/Bonsall or in your neck of the woods.  Lately I'm running into a lot of Hawaiian imports.

.

[Gbarce]

Is there some sort of restriction for the trade of this particular species of palms?

I noticed in several seed sites they are always marked "for the U.S. only".

Those are really grand palms and I have been hunting for a source closer to the Philippines for them.

[bgl]

Doug,

Under normal conditions here, M. darianii can be planted in a fairly exposed location, tolerating quite a bit of sun. The problem, which we experienced in May and early June. is that on those occasions when we get very little, or no, rain, then we also have days that are much sunnier than normal with little or no cloudcover, and presumably, lower humidity as well. As a result, the ones that are planted in exposed locations suffer, and the fronds turn brown and crispy almost overnight. The ones that are planted in more protected locations don't have this problem, or at least not nearly to the same extent. Based on this, I think the only way to grow these in SoCal is to give them complete protection from sun and dry & hot winds.

And I don't think the one in your photo can be Hawaiian grown. It should be MUCH larger! For comparison, here are a few that are exactly ten years old from germination. I'm fairly certain of the age, because I planted them from 4 inch pots in May 1998, so they were probably barely a year old at that time. The tallest (second from the front) has fronds that are about 15 ft long.

Bo-Göran

[gavilan1]

Bo, thanks for the follow-up on this.  Even though Dave's 13" red Chuck Taylor is not in the image for scale, that is pretty large in comparison.  This must be from North San Diego County, since Paul has a place in Bonsall.  I've got a spot shaded by a large queen and a cherimoya that is protected from wind and gets plenty of water during the sprinklers' summer watering program (I've currently got a Chamaedorea tepejilote summering in that location).  I'll just have to adjust the watering cycle down during the winter season.  I won't put it into the ground for at least a year in any case, so that it can become a bit more robust before getting planted.

[Don Little]

(Gbarce @ Jul. 04 2007,02:02)

QUOTE

Is there some sort of restriction for the trade of this particular species of palms?

I noticed in several seed sites they are always marked "for the U.S. only".

Those are really grand palms and I have been hunting for a source closer to the Philippines for them.

Gbarce, are you in the philippines and if so where abouts are you as I am going there in september and would love to see some palms there since just about anything will grow there.

[BS Man about Palms]

(el-blanco @ Jul. 03 2007,20:49)

QUOTE

Where are you getting these palms?  Off of Hawthorne Blvd?  Nice!

ROn Lawyer has one of these I am told that looks great.

Still need pots?  I have a landscaping job coming up and will have some left for you.

Jeff

Ron' in his front yard looks great. Last I saw a few months back, the latest spear is about 7 feet long or so.

[BS Man about Palms]

Found a pic of Ron's taken within the last year.

[Don Little]

Thats a nice pic Bill, do you have one of the entire palm also?

[BS Man about Palms]

Its kinda "back in" an area in his front yard, hard to get a full pic. Heres a poor shot of the bottom.

Wait, ummm, that may not be the same palm..... I can't remember. I don't think it is.

[paulgila]

i think these are the first pix i've ever seen of rons yard!

[Phil]

I think Bo is right; it's a humidity thing.  I've not noticed much damage in our houses when it gets into the mid-thirties.  And, there's lots of places outdoors along the coast that don't get that cold.  But, lack of humidity gives them brown tips.  Since you can maintain humidity better in the shade, I think protection adds to the moisture and success of growing.  Once they get deep roots, it's probably less of a problem.

Phil

[cfkingfish]

BS, that looks like a Becarriophoenix "no window" in the second picture.

The reason they say "US only" is because M. darianii, as well as a few other Malagasy palms, make up the entirety of CITES Appendix I in the family Arecaceae. Appendix I requires a CITES permit to both export from the source country and import to the destination country. They use this for palms and other plants that are highly endangered in habitat. In my opinion there should be many more palms on there.

[Gbarce]

Is the trade of this species controlled.  In several sites that I saw these being offered they wer limited to the US only.  Is this an endangered species?

[metalfan]

If the one in the previous photo is 10 years old, about how old is mine?

I got it in May of 2006 for $6.50 from Jeff Marcus ate Floribunda in HI. So I know its at least ayear old LOL.

I have read that these are highly endangered.

[bgl]

Gina,

My guess is that it was germinated in early 2005. In other words, approx two and a half years old as of right now, give or take a month or two!

When I planted this one in April 1996 it was pretty much the same size as yours. That would make it just over 13 years old as of now. Overall height about 25 ft/7.5 m with 6 ft/1.8 m of trunk.

Bo-Göran

[DoomsDave]

(bgl @ Jul. 04 2007,00:28)

QUOTE

Doug,

My experience is that these beautiful palms are absolutely dependant on high rainfall & probably fairly high constant humidity. I lost a big one a few years ago after a particularly long dry spell (that's anything longer than ten days here without rain). It was fairly exposed, and the 10 ft long fronds turned crispy real fast. This year (2007) we had a VERY dry May (only 3.7 inches) and in early June I had to cut off dozens of M. darianii fronds that simply turned brown and crispy. The more exposed the palm is, the more of a problem. I don't know what the cold tolerance is, but assuming they can take down to the low 30s, which I think is a possibility, then it's not (usually) the occasional cold front that darianii growers in SoCal have to be concerned about, but dry weather, exposure to hot sun and particularly during Santa Ana wind conditions.

Bo-Göran

PS. That's a good looking darianii. How do you know it's 6 years old?

You are correct, Bo.

Dariani don't take lack of water at all.

Or lack of humidity.

Insignis are even worse.  They won't even try to grow here that I know of.

dave

[JD in the OC]

Yeah Bill,

That is Ron's Beccario no windows.  A beauty!!!

It's like he said when I was last down there looking at it...

"We [palm people] should probably be growing a lot more of these No Windows huh?"

I'm hoping that Becc Alfredii is a lot faster though.  I think it's even better looking as an adult!

Jd

[metalfan]

I have an M. insignis as well, slightly smaller than the Darian. Its still in a container and I do drench it daily. It seems to be doing very well. Unless another plant dies and opens up a space, I won't ever have room to plant it in the ground so it will remain a container plant all its life (which, at this stage of the game, will probably be longer than the rest of my life!)

[Matt in OC]

Bump. Any successes?

[Jadd Correia]

Bump. Any update on Cali Marojejya?

[TomJ]

I planted an FB one gallon in 2018 or 2019.

It's alive and growing in solid clay.

Nothing photo worthy, but growing. 

Lived through several winters including this last long cool one.

[Jadd Correia]

5 hours ago, TomJ said:

I planted an FB one gallon in 2018 or 2019.

It's alive and growing in solid clay.

Nothing photo worthy, but growing. 

Lived through several winters including this last long cool one.

Great to hear! I only need to learn about some successes and I will give it a solid try myself.  Best of luck and please update with any photos that you think are worth sharing. Take care.