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PM if you're interested in potentially selling at the CFPACS sale in Hastings on May 2nd.

All of Florida could use 215% of our usual totals right now. 🤦‍♂️

Of course, it's a great island. Very beautiful.

Of course, it's a great island. Very beautiful.

That sounds wonderful, and this is gonna sound hard to believe since it definitely sounds like I've gotten dumber over the years but I'm 22 months sober. The tradeoff is I'm on 2 anxiety meds and pain meds which probably explains a lot, but yeah. But to keep things on topic I've managed to grow a few of these from seed even though there's zero chance of them ever setting fruit here.

@BumGardener I most likely lost all 9 of my Bottles and Spindles at 22.5F with heavy wind, including a Spindle with 7 feet of trunk. It looks like yours is probably dead too. One thing you could do is "trunk cut" the top section to see if the new spears are alive or not. This is just cutting horizontally down a few inches at a time to see if you can find clean tissue. I am going to do this on a couple of Bottles in the next day or two. It's the "last ditch effort" to see if there's anything alive down there. So you can cut across with a loppers or a fine tooth saw (or drywall saw, etc) and look for clean white tissue. Here's a good thread with photos of the initial cuts and how far down he went to find clean white tissue:

That's interesting. We don't have a potassium shortage down here. My soil is DG. And the granite is orthoclase (potassium feldspar, K Al Si3 O8) based. Unfortunately the orthoclase based granite does not tend to have gold like the quartz based. Our problem is that orthoclase breaks down into clay. So our soil does not drain like quartz DG. Do you have clay soil? Some of my palms look a bit like yours, but not because of deficiencies. They lack drainage, and have root rot issues -- especially those planted almost into straight granite.

@BayAndroid I now realize that my entire back garden is more or less K deficient and I add a lot of greensand when I plant anything, and at intervals thereafter. I also have issues with B deficiency, especially on my C. costaricana and supplement with borax every now and then. On @Darold Petty's advice I am trying to rely less on synthetic fertilizers and more on organics, but that is a longer term project. The Euterpe I mentioned in the OP got replaced with a C. ambositrae, definitely a better choice. I still have it in a pot but it looks terrible and will go to compost soon.

I got this on new fronds in two of three pygmy date palms this spring. Otherwise palms and older fronds look good. Can someone please diagnose it and suggest a remedy? Thanks.

I've got one, but It's in a little shade because I put it next to the driveway in a spot that it would get looked down on (Since it has the blue on the tops of the leaves). It's a bit slow but I have barely watered, and never fertilized it.

Do you have any of Raymond Jungles books? Like; "The Colors of Nature: Subtropical Gardens by Raymond Jungles"? I like his designs.

Here in Southern California it has been some very unusual weather . First , the rain has been torrential …FOR US! We are at about 215% of our normal rainfall total. Then , the wind events have been strong and frequent . They come out of the east and are strong , gusty , and dry. They blow things around and create havoc for us gardeners ( I had a 40-50’ Caryota blow over) . Some of the gusts this year have well exceeded 60mph!! It can blow for 3-4 days straight . Now we are in the midst of a heat wave in March , unusual to say the least . Hang in there and stay in the shade , water the palms , and keep the iced tea handy . Harry ‘The temps have been above normal for a few days already . I had 94f at my house 3 days ago. Yesterday felt cool at 80 degrees .

My wee little sprouts ! More every day now . It started with just two . Yesterday I counted 8 sprouts. I think there were about a dozen plus seeds in this space. They have been residing on my work bench in my garage most of the winter. Harry It is hard to spot all the sprouts but they are there ! Sort of a “ Where’s Waldo” situation.

Drainage of 3/4" gravel mixed with clay will be slow compared with 1/4" mixed iwht clay. Drainage is about the soil mix, when you have multiple components its more complicated. Clay has the most surface area of all since it has the smallest particles. At some point the capillary action and microfluidics will really slow the drainage rate as the granular size gets small. I dont know how to optimize this for different mixtures. I could design an experiment to learn but there are lots of soil components. I would not want larger gravel to sink too far into the soil column over years as it will create a drainage gradient that could be undesirable. Smaller gravel should have less of an issue. On top as a top covering in a place like the arizona desert, the larger gravel is better for moisture retention when the sun bears down on it. Larger gravel heats more slowly and leaves less surface area for evaporation. In the desert gravel is so superior to mulch or any other top covering for growing plants, you rarely see anyone doing anything else. As a top covering in the desert, larger gravel has much better water conservation than mulch with soil that is part clay underneath. Your environment/palms may present unique demands of drainage and water conservation. I have been in dry hot desert with clay soil base 10 years and in sandy florida soil with humidity and good amounts of rain for 16. Each has its challenges and growers will be wise to understand their own challenges and adapt. I killed a bunch of small palms when I first moved here thinking the rain would be consistent enough so I didnt have to watch them closely when small. In arizona it was easy to keep the soil wet, hard to account for heat and dry air. In florida the air is fine, its the dry soil that can kill your plants, the need for mulching never stops as the organics are consumed in the soil by microbes.

I would juice those with a shot of Don Q.

Echo the sentiment. Black spots everywhere. Pull it out and treat the soil with a fungicide. Later in the spring you can plant a bottle or spindle. I've seen them at Costco in the summer, cheap.

Can you share a photo of the entire palm? I love the silver petioles. Glad it's doing well even in low humidity.

Vey nice!

My Archontophoenix cunnigamiana suffered last winter and their leaves dried up like husks. Afterwards, new leaf buds emerged and they recovered.

Actually, community garden 425m Solar-ventilated Bresser weather station

Beautiful. Come on Mazat, these palm trees will only enhance their beauty. Congratulations. I hope to protect mine now from the Southern Hemisphere winter.

Dear Grandmasters and Palm Enthusiasts, I am erupting with pure botanical joy! Today, March 15th, 2026, I can confirm an absolute vertical wonder on my Balkon-Fortress in Arbon/Stachen (Lake Constance, Switzerland). My Caryota mitis, situated on the 4th floor at 443 meters above sea level, is showing an incredible vitality eruption. The Exposure: Despite being in the shade at 443m, my Intertronic station recorded a local heat pocket of 16.5°C, while the surrounding region is significantly cooler at 6.0 -9°C . The Resilience: The trunk is rock-solid and cannot be pulled out (zero spear rot). New green shoots are emerging directly from the center. The Micro-Climate: This 4th-floor micro-climate proves that elevation and vertical positioning can create unique survival pockets for species often considered too tender for Zone 8a. The Caryota mitis on the 4th floor lives! The Arbon/Stachen-Sog of vertical life is unstoppable!

hah, i'm a bit confused. the leaf that's opening looks like anthurium pedatum...

For the collectors here that are interested in hybrid palm trees, I have an online mail-order store with a few of my rare crosses. I'm certified to ship in-container to all lower 48 states and also internationally with phyto (extra fee). https://seabreezenurseries.com

Yellow Latania