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The good. Look at how tall this Blue Java is getting! Look at the size of this new leaf on the Red Dacca! The bad... Welp, whoopsie doodle. I saw some webbing, and on these I just hack the leaves off right away before I wipe them down because who cares? It'll grow back in a week. Welp...... This is my Mekong Giant. Whoopsie doodle. Swing and a miss. It has been slower than the others, hopefully this pisses it off? It's supposed to be just as much of a horse as the other big ones. It wasn't a slouch, but it also isn't 7 feet tall either. I guess the good news is there's no spider mites on its leaves anymore.

Yes it’s been a mild summer and although it’s not over yet (so there is still time for a scorcher) we haven’t been above 38.2C which is great because the last few years we exceeded 40C in summer a few times. Those sort of temps can kill heat sensitive plants even in basically full shade. Got a couple of single digit mins coming this week, so I think we are on the same program as NZ.

Welcome! Hope you got some sleep. Enjoying a sumptuous buffet breakfast at the MGallery hotel in Hanoi which is where the Board meeting takes place tomorrow.

You never know who you’ll run into at an international airport before a biennial…it’s usually a bunch of IPSers. Here they are in Hong Kong in the wee hours of the early morning.

We need updates on this beast!

Thank you Ryan!

Watch the Palmcast with Sabal King and Teddy on YouTube. Lots of good info on there. https://youtu.be/tTsJZNSrA-g?si=c7Q42uo-zvi0oeTN

😂 I had an hour long conversation with a tree. I sat underneath it and drank malt liquor and ate Skittles in the middle of the night in a forest. I should have known then I'd turn into a plant person.

Well, I learned that a lot of our mangos are irradiated before coming into the country. It's hit or miss, they either sprout or they just rot. The papayas are a whole other story, those things are such freaking divas and I haven't figured them out quite yet. They want more heat, I turn the mats up, then it's too hot, then they want their tent sealed and then it's too humid, then they get dry so I give them more humidity then they damp off, then they start to look good and I think I've figured it out then they just freaking die overnight. I think the first time I added too much organics to their soil, then too little (the seeds are so tiny!) and I think I've finally found a balance and a fertilizer they like but I can't fertilize until they get to a certain size, then we do the heat and humidity dance all over again. It's a pain in my ⚽ 🏈 🏀 trying to get everything just right for them, and I just can't recreate the climate of Hawaii or San Diego in here and everything else is happy. Palms I thought I killed are (slowly) recovering, the bananas that were tiny pups are taller than I am, the dragonfruit cuttings are going crazy, I'm drowning in philodendrons, the alocasias and colocasias keep coming back no matter how many times I cut them to the dirt. Everything except the papaya and hibiscus is thriving, and I probably need to chop and prop the hibiscus just to jump start it but the spider mites love it.

Oh my , that is way too much trimming . I have seen this done with Pygmy palms as well . It will most likely come back but it will take a while. Harry

I second that just got my seeds from Frank. Thank you sir

Howdy neighbor ! I wouldn’t plant them in the ground just yet, it looks like we have one final cold snap coming thru where we may have a frost Tuesday morning. I have a younger one planted in the ground and left it mostly unprotected during our hard frost event a few weeks back and it’s got some damage as well, but I’m sure it’ll bounce back

I purchased this one as a corm quite large. So not sure if it was a flowering plant or not.

Flying over Tokyo on our way to Hanoi for the start of the 34th biennial. Now we’re really starting to get excited!

Wow. It resembles standard form Hydriastele beguinii with the leaves and that perfect inflorescence spathe. I can only zoom in on the photo so far at that size, but it looks like it. The lower rachises and petioles appear to have the fuzzy tomentum. Awesome old plant. It seems to have a cold damage scar halfway up the trunk. It looks great considering the cold we just had (and are continuing to get). He and his Chambeyronia neighbor seem to have a protected spot. The species was in Siphokentia (or perhaps even Nengella) when it was planted. Ryan

I would let them recover a bit first. Water and afternoon shade. What sort of nighttime temps do you expect the next 3 nights? Maybe bring them in. In May, you could look for a place to plant them in-ground.

I’ve seen 8 years from seed with the search I did today. Not sure if that’s average or not

Yep I think they will be fine but I would wait after this weeks cold like @SeanK said

Maybe after this weekend's cold snap.

Thanks! I feel like our temperatures have got pretty decent so I could possibly get away with planting with maybe the occasional frost here and there!

A sun -soaked and pleasant but brisk -y 64F at 2:59PM. Aside from some high clouds streaming through the area, quick moving storm that passed thru overnight, is now making it's way into the plains, dragging the trough that has brought one final taste of " winter " with it . Interesting view watching snow that had been laid down last night across N.E'rn AZ melt away on satellite thru the day. Expect much more of the yucky white stuff to be gone soon. After one last cool start tomorrow, well, ..no need to repeat what lies ahead for next week ..other than noting that there are now 4 days of reaching / exceeding 90F on the forecast board after mid week.. We'll see what happens. On that note: Looking over some prelim. data from this winter from both Accuweather and Time and Date, both here and down in Tucson, have a strong suspicion that this will end up being the warmest winter on record for both areas, esp. once data from the final few days of the month ..and season.. are added in next weekend. While it isn't unusual to see an entire winter with no 32 / sub 32F readings up our way, it's a bit eye opening not to see -any- 32 / sub 32F readings for Tucson, ..at least where T&D / Accuweather's data is collected. ..More on that later.. Feb. alone will likely smash it's own monthly record. Even with the dip in temps over the last couple days dragging down the averages ( ...only a hair though.) Avrg. high was at +9 on Monday so a few days causing it to drop just below +8 isn't much of a dent, esp. with a toasty week ahead. Today's 3 - 4 week thoughts ** ..Consumed with a little salt on the glass rim of course = Game On!

An inland WPB Coconut looks unhappy but will pull through:

More PB Coconuts:

Mangoes will still be available:

Areca catechu close to 20 feet: