My Desert Oasis

[John in Andalucia]

Just a few shots of where I spend my days..

The office (Internet, printer,scanner, tool shed..)

My polytunnel is right opposite.

Plastic shower curtains (It's almost due west, and my seedlings are on that side).

[John in Andalucia]

New ground-to-air misting system!

These work well for germinating seeds..

The Coconator!! (These shots are for bubba)

[John in Andalucia]

A little closer..

Germination!

Why I don't fret anymore when seedlings go into shock. I love that little Lemur!

[BS Man about Palms]

Nice set up! Computer in the shed?

[John in Andalucia]

Nice set up! Computer in the shed?

Yes siree, all systems go.

[FRITO]

John, very interesting! I love seeing everyones operations. looks like your greenhouse in pretty full! Do you have an outdoor area where grow them one they seedlings get a bit larger?

[palmtreesforpleasure]

Hi John

What a fantastic set up, now i know where the seed is going. Lots of room for more, do you have many planted outside yet?

regards

colin

[ariscott]

Cool cat . BTW, your set up is too neat!!! It makes me embarrashed over the state of my shadehouse....

Regards, Ari

[bubba]

Well done and as expected.When will we see the record breaking Cocos nucifera that the fertile soil and beneficient Climate of Andulucia will make all proud?

[Alicehunter2000]

That is a cool setup.......so neat! Looks pretty dry outside there. BTW are you a transplant to Spain, as your English is impeccable?

One other question I've always wanted to ask to those who germinate in community pots. What do you do when some seedlings are ready to be moved, but others not? Do you just pull them out? How do you not disturb the roots of the surrounding seedlings that are staying in the community pot for a longer period? Probably a silly question, but it is one that I've always wondered.

[Neofolis]

Very nice John, puts my little, extremely messy polytunnel to shame.

David, I have germinated in community pots or community containers. In pots, the seedlings can usually get large enough that they can all be transplanted at the same time and they tend to come apart quite easily. In small containers, I often move one at a time, but because they are much smaller there is not much root structure to get tangled, so again they come out quite easily.

[John in Andalucia]

I'm a tidy person by nature. I used to work in set design and special effects, so I'm always thinking about the finished look as well the functionality. I'm also really keen to get my moneys-worth out of this polytunnel, so I try to ensure that it only contains the essentials. I've squeezed in around 600 seedlings and I have an equal amount of germinated seed. I've about 70 species in all, and several thousand seeds waiting to germinate.

I can keep a lot of potted palms in the garden, but the Spring wind and dry heat of Summer will not bode well for the majority of palms I'm cultivating, unless I build a shadehouse with windbreaks and adequate misting. I've mostly rainforest and understory, although I'm having a big drive on cold & drought tolerant species at the moment; Brahea, Coccothrinax, Nannorrhops, Syagrus, Trachycarpus, and several species of Phoenix and Livistona.

Garden view ................................................ Shadehouse next year, perhaps?...............

I want to plant out a few palms, not sure what yet. The only palms currently in the ground are a couple of Washies. They have taken really well, but when the wind blows the leaves get smashed.

Washingtonia robusta

I'm growing other plants and trees with the aim of developing a nursery business. I've never been happier since I started last Autumn.

David, I am English. I came to Spain four years ago to find a retirement home for my parents. I was based in London for 12 years. My father has MS and is 70 now, so we live like a family once again, but in a Spanish cortijo. It overlooks the coast, towards north Africa. Spending all my time at home, I'm on hand to look after the garden and help out generally. It is super-dry here as you guessed! We have the equivalent of Santa Ana winds in late Spring and Summer, putting us on a par with the SoCal environment.

Most of the pots in my greenhouse are tree-pots. I'm not a fan of community pots, because you can't keep seedlings in them long enough to develop a root ball. My one exception is C. renda because getting them past the one leaf stage is my main concern, at which stage the roots are still so tiny. I bought the rest of my seedlings from Hawaii and they are about a year, to a year and a half old. They came out of beds, and the roots were just about OK to separate, but I aim to keep my baby palms in tree-pots until I can lift them out by the stems!

Bubba, stay tuned for more, "I'll be back" Coconator action! Thanks for all the compliments, by the way. It's not top-end palm living, but it certainly starts here. In fact, I don't know what I'd say if I ever met a real palm tree.

[www.dadluvsu.com]

John! Sweet set-up! Very organized... I dig it. Looks like the kind of operation I would put together... (No ego there! ) about 70 species? Which ones?

[John in Andalucia]

John! Sweet set-up! Very organized... I dig it. Looks like the kind of operation I would put together... (No ego there! ) about 70 species? Which ones?

Thank you Bill. I've glimpsed a few shots your place, so I'm honored by the compliment. You made me publish my palm list! OK, it's currently at 80. My palm list includes seeds to, by the way. The species marked blue are seedlings, newly sprouted to year and a half old. The remainder are seeds, some new in, others just germinated. I'm glad to say that I'm seeing some growth finally, now that the weather is warming up. Not sure what I'm doing with Ceroxylon alpinum, although strangely enough, my first and only customer bought six seeds of these a couple of weeks ago.

Actinokentia divaricata

Areca catechu

Areca vestiaria

Attalea colenda

Bismarckia nobilis (Silver)

Brahea armata

Brahea nitida

Burretiokentia hapala

Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana

Calyptrocalyx sp. "Sanumb"

Calyptronoma rivalis

Carpoxylon macrospermum

Caryota obtusa (India form)

Caryota ophiopellis

Caryota zebrina

Ceroxylon alpinum

Chamaedorea tepejilote

Chamaedorea hooperiana

Chambeyronia macrocarpa

Coccothrinax boschiana

Coccothrinax ekmanii

Cocos nucifera

Cryosophila albida

Cyrtostachys renda

Dictyosperma album

Dypsis ambositrae (true form)

Dypsis cabadae

Dypsis decaryi

Dypsis florencei

Dypsis lantzeana

Dypsis lutescens

Dypsis prestoniana

Dypsis sanctaemariae

Dypsis sp. "Orange Crush"

Geonoma gamiova

Geonoma interrupta

Guihaia argyrata

Hydriastele costata

Hydriastele dransfieldii

Hyophorbe indica

Hyophorbe verschaffeltii

Johannesteijsmannia perakensis

Jubea chilensis

Kentiopsis magnifica

Kentiopsis oliviformis

Latania lontaroides

Latania verschaffeltii

Lemurophoenix halleuxii

Licuala sp. "Pre Ati"

Livistona chinensis

Livistona decipiens

Livistona nitida

Loxococcus rupicola

Lytocaryum weddellianum

Marojejya darianii

Nannorrhops arabica

Phoenicophorium Borsigianum

Phoenix canariensis

Phoenix roebelenii

Phoenix rupicola

Phoenix sylvestris

Phoenix theophrastii

Pholidostachys pulchra

Pinanga coronata

Ponapea ledermannianum

Pritchardia pacifica

Pseudophoenix lediniana

Pseudophoenix vinifera

Ptychosperma elegans

Ptychosperma waitianum

Ravenea glauca

Sabal maritima

Syagrus botryophora

Syagrus romanzoffiana

Syagrus romanzoffiana (var. litoralis)

Trachycarpus fortunei

Trachycarpus latisectus

Trachycarpus martianus

Trachycarpus princeps

Veillonia alba

[Kris]

Dear John

Lovely work and great effort ! And thanks for giving us all those lovely visuals of your operation....keep us updated on those seeds germination & the young saplings !

thanks & love,

Kris

[www.dadluvsu.com]

No Tahina spectabilis? tsk tsk tsk... You should be ashamed!

[John in Andalucia]

No Tahina spectabilis? tsk tsk tsk... You should be ashamed!

Bill,

I admit I didn't catch the "Tahina Rush" fever, but another member here in Spain says he has one "with my name on it", no less. He is planning to visit and do a swap for one of my seedlings. I'll post photos of course, when it happens.

[eastern.nurseries]

John, Nice clean lines, do you get weeds? It looks like you will have a lot of work ahead of you potting tubestock. Will it all fit in that space?

[John in Andalucia]

John, Nice clean lines, do you get weeds? It looks like you will have a lot of work ahead of you potting tubestock. Will it all fit in that space?

Hi Jon,

I think any panic resulting from my unexpected success will be handled with plenty of enthusiasm. I've noticed some positive growth in my seedlings these last few weeks, and that's all I care about at this moment in time.

Did you mean weeds inside the greenhouse? I get a few where the plastic disappears into the soil, and I get a few exotic looking weeds that appear in my pots from time to time. I'm hoping some of them are flowers. The ground where the polytunnel stands now was methodically weeded and leveled by me a couple of years ago, before palms took over. I was planning to build a boat - I still have the plans too, but the plan is to sell the plans and buy more palm seeds - of course!

[Walter John]

Hi John

Great set up and impressive list of palm species, especially Hydriastele costata, now that's a lovely exotic palm if ever there was one.

[ariscott]

I remember a friend told me that he sold some seedlings to Spain. Would that be you???

Regards, Ari

[Walter John]

I remember a friend told me that he sold some seedlings to Spain. Would that be you???

Regards, Ari

"You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin' to? You talkin' to me? Well I'm the only one here. "

Hi Ari, actually I don't do seeds, although I'm seriously considering taking on that area of palming. You should knock up a hot house and have a bash at it. You don't really need a proper hot house I suppose.

[ariscott]

Hi Wal,

I was asking John... but then... your comment is always welcome.

I have started trying palm seeds whenever I can get hold of fresh seeds. They are all in my shadehouse. No, I don't need hot house... the shadehouse is perfect for germinating anything as everything seems to do well even during the dry season. I have been germinating tree seeds and others for a few years now, but just in the last 12 months trying palm seeds.

The reason I didn't invite you into my shadehouse was because it was in such a mess even Scott couldn't get in there. It is a bit better now, but still a lot more cleaning up to do. That is the problem when you had to move house and move all the plants in it when it was not fully finished. So, when Scott build me another one (another 9x6m - whenever that might be), then I can clean out this one properly and I will convert it into a brom and orchid house... another passion of mine that has to go into the back burners since I have no room!! Well, at least the watering system is fixed now, so I won't have anymore casualties (touch wood).

Regards, Ari

[John in Andalucia]

Hi John

Great set up and impressive list of palm species, especially Hydriastele costata, now that's a lovely exotic palm if ever there was one.

Wal,

If I had a better camera I'd throw in some more close-ups. These H. costata seedlings of mine were always pale, but now they are developing a lime green color, which I like. I bought them as seedlings and was convinced they were clumpers, and not the solitary palm they grow into. Surely one of the the most slender seedlings too.

Ari,

Apart from my Hawaiian source, I swapped some seeds for seedlings with a guy who hasn't posted since. After I forked out and sent mine registered mail (he knew that before sending his swap), he skimped on the postage and his seedlings never turned up. He sent them again, this time by registered mail, but only because he though he was getting more seeds from me. I didn't know he hadn't sent them by registered mail the first time, but when I received his seedlings, he blabbed about how he would never send stuff by regular air mail again! Naturally, he didn't get any more from me. Wasn't the same guy, was it?

[ariscott]

No... probably not. He is pretty good usually. I got a few seedlings from him a few times. I was just wondering whether you have got some from him in the past, because he mentioned he sent them to Spain occassionally.

BTW, John.... those seedlings look nothing like that when they grow up. I have 3 in my property. One is probably about 1m tall, and 2 are about close to 3m to the top of the spike. They start to look good now after the wind knocked them around in the first 12 months. I should take photos one of these days, as Scott just recently cleaned up their trunk.

Regards, Ari

Edited June 10, 2008 by ariscott

[John in Andalucia]

Ari,

I must see those when you get a chance. The only other shots I've seen are the ones in their habitat on PACSOA.

[Rusty on Pine Is.]

John, a very impressive op you have there, and very ordered, too. Nice set up, keep the pics coming, please.

Rusty

[ariscott]

Ari,

I must see those when you get a chance. The only other shots I've seen are the ones in their habitat on PACSOA.

No worries, John... probably won't till the weekend. Busy at work this week until Thursday and Friday will turn to be a big day too as one of my daughters turns 5!!!

Regards, Ari

Edited June 11, 2008 by ariscott

[ariscott]

John,

These are my 2 trees this morning. My biggest one didn't look the best as it was VERY windy yesterday.... They don't handle wind very well at all. The smaller one is a bit more protected.

Regards, Ari

[John in Andalucia]

Thanks, Ari. How old from seed is the one on the left? Is that one of your 3m tall Ceroxylons?

[ariscott]

No.. it is Hydrastele costata. Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. I am not even sure I can grow Ceroxylon.

Regards, Ari

[surferjr]

Wow John!!

Very impressive op....how long have you been set up and how's the success rate on germinating in general?

Nice to see what's possible :drool:

[John in Andalucia]

No.. it is Hydrastele costata. Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. I am not even sure I can grow Ceroxylon.

Regards, Ari

Apologies Ari, I meant H. costata. I've been discussing Ceroxylon in one of my other topics and got a little muddled as to where I was. I thought the trunk looked unusual. I was interested to know if that was one of the 3 meter specimens you mentioned, and how long it took to get to that stage from seed.

[John in Andalucia]

Wow John!!

Very impressive op....how long have you been set up and how's the success rate on germinating in general?

Nice to see what's possible :drool:

Thanks surferjr, I've been cultivating since the start of the year. I built the poly-tunnel from kit last September and ordered my first seeds late November. I think I received a lot of old seed and things weren't looking good, so in April and May I bought several hundred seedlings from Hawaii and kept buying seeds as well. You have to keep going, I find, and "bite the bullet" when realizing how much money is "lost" on seeds that just sit there and do nothing.

My overall germination rate is hard to average, because I started poorly, but I have since had some very good seeds. My best result was from a batch of 200 Caryota zebrina seeds, 2 months ago, of which 190 popped in a flush. They were expensive, but worth it. My latest seed batches look set to return at least 60-70% germination. However, my overall average, given the poor start is only around 40%. As a rule of thumb, I like the guideline offered on Jungle Music's website:

If one actively attempts to germinate many species and gets seeds from all around the world, an overall germination rate of 25% or greater would be considered good. For some species near 100% is the rule. For others, 10% would be phenomenal.

It took me by surprise to read this when I first started germinating palm seeds, but it makes more sense now.

[John in Andalucia]

John, a very impressive op you have there, and very ordered, too. Nice set up, keep the pics coming, please.

Rusty

A couple more shots, now that we're into summer. The polytunnel is full of germinated seeds and the Chambyronias are outside along with my Phoenix, a few Trachycarpus, Livistona and Syagrus. They are located close to where I will hopefully put up a shadehouse - hopefully before those fig and avocado trees drop their leaves. As it is, these palms are getting bombed by figs, but it's not really a problem. As long as I sweep up before the ants get to them.

I've been busy too, cutting up lengths of discarded plastic drainpipe for my Bismarkia seeds.

The Chambyronias are pushing third and fourth leaves now. I wonder how long until I get a character leaf? This year, or maybe next Spring?

[FRITO]

Very nice John, Look like you caught the Palm Bug full force if you havnt even been going a year now!

I like those deep trays in the shady area. havnt seen large ones like that before.

very creative with the piping and plastic bags also. may also want to recycle water bottles also like Kris uses in India if you have them laying around.

Luke

[Troy_ATX]

Pretty sweet little polytunnel you got there!

Was that a kit or did you build it from scratch?

[ffeuillade]

Really nice setup. I hope i'll do soon a little polytunnel too. I'll try in my next house.

Your desk is excellent too, and i love the cat (a siamese?), he looks like mine

[John in Andalucia]

Pretty sweet little polytunnel you got there!

Was that a kit or did you build it from scratch?

It was a kit. I had it shipped to Spain from a company in the UK. Here's a link to their website: First Tunnels

[John in Andalucia]

Really nice setup. I hope i'll do soon a little polytunnel too. I'll try in my next house.

Your desk is excellent too, and i love the cat (a siamese?), he looks like mine

Hi Franck,

That's one of my mother's cat, Lia. She's a Siamese sweetie, that's for sure.