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An interesting little batch of seedlings, seeds kindly donated by @palmtreesforpleasure it will be an interesting palm to grow for sure!

Cyphophoenix elegans and nucele do well in the coastal zone as does Clinostigma savoryanum. Maybe my neighbor a couple of blocks away, Billy or Dale in HB, can share their experience growing Bentinckia condapanna in the region impacted by the marine layer. I think they will be positive comments.

Not under the powerlines though. My guess is about 14 to 15 years before a 1 gallon will hit the powerlines. My sun exposure Chrysalidocarpus ambositrae is about 10 or 11 years in the ground from a 1 gallon and it will hit that height in another 4 to 5 years, so give it head room. Cocothrinax do well here but won't be a height problem. Arenga engleri cap out on height so are well suited for positioning under those powerlines. You get the added bonus of their fragrant flowers this time of year.

It just goes to show never give up on your seeds. I had this lot dead and buried, took them off the heat mat and put them on the potting bench around 12 months ago to use the old medium in some potting soil. Well iam glad I didn’t use that mix. I lucked up on one seed sprouting. If they haven’t rotted away completely, keep those seeds around you just never know your luck.

Here are a few shots of the mature P. beccariana. Tim

Dave, I am a little suspicious as to which palms that you can grow that they can't grow in Huntington Beach. You have been to my garden in Leucadia and seen what I am growing. Huntington Beach is very similar if not a little warmer and windier than her due to both local topography and the large flart plane inland from Huntington Beach. Look at Dale's plantings in Huntington Beach and some of the other members both there and in Seal Beach. So there are two parts to your question, first the palms that grow well in the coastal zone of Southern California, and second the ones that are smaller for small lots with lots of power lines impacting the overhead heights. On the coastal zone issues Chambeyronia of all variety will grow, several of the Burretiokentia species, Howea's of both variety, Rhopalostylis of all variations. Chrysalidocarpus of many species will all grow here, ambositrae, affinis, basilongus, cabadae, pembanus, rufescens, prestonianus, robustus, lanceolatus, lutescens, saintelucei and the list goes on. I could continue, but the focus isn't on what will grow in the coastal zone of Southern California, but what will grow that is appropriately sized. So I'm now going to focus on the smaller palms that will grow well in Huntington Beach, here in Leucadia, down in OB, Cardiff by the Sea, or Venice where the next SoCal Palm Society will be. Someone mentioned above the various Chamaedorea, which are good choices. Ravenea glauca is a good choice, but Ravenea xerophilla is a bit of a challenge unless there is a good southerly exposure, perhaps with a good wall behind it for reflected heat. Some of the smaller growing Pritchardia won't interfere with power/comm lines overhead. Burretiokentia kogihensis is a slower growing species that won't be a problem overhead for a long time compared to hapala. Cryosophilia stauracanthia is an uncommon small palm that will meet the criteria. Several Coccothrinax do well here in California's coastal zone. On a slightly different note, there are a bunch of Cycads that give a tropical feel. I don't think is a species in the Encephalartos genus that can't be grown here (Dale in Huntington Beach will verify that). Ceratozamia, Cycas, Lepidiozamia, Macrozamia and several Zamia thrive her for a tropical, palmy feel. Complementary plants like Anthuriums, Bromeliads and Orchids will all thrive. I know I'm missing a bunch of good recommendations but this is just a first swing.

Three great palms getting my attention roscheria melanochaetes chamaedorea adscendens, linospadix monostachya and kerriodoxa elegans carpoxylon macrospermum

Tim, the mature one is a stunner.. How old do you reckon it might be? Looks like one you’d see in habitat. Oh yeah, that’s right, you live there . 😁

A lot of red, with 5 hokoeri in a row!

P. beccariana #3 Tim

P. beccariana #2 Tim

Thanks to this thread I think I have some clarity of half dozen Pritchardia planted out back. They were leftovers from an Arbor Day event back in 2016. The two species of seedlings were P. beccariana and P. hillebrandii in small 4” pots. The P. hillebrandii grew twice as fast with wide flat leaves and abundant lepidia. I had always assumed these were the P. beccariana because of these traits. The real P. beccariana in the meantime, were much smaller with bowed leaves and very sparse lepidia, so I thought they were P. hillebrandii with wavy leaves and whitish leaf undersides developing as they got older. After looking at the photos on this thread, I realized which was which, primarily because of the more round shallowly divided leaves and very little lepidia. I’m still a bit shocked by the growth disparity between the two. Anyway, I do have mature P. beccariana in the garden, the inflorescence and seed key out with the species. Tim P. beccariana #1

Two months after planting and it's starting to grow it's first set of fronds. Two have opened up and there are two more spears that are about to open up as well. Seems like it's got a got root establishment going. I'm going to remove the rope when the windy season ends and leave the braces on another year until it gets a strong root system.

Chrysalidocarpus ambositrae and Hedyscepe

They absolutely can survive planted in the ground, in Phoenix, if sited correctly. (Think microclimate) Here's one I had grown from seed that was in that spot for several years. Also had a bottle palm in the ground for about 20 years before our brutal summer of 2020 took out both of them...🤷‍♂️ aztropic Mesa, Arizona

By golly, I do live here! The oldest one came from a friend’s property on the way to Volcano. The palms were scattered among the native tree ferns and can you believe they didn’t particularly like them? At that time I knew nothing about Pritchardia, so I eagerly dug up the smallest one with a borrowed shovel and hauled it home. That task was hernia inducing for sure. Stayed in suspended animation for about two years then took off. Naivete can be so awesome in the right situation. Tim

Only one new frond but looking good, they're slower when grown in shade.

Gaussia princeps and any of the Hyophorbe will grow in the coastal zone. Give Hyophorbe lagenicaulis reflected heat from a wall for best results. Pseudophoenix sargentii is another Cthat will be slow enough to not cause problems for closer to 3 decades in a height constricted position. If you have headroom for something bigger in a spot, Chrysalidocarpus decipiens does well along the coast from Ventura to Point Loma at a minimum.

That’s a special palm! Not many of those around at all. I hope it does well for you, should enjoy your climate.

Geonoma atrovirens adds a bit of colour to any greenhouse!

Good rain about so plant as much as you can! A good handful of chamaedorea plumosa, lytocarum weddlianum, dypsis lantzeana, anthurium vietchii, davidson plum and some draceana goldieana.

I have more two leaf seedlings, and more seeds germinating. Some of my collection will remain in containers indefinitely unless I move to the tropics. Richard

Palmpedia already exists, man.

Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana, not to worried about the cool wet conditions.

Some intresting varieties for a palm garden. All varieties have their own unique characteristics. And as for slow, like the sands through the hourglass so are the days of our lives!

That's an excellent palm tree, Harry. Very exotic and tropical. Your palm tree is worth more than ten palm trees put together. They are exotic and unique palms. There's a Botanical Garden there. Congratulations! And I can imagine the happiness and pride that brings you, my friend. 🌴🌴🦜🦜🗿

Been gone for a while. Wish they had an app for this site lol But here’s an update on my palms so far this winter in Northern Rio specifically Enchanted Hills. I decided to NOT cover my robustas like I did the past 3 winters and they seem to be doing better uncovered. Thinking probably a trapped moisture issue creating a freeze like effect. I did however get nervous about them being robustas and placed a heat coil around the trunk and loosely wrapped the incoming spear. The rest of the palms just received a burlap wrap around their trunk. I know the windmill probably didn’t need one but being that it is its first NM winter, I did it anyway.

First, soil tests for nitrogen test for nitrates not urea or ammonium sulfates. Fertilizers use all three as the urea doesnt rinse so fast like nitrates, or ammonium sulfates. Typical formulation contain around half of the nitrogen as urea. Nitrates are very soluble so they are not persistent in soil, water or rain rinses them away, possibly to deeper soil that you are not sampling. Ammonium sulfates use NH4+ as the nitrogen source, the tests use a NO3- test so you see nothing for ammonium sulfate as well. Soil can be heterogeneous, clayish soils will have a different pH/composition vs sandy areas. Several samples could be used for each area. The color pH tests are crude, not very accurate. Color testing can get pale as the test kit ages, the paper strips can get oxidized at some point. You might be buying a test kit that is old, sitting in the warehouse or shelf for too long. If I was to describe concentrations of nutrients in soils it would be like this: Right after fertilization, nutrients will be on top and drain down into the soil column based on solubility and rinse out over time. Palm gain uses polymer coating on urea. The polymer coating pore size is not controlled specifically for each nutrient/micronutrient as in Florikan palm fertilizer(patent), but is other wise similar with osmotically controlled release. Osmocote is also osmotic in function and uses different thickness coatings on prills to release at different rates in order to get a more consistent timed release. Because palm gain uses polymer coated urea, your nitrogen tests will be negative shortly after fertilization as that is when soluble nitrogen(nitrates) they can detect is dissipated but urea remains. Over time all fertilizers will peak in nutrient soil concentration and then fall off like a sawtooth. The steepness of the fall off depends on the pore size(Florikan) the thickness of coating of that particular prill(osmocote) and for palm gain I could not find the mechanism other than osmotic polymer coating. The fastest dissipating nutrients are K, nitrate, then then a slower rate for and urea N. The problem is to know when each of the nutrients are going low in time so deficiency is minimized. Phosphorus is immobile in soils and tends to not be distributed evenly, often being banded in the soil depth. It does nto rinse away so accumulations ar epossible in ground that has been extensively fertilized. Phosphate tests will be tougher as it can bind with some substrates and the pH of the soil must be near neutral for it to work. Now the soil pH, 4.5 sounds like a bad value, it would cause several deficiencies that should be obvious. That might convince me to get it tested by a credible lab if another fresh test kit shows the same low pH. My suggestion: get some langbeinite(also called sulpomag, Kmag), it is a crystalline mineral and will dissolve slowly and it adds K, Mg(also soluble) without adding nitrogen (which risks burn) and phosphate accumulation which can limit micronutrient uptake if accumulated phosphate levels are elevated. You can use the palm gain but augment with the langbeinite(not crushed dust, but coarse) to prevent potassium and to a lesser extent Magnesium deficiency. And don't worry about the nitrogen test, it doesn't work for urea or ammonium sulfate. Just add a little fish emulsion(does not burn) between palm gain application. Those chem test kits are ballpark measurements and they can become even less accurate if too old(even on the sales shelf). If you want an accurate measurement get a test done by a lab. If the lab is any good they will perform an extraction of the soil for quantitive testing.

Encephalartos Caffer throwing its first multi leaf flush. These leaves are trippy looking!

Howdyall, I have a couple of palm friends in Huntington Beach, where it's cool enough that many of the much-beloved palms I can grow they have problems with. I've suggested genera like Geonoma from mountain regions which do well in places like San Francisco. One particular problem my friends have is that their lot is small, with electrical and phone wires across the back, which limits the size of things they can grow. Big stuff gets chopped, and Big Sibling Utilities are watching . . . . Anyway, thoughts appreciated including from those Up North, where heat gets a bit scarce.

That one is the same age as my Pritchardia H. I bought two palms from a nursery in Maui . They were in 4” pots ( seedlings) about 16 years ago. The first five years were painfully slow for both , but then they grew moderately fast . I get 3-4 fronds a year on the Chambey , the Pritchardia gets more but is slower to gain height. The interesting thing about my Chambey is that the parent palm was the most beautiful Watermellon variety I had ever seen , with brilliant mottling. The grower had several and they all had the same mottling. As you can see , mine has very little . Harry The two pictures are about a year and a half apart . The second picture is from an old batch of photos.

Richard I had them!😥

You just never know until you try, hopefully over time it gets a bit healthier and it shrugs of the cold weather.

Dypsis lantzeana, dypsis louvelli.

Ok I had a look in AI and indeed those sachets are water soluble, and should be thrown as a whole without previous opening in to the water bucket. This kind of package is called wsp, first two letters standing for water soluble. I guess I am still not so familiar with the potential of AI.

Been walking around more . Queens burned 5% to 10% Pigmy Dates burned 75% to 100% Bananas and Birds of Paradise burned 100% Philodendron selloum burned 0% This is around the George St / Historic district.

Do Pseudobombax pods and seeds mature if taken off the tree? I collected some pods off a local tree and opened one, both the fruit and the seeds were immature. I left them to rest in the sun, hope they can mature. Anyone has experience with something like this?

Tim, I was shocked to find this unlabeled older specimen at Mounts in the back! There are actually two side by side:

This was the last red leaf from earlier this year . I grew this from a little 4” pot I brought home from Maui. It is now flowering regularly with about 5-6’ below the crown shaft. Since it broke through the canopy , the red leaf lasts about 3 days , that’s all. The fronds on these are very large . Harry You can see a bit of burn , but no where near as bad as a couple of years ago . It now gets at least twice as much water as before. This shows the size of the fronds in relation to the crown and trunk.

I had read in the past that it may occur, but I knew it only as theory. Now I am experiencing it live in my garden: a Phoenix dactylifera up to now male, bearing this year also female flowers! Yes it is true. Only presignal was that it was belated in opening the spathes. Pretty much belated almost by three weeks. At first I thought it was caused by the weather but now I am starting thinking of hormonic causes because of the female flowers. Exciting!

My guess is pistillate, female.

My second order this season from Floribunda arrived this afternoon and all are new trials for me. They all are BIG in their respective containers as is usual from this excellent vender. Pritchardia aylmer-robinsonii Chamaedorea arenbergiana Chrysalidocarpus ‘Baby Red Stems’ Pinanga ‘Maroon Crown Shaft’ Anyone with personal experience with any of these, please comment.

New palms in Manvel along the neighborhood entrance:) palmetto’s lol

Hi Jim. I’m down south of the river along the Armadale hills and planted a few young Carpentaria specimens in my north facing garden with limited canopy, been in just over a year and they’ve proved to be quite hardy so far and growth through summer was great. If you could find some with pinnate leaf already I’m sure they will take off well.

Those Nor Cal boys cleaned up! It was an honor and pleasure meeting a couple Palmtalk legends and thanks for your business👍🙏. I am down to just 2-3 gal. “True blue” Arenarius and just liners of Horridus. Still have good quantities of 15 gal. “True blue” Arenarius and most other plants listed. Lots of Nubis, Ferox, Hybrids etc.

After one night of 1⁰C and another one of 0⁰C for some hours.

thanks surprising found these guys around the beaches..

today I decided to open up a community pot today of Medemia argun seeds I sowed on 6/15/16. this is one of 4 community pots I have growing (200 seeds total). since I saw a few leaf spikes starting to emerge from the soil line I figured it was now time. I was a bit hesitant to do this since they were just placed in pots only 4 months ago. I had no Idea for such little above ground growth there was such a massive root structure forming below. I sowed these 200 seeds thinking they can take up to 1 year to sprout (sporadically) BOY WAS I WRONG!!!!!! with in 3 weeks they started to send down HUGE tap roots. I guess when they are fresh the germination rate is very high. out of 43 seeds in this community pot 40 sprouted. WOW! just removed the top layer of dirt. looks harmless enough? right? this was a absolute mess of tangled tap roots. those were my fist thoughts anyways doesn't this look really bad and almost impossible to untangle? they actually untangled very easily and it only took me 40 min to pot these up with out damaging any of the tap roots I still cant get over how massive these roots are(this shots is for you Pal ) they went straight into 1 gal tree pots. I bet by spring time they will go into 5 gal pots you can see some 1 gal pots that look like they just have a seed lying on top. not the case at all. there is at least a 8" root below the seed.