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@MrTropical looks good to me! I concur in all respects with @Harry’s Palms, Keep it warm and watered and it should grow. Let us know one way or the other! Betting on you gloating over success!

As a seller of plants mail order, I only sell healthy quality plants, if iam not happy with the quality I won’t sell it, basically it has to be in close to a hundred percent perfect for me to sell them. You as a customer have a right to say what you said in a nice manner, the seller was rude to you and it will affect his business. The customer is always correct and top priority in my eyes as a seller. Fear not your palm will be fine, don’t overwater it!

Oh wow. I've bought from him before and had no issues. But did you at least get a chance to reply "*You're" before he blocked you? On the other hand, free palm.

Indeed, very surprised in a bad sense. The customers brings the money or not ?☹️🤔

Unfortunately I did not seize that opportunity. But you're right, free palm at the end of the day.

Inflorescences are emerging from every leaf drop. Hopefully will set seed.

I don't normally do this, but given the seller's blatantly rude response, I feel that this is appropriate. For context, I reached out to the seller about the issue I described in this thread. I was civil and respectful in my message to him. He stated to me that this was my fault because I "did not read directions and removed the palm from the original pot". I replied and stated my intentions were not to up-size the pot, but rather *down-size* the pot. A 3-gallon pot seems excessive for a palm this size. I reiterated that root rot does not occur instantaneously. Then I get this as a response...he then tried saying it was "compression" from the box it was shipped in (?). This palm was shipped in a box nearly 3 feet tall. Also, he only mentioned "compression" once, not "ten times" as he claims. Shortly after, he cancelled the order and issued a refund. I assume he cancelled the order to prevent any feedback from being left on his shop. I guess the upside is that I received a refund. This response isn't very professional & business-like though. For those of you curious, the name of the Etsy shop is Exotic Palm Source and the owner's name is Anthony. That's who sent this response.

Putting a few more in the ground to get the garden going. Give it a few more years and a bit of water and things will be looking good. Also planted a maprang an edible grit in the mango family. dypsis spsatakentia liukiuensis hetrospathe barfordi maprang

From the photo of your repotting--and perhaps this is just an optical illusion--it appears to me that the plant is perhaps too high, with the Root Initiation Zone (base of the stem where new roots are produced) above soil-level. I'm concerned that in the dry climate of your house, and particularly with a fan blowing dry air across it, the couple of new roots that appear to be poking out may dry out and die. If for some reason you don't want to have the full-strength soil up to that level (but it really should be covering the RIZ for long-term health and the growth of any new roots), I think if you top-dress it with some orchid-bark or sphagnum or similar, that could help to preserve some humidity and moisture around that area, and help it recover and thrive. You could also bag the top of the plant during its convalescence, with a wad of wet/damp paper towel placed inside the bag for extra humidity, if you are concerned there was substantial damage to the roots. This could very much help keep the top in good shape while it adjusts and grows some new roots, particularly since it's not in a humid greenhouse.

Famous last words. Someone is going to get stung this winter. Maybe you. Maybe me. Probably a bunch of folk in their more marginal cold-winter climates i.e. midwest USA and continental Europe. So don't count your Texan chickens. Not until February-March anyway.

We need an update on these @Navarro! Was great that RPS somehow managed to get a few into cultivation. I’m still holding out hope they become available again, otherwise I might have to find a way to get up that mountain one day!

I am glad you at least got compensation . The seller has a very short sighted attitude that will inevitably hurt future sales. To work with a customer is a necessary part of selling just about anything . I really think you have a good chance of that palm surviving. Harry

The guy sounds like a complete jackass. Making blanket statements like “Digging around in the roots will definitely kill the plant-there’s no doubt about it.” is ridiculous.

I'm hoping for the best. Also, it appears the seller has blocked me on Etsy so I can't go back to the original conversation, but here's a screenshot from earlier today with the comment I made before his inappropriate response...

Thank you again, Harry.

That’s a nice one ! It may be too early to tell , just keep an eye on it . Happy growing . Harry

Hey everyone. I just received an Old Man Palm in the mail. It was purchased from Etsy. It came in a 3-gallon pot, but that seems large for the palm at this stage in its life. So as I was in the repotting process (downsizing), I noticed there are several rotten roots. Keep in mind I just received this palm 30 minutes ago, so this was not something I caused. The seller claims that I caused the root rot by removing the palm from the pot (?). Still trying to reach a resolution of some sort. In the meantime, can this palm be saved? Thank you.

The metallicas are flowering so time to do the daily rounds. The first pictures are the male flowers the orange ones are nearly ready to collect the pollen. It’s a matter of catching them on the day to collect the pollen. The last picture is the female that’s not quite ready for pollinating. With a bit of daily observation I should be able to get a few seeds. I had good luck last season so time to try again.

So happy about the three little seedlings I germinated. Such a beautiful palm the minuta, I was lucky enough to get viable seeds from a single plant. It’s flowering again now so hopefully I get a few more seeds!

I had my first shovel I purchased 35 years ago go into retirement a few back it was worn completely down with only about 3 inches of metal left and a scallop shape. I loved that shovel and miss it dearly. Now I have my father’s shovel I inherited and it’s treasured even more. It’s funny how a gardener feels about his shovel something special it’s your best friend In the garden! Richard

I hope you get a few seeds after so many years of have the beloved Metallica volunteer that chose your garden to live in. Sydney botanical garden has a large group planting and there is the odd seeds in that group planting Mother Nature at her best. Richard

A few more popping up. Some nice little dypsis minuta that will be well treasured. A few more Areca mandacanii, some pritchardia seeds kindly donated by Colin Wilson. A few chamaedorea from home grown seeds and a couple of imported seeds.

How does this look?

Wish I'd never seen this thread... an impossibly cute, probably cold hardy and virtually unobtainable palm to file away in the cabinet of dreams! Sigh.

🤗

05.11.2025 Ålesund, Norway 🇳🇴 Palms and northern lights.

I photographed this one at Wahiawa garden on Oahu recently

Absolutely. This is my first bad experience on Etsy in the 3 years I've used it. I've never dealt with something to this degree on any platform. Thank you, I sure hope so. It's a beautiful palm.

100 percent.

That is such a disrespectful response for a seller. I’ve only ever sold 1 palm on etsy but I know that as a seller it’s priority to ensure your plants are in good health before they ship and at least try to make sure they arrive safely too. As you said, root rot does not occur overnight, and for a tropical palm such as an old man it should not occur over the days it was shipped either. Meaning the palm probably already had the rot and seller didn’t bother to make sure everything, including roots, looked good. Also their reply is completely ignorant to the fact that not only did you downsize it but also that root rot should not be left to happen for the sake of not disturbing the roots. good luck with your palm I think it’ll make it just fine though

The palm looks good up top but if some of the roots are rotted, that could be a concern for later. Root rot is certainly not caused by compression or removing it from the pot. The sellers response is pretty inappropriate. You didn’t post your actual comments but it seems over the top, especially calling you an idiot.

By looking at the pics , maybe this palm was field dug prior to potting. These are not too root sensitive so it may be ok unless the palm looks bad. I would keep it warm( room temp ) and not too much sun for a while with good , fast draining soil and regular watering until it comes around. Maybe some Kelp based organic fertilizer ( sparingly ) . These are pretty tough palms! It would help if we could see a pic of the palm itself. Harry

It looks better, since those new roots look to be covered, although the base still looks a bit too high to my eyes...any palm should have the base of its stem at or just slightly below the surface, particularly in a dry atmosphere, so that it can grow new roots. This can be soil, sphagnum or any other material that will provide a moist, humid atmosphere around the roots. If this were my palm, I would reset it, or, if the depth of the root-mass won't allow that, choose a taller pot. Also, if this is intended as a long-term indoor/potted palm (I'm presuming this because you're in North Carolina), you might consider minimizing or removing any fine, organic content (commercial "potting soil") in your mix, and instead incorporate a high percentage of inorganic/mineral media like lava rock/pumice, coarse perlite, coarse builder's sand, etc. with organics limited to large chunky material like coco-coir chunks (not fines) as moisture reservoirs and some orchid-bark similar to what you already have (a grieat starting-point is to look on youtube to see how aroid growers create their "chunky" mixes), because potted plants will generally rot in mucky, compost-rich soils. While the top portion of the soil-mass will be dry when you check it with your fingers, telling you to water the plant, water will have been pooling in the bottom third of the pot (the "perched water table"), creating a suffocating, dense muck-zone, and the oxygen-starved roots will literally drown in that over time. You might also look into hydroponics. Many plants thrive in these systems, producing amazing masses of healthy roots, a different appearance indeed from the root-mass you received from the grower.

It is interesting to me that even with male/female present , some Chamaedorea don’t openly fruit , unlike Radicalis or Microspadix that are prolific as bunnies! Harry

Memories hey Harry! Richard

These ones were definitely slow I almost gave up on them. But I did read one post on hear that it took a long time. Decipiens I have never germinated before, so not sure how long they take. But one would think 3 to 6 months perhaps a bit more. They are special plants, it’s difficult to import viable seeds when the seeds are small, the smaller the seed in general the shorter the viability. So lucky to get the seeds, this is one reason why they are rare with difficulty in germinating imported seeds. Richard

No rust on your shovel , just keep digging holes and planting! When the blade gets rust , time for more work! Harry

Great, Richard 🤗 We are already looking forward to it happening here too 😃

Some chameadorea species have short life spans, and others live for quite a long time. So far they have lived for 26 years in my garden. Only the genoformis seems to be short lived for me, noticed that a few have died over the last couple of years, perhaps growers mistake, but an observation I thought as to why they died, and age was the only thing I can think off perhaps, I may be wrong.

I have been growing palms since 1981------ no telling how many spcies I have but heres a list Caryota obtusa ( 10 foot of trunkk) Caryota maxima 20 foot of trunk and flowering Arenga pinniata 10 foot overall Brahea aculeata --maybe 10 foot of trunk Jubeaopsis caffra ---- may be 5 foot of trunk Chrysidalacarpus decaryi easily 10 foot of trunk Chuniophoenix nana Lytocareum hoenei Livistona saribus , chinensis and Livistona australus and fulva and L. drudei and L. muellerii and L. decora Sabal causerium, S. domingensis , S maritima S. mexicaa large adult trees over 10 ft of trunk Syagrus schizophylla S. kellyana Lots of Jack-ass palms ---- Butia x Jubeaex Sr Butia x Syagrus coronata Butia Jubaea

This afternoon I noticed a bunch of seedlings at the base of a pair of Howea forsteriana in Carlsbad.

Your palm looks like a pure filifera. No red on the petioles.

My Alexandrea caught my eye as I was leaving for work this morning . It just opened another frond. It seems this year it has accelerated a bit , the crown shaft shed a leaf base and got much thicker! Harry

I'm not sure of where in Volusia County that you are located , but here is a chart for the month of November for the Daytona Beach area . The official recording station for much of this is located at the DB Airport , out near I-95 , and is , like most data , a single location result .

According to your weather forecast you don't have to do literally nothing. Fronds will burn in the low 20s. Temperatures in the low teens is more of a concern. That's where Robusta hybrids really show how cold hardy they are.

I’d guess it was RPS. I ordered 6 seeds in October, but unfortunately the RPS site oversold and I didn’t get mine. Apparently they plan to get them again but not until next year and it won’t be many. Good to see they’re in cultivation now at least.

Quien vende los?

Wow! Has always been a holy grail palm for me. Will seriously consider buying. I’d imagine similar growing conditions to other high elevation Chrysalidocarpus sp would be a good starting point.

woah