Pigafetta Miami

[street124]

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Jeff, where is that Piggie? Shes lovely! Do you know which species it is?

[street124]

Jeff, where is that Piggie? Shes lovely! Do you know which species it is?

Bill, It is in My yard in Pinecrest not far from Fairchild, and I think it is Elata. Its about three years old from a seedling.

[www.dadluvsu.com]

3 years!?!?!! WOW! I have got to get me some of those babies for the new garden!

Isn't P. elata supposedly the more cold hardy one?

[JD in the OC]

Very cool!!!

[Gonzer]

3 years!!

How about some more photos of your yard Jeff. That's amazing.

[street124]

3 years!?!?!! WOW! I have got to get me some of those babies for the new garden!

Isn't P. elata supposedly the more cold hardy one?

I think so , heres a pic of a one gallon planted last winter & a close up of the trunk of the three year old.

[hulagalnz9]

just when I think I got my future wish list down....here comes another one. :-) very nice piggy.

[Mike Evans]

Jeff. how much sun does that Pig get? Has it always been in the same place. I am just trying to find out the best place for mine. Right now I keep them in containers ~ 3/4 day sun, & try to feed it lots of water. Any tips you learned? Yours looks Great!

[street124]

Jeff. how much sun does that Pig get? Has it always been in the same place. I am just trying to find out the best place for mine. Right now I keep them in containers ~ 3/4 day sun, & try to feed it lots of water. Any tips you learned? Yours looks Great!

I planted both of mine from one gallons because I heard that they do not like root distubance. Plant them in an area that is in full sun but is protected somewhat from strong winds, they are real weak when they are small. My big one is growing under three tall veitchias so it gets pretty good sun most of the time. lots of water and fertilizer but doesnt seem to care about soil, mine is solid rock high ph. As for cold mine have never showed any sign of damage, but the ones at fairchild died in the 89 freeze. Spines are everywhere even leaves, not good around small children. Its My favorite palm and its going to die someday, but Im going to die before some of my other stuff gets that big and Im only 45.

[TikiRick]

Do you have any idea of just how much sun the Piggie needs to survive? Can it survive only in morning sun? Do you make any attempt at protecting it over the winter? I am sure your garden got well into the 40's a few times over the past three years....and no cold burn?

I have one, I just don't know where to plant it since it needs to be in sun, wet, and out of the wind.

[redant]

I have one, I just don't know where to plant it since it needs to be in sun, wet, and out of the wind.

I have the perfect spot, my yard. I need to try one of these just for the fun of it, maybe I'll get lucky at the fall sale (is there one?)

[bubba]

Street,You da bomb!

[cfkingfish]

Here is a pic of Jeff's Piggie in early June, you can see the growth.

I had Piggies in my shadehouse see 30F, and only lost about a third of them in 3 gallons. I think you need prolonged cold (over 4 hours below freezing) to kill them.

[TikiRick]

I heard 45 can kill a Piggie. Not my age, the temperature!

No more Pollo!

[street124]

Do you have any idea of just how much sun the Piggie needs to survive? Can it survive only in morning sun? Do you make any attempt at protecting it over the winter? I am sure your garden got well into the 40's a few times over the past three years....and no cold burn?

I have one, I just don't know where to plant it since it needs to be in sun, wet, and out of the wind.

I have never done anything to protect them and have never seen any signs of cold damage. I think the lowest they have seen was probably mid to high thirties, this year only around forty. Some of My other palms showed burn but not these, the only palm that I try to protect is the sealing wax. As far as sunlight goes dont know how they would do with just morning sun, but mine are not in what I would call full sun but pretty close. Maybe ask Bo or someone else growing these in Hawaii what kind of light they need. Good Luck.

[bgl]

I read somewhere that seedlings require "full sun" to survive, but exactly what that means is unclear I think. Full sun all day long? Full sun for half a day? Who knows... I can say one thing with certainty - if they are in shade, they WILL die. I have had thousands of volunteer seedlings come up under my fruiting Pigafettas, and for several months it's a nice and thick Piggie groundcover, and then they simply die off.

Regarding "full sun", I believe that they will make it if they are in a location where they will get full sun for at least a good part of the day. Not necessarily all day.

[Daryl]

The more sun they get the faster they grow. Also mine took -1C and survived winter last year (2007). After being totally defoliated it grew back a smaller than normal crown last summer. The past winter (2008) we had a record 20 days straight of clear cold nights where the minimum was 4 or 5C (40F). My piggie had a few cold spots but nothing apart from that, and it is back into it's growth phase again now. I think they are hardier than most people give them credit for. Just never let them dry out.

regards,

Daryl

[Moose]

The debate continues. They should be tried more often in South Florida. With the rate of growth it appears you would have a fabulous robust palm in 5 years.

Ron.

[street124]

Here is a pic of Jeff's Piggie in early June, you can see the growth.

I had Piggies in my shadehouse see 30F, and only lost about a third of them in 3 gallons. I think you need prolonged cold (over 4 hours below freezing) to kill them.

One year later

[www.dadluvsu.com]

WOW!!! THAT BABY GROWS FASTER THAN MY WEEDS!!! And to think it made it through this years cold storms... Jeff, Did you do anything to protect it from the winter weather?

[freakypalmguy]

Very nice JC, wish I could grow that here.

[palmislandRandy]

OOOOh....I gotta spot!

[street124]

WOW!!! THAT BABY GROWS FASTER THAN MY WEEDS!!! And to think it made it through this years cold storms... Jeff, Did you do anything to protect it from the winter weather?

Bill, It has never been protected at all. Three winters now from a 6" seedling.

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

JC, Very nice looking piggie! I have one at my house in Coconut Creek (approx 50 miles north of you) that looks like yours in the first photo but without the trunk. I am guessing about two years behind yours.

As far as cultural practices, they absolutely hate having their roots cut. I had one in a nursery in a 25 gallon metal can that was about 10 feet tall. It was in a bad spot as the spines kept sticking everybody so we decided to move it. The bottom sides of the pot had rusted a bit and lots of roots escaped into the ground cover cloth. Several of these roots got broken or cut in the move, we only moved it about 5 feet. Even though 95% of the roots were left unharmed inside the can and even though this piggie got lots of irrigation everyday it still lost all fronds except for the spear and one lonely frond. It recovered but took a couple months to look good.

As far as sun goes, this one in the nursery had 2X12 lumber upright above them. This gave pretty intense sun around midday, but because of the width of the boards the sun was diminished by more than half in the early morning and late afternoon. Still very bright conditions but not all day full sun.

At my house it got down to the mid to high 30s this winter a couple of times. Other than being against the south side of the house it got no protection. The cold encouraged a good bit of leaf spot and a couple of somewhat smaller fronds, but now is growing like crazy. The wind tears up the leaves and breaks them against the eaves of the house so I would suggest not planting it too close to other objects or trees.

Geraldo

[SubTropicRay]

I've heard of shade palms dying from too much sun exposure but a killing shade?? I've never lost a sun loving palm in shade. Currently, I grow sun loving palms like Syagrus, Archontophoenix, Veitchia, Dypsis, Sabal, Attalea, Coccothrinax and even one Copernicia in shade with little ill effects other than slowed growth. If one of these died, I would be tempted to think something other than shade was the culprit.

[Moose]

Ray - Pigafettas are weird like that . They are found at the edges of the canopy in habitat, not in it .

Shade it, watch it croak!

Best regards,

Ron.

[monkeyranch]

Bump for Pigafetta update. How's this one doing today?

[Mandrew968]

Almost certain it is dead... not trying to be negative or anything.

[stygiana]

Yes, that would be good to have an update.

I'm not familiar with what can be found in Florida, but Pigafetta are amongst my favourite palms.

I remember being at a party, 5 or 6 years ago, with friends, most of which being succulents and cacti enthusiasts (I must say that I really enjoy succulents too). One of them mentioned my love for palms and they all started to argue that no palm was as good as a perfect succulent ( ). Then, while I could have mentioned so many others, I don't know why but this one, Pigafetta, came straight out of my mouth, spontaneously.

Ah, Pigafetta...

Pigafetta are true jewels. And they are HUGE!!!

Are there mature Pigafetta in the ground on mainland USA?

Florida Keys? Miami?

[TikiRick]

Anyone know of this palms status in 2013???

[avanza]

Yes update please :-D

[Mandrew968]

Pigafetta can't survive long-term in mainland USA. Yes the Keys are tropical but salinity is a concern and so is the high wind as these things are soft as a banana plant at the top. Otherwise, the cold has gotten any further north...

[waykoolplantz]

Haven't seen Jeff post in a while..his pool area rivaled TikiRick's & Jeff Searle's for tropical eye candy.

I think I have his card somewhere..should try the old school method...ET phone home

[Mandrew968]

I saw him at the last MBC palm sale...