Can Medeterrainian Fan Palms grow in thr Tropics?

[Gbarce]

I am in the Philippines and I am growing Chamaerops Humillis but they are not doing so well.

I bought them locally as 2 foot tall seedlings ( thats just the leaf and petiole coming out of the ground-- no actual trunk yet)

The first one died and the second one is pictured here. This one was in a better condition a year ago when I planted it and was carrying far more leaved than this. It seems that it is just slowly declining to its inevitable death.

I don't think I've seen any mature mediterranian fan palms in Manila so now I am wondering if these can survive (let alone flourish) in a tropical environment?

I guess I don't fully understand what a 'mediterrainian climate' is and was thinking that it is approximate to tropical conditions-- probably not even close???

Anyone in a tropical climate growing this palm?

[Kris]

Dear Gene

Our Med fan palm bought ready made,for a real heavy price,did rot fully in recent mansoon rains !

And here is the visual of that palm... And by the way its not the present still,at the moment all the green leaves have all dried-up ! But it was doing fine in roof top garden,taking full sun & rain for a year,but once we shifted to ground area,which is bit shady & cool compared to roof top garden,it slowly began to rot.

Love,

Kris

[sonoranfans]

the chamaerops humilis is adapted to a mediterranean climate, meaning dry summer subtropical climate. They also do very well in the desert if watered regularly. I suspect this is another palm that hates constantly high humidity and continually wet soil. The wet monsoon season there may be the problem. You guys in the tropics have so many species to choose from, far more than mediterranean or desert climates. But there will be palms that dont do well in the constantly high humidity and this may be one of them. Here is my largest chamaerops humilis, 4 years in the ground from a 15 gallon. Its has 6 trunks 1-2'+ feet under the foliage.

[fiji jim]

Hi All,

I have also been curious about this as I have germinated many here and they do grow very slowly and for no obvious reason many have just slowly declined and probably about half of them have died.

I seem to loose more of them if we experience continuous wet weather during our cooler months rather than in the hotter months that are also wet. I do not think that these grow fast anywhere. They do seem to do best if left in a bag or pot and not ground planted but now I have one that has lasted a summer in the ground and is producing new leaves. I wonder how it will take our upcoming cooler months with the battering trade winds.

Another palm that I have similar experiences with is Howea forsteriana.

How is this growing for others in the wet, humid tropics.

Jim

[merrill]

Gentlemen:

It may be hopeless, but your best shot would probably be full sun in coarse, very well drained slightly alkaline sand.

Good Luck,

merrill

[Al in Kona]

Gbarce - I'm growing C. 'cerifera' argentata here on the upslope Kona Coast and it is doing well. Granted we are on the lee side where it is sunnier and drier than the very wet windward coast (Hilo), so that makes a difference I'm sure. However, our humidity levels always remain relatively high and especially during the summer months, we ge lots of afternoon showers that keep plants wet to damp until the next day sun comes out. Then too mine is planted on a sloping area and the soil has perfect drainage so that even at a time that we might receive heavy rainfall water could never accumulate or puddle. It is a nice palm so I can understand why you might want to try grow one. See pic below . . .

[sonoranfans]

Gbarce - I'm growing C. 'cerifera' argentata here on the upslope Kona Coast and it is doing well. Granted we are on the lee side where it is sunnier and drier than the very wet windward coast (Hilo), so that makes a difference I'm sure. However, our humidity levels always remain relatively high and especially during the summer months, we ge lots of afternoon showers that keep plants wet to damp until the next day sun comes out. Then too mine is planted on a sloping area and the soil has perfect drainage so that even at a time that we might receive heavy rainfall water could never accumulate or puddle. It is a nice palm so I can understand why you might want to try grow one. See pic below . . .

Hawaii is a fascinating environment Al, the west shores are almost desert like and the east are incredibly wet. I remember waimea on west end of kauai getting 18" rain a year, but some places on the north shore of kauai getting well over 100". I think the gentlemen in asia get hit with a monsoon season that has more continuous rain than anywhere in the west. By the way, great looking cerifera, its gorgeous.

[epicure3]

I am in the Philippines and I am growing Chamaerops Humillis but they are not doing so well.

I bought them locally as 2 foot tall seedlings ( thats just the leaf and petiole coming out of the ground-- no actual trunk yet)

The first one died and the second one is pictured here. This one was in a better condition a year ago when I planted it and was carrying far more leaved than this. It seems that it is just slowly declining to its inevitable death.

I don't think I've seen any mature mediterranian fan palms in Manila so now I am wondering if these can survive (let alone flourish) in a tropical environment?

I guess I don't fully understand what a 'mediterrainian climate' is and was thinking that it is approximate to tropical conditions-- probably not even close???

Anyone in a tropical climate growing this palm?

I'll just echo what some of the others have said. This palm is native to S. Europe and North Africa. It is a very drought tolerant palm that probably resents the mixture of high moisture and anything but fast draining soil. I don't think that it resents the high temperatures or humidity. Maybe some S. Florida or Queensland folks can chime in as to how this palm grows for them as their climate is more like yours than a Med. climate.

[epicure3]

I saw this palm growing out of the side of a cliff on the island of Capri in Italy. This palm survives with almost no water and very little soil. So, it shouldn't surprise you that they won't make a great candidate for the wet tropics. Sorry the quality is bad but I was moving and snapping.

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

Man, that cliff-dwelling Chamaerops is awesome!

Here in North Florida Chamaerops doesn't come close to reaching it's potential. However, it does survive for a long time though without making a terrific landscape statement. We have tropical summers and cool, dry winters. So I'd echo what someone else said about it tolerating tropical summers if the winters are drier. I wouldn't expect it to thrive in a lowland tropical climate like Manilla. As noted in Kona, HI it'll take the dry tropics. For what its worth, it might tolerate upland tropics like those in San Jose Costa Rica or Mexico City but I don't know for sure. I've seen Chamaerops covered in deep snow but not in places where snow lasts very long. It'll certainly tolerate temperatures to -10C without much complaining as long as those temps don't stick around too long.

[Gileno Machado]

Al, that "cerifera" in your garden is probably the best looking one I've ever seen. Do you often fert it? I remember seeing a nicely cultivated one at Darold Petty's front garden in San Francisco. I'd love to see an updated picture of that one sometime too.

For what I've learned from everyone's previous posts, a fast draining soil mix is in fact the basic condition for this species in tropical climates.

Our winters here are very humid, it rains here almost every other day and often we have cloudy skies for 3 days in a row. My Chamaerops in the ground doesn't bother with so much precipitation because of our predominantly sandy soil. I'll try to take a picture of it in the weekend.

[SouthSeaNate]

I recall seeing a large & healthy looking Chamaerops humilis at the Honolulu Zoo on Oahu, though again here it's not as wet as the equatorial Tropic zones...

[paulgila]

gene consider yerself lucky!

sorry,but i AM the "prince of snarkness,"gotta keep up my reputation.

[osideterry]

I'm with Paul on this one. Imagine not being able to really grow Areca or Veitchia?

Hawaii still looks like the best place to grow (literally) every palm that exists!