Drought Tolerance

[Kumar]

Many palms, especially in the family coryphoideae are labelled as drought hardy, but in objective terms how much is that? The reason I ask is that I want to examine the growth of one such palm (potted) under full Tropic of Cancer sun with no supplimental water except dew / rainfall. I have a hyphanae, a sabal, and a bismarckia and one of these I hope to experiment upon. All are potted in clay pots about 14 inches high and 12 inches diameter. How long do you think they can go without water in winter sun ?

[Toby]

I would put my bet on Ravenea xerophila. Most desert palms only do well in places with access to underground water, but this one lives on ridge tops with very little rainfall, no underground water at all. It has very thick, succulent roots that store water. Not particularly good in pots though, as are most drought tolerant palms. Out of the ones you mention I think Hyphaene is the toughest. Sabal like plenty of water.

Best, TOBY

[Rusty on Pine Is.]

Not to belittle your effort, but drought tolerance generally applies to palms that are growing in the ground with a normal root system that is appropriate to that circumstance, not in pots, and certainly not in clay pots.

Keep us posted on your progress.

Rusty

[Kailua_Krish]

OTOH arent both Mumbai and Kolkata fairly humid locations? That will significantly affect tolerance, Sabal in dry heat is much less drought tolerant than Sabal in wet heat.

-Krishna

[Kumar]

OTOH arent both Mumbai and Kolkata fairly humid locations? That will significantly affect tolerance, Sabal in dry heat is much less drought tolerant than Sabal in wet heat.

-Krishna

Equally humid in summer, but Calcutta, not being beside the sea, is much less so in winter. It gets a lot colder too. All these palms are in calcutta.

Edited November 3, 2010 by Kumar

[sonoranfans]

Many palms, especially in the family coryphoideae are labelled as drought hardy, but in objective terms how much is that? The reason I ask is that I want to examine the growth of one such palm (potted) under full Tropic of Cancer sun with no supplimental water except dew / rainfall. I have a hyphanae, a sabal, and a bismarckia and one of these I hope to experiment upon. All are potted in clay pots about 14 inches high and 12 inches diameter. How long do you think they can go without water in winter sun ?

As mentioned earlier, the test in a pot does not foretell how the species will be in the ground. Bismarckias and especially hyphaene are very tough because they grow very deep root systems, up to 4' in my experience and probably greater in their natural environs. By putting them in a pot you have defeated this natural advantage. So perhaps you should re-title it to "drought tolerance in a pot of 14" depth".

[DoomsDave]

Kumar:

I must agree with Toby and Rusty.

My own experience illustrates: I had a very sad, blade-grass Brahea, which was growing in a pot, with mostly sand, and it wasn't doing well.

I put it in the ground and KABOOM!

It turned into a monster that tried to eat my Shoe . . . .

[MattyB]

I've found that Phoenix canariensis is the most drought tolerant palm I grow. No ground water, just shallow rock, bone dry, all Summer long, and they survive. They don't grow, but they just look the same.

[sonoranfans]

I've found that Phoenix canariensis is the most drought tolerant palm I grow. No ground water, just shallow rock, bone dry, all Summer long, and they survive. They don't grow, but they just look the same.

.

CIDP must be tough as they are grown in phoenix arizona as landscape trees in public areas. So are the dactyliferas, which seem to look better in the hottest part of the year. The drip systems installed with these palms eventually fail(5-10 years) and are not replaced, so they exist on ~ 8" of rain a year in the dry and hot desert. These two phoenix are great desert trees that seem well adapted as they grow thicker trunks and bigger crowns in phoenix than they do here in florida, and that is not true of many palms.

If I looked overall at the palms grown around phoenix in public places/parks, I would say Washingtonia Filifera>phoenix dactylifera~phoenix canariensis>> washingtonia robusta(robustas dont do so well if irrigation fails). Bismarckias(only recently planted) and Brahea armatas(too slow) are not used much as landscape palms in phoenix. The washie Filifera looks like the king of them all to me in phoenix(8" of rain a year), but those phoenix are very tough for sure.

Edited November 4, 2010 by sonoranfans