Show us your Pandanus!

[The Silent Seed]

Ouch - sorry you got burnt. We're both on the prowl - it shouldn't be THIS hard !

[wildpalm]

I have always been keen on these palmy cousins. My experiences in our warm temperate climate (rough approximation I think is San Fransisco) is:

Pandanus furcatus is probably the most hardy. I have seen it in Manurewa, Auckland, where moderate frosts are common. I suspect it is good to -2 or -3 at least. It is growing also in Wanganui (latitude almost 40 degrees south, temperate climate) Seeds are available from RPS. Fast growing.

P.borisimus from New Guinea is also growing well as far south as Wanganui, and represented as mature specimens in Auckland. So it must be good to -2 or -3 also. Also fast growing.

P.utilis is semi-hardy here in the (warmer) north of New Zealand. In a warm proteced place they can survive, but grow slowly. Not really frost hardy, and doesn't like prolonged cold, wet weather.

P. tectorius from Queensland and N. NSW seems a little less hardy than P. utilis, and I have not had them succeed outdoors for more than 2 winters. Probably a larger specimen in a really protected microclimate would survive (but not worth the trouble when others grow much better)

Also I think that many sp. from New Caledonia are cold tolerant. I have one sp. that has grown very well for 10+ years in the ground. And finally a very interesting plant called P. "xmas tree" from Madagascar, seed originally from K-Palms, has proven to be surprisingly cold tolerant growing well here (but not tested for frost yet).

[malcthomas]

Looks great Malcolm, I have heard that furcatus can handle cold pretty well.

Andrew...

I'm at 37 degrees lattitude but am right on the beach and don't get frosts. I planted a utilis of the same size at the same time as the furcatus but lost it when the bank it was growing on got washed away in a flood. It would have been interesting to see how the two compared.

I was at Landsendt (auckland) last month and Dick ENDT has some New Guinea speicies fruiting. They are massive plants. I can't find where my photos are of these but they are obviously as hardy as these Himalayan ones.

regards...

Well that is interesting to hear.........have you tried Pandanus monetheca? it seems to have a fair degree of cold tolerance seeing that it is grown in California. How does Pandanus tectorius go for you?.....Due to its southern range it would have a fair degree of cold tolerance......even some of the Queensland upland rainforest species should be able to handle cooler conditions possibly.

Andrew...

I have only a couple of P.furatus and one replacement utilis. All sourced from Wildplam.

regards...

[Daryl]

I've got a few different species in the garden...fortunately most are relatively easy to grow here (or the ones I've tried so far)

P.utilis

P.gemmifer

Variegated sp

[Xenon]

There aren't any Pandanus in Houston, but heres a P. utillis on South Padre Island, Texas (sorry for the bad photo quality).

Show us yours (especially the more exotic species)!

Jonathan

I seem to remember seeing Pandanus on Galveston Island that appeared to have survived this past winter and I guess Hurricane Rita as well. They were on Broadway Street infront of a large white stone building if I remember correctly.

I believe you are right about the Galveston pandanus. There were maybe two? of them in front of one of the big old buildings on Broadway. I don't remember which building it was, I haven't been there since before Hurricane Rita. I believe they were probably P. utilis. Like so many plants I love, if they will grow there...they would almost grow here. Which means they would not grow here. Oh well, time for another trip to S. Florida.

Hmm, the P. utilis pictures I got from Richard Travis in Brownsville looked blow-torched (not sure how the ones on South Padre did). Royals were completely defoliated or killed in Galveston so how can P. utilis survive? Another excuse to go fishing this weekend...

Jonathan

[The Silent Seed]

Rub it in guys....! Argh!

Nobody has any to share with me being in the US ?

[Xenon]

Rub it in guys....! Argh!

Nobody has any to share with me being in the US ?

Rarepalmseeds.com has quite a few species...

[The Silent Seed]

Both myself and another guy have had ZERO luck with seeds - I'm not going to waste my money. Only looking for seedlings or smaller plants. Thanks though!

[hydrophyte]

I think that it might be worthwhile to ask about the freshness of seed from that online source. They might have better quality material.

[Eric in Orlando]

Looks great Malcolm, I have heard that furcatus can handle cold pretty well.

Andrew...

I'm at 37 degrees lattitude but am right on the beach and don't get frosts. I planted a utilis of the same size at the same time as the furcatus but lost it when the bank it was growing on got washed away in a flood. It would have been interesting to see how the two compared.

I was at Landsendt (auckland) last month and Dick ENDT has some New Guinea speicies fruiting. They are massive plants. I can't find where my photos are of these but they are obviously as hardy as these Himalayan ones.

regards...

Well that is interesting to hear.........have you tried Pandanus monetheca? it seems to have a fair degree of cold tolerance seeing that it is grown in California. How does Pandanus tectorius go for you?.....Due to its southern range it would have a fair degree of cold tolerance......even some of the Queensland upland rainforest species should be able to handle cooler conditions possibly.

Pandanus furcatus, monotheca and tectorius have been the hardiest pandans here so far, weathering the last 2 cold winters with no or very minor damage while P. utilis and others were killed.

[Eric in Orlando]

Here are results of pandans I had in the ground here. The ultimate low the past 2 winters was only 28F but there were about a dozen nights at or below 32F between the 2 winters and long periods of very cool weather. Some of the pandans didn't really suffer from the absolute lows. They showed littler damage following freezing temperatures but then slowly declined in the months after. So the ones we had survive have some cold and cool tolerance.

Pandanus

amaryillifolius- 4ft, killed

baptistii- 5ft, killed

baptistii ‘Aureus’, 4ft, killed

conicus, 3ft, no damage

cookii, 3ft, no damage

dubius (pacificus), 4ft, killed

furcatus, several specimens from 4ft to 6ft and a 10ft. specimen. The 10ft specimen is growing in the open and only suffered minor burn on older leaves. The younger specimens are growing in shaded locations and suffered no foliar burn but the center leaves pulled but are produced new growth in spring and recovered. I think water may have froze in their crowns.

gemmiferus, 3ft, minor burn

monotheca, 3 specimens 4ft, 6ft, and 6ft, no damage

oblatus, 3ft, no damage

odifer (odoratissimus), 6ft, killed

pulcher, 3ft., minor burn

pygmaeus ‘Variegatus’, 1 ft., very minor damage

sanderi, 4ft., killed

solms-laubachii, 5ft., killed

tectorius, several specimens 10-15ft, little or no damage

utilis, 3 specimens, 7ft, 7ft, 20ft, the two 7ft specimens had minor damage, the 20 ft specimen suffered only minor damage but began declining in late spring and perished in summer

veitchii, 4ft, killed

whitei, 3ft, no damage

sp. “Thai Spiral”, 3ft, killed

sp. (Saraburi, Thailand), 3ft, no damage

[hydrophyte]

Pandanus

amaryillifolius- 4ft, killed

baptistii- 5ft, killed

baptistii ‘Aureus’, 4ft, killed

conicus, 3ft, no damage

cookii, 3ft, no damage

dubius (pacificus), 4ft, killed...

gemmiferus, 3ft, minor burn

monotheca, 3 specimens 4ft, 6ft, and 6ft, no damage

oblatus, 3ft, no damage

odifer (odoratissimus), 6ft, killed

pulcher, 3ft., minor burn

pygmaeus ‘Variegatus’, 1 ft., very minor damage

sanderi, 4ft., killed

solms-laubachii, 5ft., killed

tectorius, several specimens 10-15ft, little or no damage

utilis, 3 specimens, 7ft, 7ft, 20ft, the two 7ft specimens had minor damage, the 20 ft specimen suffered only minor damage but began declining in late spring and perished in summer

veitchii, 4ft, killed

whitei, 3ft, no damage

sp. “Thai Spiral”, 3ft, killed

sp. (Saraburi, Thailand), 3ft, no damage

Where are you getting all these plants?

I'm sorry you lost so many. Ouch!

Do you ever have extra suckering plants for sale or trade?

Edited June 8, 2011 by hydrophyte

[Eric in Orlando]

Most were grown from seed from Rarepalmseeds.com. A few of them are common in SoFL and I got them from divisions or at SoFL nurseries

[hydrophyte]

I will have to consider a possible order from there some more. I wondered about germination of their Pandanus seeds.

I mainly want to try out some of the smaller species as potential houseplants, and rareplamseeds.com has several shorter-statured ones.

Do you remember where you got the P. pygmaeus?

[aussiearoids]

Seeds from the P solmslaubachii plant I posted earlier .

Usually ripe and dropping early summer here .

Many sprout just lying there .

[Tropicgardener]

I've got a few different species in the garden...fortunately most are relatively easy to grow here (or the ones I've tried so far)

P.utilis

P.gemmifer

Variegated sp

Daryl, the bottom photo likes to be Pandanus veitchii which can be highly variable in its variegation.

[Eric in Orlando]

I will have to consider a possible order from there some more. I wondered about germination of their Pandanus seeds.

I mainly want to try out some of the smaller species as potential houseplants, and rareplamseeds.com has several shorter-statured ones.

Do you remember where you got the P. pygmaeus?

A south FL nursery donated it to Leu Gardens but I don't think they ever mass produced it, if they did it has been discontinued. It is hard to divide, I've never had luck getting suckers to live. Probably why they never grew it in large numbers. Makes a great groundcover in bright shade and reasonably hardy. Looks like a striped Liriope until you feel the leaves...

[hydrophyte]

A south FL nursery donated it to Leu Gardens but I don't think they ever mass produced it, if they did it has been discontinued. It is hard to divide, I've never had luck getting suckers to live. Probably why they never grew it in large numbers. Makes a great groundcover in bright shade and reasonably hardy. Looks like a striped Liriope until you feel the leaves...

There must be some way to propagate it (P. pygmaea). I saw a few Internet pictures from Thailand and Indonesia where it was used as a dense short hedge or groundcover covering a large area. It also looked nice as a potted plant.

Do you have any particular tips for germinating Pandanus seed? I am going to do an order with rarepalmseeds.com.

Edited June 9, 2011 by hydrophyte

[Eric in Orlando]

A south FL nursery donated it to Leu Gardens but I don't think they ever mass produced it, if they did it has been discontinued. It is hard to divide, I've never had luck getting suckers to live. Probably why they never grew it in large numbers. Makes a great groundcover in bright shade and reasonably hardy. Looks like a striped Liriope until you feel the leaves...

There must be some way to propagate it (P. pygmaea). I saw a few Internet pictures from Thailand and Indonesia where it was used as a dense short hedge or groundcover covering a large area. It also looked nice as a potted plant.

Do you have any particular tips for germinating Pandanus seed? I am going to do an order with rarepalmseeds.com.

makre sure they are fresh, most pandans lose viability in short time. On the RPS site I always order pandan seeds when they first post them as new. I also soak them in water a day or 2. I have had almost all success with getting at least some of each species to germinate from RPS. Some all germinate very quickly.

[hydrophyte]

Thanks Eric!

[bubba]

Here are a few:

And a Varigated:

[hydrophyte]

I potted up one of my P. tectorius starts in a riparium and got it going in my 50-gallon riparium setup. This is an experiment. The plant looks happy so far, but I don't see any new roots yet. This setup is mainly planted with Spathiphylllum and a few other plants. The P.tectorius is way over on the right behind the filter pipes.

[Daryl]

I've got a few different species in the garden...fortunately most are relatively easy to grow here (or the ones I've tried so far)

P.utilis

P.gemmifer

Variegated sp

Daryl, the bottom photo likes to be Pandanus veitchii which can be highly variable in its variegation.

I hope so! Here is a closer photo of the variegation...

[Daryl]

Here's a couple more..not mine...just drive-by Pandanus like Bubbas photos...but...WTH

Pandanus tectorius (the local species that grows all over the shoreline here)

Daryl

[malcthomas]

Here's a couple more..not mine...just drive-by Pandanus like Bubbas photos...but...WTH

Pandanus tectorius (the local species that grows all over the shoreline here)

Daryl

Daryl..

Is this aloso P.tectorius. Taken at Pt Douglas looking across to Snapper Is.

cheers..

[Daryl]

Hi Malcolm, definitely not P.tectorius. Perhaps P.cookii?

regards,

Daryl

[Kumar]

Here is a recent update on my two juveniles.

This variegated one is consolidating itself, firming the base

And this used to be a twin planting of a pure yellow and a pure green. Unfortunately the fully variegated one did not survive but the green one has grown wonderfully

[Bazza]

Well, after reading through this thread I learned something.  There are MANY different species of Pandanus.......and my P. utilis will never look like the P. tectorius that I see in all the surf magazines and movies especially in the Burleigh Heads area.

I have been seriously contemplating some selective pruning to thin it out to more closely resemble those.

I have pruned a few branches in the past - in particular to allow more space for my Foxy Lady palm that I transplanted nearby.

Then there was the windstorm a few years back that busted off a huge portion - leaving that big open cavity shown in the pic below....

 

I certainly like the privacy it affords though so will have to give more thought......🙂

Cheers! 🙂

 

[iDesign]

On 8/28/2022 at 9:47 AM, Bazza said:

There are MANY different species of Pandanus.......and my P. utilis will never look like the P. tectorius that I see in all the surf magazines and movie

I’m in a similar situation in that I recently bought two young pandanus which I’m pretty sure are P. utilis. I was really hoping for a specific look though, and keep wondering if I bought the right one.

Based Just by the photo below, would you guess the pandanus shown.are utilis or tectorius? (or neither?)

[bubba]

The pictured Pandanus appears to be a tectoris. They seem to differentiate with more prominent and extended trunks. Somewhat of an uneducated guess!

[bubba]

Largo

[Merlyn]

I used to have a nice Pandanus Tectorius in the front yard...until 27-28F with lots of frost turned it to mush.    Here's before and after:

On a good note, I found a red margin Pandanus Utilis at a local nursery (Lukas in Oviedo) and planted this at lunchtime today:

It had been suffering in a pot for about a year with really loose, fast draining soil because I read to "never overwater them."  Since they grow fine in the ground in South Florida it seems this advice should be "don't water them with a firehose every day."  This one suffered from a chronic lack of water and hopefully it'll like this full sun spot!  The stuff aroud it in front is much smaller, so it should give a nice backdrop to the Encephalartos Longifolius, Dioon Rio x Angustifolium, and Encephalartos Sclavoi (left to right).

[Xenon]

I've been growing Pandanus amaryllifolius as an annual for a few years, here's a pic before I procrastinate on digging it up. It's quite tender, guessing moreso than P. utilis. Gets crown and/or root rot overnight in anything much cooler than T shirt weather if it's not dry. But loves water (semi-aquatic) in the summer. It's used as a flavoring agent in southeast Asia. 

 

Edited September 10, 2022 by Xenon