Sabal question

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

I used to not be interested in fan palms, I think the reason is that washingtonias and trachycarpus growing in Northern California just look like crap. They usually look ratty and there is nothing tropical looking about them. I love the look of washingtonias grown in Riverside or Palm Springs, and t. fortunei look nice in the Pacific Northwest But here, they all look like crap.

Now I know I've neglected fan palms in favor of pinnate palms, and I am trying to change this.

For some odd reason, sabals have really caught my attention. Can someone point to a sabal that has very large leaves and can provide overhead protection for more tender palms like rhopalostylis and prichardia. The faster the better!

Thanks.

[Turtile]

Sabal bermudana, S. domingensis

[Stevetoad]

Sabal bermudana, S. domingensis

agreed! mines been fast growing too.

[sonoranfans]

Sabal Domingensis is my fastest sabal, its not even that close. they get huge leaves, went from a strap leaf seedling to 6' overall in 20 months. I think you may have an issue that sabals like heat, and lots of it, to grow fast... My second fastest is uresana, at about 20% slower.

[Stevetoad]

Here's 18 months growth.

[sonoranfans]

My sabal domingensis is in posts 3,4 18 months apart

http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/35095-fast-growing-sabals/

It was grown till post 3 in a 10 gallon pail, then put in the ground. I think this year it is ready to turn on the speed as the underground structure required for sabals to speed up a bit is more developed, we shall see. I have had bermudana, causiarum, maritiformis, and uresana. this one was easily fastest from a seedling to juvenile...

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Wow, impressive. Hey, how old is your son? makes the palm look so much bigger!

There are healthy Sabals in Seattle that grow well in their much cooler climate, so I am not too concerned about any lack of heat.

[Stevetoad]

hes 18 months. i planted the sabal for him when he was born. the palm is well over 8 feet tall now

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

How cool!!! What a great idea to plant a palm for your son. My son is 13 months old. He is the heir of my entire palm and rare fruit "empire". He will inherit over 50 species of palms and over 1000 varieties of fruits. It makes it so much more fun to garden when you do it for your son.

[Stevetoad]

How cool!!! What a great idea to plant a palm for your son. My son is 13 months old. He is the heir of my entire palm and rare fruit "empire". He will inherit over 50 species of palms and over 1000 varieties of fruits. It makes it so much more fun to garden when you do it for your son.

plus when they get old we can say " you need to weed YOUR garden"

[kahili]

Worldsight-out of curiosity, why do Trachy's look so ratty where you are? That surprises me.... Sabals are good choices.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Worldsight-out of curiosity, why do Trachy's look so ratty where you are? That surprises me.... Sabals are good choices.

No idea, they often look yellow, and they do this all over the milder parts of California. My theory is that this palm actually prefers growing in places where they experience more serious cold in the Winter.

I have great luck with t. martiani and t. latisectus, those look fabulous. My neighbor has a t. fortunei, and it has the yellowing as well.

[kahili]

huh. I see yellowing on the oldest leaves, but not the middle to newer leaves. Maybe they do need colder weather, but then to some degree, if that's true, I would think it would apply to all Trachys.

Anyway-what about the Livistonas? There are some really cool ones (no pun intended...) If I can grow L. chinensis, then you should be able to grow quite a few of them, and their leaves have quite a different look than the Sabals.

[sonoranfans]

Worldsight-out of curiosity, why do Trachy's look so ratty where you are? That surprises me.... Sabals are good choices.

No idea, they often look yellow, and they do this all over the milder parts of California. My theory is that this palm actually prefers growing in places where they experience more serious cold in the Winter.

I have great luck with t. martiani and t. latisectus, those look fabulous. My neighbor has a t. fortunei, and it has the yellowing as well.

I dont think trachys need cold to look good, I had a very green one in arizona in deep shade, saw very little cold. It looked great, deepest green of my palms there.

[Darold Petty]

Magnesium deficiency is common in Trachycarpus in coastal California, as much or more so than potasium.

[kahili]

So a couple of handfuls of Epsom salts a few times a year topdressed around the palm would help? I may try it here as well. We suffer from mag def. here in the water.

[Darold Petty]

Yes, exactly, epsom salts is highly recommended for Trachycarpus.

[kahili]

Great! Thanks for the info! I have another thought-I just looked at all of my Trachys and there is really only one that shows yellowish older leaves. Its my oldest one (abt 23 yrs old) and its in the shade most of the day and I am wondering if it isn't a reaction to the cold of our winter-i.e. because its in the shade so long in the day, it never warms up as much as the others that are not yellow.

Still going to apply the mag

[Moose]

Here's 18 months growth.

Steve - Sabal domingensis develops a fairly robust base, it will eventually push your wall over. Mine is nearly 4 ft in diameter at 15 years of age. Yours is working on developing its subterranean trunk right now.

[sonoranfans]

Here's 18 months growth.

Steve - Sabal domingensis develops a fairly robust base, it will eventually push your wall over. Mine is nearly 4 ft in diameter at 15 years of age. Yours is working on developing its subterranean trunk right now.

LOL! I remember that scene in JAWS when Roy Scheider says "were gonna need a bigger boat". Steve, your going to need a bigger yard...

[Stevetoad]

I'm figuring I'm going to bump the wall out. It's drystack block and is easy to take down. It has moved 18 inches from where I planted it now and still has a lean that says "Ill move where I want". I won't plant anything that can be moved easily in front of that part of the wall for that reason alone.