Local Arizona Thread

[CaryElTucson]

So some of you inspired me to join the club and buy my first palm tree.  Found this 15 gallon mule at HD for $300 and was the last one in at least 3 stores I looked into here in Tucson.  
My plan is to put her in the dirt where I’ve marked in the pictures which is on the north end of our pool/patio.  It will get direct sunlight pretty much all day in the summer.  
Should I plant it right away or wait until the heat subdues this fall?  I almost think it would benefit being in the ground right now and getting some monsoon rains to help establish before winter.  
Any advice would be appreciated!  

[aztropic]

1 hour ago, CaryElTucson said:

So some of you inspired me to join the club and buy my first palm tree.  Found this 15 gallon mule at HD for $300 and was the last one in at least 3 stores I looked into here in Tucson.  
My plan is to put her in the dirt where I’ve marked in the pictures which is on the north end of our pool/patio.  It will get direct sunlight pretty much all day in the summer.  
Should I plant it right away or wait until the heat subdues this fall?  I almost think it would benefit being in the ground right now and getting some monsoon rains to help establish before winter.  
Any advice would be appreciated!  

They're very tough trees,but I would be hesitant to plant it out right now in full all day Arizona sun,118F temps,5% humidity,with only a 15 gallon size root ball, in that location They are usually grown and sold under at least a light shade cloth,so some acclimation might be a good idea to keep from incinerating it. Maybe on the edge of the patio till mid September and keep it well watered and the black nursery pot shaded as direct sun on the pot will cook the roots and set the tree back from the start. Mid summer in Arizona is just not a good time to try and plant something in full all day sun... 

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, CaryElTucson said:

So some of you inspired me to join the club and buy my first palm tree.  Found this 15 gallon mule at HD for $300 and was the last one in at least 3 stores I looked into here in Tucson.  
My plan is to put her in the dirt where I’ve marked in the pictures which is on the north end of our pool/patio.  It will get direct sunlight pretty much all day in the summer.  
Should I plant it right away or wait until the heat subdues this fall?  I almost think it would benefit being in the ground right now and getting some monsoon rains to help establish before winter.  
Any advice would be appreciated!  

Nice find

Depending on what side of town your on, ..and if you've been getting in on the rain down there so far,  I'd say go ahead and plant..  Just be sure doesn't dry out ..and no fertilizer until October.

..or you could wait until the end of Aug.   Considering the temp difference / rain you've actually seen, compared to none yet up here atm,  i'd be planting stuff if down there myself.  Too hot up here.
 

You'll apply something mild like Kelp / Fish ..or something like what Spadefoot Nursery sells.  Then nothing until spring, when you can sprinkle something slightly stronger around it as the palm resumes growth in Spring.

Welcome to the forum btw.

 

[CaryElTucson]

50 minutes ago, aztropic said:

 

Thanks for your response Aztropic and Silas_Sancona-

As of now our high temperatures have been floating between 105-110.  I’m in the Casas Adobe area and haven’t been hit with too much rain yet.  I have the tree on the edge of patio where it gets sun up until about 11am.  I figured I would start out that way incase it wasn’t exposed to much direct sunlight at HD.  I think I might wait until our temps average closer to 100 and we’ve had some decent rainfall.  In the meantime covering the nursery pot makes sense.  Maybe I’ll pull it out further from the patio on days we are expecting temps under 100 just to get it more acclimated.  Can’t wait to get this one going and try to figure out which one might be next.  I have only but a few agaves in the back yard and need to get my green thumb going!

[Silas_Sancona]

10 minutes ago, CaryElTucson said:

Thanks for your response Aztropic and Silas_Sancona-

As of now our high temperatures have been floating between 105-110.  I’m in the Casas Adobe area and haven’t been hit with too much rain yet.  I have the tree on the edge of patio where it gets sun up until about 11am.  I figured I would start out that way incase it wasn’t exposed to much direct sunlight at HD.  I think I might wait until our temps average closer to 100 and we’ve had some decent rainfall.  In the meantime covering the nursery pot makes sense.  Maybe I’ll pull it out further from the patio on days we are expecting temps under 100 just to get it more acclimated.  Can’t wait to get this one going and try to figure out which one might be next.  I have only but a few agaves in the back yard and need to get my green thumb going!

If you haven't yet, Would highly suggest strolling around  Tohono Chul Park, esp. their palm collection for other easy to grow sps that will work for you, among all the other great stuff they're growing.. 

[LowDesertBoil]

I am close to Aztropic's climate living in Palm Springs area and I have a Mule Palm seedling that gets baked in the sun and it's green and loving life! They are tough palms!

[Silas_Sancona]

2 hours ago, CaryElTucson said:

 I’m in the Casas Adobe area and haven’t been hit with too much rain yet.  

Hopefully you're getting soaked atm   ..I see the " Tornado Warning " too.. Wow!..

[CaryElTucson]

1 hour ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Hopefully you're getting soaked atm   ..I see the " Tornado Warning " too.. Wow!..



That part didn’t age well!  Pretty much all Tucson got hit hard.  It was a wicked storm!

[CaryElTucson]

3 hours ago, LowDesertBoil said:

I am close to Aztropic's climate living in Palm Springs area and I have a Mule Palm seedling that gets baked in the sun and it's green and loving life! They are tough palms!

We spent a night in Palm Springs earlier this summer for the first time.  Saw those 120’s temps a week or 2 ago.  
Gives me confidence this Mule will be just fine in Tucson.  Thanks for your input!

[LowDesertBoil]

No problem! I love that palm. It is just unfazed by the sun! Also thanks for visiting our oven 🤣, nine months out of the year it's nice.

[CaryElTucson]

4 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

If you haven't yet, Would highly suggest strolling around  Tohono Chul Park, esp. their palm collection for other easy to grow sps that will work for you, among all the other great stuff they're growing.. 

That place is right around the corner.  Last time I was there was probably middle school.  I’ll have to stop by and get some ideas 👍🏻

[Silas_Sancona]

16 hours ago, CaryElTucson said:

That place is right around the corner.  Last time I was there was probably middle school.  I’ll have to stop by and get some ideas 👍🏻

Lucky you, haha.. My favorite stop when roaming around Tucson or the hill country / mountains down by the border.

Depending on how many years it has been since your last visit ( ..none of my business, lol ) You might be quite surprised by some of the more recent changes / inclusions..

A few teasers from my last visit, ..if it has been a few years..

[Bennie]

Questions for those with extensive experience planting in Arizona climate. 

Here's the backstory:

I have three Palms in my backyard that I've planted within the last year and a half (put them in order of planting)

Royal #1 that was planted from 25 Gallon planter into the ground in April of 2023. It is on the North side of a wall and gets full sun. When it was planted it had no hardened grey/white trunk visable. The first summer it put out multiple new fronds, but those fronds were badly burned by frost last winter. You can see from the photo I cut off the ends that were completely dead. So far this summer it has put out one new frond and has a second one on the way (albeit nowhere near as thick as the previous fronds that were coming out). Here is a photo from today

I have a Bismark that was planted in Late May 2023. It was planted in the Northwest corner of my yard from a 15 gallon bucket. During the first summer it put out multiple new fronds. Last Winter it was also somewhat impacted by the frost, and since then it has only opened two new fronds with two more on the way. 

Royal #2 was planted in early April of 2024. It is on the East side of a wall and gets full sun. It was planted with about 6 inches of hardened trunk from a 25 gallon bucket. Since it has been planted it has added about 5 inches of hardened trunk and has a new sphere on the way that is very thick. 

 

With all of these palms you will notice that they are planted in the middle of 36 inch wide bottomless firepits from Lowes. My mindset here was that it allows the basin to fill up with water and slowly matriculate downwards towards the rooms instead of running off away from the palm. You can see in the photo of Royal 1 where the waterline goes up to when the irrigation system kicks on before lowering within 30-60 minutes. 

I have three questions for you veteran planters in Arizona's dry climate. 

1. What is your watering frequency (and recommendations) for these types of palms. I am worried that I may be overwatering them and that is the reason that they aren't pushing out new fronds? The irrigation system kicks on at 7AM and 7PM, resulting in the soil staying consistently moist throughout the entire day. 

2. Is it normal for palms to slow down on new frond frequency in second summer in favor of adding trunk thickness?

3. Any recommendations for kickstarting new frond growth going into fall? I have been using Arizona Palm Pellets at the recommended dosages on the package Once in June and Once in July. 

 

 

[aztropic]

Actually, everything looks about as good as can be expected.🤷‍♂️ 

You can't over water a royal! They will happily tolerate all the moisture you care to provide. Only problem is that you bought Florida imports,and it generally takes them about 3 years to establish, (if they survive the first year). New fronds produced in Arizona will be better adapted to our conditions, but unfortunately will never look as good as when you first bought them. Anything over about 110F will start to burn the fronds,and our recent weeks of 115F to 118F will always produce the damage you currently see. Yes,we absolutely can grow royals here,but they will never look as good as they do in South Florida...

I only DEEP WATER my established palms about once every week or two,even over our extremely hot summers. Probably not enough for optimal growth,but nothing usually dies over the summer no matter how burned the fronds may get. 

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[aztropic]

A couple pics of my royals roasting in the desert heat taken just now to compare. Even long established specimens take a beating over our summers,and there's not much that can be done about it, although a dense group (jungle) planting of palms helps as one palm protects the next from having to bear absolutely full all day summer sun in Arizona alone.

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[Bennie]

Thanks for the reassurance Scott. 
 

[CaryElTucson]

 

I decided to put her in the ground!  Hoping for that storm behind to give us a good soaking.  I’ll keep an eye on her on  very hot days.  I tried putting it out in full sun for a few days and it seemed to do just fine.  I know now there might be some transplant shock so hoping with some monsoon rain and not so toasty temps it will take off.  
 

[CaryElTucson]

On 1/7/2022 at 6:31 PM, rogets395 said:

TUCSON -- There is a Bismarkia and several species (nitida / dulcis / brandeegii ? / etc) of lesser planted Brahea at a little neighborhood nursery on Stone.  Pic of one unidentified brahea attch.

And another Bismarkia at business on 77 (Oracle or Miracle mile)  that has been there for a number of years - they gave it an unfortunate hurricane haircut more recently I hope it won't kick off over winter due to that.  Several other areas have not been successful for Bismarkia sustaining heavy damage /death in Tucson.  There was a fairly good size Bismarkia in the Encanto home district off Broadway (very nice area) But I have NOT been able to find it again after seeing it once. (Was so sure I could find it again I didn't bother to write down address) 

There was a Large clump of Acoelorrhaphe on south side of Broadway in a commercial Office building landscape that had been there for years. It was beautiful then the management (likely having no idea how rare it was) dug it up and disposed of it.  It was located on the edge of a water feature.  I collected seeds from it but the seedlings damped off 

There was another large clump in a small engine repair landscape that was utterly neglected and very much alive until one day it also disappeared  (They "Cleaned up" their landscaping) 

unfortunately I am unable to attach my pics.  

For pic of 2936 N. Stone Ave. Tucson AZ - look next to colorful bldg. on East side of street.  (Nursery is right behind that and if you take Google yellow man down to corner (north) same side of street you'll see a Brahea (unsure of species)  prob. about same size trunk as Bismarkia. 

The captcha required me to check palm trees!!!  (kek!)

[CaryElTucson]

After planting my Bismarck in Tucson described it to my co-worker. He mentioned the one on Stone Ave.  

This location happens to be maybe 2 blocks from my mother’s house and I had driven by it maybe a few hundreds times.  It’s looking good even though it kind of blends in with the building and surrounding trees.

[Silas_Sancona]

12 minutes ago, CaryElTucson said:

After planting my Bismarck in Tucson described it to my co-worker. He mentioned the one on Stone Ave.  

This location happens to be maybe 2 blocks from my mother’s house and I had driven by it maybe a few hundreds times.  It’s looking good even though it kind of blends in with the building and surrounding trees.

Can't remember when Gene ( Owner of Plants of the S.W. ) said he planted it but it has been there since -at least- 2018.

I remember seeing another planted ( hopefully it is still around ) up near where the 77 and Ina meet.

[CaryElTucson]

1 hour ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Can't remember when Gene ( Owner of Plants of the S.W. ) said he planted it but it has been there since -at least- 2018.

I remember seeing another planted ( hopefully it is still around ) up near where the 77 and Ina meet.

I’ll keep an eye out for the one on Ina/77.  I usually drive thru that intersection frequently.  
I was tempted to stop and talk to the owner of the Stone Palm but it almost seemed like the nursery isn’t in business anymore 🤷🏻‍♂️

Just glad to see one thriving in this town
 

[Silas_Sancona]

1 minute ago, CaryElTucson said:

I’ll keep an eye out for the one on Ina/77.  I usually drive thru that intersection frequently.  
I was tempted to stop and talk to the owner of the Stone Palm but it almost seemed like the nursery isn’t in business anymore 🤷🏻‍♂️

Just glad to see one thriving in this town
 

🤔  From everything i can see on his site, not seeing anything suggesting he closed up shop, ..but that doesn't mean he just didn't announce one if he did. If still open,  looks like he is only open Thursday - Saturday atm though.

  Entrance into the nursery is around the corner, on the Blacklidge side of the intersection rather on Stone  ..Where all the Mesquites are..  Sells LOTS of really neat stuff, inc. ..maybe the only nursery in Tucson i've seen offer non -Sago Cycads, ...if he hasn't sold all the ones he had..

Agree, was neat seeing the Bismarckia the first time i visited to pick up a few things.  He also has the largest Ceiba ...either aesculifolia or insignis, if i remember right,  in the area.

His Aloiodendron dichotomum  specimen is also the biggest i've seen anywhere here in AZ.