grow palms in containers forever??

[Halekuma]

Just wondering if could be possible to grow palms in containers forever or at least many decades... I know chamaedorea, bottle palms or even smaller dypsis can stay in pots forever but what about palms like parajubaea, ravenea, attalea or even phoenix canariensis.. Im talking about big containers obviously but still limited to 300-600gal max...

Whats your opinion/experience about it?

[DALION]

Here is the oldest potted palm I have seen. Its been there at least 20 plus years at disneyland.

[tjwalters]

Years ago the US Botanical Gardens in Washington, DC would put out large Phoenix palms (P. canariensis, I think) in large wood planters every summer. I remember the roots were busting out of the sides of the planters. These palms were carrying seeds and I grabbed a few and germinated them. I suppose if the planter is large enough, there's really no limit to how long a palm can be kept in it.

[_Keith]

An area to be further explored with growth regulators.

https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/FNR/FNR-252-W.pdf

[avanza]

The owner tell me its 15 ---> 40 years old :-D

[Halekuma]

Very interesting keith, looks promising at least on regular trees...

Those containers dont look close to even 300 gal in both images...pretty amazing... the last picture looks like palms were grown in the ground and put in container later... both palms look healthy but that butia is asking for a bigger pot asap...

[Halekuma]

Tom how tall was the trunk of those phoenix? Phoenix canariensis set seeds pretty fast even without trunk... CIDP is deffinitively a BIG sized palm so maybe grow that kind of palms in container for decades is possible... Most big sized palms in containers were grown in the ground here in spain first and then repotted for sale so no first hand examples here...

[tjwalters]

Tom how tall was the trunk of those phoenix? Phoenix canariensis set seeds pretty fast even without trunk... CIDP is deffinitively a BIG sized palm so maybe grow that kind of palms in container for decades is possible... Most big sized palms in containers were grown in the ground here in spain first and then repotted for sale so no first hand examples here...

I don't think the trunks were more than 3 or 4 feet. I do remember the containers were solid roots and appeared as if they would burst at any second.

[wimmie]

Just wondering if could be possible to grow palms in containers forever or at least many decades... I know chamaedorea, bottle palms or even smaller dypsis can stay in pots forever but what about palms like parajubaea, ravenea, attalea or even phoenix canariensis.. Im talking about big containers obviously but still limited to 300-600gal max...

Whats your opinion/experience about it?

Jaime, palms can be grown in containers for centuries. Keep in mind botanic gardens like Versailles in France and Leiden and Amsterdam in Holland. Sometimes you will find if to be necessary to prune the rootball to keep the palm vigarous.

Succes, Wim.

[richnorm]

Be mindful of the mix that you use for long term pot culture. Bark based mixes will rot into oblivion but can form a nasty mush first. Soil based would be best once you reach a size where refreshing the mix is difficult or even dangerous.

[Halekuma]

Thanks guys, do you think parajubaea or attalea could be grown in 300gal for decades?

Still think things like johannesteijsmannia, caryota or bismarckia would be a NO, right?