fastest growing palm

[Plantasexoticas]

Hello everyone,

I was curious to know what all your fastest growing palms are and what conditions they are growing under.

Most of my palms are still seedlings but my fastest are Washingtonia and to my surprise, Chambeyronia macrocarpa. Currently they all grow either on windowsills or in my grow room where temperatures rarely drop below 15 celcius (59F) and on sunny days it may hit 20-22c (68-72F) in summer it will be much warmer - up to 30C/86F (indoors) My grow room has lighting most of the day and the windowsill plants just receive natural light.

James

[Sanips]

The fabulous spiny beauty called Pigafetta elata is considered one of the fastest.

[Plantasexoticas]

What a great palm, I wonder if it would grow indoors. Have you tried it?

[Sanips]

No, I don't. I must confess I've been tempted to do it because its apparent rewarding growth rate but seeds must be very fresh to obtain a good germination and I don't find references about if it's possible to keep it indoors in good conditions for a long term. Also I don't have much space for it. In this thread, you can see how @palmfriend germinate one and keep it for a short time indodoors, maybe he could tell you more things about its sucessful cultivation.

 

 

[Tropicgardener]

  On 1/30/2017 at 11:29 PM, Plantasexoticas said:

What a great palm, I wonder if it would grow indoors. Have you tried it?

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Pigafetta are highly tropical in their requirements, although healthy specimens do exist in the subtropics.......... As an indoor plant they would be doomed to failure as they require full sun from a young age, even in ideal conditions shaded specimens tend to die.

[steve99]

  On 1/30/2017 at 10:50 PM, Plantasexoticas said:

Hello everyone,

I was curious to know what all your fastest growing palms are and what conditions they are growing under.

Most of my palms are still seedlings but my fastest are Washingtonia and to my surprise, Chambeyronia macrocarpa. Currently they all grow either on windowsills or in my grow room where temperatures rarely drop below 15 celcius (59F) and on sunny days it may hit 20-22c (68-72F) in summer it will be much warmer - up to 30C/86F (indoors) My grow room has lighting most of the day and the windowsill plants just receive natural light.

James

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My 19 year old Pigafetta Elata has been my fastest growing palm by a long way.     But growing outside the tropics or sub tropics would be very difficult.   

 

[Ben in Norcal]

Queens must be up there, at least for temperate climes...

[Pando]

Can't grow piggies here, but my Dypsis is pretty fast, was doing about 3 feet per year.

[hbernstein]

Metroxylon can be fast, when happy.

[Plantasexoticas]

  On 1/31/2017 at 11:08 AM, Tropicgardener said:

Pigafetta are highly tropical in their requirements, although healthy specimens do exist in the subtropics.......... As an indoor plant they would be doomed to failure as they require full sun from a young age, even in ideal conditions shaded specimens tend to die.

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Thank you - I think that rules it out as a Palm to try as its going to have low light in winter unless I supplement it artificially 

[Plantasexoticas]

  On 1/31/2017 at 3:53 PM, Pando said:

Can't grow piggies here, but my Dypsis is pretty fast, was doing about 3 feet per year.

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What dypsis do you grow? 

[Gileno Machado]

Pigafetta for sure....Carpentaria acuminata is good runner up

 

[Plantasexoticas]

  On 1/31/2017 at 9:29 PM, Gileno Machado said:

Pigafetta for sure....Carpentaria acuminata is good runner up

 

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Carpenteria looks nice and I read it grows ok as an indoor Palm. Might be worth a try

[Pando]

  On 1/31/2017 at 9:25 PM, Plantasexoticas said:

What dypsis do you grow? 

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Not entirely sure. It was purchased as Neophloga sp. "pink crownshaft", which is now Dypsis rosea, but it looks somewhat different than a typical rosea so I think it has some pinnatifrons in it. A variant called "Maroantsetra" was sold some years ago that looks strikingly similar to it.

Edited January 31, 2017 by Pando

[Gonzer]

Chaemadorea plumosa, hands down.

[tim_brissy_13]

Pretty sure I remember a study a few years ago which recorded Saribus (then Livistona) rotundifolia as the fastest growing palm in terms of added height per year. From memory I think it was recorded that they can achieve 3 or 4m per year after developing a trunk.

[humangenomaproject]

Actinorhytis Calapparia for me (by a long shot) but perhaps if I had my Piggies in more sun they would win. Bentinckia Nicobarica is a close third.

[sashaeffer]

I have a few that are 100% indoor palms that are fast growers.

 

Chamaedorea arebergiana

Chamaedorea tepejilote

Euterpe edulis (very fast)

Pinanga "Thai Mottled"

Latania species, all three are but the yellow and red seem faster than blue.

[Plantasexoticas]

  On 2/1/2017 at 11:37 AM, sashaeffer said:

I have a few that are 100% indoor palms that are fast growers.

 

Chamaedorea arebergiana

Chamaedorea tepejilote

Euterpe edulis (very fast)

Pinanga "Thai Mottled"

Latania species, all three are but the yellow and red seem faster than blue.

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Thank you. 

I have just purchased Euterpe oleracea seeds and was hoping they would be ok indoors. Do they have the same care as edulis? 

[sashaeffer]

I believe they prefer more tropical like conditions but don't know for a fact.   I have one of those as well and it is no where near as fast. As a matter of fact it's pretty slow. Now, that being said where I have it at is NOT tropical at all, sitting in a small room with a south facing bedroom window it shares with my coconut palm. But, it looks just fine and just gets weekly watering.

[Plantasexoticas]

  On 2/1/2017 at 7:43 PM, sashaeffer said:

I believe they prefer more tropical like conditions but don't know for a fact.   I have one of those as well and it is no where near as fast. As a matter of fact it's pretty slow. Now, that being said where I have it at is NOT tropical at all, sitting in a small room with a south facing bedroom window it shares with my coconut palm. But, it looks just fine and just gets weekly watering.

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Ah ok - well they are on the way now. I can provide fairly warm bright conditions so will be interesting to know if it speeds growth. What kind of temperatures does your E.oleracea live in? 

[sashaeffer]

68f is what indoor thermostat is set at so for most of the day it's that. Now when the sun hits the window straight on I'm sure it will get to 70/72f for a while.

[topwater]

Second fastest to Washies has been Wodyetia by far.  The hotter it gets, the faster they grow.  

Edited February 2, 2017 by topwater

[topwater]

Would that I could grow Pigafetta, which I love. For me Chambeyronia has been a disappointing slug with zero sun tolerance, though the blond version has been relatively much faster.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Plantasexoticas]

  On 2/2/2017 at 7:10 AM, topwater said:

Would that I could grow Pigafetta, which I love. For me Chambeyronia has been a disappointing slug with zero sun tolerance, though the blond version has been relatively much faster.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Do chambeyronia need shade even as mature plants? I purchased seeds and in less than a year they are pushing up their 5th and almost 6th leaves. They don't get much full sun but lots of light. 

[Plantasexoticas]

  On 2/2/2017 at 6:58 AM, topwater said:

Second fastest to Washies has been Wodyetia by far.  The hotter it gets, the faster they grow.  

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Wodyetia is another on my list to try - im going to need a very large greenhouse soon the more my collection grows. Luckily most are very small plants at the moment. 

[topwater]

  On 2/2/2017 at 7:27 AM, Plantasexoticas said:

Do chambeyronia need shade even as mature plants? I purchased seeds and in less than a year they are pushing up their 5th and almost 6th leaves. They don't get much full sun but lots of light. 

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Supposedly they eventually can grow into sun but mine are 2-3 feet tall and will burn in a heartbeat. 

[tacobender]

In my area royals get huge in a hurry if watered well.

[Cocoa Beach Jason]

For me personally in coastal 10a/10b central Florida with supplemental irrigation and full sun the fastest in order:

1) Cocos nucifera 2) Archontophoenix tuckeri, 3) Roystonea regia , 4) Veitchia sp., 5) Dypsis pembana

[doranakandawatta]

in Doranakanda gardens it's definitely Actinorhythis calapparia: 

December 2014:

 

in december 2015, the same palm on the left of the picture (trunk)

april 2016:

the trunk of the same palm is behind the column of the first floor pavillion

 

[atlantisrising]

Up until lightning killed all three in one stroke, my Roystonea regias were adding 16" or more per year. At 45' they became nature's lightning rod. Clinostigma samoense is nearly as fast, Bentinckia nicobarica is extremely fast, and Chambeyronia macrocarpa once established is now adding 4" per leaf. Also the Chamadorea tepejilote seedlings I just got in from Nature girl are total speed demons.

[palmfriend]

  On 1/31/2017 at 9:49 AM, Sanips said:

 In this thread, you can see how @palmfriend germinate one and keep it for a short time indodoors, maybe he could tell you more things about its sucessful cultivation.

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Thank you for referring to my thread.

Well, to keep it short - when summer started at the end of March I moved the pigafetta outside to get it used to the sun and finally planted it in August to use the remaining

hot/warm months until winter (December) to get it "connected" to the ground. It is doing well so far, pushing new spears even now but with a lower speed... Maybe at the

end of this year I will know more about its growing speed under our conditions, now it is still too early.

However, my rocket ships over here are at the moment...

...these washingtonias (almost four years old, grown from seed) and ...

...this Veitchia joannis. It has now about 2 feet of trunk - and that within 7 months.

But as we know, palms can speed up when they grow and I will see how my other species will "perform" during this year,

maybe there is some other rocket around but still hidden...

I do not grow palms inside - except very young seedlings - so I cannot be really of advice regarding indoor planting.

 

James, all the best to your palm(s),

best regards

Lars

 

[ThePalmNovice]

  On 1/31/2017 at 2:08 PM, Ben in Norcal said:

Queens must be up there, at least for temperate climes...

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I can personally vouch for the speed and ease in which Syagrus romanzoffiana grows. My first ever palm tree was a scrawny twig of a Queen I found in an abandoned backwoods lot. Not knowing any better I dug it up and replanted it in nothing but dry sandy soil. At first it didn't look to good, but after 7 months it's grown by almost 2ft in size. It's gone from no trunk to small trunk with boots in no time. It's sprouted tons of new leaves and the ones that were there are nearly twice as long. 

The Queen went from wilted to full and vigorous using nothing but water and mulch. I can't imagine how much it will take off once I fertilize it for the first time. That said a lot of people seem to hate S. romanzoffiana due to being so overused in landscaping, so its probably not a palm lovers first choice. Still if you give them any extra care at all they tend to reward you with how well they grow. 

 

Edited February 4, 2017 by ThePalmNovice

[Kevin S]

  On 1/31/2017 at 3:53 PM, Pando said:

Can't grow piggies here, but my Dypsis is pretty fast, was doing about 3 feet per year.

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 That Dypsis palm tree is a very fast grower.  Photo from 2014 

[Kevin S]

 And one year later in 2015 this with the growth it put on but this is in Hawaii.

[Plantasexoticas]

Thank you for everyone's input. I expect there is more to come and once I get a decent collection going I'll see which palms thrive indoors.

James

[Ben in Norcal]

  On 2/4/2017 at 4:12 AM, ThePalmNovice said:

I can personally vouch for the speed and ease in which Syagrus romanzoffiana grows. My first ever palm tree was a scrawny twig of a Queen I found in an abandoned backwoods lot. Not knowing any better I dug it up and replanted it in nothing but dry sandy soil. At first it didn't look to good, but after 7 months it's grown by almost 2ft in size. It's gone from no trunk to small trunk with boots in no time. It's sprouted tons of new leaves and the ones that were there are nearly twice as long. 

The Queen went from wilted to full and vigorous using nothing but water and mulch. I can't imagine how much it will take off once I fertilize it for the first time. That said a lot of people seem to hate S. romanzoffiana due to being so overused in landscaping, so its probably not a palm lovers first choice. Still if you give them any extra care at all they tend to reward you with how well they grow. 

 

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They are a great fast-growing, bullet-proof canopy palm for colder climes.  Something rewarding about nursing any palm back from the brink, as well. 

Don't listen to the haters!

[sashaeffer]

And great potted palms for those of us in cold states. I just keep mine in the garage over the winter. Can't say they grow much in the winter...which is fine, but don't need to re acclimate them to sun either in the spring, just throw them back out into full sun and they don't mind at all. Instant tropical look on the patio every spring.

[Pando]

  On 2/4/2017 at 5:57 AM, Kevin S said:

 And one year later in 2015 this with the growth it put on but this is in Hawaii.

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Those are beautiful, Kevin! They look almost identical to what I have. Those blueish trunks, zero petioles, and lack of pink on the crownshaft really make that distinction. Did you get them as rosea, pinnatifrons, or something else, I'm assuming from FB?

Do you happen to have a latest picture of them, or even more closeups of the crown area? I'm really curious what they look like now.

Edited February 4, 2017 by Pando

[Kevin S]

 Here is a picture of the broken name tag I took.  Like most of my palms this is one Jeff chose for me.  I think he has good taste.  I did suggest what kind of palms I like ones with color and our self cleaning maybe something with stilt roots.  Does anyone know when it will flower and go to seed?  My neighbor really want to seed from it.  Also here is a more recent photo of it.  Some reason I took several photos but I could not get the color of the leaves on Camera for some reason.  Maybe if I took a photo from above it I would have better luck.