Pinanga Aristata experience

[Tracy S]

I was at a rate palm sale and I saw this cute little Pinanga Aristata. It wasn't on my wish list and I had never seen one in a garden before. But when i looked it up on palmpedia it seemed like something I should have.

I have other Pinangas that are strong growing , no nonsense plants. This Aristata looks like It might be a bit fussy.

So, is anyone growing these and so you have any advice?

1. How cold hardy are they?

2. This one is in a lava mix that has almost no soil. Is that normal?

3. The roots are a bit exposed on the plant. Should they be? 

I appreciate you help.

[Hammer]

Omg, sorry I can't offer any advice.  Just HAD to comment and whine that here is another incredible palm that we cannot grow here in California.   

Good luck.  Super jealous. 

[CroToni]

1 minute ago, Hammer said:

Omg, sorry I can't offer any advice.  Just HAD to comment and whine that here is another incredible palm that we cannot grow here in California.   

Good luck.  Super jealous. 

Can they not grow on the islands,Malibu for example?

Guessing it isn't hot enough?

Malibu's record low is 35 degrees Fahrenheit though,warmer than Miami's record low.

 

[Hammer]

The challenge with a lot of these tropical palms here isn't the record lows or occasional dips.

Our challenge is the long, cool, wet winters.   It just knocks so much out.

Lack of humidity in summer is a challenge too but more for aesthetics and faster growing. 

It's the cool that does us in mostly. 

But if you try one and it goes...let the world know! 

[CroToni]

1 minute ago, Hammer said:

The challenge with a lot of these tropical palms here isn't the record lows or occasional dips.

Our challenge is the long, cool, wet winters.   It just knocks so much out.

Lack of humidity in summer is a challenge too but more for aesthetics and faster growing. 

It's the cool that does us in mostly. 

But if you try one and it goes...let the world know! 

sadly I am in Croatia zone 9a,and our winters are cool(in the upper 40's and mid 50's during the day) yours are warm.You can literally have hot days in mid dec.I truly think that coconuts can grow on the islands of southern california with a little protection.

If they can grow in 9b in Florida they must survive on Malibu(10b)

[Hammer]

1 hour ago, CroToni said:

sadly I am in Croatia zone 9a,and our winters are cool(in the upper 40's and mid 50's during the day) yours are warm.You can literally have hot days in mid dec.I truly think that coconuts can grow on the islands of southern california with a little protection.

If they can grow in 9b in Florida they must survive on Malibu(10b)

Ah yeah, Croatia would be a tough spot too.

Southern California is not as warm, particularly in winter, as it might be perceived. Our over night lows typically range from the high 30s to mid-40s.  Corresponding daytime highs are usually not high enough to counter cool nights.  This cool pattern is usually 8 to 10 weeks long...or so.  Add the usual rains...death sentence for coconuts. 

Sorry for hijacking your thread Tracy!

[PalmatierMeg]

Hi Tracy, Pinangas are wonderful. I've had mixed results with them long term as they thrive for a while but seem to eventually decline and die. Right now I am trying P. bicolana I germinated from RPS seeds and they have been amazingly resilient. I may even have a few P. aristatas stashed away somewhere. I will give you some thoughts to consider but I am by no means a Pinanga expert.

Your palm appears to have come from Floribunda in HI. Jeff has to grow all his plants in a soilless medium on raised benches for export. He uses lava rock. Pinangas are cold sensitive. You are north of me but also on the Atlantic Ocean (I'm close to the Gulf of Mexico) so I'm going to assume you have winters similar to mine. Like me, you will have to be vigilant when growing truly tropical palms. If the plant were mine, I would carefully repot it, lava rock and all, into a larger pot of very well draining quality potting mix. Be very careful not to overwater it or expose it to overhead watering. Keep it in shade to partial shade, at least in winter. Don't let pot sit directly on concrete. I keep all my small potted tropicals on plastic shelving units on my back lanai. Bring it indoors if lows fall below 50F. Otherwise, it will be happier if kept outdoors during the day, esp. if days are warm. Our houses are too dry and cold for long term palm health. Keep your eyes peeled for spider mites, which can kill a tiny palm in days. I spray all my lanai tropicals with a miticide every 2-3 months starting in Nov. to keep mites at bay. I don't suggest such an expense for one tiny palm - you can rinse the critters away. Observe it but don't "worry it to death". Good luck and keep us posted.

[Tracy S]

31 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Hi Tracy, Pinangas are wonderful. I've had mixed results with them long term as they thrive for a while but seem to eventually decline and die. Right now I am trying P. bicolana I germinated from RPS seeds and they have been amazingly resilient. I may even have a few P. aristatas stashed away somewhere. I will give you some thoughts to consider but I am by no means a Pinanga expert.

Your palm appears to have come from Floribunda in HI. Jeff has to grow all his plants in a soilless medium on raised benches for export. He uses lava rock. Pinangas are cold sensitive. You are north of me but also on the Atlantic Ocean (I'm close to the Gulf of Mexico) so I'm going to assume you have winters similar to mine. Like me, you will have to be vigilant when growing truly tropical palms. If the plant were mine, I would carefully repot it, lava rock and all, into a larger pot of very well draining quality potting mix. Be very careful not to overwater it or expose it to overhead watering. Keep it in shade to partial shade, at least in winter. Don't let pot sit directly on concrete. I keep all my small potted tropicals on plastic shelving units on my back lanai. Bring it indoors if lows fall below 50F. Otherwise, it will be happier if kept outdoors during the day, esp. if days are warm. Our houses are too dry and cold for long term palm health. Keep your eyes peeled for spider mites, which can kill a tiny palm in days. I spray all my lanai tropicals with a miticide every 2-3 months starting in Nov. to keep mites at bay. I don't suggest such an expense for one tiny palm - you can rinse the critters away. Observe it but don't "worry it to death". Good luck and keep us posted.

Meg,

Thank you very much. This is super helpful information. 

[Missi]

Just chiming in with my little bit of experience. I got my P. aristata of similar size mid-September of this year. It has been slow for me as well. Mine also has a "stuck" new leaf like yours. I imagine it will jump in to action once the nights warm up and more regular relative humidity comes our way. Pretty much mirroring what Meg said, I bring in all my Pinangas (except coronata, caesia, and 'Thai Mottled' - which do just fine for me in the cold) when it dips below 60. I currently have my P. aristata, disticha, and bicolana sitting on the concrete floor of my roofed lanai. They have done just fine, but I will heed Meg's advice and put them up on a shelf. 

EDIT: Mine is also in the original Floribunda black lava pebbles but does fine as long as there is plenty of controlled release fertilizer in there. Mine hasn't out-grown its pot yet (it's in a Floribunda 4" pot, rather than their seedling pot as yours appears to be in). 

Please continue post updates when possible! We don't see this palm mentioned very often!

[Tracy S]

Thanks for the info. I will keep you posted. Fingers crossed on this one.

[Rory]

So forewarning I haven't grown Pinanga aristata myself, but I have grown a number of other species. I would treat it like any other understory species with the inclusion of bringing it in for nights under 50 degrees, at least until it's large. I personally wouldn't expect aristata to ever be an in ground species in your location, but I guess you never know until you try.

I'm curious at why Meg recommended the lack of overhead watering and growing on concrete? Possibly she has heavily alkaline water? In my area neither of those is a concern enough for that measure, although growing on the ground without treatment is always an invitation for earthworms. In general Meg offered some solid advice though.

Anyway, hope you have great luck with that rare beauty of a palm.

[Tracy S]

Thanks Rory.

[humangenomaproject]

These Borneo varieties are more difficult for me than many of the other Pinangas. Aristata is very senitive to light and I lost two in what I thought was a very shady spot but they were hit by enough tropical sun midday through the branches of a very large tree for about 30-45 minutes that they fried. I still have Pinanga Ridleyana and some Pinanga Aristata from the Floribunda Borneo offering about a year back but P. Jambusana died from rot fairly quickly.

[Missi]

Here are a couple quick pics I took of my aristata this morning for reference. I forgot that I added a pinch of cactus/palm potting soil to the lava pebbles.

 

[Missi]

9 hours ago, Rory said:

So forewarning I haven't grown Pinanga aristata myself, but I have grown a number of other species. I would treat it like any other understory species with the inclusion of bringing it in for nights under 50 degrees, at least until it's large. I personally wouldn't expect aristata to ever be an in ground species in your location, but I guess you never know until you try.

I'm curious at why Meg recommended the lack of overhead watering and growing on concrete? Possibly she has heavily alkaline water? In my area neither of those is a concern enough for that measure, although growing on the ground without treatment is always an invitation for earthworms. In general Meg offered some solid advice though.

Anyway, hope you have great luck with that rare beauty of a palm.

Watering overhead when it's not nice and hot will encourage crown rot. I personally don't water overhead in the winter, but I do mist overhead every few days when it's above 60 degrees. Not sure why she suggested to keep it off concrete, though. 

[atlantisrising]

Tracy, I'm guessing you just got your aristata in Dec.  In your photo it looks a lot like mine did when they arrived mid Nov. with some leaf tip browning. I got 5 of these with the hope at least a few would make it but sadly 4 have gone to palm heaven and the last one is nearly there now. I left them in the original pots so as not to aggravate them and took the last 2 inside at night thru the recent cold snap and hand watered so no overhead watering. Seeing how much better Missi's looks which she got in Sept. I am speculating that mine got too cold in flight, only one pushed a leaf slightly, the rest died quickly, the first two within days of arriving. Wish you good luck with yours, Missi's looks fantastic IMO. If I try these again I will get them in mid summer to avoid the cold during shipment.

[Tracy S]

@atlantisrising

I did get mine in December. I normally try not to buy new plants after october because of the weather, but you know sometimes I just can't help myself. 

I'm  sorry to hear about your palm loss. It sure doesn't bode well then for me. But if it does die then I will know it might not be my fault. (Maybe?)

I did repot my plant as instructed and I feel a lot better about it being in normal (for me) media.

Thanks for the words of advice.

@Missi I agree your little plant looks a lot better than mine.

[Missi]

On 12/23/2017, 9:25:43, Tracy S said:

 

@Missi I agree your little plant looks a lot better than mine.

Naa, I just trimmed the brown off before I took the pic lol