hedyscepe canterburyana...au revoir, bonjour Dypsis

[Tracy]

[Tracy]

You can say a lot with just a picture.  That baby was probably 4-5 years old, and a healthy 5 gallon when I planted it in early 2011.  Clearly, something went wrong.  Perhaps it was the fact that it was the tile guy's favorite place to wash his tools in the bark surrounding it, when we were remodeling back in 2013.  Maybe it was the painters, who rinsed out some brushes there, or maybe too much sun when it was still not ready for it.  Bottom line, this New Year's Eve I decided I had enough of it.  I wasn't gentle, I yanked it out, breaking the base off at the roots, then used the shovel to remove the roots.  It was a cathartic moment, after year's of frustration.  So I'll try another 5 gallon that I got just last December.  A Dypsis nauseosa.  Wish me luck in 2018 with this one!

[richnorm]

Some hedys are just super slow whilst others romp away in similar conditions.

[Tracy]

23 minutes ago, richnorm said:

Some hedys are just super slow whilst others romp away in similar conditions.

Sadly, I watched this one going backwards.  Both I tried in my Leucadia sandy soil have failed.  Interestingly, the other two in my Carlsbad house a short distance away with clay soil have done ok.  Those haven't been rocket ships by any means, but at least they look reasonably healthy and haven't gone backwards.  It's probably the only palm I have ever grown that did better in the clay soil than the sandy loam where I now reside.

[Darold Petty]

Have you checked the soil Ph at this spot ?  I would imagine that the construction wash water would be highly basic, wrong for this species from the slopes of a volcanic island.    What about your water Ph ?  My friend in Camarillo, CA has very alkaline water.  He struggles to grow Hedyscepe, even though he has an otherwise, excellent garden.

    I concur with Richnorm that some palms can be variable.  I have grown hundreds of palm seedlings, some fast, most average, and always, a few defective runts.  When I move up a pot size I discard the poor performers, even for rare species.  Perhaps you just obtained a poor plant of Hedyscepe.

  Finally, sometimes palms just go bad, edit out your poor performers, and try something else, as you have done !! 

 

[Palm Tree Jim]

12 hours ago, Tracy said:

Sadly, I watched this one going backwards.  Both I tried in my Leucadia sandy soil have failed.  Interestingly, the other two in my Carlsbad house a short distance away with clay soil have done ok.  Those haven't been rocket ships by any means, but at least they look reasonably healthy and haven't gone backwards.  It's probably the only palm I have ever grown that did better in the clay soil than the sandy loam where I now reside.

I have tried this palm several times with no luck. They always end up in the trash.

Over the years, I have acquired them from different growers, different sizes and planted them in different places in the garden.

All with the same results......not again on this one. 

Will you try again in the new yard?

[Kim]

Tough choice, but probably the right move!  Good luck with the new Dypsis!

[MattyB]

Sorry for that lame Hedescepy Tracy.  Looking at that Dypsis, I'd put a shade cloth tent over it for a year.  It's already yellow and going into the winter it's not likely to want to green up anytime soon.  The shade cloth will keep it from burning in the mean time so it doesn't shock and set you back several years considering they're slow.

[Josh-O]

Nice naussy Tracy

put shade over it until it acclimates. Once it burns it will take fooooooooooooor ever for it to grow out of it.