Livistona nitida as a Washingtonia robusta replacement

[Eric in Orlando]

I noticed the Washingtonia robusta in the sterile Baldwin Park neighborhood of Orlando are being replaced with Livistona nitida. There are W. robusta planted along the "downtown" street and in the park adjacent to Lake Baldwin. As Fusarium or lightning strikes take them out they are being replanted with Livistona nitida. Saw quite a few specimens of newer planted (and still braced) L. nitida. To the average person they don't look different.

[Eric in Orlando]

[PalmatierMeg]

Good thinking there. Livistonias are much superior to overplanted Washies and don't seem to have the pestilence woes. And because they are dioecious you are less subject to acres of volunteer seedlings.

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

I have not been able to get L nitida to grow quickly.  I'm assuming its my poor, often dry, sand.  But Livistona decora grows fast so I figured L nitida would too.  Wrong.  Any tips from fellow Florida palm friends?

  

[Reeverse]

The DOT planted a mile or so of them in front of Daytona International Speedway on both sides of the road when they added on to the track. They look great after recovering from 2 years of hurricane damage. 

[PalmatierMeg]

2 hours ago, Keith in SoJax said:

I have not been able to get L nitida to grow quickly.  I'm assuming its my poor, often dry, sand.  But Livistona decora grows fast so I figured L nitida would too.  Wrong.  Any tips from fellow Florida palm friends?

  

I have both and decora are legitimate rockets. Nitida are glacial - my two in the ground 6-7 years are only 3-4' tall each. The 3 decora are 20-25' tall. I'm not sure why the difference unless nitida hates my calcareous, alkaline soil. The decora don't care a whit about it. When people claim their nitidas are fast growing I don't get it. But I'll take decoras any day. They look like fireworks fountains glittering in the sky and laugh at anything my winters throw at them.

[Kailua_Krish]

My Nitida has also been slow and we have a sandy loam in the part of central Florida I’m growing in. I’m not sure why they’re so slow

[Eric in Orlando]

21 hours ago, Keith in SoJax said:

I have not been able to get L nitida to grow quickly.  I'm assuming its my poor, often dry, sand.  But Livistona decora grows fast so I figured L nitida would too.  Wrong.  Any tips from fellow Florida palm friends?

  

They are much slower than L. decora as juveniles. But they speed up as they get older then slow again after they get to about 20-25ft. That is one good reason L. nitida makes a good substitute for W. robusta, same with L. decora.

They also like lots of water as juveniles and good feedings on our poor sand soils.

[Eric in Orlando]

19 hours ago, Reeverse said:

The DOT planted a mile or so of them in front of Daytona International Speedway on both sides of the road when they added on to the track. They look great after recovering from 2 years of hurricane damage. 

The highway departments have been planting them as well. I see them along the Florida Turnpike and at some new plantings in Orlando on I4. They also planted a bunch at the Citrus Bowl stadium a few years ago. Disney has been using them too, a bunch planted at Disney Springs and some in the Magic Kingdom. 

[Cikas]

I agree. Livistona nitida is very slow in my climate too. Very slow growing palm. 

[howfam]

I think L. Saribus is also worth planting more often. They are pretty steady growers and look like W. robusta at a distance. The big thorns add a very interesting flair to them. They also get 100ft. tall like W. robusta. Good replacements for robustas. 

[Matthew92]

I noticed in Epcot at Future World near the fountain they are planting some Livistona decora or nitida (I forget which) next to older W. robusta- seems like they are slowly being replaced.

[Alicehunter2000]

This thread needs a picture... L. nitida in my jungle. L. nitida is a far superior palm than W. robusta or L. decora in my cold 9a beach sand .... nothing fazes it and it is a self cleaning beatifully trunked palm. Much prettier trunk than decora

[PalmatierMeg]

6 minutes ago, Alicehunter2000 said:

This thread needs a picture... L. nitida in my jungle. L. nitida is a far superior palm than W. robusta or L. decora in my cold 9a beach sand .... nothing fazes it and it is a self cleaning beatifully trunked palm. Much prettier trunk than decora

Great looking palm. My two have been dinking along for years.

[Fusca]

Here is my L. nitida strap-leaf seedling in April:

 

 

And here is the same seedling in September:

 

Edited January 1, 2019 by Fusca
add additional photo

[howfam]

On ‎10‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 9:57 AM, PalmatierMeg said:

Good thinking there. Livistonias are much superior to overplanted Washies and don't seem to have the pestilence woes. And because they are dioecious you are less subject to acres of volunteer seedlings.

Well not all Livistonas are dioecious. I've sprouted dozens of seedlings from the L. saribus in the picture, just a few blocks from where I live here in Jacksonville. Therefore it would be monoecious.

[Zifool]

On 1/1/2019 at 6:53 AM, Fusca said:

Here is my L. nitida strap-leaf seedling in April:

 

 

And here is the same seedling in September:

 

Woot !! AMAZING what is ur secret recipe ?!?

[Fusca]

On 1/20/2019 at 3:41 AM, Zifool said:

Woot !! AMAZING what is ur secret recipe ?!?

No special treatment but plenty of sun and water.  My soil drains pretty well. I'll fertilize it in March.

[Steve the palmreader]

 Field growing Livistonias in S.W. Florida