Chamaedorea elegans (parlor Palm)

[metalfan]

Does anyone know the lifespan of the common parlor palm? Or do they have a defined lifespan? Someone told me they usually do not live over 15 years. Mine is about 11-12 years old and looks pretty fine so I am having a hard time believing that

[Jeff Searle]

Wow, those are some old plants. Very cool.

[hopper]

Is it true that you can plant these palms in a hole deeper than their original height and they will grow new roots from the portion that is buried? Or am I thinking of another variety?

Edited December 18, 2018 by hopper

[metalfan]

So are they gonna keel over in a few years Jeff?

[Pal Meir]

These Ch elegans are a little bit older than 15 years and still alive:

 

 

Here an older photo from 1982:

[masatepino]

11 hours ago, hopper said:

Is it true that you can plant these palms in a hole deeper than their original height and they will grow new roots from the portion that is buried? Or am I thinking of another variety?

I did this with clumping C. tepejilote, and also with C.oblongata. I raised the soil level about 70 cm around the plants, and more than a year later they still do great!

[Pal Meir]

13 hours ago, hopper said:

Is it true that you can plant these palms in a hole deeper than their original height and they will grow new roots from the portion that is buried? Or am I thinking of another variety?

If you let Ch elegans grow indoors straight upwards they will hit the ceiling (c. 3 m) after c. 25 years or less and then they will die  (as one of my *1962 palms did), unless you make air layering and cut the stem (as I did twice with my *1970 palm).

Here shown with Rhapis excelsa:

 

[DoomsDave]

This is a very cool thread!

Cham elegans is one of those palms that roots from the trunk as @Pal Meirso well explained.

I had a couple specimens, already old, when I got them, reach a height of about 4 feet, then fall over and root in the ground right under the crown and grow back up straight again. Bet they might live a long long time if they grow, fall, grow, fall, etc.

[PalmatierMeg]

Some years back I remember someone posting a photo of a Cham. elegans his grandmother had been growing in the Mid West for 35 years. It was 8' tall. She kept it outdoors during summer and indoors all winter.

[metalfan]

Well hell I knew it would outlive me. Lets see in 35 years it will be maybe 45-46 and I will be....a crone. I will be a crone. Over 90 LOL.