Robellini Palm

[wmrn43a]

Does it matter if the 3 stalks are different heights?  I was told that if they are not the same size the plant would not do well.  I prefer altered heights as the palm matures.

[Jim in Los Altos]

They can be any size you like. The varying heights look much nicer than all the same size. Who told you they wouldn’t grow well at different heights? That’s pretty silly. 

Remember, they like moist soil and no drying out in between waterings. 

[PalmatierMeg]

Phoenix roebelinii is a solitary palm so you actually have 3 separate palms. As such, they may compete with one another, also lean away from one another as each grows. I think your source was trying to tell you that if you buy a triple with 3 equally sized palms they have a better chance of staying that way as they grow.

[Merlyn]

Meg and Jim are right, there's no reason why they should not be at different heights.  I like them at slightly different heights too, it adds to the "fullness" when they start to put on trunk.

Unless one is a "genetic runt" compared to the others then they'll all grow at vaguely similar rates.  I have a triple that my neighbor gave me.  It has one trunk about 8 feet tall, one about 6 feet and another about 1.5 feet, all from the same planting at the same age.  He thought it was ugly because of the little one that looks essentially normal except for a very skinny and short trunk.  I kinda like it, it reminds me of an old kid's tale of daddy bear, momma bear and baby bear!

So basically pick one that has similar trunk thicknesses and frond fullness on all three and you will probably end up with a mature palm with somewhat varying height.  Just avoid any triples where one is distorted or vastly smaller than the others.

[gilles06]

Roebellini can be a clustering palm...

[PalmatierMeg]

1 hour ago, gilles06 said:

Roebellini can be a clustering palm...

Very true if you have an offspring of the original wild variety growing along the Mekong River. Good luck finding one of those. I bought seeds from RPS of what was supposed to be the endangered clustering wild form of roebelinii but ended up with one solitary palm. Good news is it apparently is a pure specimen. Phoenix hybridize so readily that it's hard to find pure pygmy dates. In the US this species has been cultivated and bred for generations to be solitary. Nurseries then artificially cluster them for mass sale to the public. I have never seen a naturally clustering roebelinii.

[wmrn43a]

Thank you all.  I think I may have mis-understood.

Edited February 28, 2019 by wmrn43a

[Bill H2DB]

    It irks me that it is nearly impossible to find a solitary Roebellini , these days .

May be just me , ( and I don't get around much) , but I see only triples in the stores , and the vast

majority of them as seen in yards around here , are the obligatory triples .

 Apparently the Palm factories , that supply the stores only produce triples , and I'd bet that 99.36% of

that Gen'l Public has no idea that they are generally single trunk plants .

[Rickybobby]

20 minutes ago, Bill H2DB said:

    It irks me that it is nearly impossible to find a solitary Roebellini , these days .

May be just me , ( and I don't get around much) , but I see only triples in the stores , and the vast

majority of them as seen in yards around here , are the obligatory triples .

 Apparently the Palm factories , that supply the stores only produce triples , and I'd bet that 99.36% of

that Gen'l Public has no idea that they are generally single trunk plants .

And the one I bought up here in Canada came as 4 trunks so sufficed to say I have lots of roots and drainage isn’t a problem 

[gilles06]

23 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Very true if you have an offspring of the original wild variety growing along the Mekong River. Good luck finding one of those. I bought seeds from RPS of what was supposed to be the endangered clustering wild form of roebelinii but ended up with one solitary palm. Good news is it apparently is a pure specimen. Phoenix hybridize so readily that it's hard to find pure pygmy dates. In the US this species has been cultivated and bred for generations to be solitary. Nurseries then artificially cluster them for mass sale to the public. I have never seen a naturally clustering roebelinii.

Just said that because mine is clustering

[NOT A TA]

So I was in a big box store a couple weeks ago with spare time for checking out stuff in the garden center. I'm trying to learn all new plant materials having moved from the Northeast to S FL. Anyway I spot what appears to be roebelinii where there are too many plants in each pot since there's typically 3 in each. Spin a pot around and see a Pygmy tag. I thought maybe somebody in a nursery was screwing around and threw a bunch of seedlings in each pot when transplanting. Since they were the same price as pots with 3 plants I figured I'd buy some and take a shot at separation figuring if any or all die I didn't spend much. While a clump of three looks good, it's overdone here so I won't do it.

Once home I pulled one group out of a pot and saw there wasn't going to be an easy way to separate with soil attached, so I tried washing all the potting mix away with a hose. Still no way I was going to pull them apart, so I got out an old saw and started hacking. When separating I thought they appeared to be clumping, not individuals from seed. Out of 3 pots I got over 20 plants at about two bucks each if they live. Potted them all individually, some had very few roots so they remain in full shade. The ones with the most roots got  a week in shade, then a week of part sun, then put them out for full sun but it rained for a couple days.  This morning I was checking on them because I'd just moved them out for full sun and don't want to burn them up. It appears one has a pup starting, but I'm open to any explanations.

Edited March 2, 2019 by NOT A TA

[Merlyn]

I did the same thing a week or two ago with an overplanted $10 pot of Livistona Chinensis.  I got 7 good plants out of it, all seem to be rooting in okay with the wash-and-separate method.  I did the slice-and-dice method with a Majesty triple in the spring and they all did fine.

On the topic of clustering Robellini, I bought a young double last summer specifically because I didn't want a triple in that spot.  It sprouted 2 more on the sides...I cut those off and it's sprouted another in a different spot.  I suppose it's possible that there was an unsprouted seed in there that finally germinated, but it sure looked like they were offsets attached to the growing point.  If it keeps on growing offsets I'm going to have to move it to a place with more space!

[PalmatierMeg]

On 3/1/2019 at 12:58 PM, gilles06 said:

Just said that because mine is clustering

I am no Phoenix expert, but the palms in your photos look like Phoenix hybrids - roebellinii x reclinata ??? They appear too robust to be pure pygmy date. I hope someone familiar with the Phoenix genus gives an opinion.

[kinzyjr]

3 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

I am no Phoenix expert, but the palms in your photos look like Phoenix hybrids - roebellinii x reclinata ??? They appear too robust to be pure pygmy date. I hope someone familiar with the Phoenix genus gives an opinion.

While it would likely take a genetic test to tell for sure at this stage, they look relatively pure to me.  Mine have the same frond and trunk structure.  The crosses have less of an arch in their fronds judging by the pictures I've seen.  There are some good examples of roebellinii x reclinata on @Eric in Orlando's post here: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/20803-hybrids-in-phoenix-other-than-the-usual-canariensis-x-dactylifera/&do=findComment&comment=346428

There are several pictures of other hybrids along that thread too, including what looked like a rupicola x roebellinii.

 

[Walt]

When my P. roebellenii palms had their dead frond boots on them, they did look bigger in diameter. Also, pictures can sometimes be deceiving. 

My quad P. roebellenii palm has been in the ground 20 years now, planted by my landscaper shortly after I had my house built. They had short trunk on them at the time. This is what the clump looks like as of today.

 

[Walt]

Several weeks ago I had to trim up my pygmy date palms as many of the fronds were lying on the roof shingles. My home owner's insurance company gave me an ultimatum, that I had to replace my roof shingles by August (my renewal date) or else they would not renew my home owner's insurance policy.  Functionally, there was nothing wrong with my roof shingles. I told my insurance agent these shingles have been through five hurricanes and several tropical storms -- and never any damage. He said it did not matter, that I had to have my roof shingles replaced with shingles rated for 110 MPH wind. Well, I just had the shingles replaced with Owens Corning Duration shingles rated for 130 MPH winds. 

This should be a heads up for you Floridian homeowners, as I understand all insurance companies in Florida are going to mandate this requirement.  My company is now requiring any roof over 16 years old to be replaced, regardless.

The roof shingles in the below two photos are 24 years old and original to my house (I had built in 1998). They were 30-year rated shingles. As you can see, they look relatively good (no curling, no missing shingles, no sand on ground at roof drip edge, etc.).  So, I just dropped $20K to have my 45 square roof replaced when, IMO, it didn't have to be.

Every year my insurance company keep jacking up my rates inordinately (they say I'm paying for other people's losses). If they jack it up again this year I will be inclined to tell them to go pound sand, and then roll the dice and take my chances with no homeowner's insurance.