Finally Got A Foxtail

[PalmTreeDude]

I finally found a Foxtail Palm. Last year they had them at Lowes and I regretted not getting one. I got one at Lowes today after randomly stumbling upon them in the back of all the other palms, I didn't think they were selling them again. I got it for $21. I know a lot of people on this forum could probably get them for cheaper, but I'm ok with what I payed. I'm not sure what I am going to do with it, I might put it in the ground and attempt some crazy protection method in the winter or I may keep it potted. 

Edited June 8, 2019 by PalmTreeDude

[Rickybobby]

Congrats. On the palm. One of my favs and even though I can’t grow them outdoors all year round. They have been bulletproof indoors for me!

[Estlander]

Recently bought one the same size from a local Walmart for 10$. They were initially selling these for $17, but discounted them soon after. 

Edited June 9, 2019 by Estlander

[PalmatierMeg]

It will need serious protection and supplemental heat in VA. They are a beautiful palm. When I moved to FL in 1993 foxtails were uber rare - now they inhabit every BB garden center. Unfortunately, I found out they are prone to nutritional deficiencies and hate my alkaline soil. The closely related Normanbya proved impossible to keep alive long term. But it was a better looking, more graceful palm than foxtails. If you can find one it is well worth trying.

[redant]

Have fun with it. It would never survive in the ground no matter what you do. Just the soil temps alone would kill it.

[PalmTreeDude]

At this point it is basically whether or not I'm allowed to keep it inside in the winter. I already take up so much space with seedlings and a few bigger palms inside. In the garage wouldn't do either because I lost most of my Christmas Palms that I kept in the garage since it was so cold in there the whole winter. I germinated those myself too so that kind of sucked. 

[PalmatierMeg]

It's a fairly tropical palm, not as bad as Adonidias, but not much hardier. You will have to make concessions indoors to keep it alive through winter. For sure no unheated garages.

[PalmTreeDude]

34 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

It's a fairly tropical palm, not as bad as Adonidias, but not much hardier. You will have to make concessions indoors to keep it alive through winter. For sure no unheated garages.

What can these typically handle? I know some people have them in California, so they should be able to take some cool tempatures? 

[palmsOrl]

Mine survived the winter of 2010 here, but was totally defoliated twice that year.  My lowest recorded temperature was 24F in my yard.

[kinzyjr]

24 minutes ago, PalmTreeDude said:

What can these typically handle? I know some people have them in California, so they should be able to take some cool tempatures? 

The have them all over the place in Lakeland now.  They handled that nasty advective freeze we had in Jan. 2018 pretty well.  The airport recorded 24F that night.  My weather station recorded 28F that night and other weather stations in the area were around those marks as well.  Hearing that @palmsOrl has one that survived 2010 means that it is possible they will not only survive hard freezes, but extended periods of cold.  Jan. 2010 was pretty darn chilly.

[Jeff985]

24 minutes ago, palmsOrl said:

Mine survived the winter of 2010 here, but was totally defoliated twice that year.  My lowest recorded temperature was 24F in my yard.

That gives me hope for mine. I bought two at the end of last summer because they were on sale. $50 and about 8 feet in overall height. Now they’re about ten feet. I thought they’d be dead the first time we got below 28f which doesn’t happen every year here but it does happen. It’s good to know they can survive 24f. 

[James B]

I planted my first this week. Finally picked one up after considering for some time. Location was going to be the challenge to ensure it’s in happy conditions. I could have put it under the canopy of various taller Kings but read it’s better in sun than shade. I passed on another spot close to my house in my back yard as the sun tracks south in winter and it would get very little sun from December through March. So I planted in my court yard where it gets mid day and bright afternoon sun in summer and will get sun earlier in the winter due to its position. It gets 113 here in summer so 4-5 hours of direct sun is probably plenty.

[James B]

I was reading what Phil had to say on the jungle music site and foxtails actually have a similar Mediterranean climate I have here in Rancho Cucamonga just not as cold. Apparently they have a dry season in summer and generally get their rainfall from December to March which is pretty similar to us here. I’m on the high end of 9b I haven’t seen lower than 29 degrees as a night time low in 5 years.

[kinzyjr]

1 hour ago, James B said:

I planted my first this week. Finally picked one up after considering for some time. Location was going to be the challenge to ensure it’s in happy conditions. I could have put it under the canopy of various taller Kings but read it’s better in sun than shade. I passed on another spot close to my house in my back yard as the sun tracks south in winter and it would get very little sun from December through March. So I planted in my court yard where it gets mid day and bright afternoon sun in summer and will get sun earlier in the winter due to its position. It gets 113 here in summer so 4-5 hours of direct sun is probably plenty.

Looks like a fishtail instead of a foxtail?

[AZPalms]

12 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

Looks like a fishtail instead of a foxtail?

That’s definitely a Foxtail. Looks like lower fronds are trimmed which looks deceiving. 

[James B]

3 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

Looks like a fishtail instead of a foxtail?

It’s a foxtail but Home Depot over trims their palms with impunity.

[NorCalKing]

Nice annual lol.

Let's see, I'm 9B and can't grow one inground most winters without it coming out looking like $hit. Yet, you're going to grow it inground in 7A? Queens grow here like weeds. CIDP? 50ft tall! Hell, I'm pushing it with a thriving Archie. Yet we can't do Foxtails inground. Build a 30 ft tall green house then maybe it'll make it lmao!

Edited June 10, 2019 by NorCalKing
More detail

[HtownPalms]

I bought my first Foxtail Palm from Lowe's last summer. I left it out for most of last winter and brought it inside on the night's that it was supposed to frost. So there was no concern of it getting frost damage. However since Houston has such wet winters the one unexpected problem that i did face was brown spot disease. It started making my palm lose a frond a week. Once I figured out what was going on i treated it with a fungicidal spray once a week and the fungus stopped spreading. Since you are in an area that might get a lot of winter moisture I thought you should know to keep an eye out for that as well. 

[pj_orlando_z9b]

They get hardier with age but are still very sensitive. It's rare for them to make it through an Orlando winter without some browning even if just the lower fronds. But they are everywhere now and some very large, healthy specimens exist.  I planted mine in March 2017 and it lost 2 fronds to hurricane Irma followed by a night of 28F a few months later. It rebounded but they are not fast growers. Pics are Mar 2018 and May 2019. The bottom pic are large ones about a mile from my house...after the Jan 2018 freeze. Great looking palms.

[palmsOrl]

Yes they are, they are the go-to crownshaft specimen palms in the Orlando area now.  Foxtails and royals should be standard even municipal plantings now and I have seen some municipal foxtail plantings, though they are few.

[PalmTreeDude]

Are royals hardier, or are they about the same? 

Edited June 11, 2019 by PalmTreeDude

[aztropic]

Royals are hardier!

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[Xenon]

I know of a few foxtails that survived an extended freeze (low of 25F) in Galveston. A few royals survived too, but many large royals (10-15 years old) died. Makes me think the difference in hardiness between the two is not too significant. For comparison, it got cold enough to kill/trash large 20+ year old Norfolk Pines. 

Edited June 12, 2019 by Xenon

[palmsOrl]

For me Roystonea regia (and R. borinquiana for that matter) performed the same in freezes, such as 2003, but I remember particularly vividly in 2010.  They both get basically the same amount of foliage damage in my experience, and after a 24F ultimate low, multiple mid-20s nights and all that chill they were all completely defoliated but came back before another defoliation in December 2010, after which they came back again.  These are good for quite a while in warm zone 9b areas though they will look ragged a lot of the time and in true 10a areas, like downtown Orlando, they should survive long term and look great most of the time.

Regarding the comparison in hardiness, I would speculate that the “kill point” temperature might be a degree or two lower for a mature royal than a mature foxtail, probably due to the thickness of the trunk of the former.

[climate change virginia]

On 6/9/2019 at 1:13 PM, PalmatierMeg said:

It's a fairly tropical palm, not as bad as Adonidias, but not much hardier. You will have to make concessions indoors to keep it alive through winter. For sure no unheated garages.

could it survive in my garage mine is attached to my house next to a laundry room(the laundry room is a south facing wall) and where I keep my palms is next to a freezer has grow lights and is covered with cardboard and plastic.

[palmsOrl]

On 11/18/2020 at 8:06 AM, climate change virginia said:

could it survive in my garage mine is attached to my house next to a laundry room(the laundry room is a south facing wall) and where I keep my palms is next to a freezer has grow lights and is covered with cardboard and plastic.

It depends on the temperatures from November through March.  Assuming it gets adequate light from the grow lights.  It should be kept at like 50-60F at night and 65-80F during the day.  Occasional dips lower than this are fine 40-50F, but it should not get this cold every night for the whole winter season.

[climate change virginia]

8 hours ago, palmsOrl said:

It depends on the temperatures from November through March.  Assuming it gets adequate light from the grow lights.  It should be kept at like 50-60F at night and 65-80F during the day.  Occasional dips lower than this are fine 40-50F, but it should not get this cold every night for the whole winter season.

my garage is 35-40f warmer than the outside neverr once has it froze inside

[palmsOrl]

You should be just fine with your foxtail in there then.

-Michael