How long do queen palms live?

[coconuts_dont_growhere_but]

I have some queen palms and i wonder when they will die. The older ones where all planted at once when the neighborhood was built around 15 years ago. I cant really find information on how long these things live.

[NickJames]

3 minutes ago, coconuts_dont_growhere_but said:

I have some queen palms and i wonder when they will die. The older ones where all planted at once when the neighborhood was built around 15 years ago. I cant really find information on how long these things live.

This is my childhood home in Jacksonville in Dec. 2018 (mid paint job). I grew up with the circled queen palms. They were planted in 1997 from 30 gallon containers. They continue to fruit yearly and show no signs of slowing down. They also went through extreme freezes in the early 2000s and 2010. They saw 19 degrees in 2001 and two weeks of extremely hard freezes with low daytime highs in 2010. 

[Jimbean]

There's some pre-1989 ones here in Brevard that are beaten by the elements over the years.  They are probably ~40' tall.

[ck_in_fla]

4 hours ago, Jimbean said:

There's some pre-1989 ones here in Brevard that are beaten by the elements over the years.  They are probably ~40' tall.

I have some in my Winter Springs (Orlando area), FL lawn that I planted as seedlings in early 1984.  So, they are at least 36 years old.  The last time I had them trimmed, the guy told me that he can no longer reach the dead fronds without a bucket truck.  :-)

[Neil C]

Too long....

Regards Neil

[Jim in Los Altos]

They can easily live 100 years or more here in California. There are many examples of mature ones planted in 1920 that are still alive. Lots of old ones in Hollywood for example. 

The one in the photo below was planted about 1910 in what was an apricot orchard in Sunnyvale  (Northern CA) and is still there. The orchard property is being developed and I don’t know if the palm will be taken down. 

Edited March 19, 2020 by Jim in Los Altos

[ck_in_fla]

Here in Florida, I'm guessing they become lightening rods long before they get that tall.

[aztropic]

In Arizona,20 years or less.Once they get about 10 feet of wood trunk,they get very ugly,very quickly,without extreme intervention.Frizzletop,or limp,(wet noodle) fronds from manganese and boron deficiencies are common here.Pics are palms in my own neighborhood about 15 years old each with little to no maintenance.Notice,new fronds are starting to decline.

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[NOT A TA]

7 hours ago, ck_in_fla said:

Here in Florida, I'm guessing they become lightening rods long before they get that tall.

I took my tall Queen (40-45 YO) down when I couldn't reach it to pull old fronds off with a 30' ladder & extending pole saw. Nearby Coconut that was about the same height got hit by lightening a couple years earlier. I witnessed the telephone pole out front getting hit last year, looked like a fireworks display as the insulators exploded in a shower of sparks. We get a lot of lightening here so The tallest palms get thinned out.

[coconuts_dont_growhere_but]

2 hours ago, NOT A TA said:

I took my tall Queen (40-45 YO) down when I couldn't reach it to pull old fronds off with a 30' ladder & extending pole saw. Nearby Coconut that was about the same height got hit by lightening a couple years earlier. I witnessed the telephone pole out front getting hit last year, looked like a fireworks display as the insulators exploded in a shower of sparks. We get a lot of lightening here so The tallest palms get thinned out.

I've never seen lighting hit anything. I think the only thing that will do the weak trunked one in is an earthquake or something.

[Butch]

I bought my house in SO CA in 1972, with a queen reaching over the top of my house. It needs a little grooming but is going along just fine, with very little care or water/fertilizer from me. 

Butch

[ck_in_fla]

1 hour ago, coconuts_dont_growhere_but said:

I've never seen lighting hit anything. I think the only thing that will do the weak trunked one in is an earthquake or something.

Lightening in Florida and lightening in California are two entirely different things.  This is why you never see really tall Wahingtonia here in Florida like you see in California.  Just my two cents.

[coconuts_dont_growhere_but]

4 hours ago, ck_in_fla said:

Lightening in Florida and lightening in California are two entirely different things.  This is why you never see really tall Wahingtonia here in Florida like you see in California.  Just my two cents.

How tall are they?

[ck_in_fla]

1 hour ago, coconuts_dont_growhere_but said:

How tall are they?

I have been in California a number of times and have always been impressed by the extremely tall Washingtonia there.  Here in Florida, we very seldom see Washingtonia anywhere near that tall.  However, we do occasionally see the results of them being struck by lightening.  When there is a group of three, it is always the tallest one that takes one for the team.  :-)

There is a reason Central Florida is sometimes referred to as the "Lightening Capital" of the country.  It has something to do with the extremely high humidity and the unrelenting heat most of the year.  For example, we have already had high temps in the 90's.  Right now (10:34 PM) it is 81F with 79% humidity outside.  Here in my den, it is a comfortable 76 degrees with 40% humidity thanks to my SEER 21 Trane unit.  :-)

[coconuts_dont_growhere_but]

29 minutes ago, ck_in_fla said:

I have been in California a number of times and have always been impressed by the extremely tall Washingtonia there.  Here in Florida, we very seldom see Washingtonia anywhere near that tall.  However, we do occasionally see the results of them being struck by lightening.  When there is a group of three, it is always the tallest one that takes one for the team.  :-)

There is a reason Central Florida is sometimes referred to as the "Lightening Capital" of the country.  It has something to do with the extremely high humidity and the unrelenting heat most of the year.  For example, we have already had high temps in the 90's.  Right now (10:34 PM) it is 81F with 79% humidity outside.  Here in my den, it is a comfortable 76 degrees with 40% humidity thanks to my SEER 21 Trane unit.  :-)

Ok there is like a group of a lot of wahsingtonas in Lake Elsinore that can be seen while driving down the freeway that look like they are like 100 feet tall, which is like the max height for those things.

[Jeffnparrishfl]

I see lots of queens that look terrible in my area. I have great success with them as I water and fertilize them often. They grow amazingly fast.  If you don’t they look terrible. I’d say lifespan prob not too great in Florida though as they are susceptible to several diseases. I noticed though if you take care of them they seem much more resistant to disease. 

[coconuts_dont_growhere_but]

58 minutes ago, Jeffnparrishfl said:

I see lots of queens that look terrible in my area. I have great success with them as I water and fertilize them often. They grow amazingly fast.  If you don’t they look terrible. I’d say lifespan prob not too great in Florida though as they are susceptible to several diseases. I noticed though if you take care of them they seem much more resistant to disease. 

I dont really fertilize mine, just water. Well we got two pairs that where planted right next to eachother, and one ends up dominating the other. Even the ones that are getting out-competed look nice.

[PalmatierMeg]

Queens are water and fertilizer junkies. You need to take care of them: time release fertilizer with major and minor elements in spring and early fall, regular watering/irrigation.