Chamaerops Humilis Planting Question

[trachyman]

I have a small Med Fan Palm I want to plant into a raised bed where I have several other palms doing very well for years.  The rasied bed is approx 16-18 inches tall and pretty loamy. I have had a Med (cerifera) in this location before but died in a normal Z8b winter the first year in the ground. I had another Med (green form) main stem die that same year in a other location it's first year in.  Luckily once sucker survived and is recovering nicely today. 

My question is should I put some gravel into the back fill to improve drainage? I want to make sure rain in winter doesn't hang out near the root zone in case that was the cause of death for the last two.  Also what is your secret to your success with growing Med Fans in humid winter areas? 

[Chester B]

I'm in Portland and have had Chaemerops in the ground 4+ years without issue, and you see big ones around town.  I have 3 blue, 2 green and one that I think is a mix growing in full sun to part shade.  Some are planted in very sandy, dry fast draining soil and some in heavy clay.  I amend with some compost when I plant and that's about it.  Really they are such a trouble free plant in my experience.  We get roughly 36"-44" rain annually in my location.

How big were these when you planted them?  And at what time of year?  Did they have time to settle in?  

[trachyman]

2 minutes ago, Chester B said:

I'm in Portland and have had Chaemerops in the ground 4+ years without issue, and you see big ones around town.  I have 3 blue, 2 green and one that I think is a mix growing in full sun to part shade.  Some are planted in very sandy, dry fast draining soil and some in heavy clay.  I amend with some compost when I plant and that's about it.  Really they are such a trouble free plant in my experience.  We get roughly 36"-44" rain annually in my location.

How big were these when you planted them?  And at what time of year?  Did they have time to settle in?  

They were 5 gallons I believe.  I planted them more than likely end of spring or early summer but I forget.  We get about the same amount of rain on avg. as you. I am a bit further north of Seattle in a nice Z8b microclimate (some winters Z9a). I thought the blue version turned green if they recieved heavy rain. Any pics of yours?

[Chester B]

[Chester B]

So

Pic1 - Green - This one I've had for 3 years - moved it at least twice.

 

All of these were planted last year mid summer.

Pic 2 - Blue

Pic 3 - Green

Pic 4 - To me looks like a cross 

Pic 5 - Blue

The biggest one I have is a blue one, but its hard to see as it's been buried in the jungle in my backyard -  It's living in the shade now so no pic of that one.  It's been in the ground over 4 years now.

Edited July 13, 2020 by Chester B

[Trustandi]

@trachyman Hi my fellow Washingtonian. I am in Bellevue zone 8b. The green chamaerops is hardier than the blue one for our area. The blue one like to be on a drier side.

[Marco67]

Hi Trachyman,

I have different Chamaerops planted out for about 16 years without protection.  Your climate in the PNW is probably pretty similar with ours in nw europe.

All three species seem to be susceptible to rot in cool wet  climates. Also they seem to get black spots on their leaves when its wet but this doesn't harm them too much. 

In my experience their limit is about -10 C (14 F) below that they will get damaged, losing their spear and leaves. Mine were frozen back in the past a couple of times but always came back.  They have taken a -16 C (3 F) in 2012 with quite some frost days but none of them died. They are pretty solid plants and don't need a lot of attention in an 8B climate. The soil I have is clay and loam and has very poor drainage but it didn't harm them so far.  They stay bushy here without protection and don't grow large trunks like they do in the mediterranean. 

-Chamaerops Cerifera

 

-Chamaerops Vulcano

 

-Chamaerops Humilis

 

-Chamaerops Humilis

 

-Chamaerops Humilis Barcelona

Edited July 13, 2020 by Marco67

[trachyman]

Thanks guys for the pics and feedback. So do any of you use active protection against accessive moisture during the rainy season?

[Marco67]

I never did. I am not sure its the actual rain which harms them or the high air humidity. In the latter case rain protection is perhaps not much use. 

 

[trachyman]

BTW Marco67 that Volcano looks awesome. Boy if I could get my hands on one of those babies....

[Chester B]

I don't do a thing for them, they're on their own during winter.  I fertilize 2 or 3 times a year with palm gain and give them a little extra water in summer to speed up their growth.  I don't get any spotting on mine, I only see that on Butia.

[trachyman]

Ok I put him in the ground today. The first pic is this morning when it was still in the pot to give you a better sense of it's size. The 2nd photo is after it was planted.  As you can see it was a bit neglected at the nursery but I like him he growing despite this. A tough little cookie.  I'm hoping he takes root and grow for years to come. All the other palms in this bed grow like crazy. 

BTW never mind the weed fest. Tomorrow the wife and I are gonna have a weeding party! 

Edited July 14, 2020 by trachyman

[Marco67]

@Trachyman You can buy the Humilis in every garden center here but the Cerifera and Vulcano are much harder to find. The Vulcano is a very pretty and has

the added advantage that they hardly have any spines on their petioles.

I hope your Chamareops does well. They can grow very large so I hope it has enough space to grow in the future. Mine are about 1-1.5 m in diameter. 

[PalmTreeDude]

18 hours ago, Marco67 said:

Hi Trachyman,

I have different Chamaerops planted out for about 16 years without protection.  Your climate in the PNW is probably pretty similar with ours in nw europe.

All three species seem to be susceptible to rot in cool wet  climates. Also they seem to get black spots on their leaves when its wet but this doesn't harm them too much. 

In my experience their limit is about -10 C (14 F) below that they will get damaged, losing their spear and leaves. Mine were frozen back in the past a couple of times but always came back.  They have taken a -16 C (3 F) in 2012 with quite some frost days but none of them died. They are pretty solid plants and don't need a lot of attention in an 8B climate. The soil I have is clay and loam and has very poor drainage but it didn't harm them so far.  They stay bushy here without protection and don't grow large trunks like they do in the mediterranean. 

-Chamaerops Cerifera

 

-Chamaerops Vulcano

 

-Chamaerops Humilis

 

-Chamaerops Humilis

 

-Chamaerops Humilis Barcelona

I really like the Vulcano! Nice palms. 

[Marco67]

Hi PalmTreeDude

I agree the Vulcano variant is very pretty but difficult to find unfortunately. 

 

[trachyman]

18 hours ago, Marco67 said:

@Trachyman You can buy the Humilis in every garden center here but the Cerifera and Vulcano are much harder to find. The Vulcano is a very pretty and has

the added advantage that they hardly have any spines on their petioles.

I hope your Chamareops does well. They can grow very large so I hope it has enough space to grow in the future. Mine are about 1-1.5 m in diameter. 

Funny you day that Cerifera are hard to locate.  The nursery where I got my Med had more Ceriferas than green Meds. I want to try another but convincing the wife I need another plant is gonna be a challenge.