Sabal Pumos

[EastCanadaTropicals]

Let's discuss Sabal Pumos. How cold hardy it is, its size, and add pictures of them in your Garden, or anywhere else.

[Matt N- Dallas]

S. Pumos is not as cold hardy as palmetto, uresana, mexicana, riverside, brazoria, Birmingham, etc.  I lost a nice 25g size one from the cold blast of 2011 in Dallas.  The ultimate low in Feb of 2011 was 14* w/ +90 hours below freezing.  

[EastCanadaTropicals]

2 minutes ago, Matt N- Dallas said:

S. Pumos is not as cold hardy as palmetto, uresana, mexicana, riverside, brazoria, Birmingham, etc.  I lost a nice 25g size one from the cold blast of 2011 in Dallas.  The ultimate low in Feb of 2011 was 14* w/ +90 hours below freezing.  

Their native to a really cold part of Mexico, so I expected them to be very hardy.

[EastCanadaTropicals]

3 minutes ago, Matt N- Dallas said:

S. Pumos is not as cold hardy as palmetto, uresana, mexicana, riverside, brazoria, Birmingham, etc.  I lost a nice 25g size one from the cold blast of 2011 in Dallas.  The ultimate low in Feb of 2011 was 14* w/ +90 hours below freezing.  

Results might vary anyways.

[Matt N- Dallas]

You can use the search function and find many posts and discussion on s. Pumos.  I replanted pumos in 2015.  It suffers leaf damage at 19*-21* in San Marcos, TX.  

[Silas_Sancona]

10 minutes ago, EastCanadaTropicals said:

Their native to a really cold part of Mexico, so I expected them to be very hardy.

Actually, Sabal pumos is native to areas of Mexico that are 9a thru 13. Check out observation data for the species, via Inaturalist, then compare to the Interactive Plant Hardiness Zone Map for Mexico.. Not really all that cold hardy.

Edited January 5, 2021 by Silas_Sancona
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[EastCanadaTropicals]

3 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Actually, Sabal pumos is native to areas of Mexico that are 9a thru 13. Check out observation data for the species, via Inaturalist, then compare to the Interactive Plant Hardiness Zone Map for Mexico.. Not really all that cold hardy.

Then why is Mexicana harder even though Mexicana originates from even warmer climates?

[Silas_Sancona]

2 minutes ago, EastCanadaTropicals said:

Then why is Mexicana harder even though Mexicana originates from even warmer climates?

Check out a distribution map for the species.. Occurs from Guatemala/ El Salvador ..and the Yucatan, all the way north, up into Texas.. A lot warmer -overall- the further south you go, even up in the mountains..  Pretty sure if you grew plants from  seed obtained at the far south extant of it's range, they'd likely be less hardy than seed-grown plants -of the same species- from Texas..

[EastCanadaTropicals]

2 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Check out a distribution map for the species.. Occurs from Guatemala/ El Salvador ..and the Yucatan, all the way north, up into Texas.. A lot warmer -overall- the further south you go, even up in the mountains..  Pretty sure if you grew plants from  seed obtained at the far south extant of it's range, they'd likely be less hardy than seed-grown plants -of the same species- from Texas..

Yes, I know that. That isn't answering my question at all.

[Jubaea_James760]

Sabal Pumos have slender trunks similar to Roseii & Mauritiiformis. Their very similar looking if not closely identical to Sabal Roseii. 

My experience with Sabal Pumos have been good here in my zone 8b. My first one i planted back in 2014? Was a 15 gallon size. It grew slow first few years but I moved out in 2015 when I bought my house. It was left neglected at my sisters house with no fertilizer & basically only winter rain water. When I did stop by ( once every 3-4 months?) I soaked it. Lowest temperature it experienced was probably 18-19f i believe. 

Overall it's extremely drought tolerate once established & cold hardy in my zone. Very slow grower. My 2nd Pumos (planted at my house) is going on it's 2nd year so hopefully it increases speed this growing season. 

The neglected Sabal Pumos at my sisters house in 2018, BTW, it died when I tried to dig it up the next year. Was trying to move it to my house.

Sept. 2020. Here's my Sabal Pumos I have at my house. I planted it as a 5 gallon in 2019.

 

 

 

[PalmatierMeg]

Sabal pumos comes from a drier climate than many Sabals. I would hesitate to try one in FL where it's rainy and humid much of the year. I believe Sabal rosei would face the same problem and Sabal uresana failed spectacularly for me. My S. xbrazoria grew well for a number of years then went into decline and died, so I wonder about it too.