Where to buy a Pritchardia pacifica?

[chinandega81]

Is there a nursery in South Florida that sells these palms? I can only find one but they only sell wholesale. How do people obtain less common palms if they aren't readily available at nurseries or big box stores? If someone is selling them please let me know.

[KDubU]

Floribunda will likely have them but it’s not in FL as you likely know.

[Darold Petty]

Pritchardia pacifica and P. thurstoni are considered more frost tender than the Hawaiian species, so you won't find one in California, either. 

[chinandega81]

The odd thing is, I occasionaly see them around so i'm not sure how people get them in the first place. We had lows in the 40s several times this winter so far and the ones I have seen in Miami don't have any burn....and they don't look like they were protected either. I assume palm enthisiasts must propagate and trade amongst themselves but i'm not sure.

[Darold Petty]

29 minutes ago, chinandega81 said:

.I assume palm enthisiasts must propagate and trade amongst themselves but i'm not sure.

Back in the old days, when I had to walk barefoot in the snow, uphill both directions, to school,   trading was the only way to acquire new species. 

We are really fortunate to have such resources as the specialty growers like Jeff Searle, the guys from Southern California, and internet based businesses like Jeff Marcus.  Palms with a few keystrokes, how great !!! 

[JohnAndSancho]

Have you tried Plantvine?

[chinandega81]

I was only looking for in person nurseries but if any online business has them I would be happy to go that route too.

[bubba]

Between Jeff Searle and all the fine specialists from Redlands North, I would imagine you have a plethora of options. Get on your bike and ride!

[PJP]

What size are you looking for?

[Pinanga Pete]

I bought two from Action Theory Nursery in Redland (South of Miami). They have a website

[chinandega81]

1 hour ago, PJP said:

What size are you looking for?

Something small t that could fit it my car. Under 7 gallons.

[Steve the palmreader]

South Florida covers a large area , Where are you located ?

 

[PJP]

PM sent

[John hovancsek]

Find a bunch and collect seed. It is hard in fl but like they said earlier florabunda is the place but it is also wholesale 100$ min order

[chinandega81]

I'm in North Miami so there aren't too many of these palms around, much less in public areas where I could collect seeds.

 

Does anyone here actually have any experience growing them in their yards in South Florida? In the old threads it seems like in the low 40s they have spotting and in the 30s the fronds die completely. I would love to give one a try but I'm not sure how they will do in our sand....er our soil. It seems like the volcanic soil of the Pacific islands is what they are used to. But I will fertilize if that's what it takes to keep it happy.

[bubba]

Pinaga Pete gave you a recommendation of a nursery near Redlands. I bumped the topic with numerous pictures in PB County. I included a PDF, which pictures a 30 footer in far west and north PB County. 
 

Pritchardia pacifica is highly adaptable to sand, marl and limestone. The Caloosa Pp survived the 2010 elongated cold spell and easily survived...

[palmsOrl]

Back in 1997, when I was a kid, I found a yellow (due to being unhealthy) Pritchardia pacifica at the now defunct Flea World here near Orlando.  I remember, the vendor had a few common palms and then this unusual one and even at the time I knew it was Pritchardia pacifica and of course it didn't last long.  We took it home in the back of the truck and it was like 48F that day.

I agree with the notion that this species is prettier than the Hawaiian Pritchardias on a whole.  I haven't seen one for sale here in Florida since, except for maybe at the Searle sale and possible at one other sale dedicated to palms.

-Michael

[PalmatierMeg]

This is what everyone is talking about. This species suffers unsightly cold damage when temps fall below 50F. These are my 3 pritchardias 6 weeks into winter. The first two have not had  their dead fronds cut off; the third has. The first two have some canopy protection; the 3rd does not. This is not a palm species you want as a front yard showpiece unless you wish to trade 6 months of cold damage to have 6 months of palmy beauty.

My lows haven't fallen below 40F so far this winter but I've had below normal temps for almost 2 months and quite a few nights below 50F. These palms should survive until the swelter returns and should look awesome by mid-summer. But next December is not far off the horizon.

Pritchardia pacifica #1, Cape Coral, FL 2021

Pritchardia pacifica #2, Cape Coral, FL 2021

Pritchardia pacifica #3, Cape Coral, FL 2021

[palmsOrl]

If 40s does that to P. pacifica, I would say it is indeed a zone 11 palm.  Granted, the bud is hardier than something like C. renda (my best guess at least).

-Michael

[redant]

2 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

This is what everyone is talking about. This species suffers unsightly cold damage when temps fall below 50F. These are my 3 pritchardias 6 weeks into winter. The first two have not had  their dead fronds cut off; the third has. The first two have some canopy protection; the 3rd does not. This is not a palm species you want as a front yard showpiece unless you wish to trade 6 months of cold damage to have 6 months of palmy beauty.

My lows haven't fallen below 40F so far this winter but I've had below normal temps for almost 2 months and quite a few nights below 50F. These palms should survive until the swelter returns and should look awesome by mid-summer. But next December is not far off the horizon.

Pritchardia pacifica #1, Cape Coral, FL 2021

Pritchardia pacifica #2, Cape Coral, FL 2021

Pritchardia pacifica #3, Cape Coral, FL 2021

Looking just like mine. Lowest it's been is 41

[Mr.SamuraiSword]

6 minutes ago, redant said:

Looking just like mine. Lowest it's been is 41

This thread was beautifully timed.

[palmsOrl]

Now the Miami/Ft Lauderdale corridor is zone 11.

[PalmMom007]

 

On 2/9/2021 at 6:49 PM, redant said:

Looking just like mine. Lowest it's been is 41

Meg, this is a sad sight! Hoping they will pull through! Any other species suffer any cold damage so far this year?

[PalmMom007]

On 2/8/2021 at 8:28 AM, chinandega81 said:

Is there a nursery in South Florida that sells these palms? I can only find one but they only sell wholesale. How do people obtain less common palms if they aren't readily available at nurseries or big box stores? If someone is selling them please let me know.

Premier Growers, Inc. My husband Corey Bigler and I run it. We have P. Thurstonii and Pacifica in 1g, 7g, 15g I attached a pic one of our 7g thurstonii. I would recommend thurstonii as it is much more cold tolerant than pacifica. These have all been grown from seed by us, and is in full sun. Doing just fine! 
I also have 1g and 3g Pritchardia Martii, Hildebrandtii,  Schautteri, Martii, Minor, and Beccariana if you were looking for more of a collector’s palm. We have close to 300 species of palms right now most we grow from seed. We are located on Pine Island in St. James City, FL. Your welcome to come check out what we have. 
thanks, hope we can help you with your pritchardia hunt. Corey’s cell (239) 318-0459 I can send you our current inventory list if you would like, let me know 
thanks, 

Shelby 

(239) 318-0460

www.premiergrowersfl.com

 

 

[PalmatierMeg]

On 2/9/2021 at 7:09 PM, palmsOrl said:

Now the Miami/Ft Lauderdale corridor is zone 11.

I'm having an 11a winter ATM and look at the photos.

[PalmatierMeg]

1 hour ago, PalmMom007 said:

 

Meg, this is a sad sight! Hoping they will pull through! Any other species suffer any cold damage so far this year?

Coconuts have a lot of spotting and tip damage but they always do after winter. Same for bottle palms. Prolonged lows in the 40s and highs in the 60s do cosmetic damage to a lot of tropical palm species. 

[PalmMom007]

On 2/8/2021 at 8:28 AM, chinandega81 said:

Is there a nursery in South Florida that sells these palms? I can only find one but they only sell wholesale. How do people obtain less common palms if they aren't readily available at nurseries or big box stores? If someone is selling them please let me know.

Here are more pictures of our Pacifica’s. Also, there is a mature Pacifica growing in St. James City. It is protected tho, and planted right on the gulf at the end of St. James City. And the third pic is one of our 3g Pacifica’s

[chinandega81]

35 minutes ago, PalmMom007 said:

Premier Growers, Inc. My husband Corey Bigler and I run it. We have P. Thurstonii and Pacifica in 1g, 7g, 15g I attached a pic one of our 7g thurstonii. I would recommend thurstonii as it is much more cold tolerant than pacifica. These have all been grown from seed by us, and is in full sun. Doing just fine! 
I also have 1g and 3g Martii, Hildebrandtii,  Schautteri, Martii, Minor, and Beccariana if you were looking for more of a collector’s palm. We have close to 300 species of palms right now most we grow from seed. We are located on Pine Island in St. James City, FL. Your welcome to come check out what we have. 
thanks, hope we can help you with your pritchardia hunt. Corey’s cell (239) 318-0459 I can send you our current inventory list if you would like, let me know 
thanks, 

Shelby 

(239) 318-0460

www.premiergrowersfl.com

 

 

How is the thurstoni different than Pritchardia pacifica other than cold tolerance? I like the look of th Pp but if there is basically a "twin" to it that is more cold tolerant, that would be better. How much cold can the thustoni take before it gets leaf spots and damage?

[redant]

11 minutes ago, chinandega81 said:

How is the thurstoni different than Pritchardia pacifica other than cold tolerance? I like the look of th Pp but if there is basically a "twin" to it that is more cold tolerant, that would be better. How much cold can the thustoni take before it gets leaf spots and damage?

Pp is clearly the most beautiful of the bunch during good time, no real twin but I have most of the others in my yard and they look fine right now.

[Fusca]

3 hours ago, chinandega81 said:

How is the thurstoni different than Pritchardia pacifica other than cold tolerance? I like the look of th Pp but if there is basically a "twin" to it that is more cold tolerant, that would be better. How much cold can the thustoni take before it gets leaf spots and damage?

Thurstonii are very similar to pacifica, but I agree that pacifica are more attractive.  Main difference to me is the infructescence - as you can see in Shelby's photo of the pacifica they hold the fruit close to the trunk above the horizontal.  Thurstonii infructescence droop below the horizontal further away from the trunk and you can easily spot them from a distance.  Fruit and seed look pretty much identical also.  Below is a photo of thurstonii borrowed from Palmpedia.