Is this A. alexandrae?

[Looking Glass]

I got this guy for $5.00 months ago.   It had 1 yellow leaf, looked like it hadn’t been watered in a month, and was marked “Archontophoenix alexandrae” on a nursery clearance table.   Since I never see these in the ground here, ever, and I’ve never seen one for sale here, I thought it would be a “great idea” to get it.  

I repotted it with good soil, fertilized and watered regularly and aggressively and awaited the rocket-like fantastic growth…….  
After a few months…..  nothing.

No growth, no change.  

So I put it in a bucket to throw out.  

Well, I forgot about it, and it rained a bunch, and the bucket filled with water.   Then I rediscovered it sitting in the water for a month, and it was green and had a new leaf.  So I left it in there, in the now putrid water.   It made another new leaf and has a little spear over a couple months just sitting in 6 inches of gross water continuously.  

Its growing slowly, but at least it’s growing now.   It has gained approximately 0 inches in hight this growing season.  Does this look like A. alexandrae?   I don’t have any experience with Kings.   

 

[kinzyjr]

@Looking Glass It might just be the camera angle, but the undersides of the leaflets look green.  If they are and it's a "King" palm, then it is Archontophoenix cunninghamiana.  The other 5 members of the genus have silvery undersides.

[Looking Glass]

Just now, kinzyjr said:

@Looking Glass It might just be the camera angle, but the undersides of the leaflets look green.  If they are and it's a "King" palm, then it is Archontophoenix cunninghamiana.  The other 5 members of the genus have silvery undersides.

They are green there now, for sure.  Was harder to tell when it was one yellow leaf.  I’m no great baby palm identifier though.  All I know for sure is that it is slow in tropical heat and wants to be continuously submerged in water, apparently.  The leaves seem very stiff.  
 

[kinzyjr]

36 minutes ago, Looking Glass said:

They are green there now, for sure.  Was harder to tell when it was one yellow leaf.  I’m no great baby palm identifier though.  All I know for sure is that it is slow in tropical heat and wants to be continuously submerged in water, apparently.  The leaves seem very stiff.  
 

Don't feel bad.  I'm like a broken clock - right twice a day (on accident)

[sonoranfans]

it was an abused palm, recovery takes time.  I dont have cunninghamiana but I do have 4 other archie sp, all are water lovers.  I might repot that one with new soil as the soil might b an issue and how long has it ben in that pot.  The heavy rains are great at removing scale from soil(water hardness or fertiizer salts), but if this is an older potting soil it might be lacking organic material for holding water.  At that size though, the rain is huge.  All my potted palms(5-15gallon) jumped in the rainy july and august here.  Its like they came alive and now suddenly look like they need to be potted up or put in the ground.  I water a lot, water and rain are not equal.  Rain is clean and holds N2 unlike groundwater.  I might gt 80% of the growth in potted palms in the 2 1/2 month rainy season(july through mid sept).  I can water them heavily in our dry spring but I don't get that kind of jump, not even close.  

[Looking Glass]

1 hour ago, sonoranfans said:

it was an abused palm, recovery takes time.  I dont have cunninghamiana but I do have 4 other archie sp, all are water lovers.  I might repot that one with new soil as the soil might b an issue and how long has it ben in that pot.  The heavy rains are great at removing scale from soil(water hardness or fertiizer salts), but if this is an older potting soil it might be lacking organic material for holding water.  At that size though, the rain is huge.  All my potted palms(5-15gallon) jumped in the rainy july and august here.  Its like they came alive and now suddenly look like they need to be potted up or put in the ground.  I water a lot, water and rain are not equal.  Rain is clean and holds N2 unlike groundwater.  I might gt 80% of the growth in potted palms in the 2 1/2 month rainy season(july through mid sept).  I can water them heavily in our dry spring but I don't get that kind of jump, not even close.  

I did repot it when I got it home in decent soil (at least it was before it sat in that water), but it might be toast now.  That’s one of my recycled 1 gallon Floribunda pots.   
There is nothing like natural rain, I agree.  Really wakes everybody up.  Sadly, we’re short about 8 inches over here this year.  Maybe I can still hope for a wet fall, but it doesn’t seem likely.  

So, this does look like a baby Archie to you guys, at least?   I wasn’t even sure about that.  

[Frond-friend42]

Looks like my Archie's. Minus the undersides, which are paler. I thought I had cunninghamianas for a long while till someone on here pointed that out. I've got a bunch of alexanders.

[sonoranfans]

looks a lot like both alex and myolensis of mine when they w4ere that size.  ALso looks like the pot is way too small, I'd transfer to a 3-5 gallon.  Its surely rootbound and looking for more soil.  I cant say if its a cunninghamiana but my alex's didnt look very white in the und4ersides when they were small and in a pot.  My archie alexander triple started its young life without noticeable white undersides but they did appear more noticeable in direct sunlight as they grew in.  The white color is really only noticable in direct sunlight on the undersides of the leaf, its gorgeous in wind when the undersides are exposed to the sun..  This pic shows the triple about one year in the ground.  I bought them as 1 gallons but quickly upsized them as they grew.   Give it a  bigger pot or put it into the ground in fairly rich soil and they will grow quickly.  They went into the ground as 5 gallons 6 months after I bought them.

[Looking Glass]

That was from a few years ago…. Shortly after that post, a friend wanted it, so I gave it away for him to try in the back yard.   Not sure how it ultimately did after that.