Veitchia arecina (SUNSHINE PALM)

[35HD]

ANY GROWN PICS? GROWING PROBLEMS? I AM AWARE OF PBOB'S ISSUES, ANY OTHERS? THANKS.  

[Walter John]

no problemo with mine.

[Scott]

My V. Arecina is growing real nice in a pot right now. It spends winter indoors in front of floor to cieling glass with the sun streaming in.

In summer it goes outdoors but has to have shade, the sun burns it's leaves.

I keep it moist, and periodically add in various nutrients.

[quaman58]

I found them to be vigorous growers for about 7 months a year here. Unfortunately they were unable to tolerate 25F temps during the freeze, and cound not recover. (4 ft. seedlings). So I'm trying again....

Bret

[happ]

Veitchia has been slow for me but I haven't been particularly kind to the palm [ie 2 x transplant].  Purchased 2 more this summer that were great buys but frost damaged & expect it will be another year before they look half-way healthy.

[osideterry]

I'm done with veitchias and foxtails. Not cold-hardy, and real slow. No real upside in my yard. Will replace the empty holes in my yard with Archos, maybe a myolensis and a purpurea.

[Scott]

Terry - the purpurea would be real purdy.

[Walter John]

(osideterry @ Sep. 01 2007,14:40)

QUOTE

I'm done with veitchias and foxtails. Not cold-hardy, and real slow. No real upside in my yard. Will replace the empty holes in my yard with Archos, maybe a myolensis and a purpurea.

Hi Terry, I applaude your tenacity in sticking with palms when you have trouble with foxtails and veitchias. I don't think I'd keep with it if I couldn't grow Wodyetia or Veitchias. Something tells me though if you can grow A.purpureas you should be able to also grow Wodyetias, ah, maybe I'm wrong, have you tried these purple Archos before ?

[chris.oz]

Ray,

I think you may have problems with V. arecina in Zone 8.   This is a zone 11 palm IMO.

I live in zone 10, and germinated  a number of seedlings  but found that V arecina does not prosper here

if you have a lot of summer heat and humidity they may be OK.

[osideterry]

Wal, I've killed 6 foxtails trying. They produce maybe a leaf a year, and then a winter like this last one hits and they die. I also lost an Alexander king this winter. I know where you live it's hardier than cunninghamiana, but here there's no comparison. My cunninghams all did great and the alexander died. I know the other archos fall inbetween as to coldhardiness, but at least they can be counted on for fast grow. I love the trunk on the myolensis.

My 5-gallon sized Veitchi arecina died overnight here as well. To honest, I've only seen one of them particularly thriving as a mature palm here.

[Walter John]

I also lost an Alexander king this winter. I know where you live it's hardier than cunninghamiana, but here there's no comparison.

Tha's incorrect actually, alexandraes are never hardier than cunninghamianas anywhere on the planet. I can grow all the above but I honestly prefer the look of bangas (cunninghamianas), they look best in groups too.

[ruskinPalms]

Well, no one has posted any pics so I took some updated pics of mine. None are full grown by any means. I like this species a lot. They are very fast, definitely faster than Foxtails. I posted some before and after shots back in August. I may as well do it again since they are loaded in photobucket.

Front of the house, east facing - planted as 3 gallon triple 5/7/2006:

9/1/2007:

[ruskinPalms]

North facing wall, 3 gallon triple 5/7/2006:

9/1/2007:

[ruskinPalms]

south facing wall, 3 gal triple, 5/7/06:

9/1/07

[ruskinPalms]

Foxtails are a lot slower for me.

Southeast corner of house, 3 gal triple, 7/30/2006:

9/1/2007

[ruskinPalms]

Fastest palm I have is A. alexandrae

Planted on north facing wall because it was mislabeled as A. cunninghamiana and I thought it would like the cooler side of the house. 3 gallon pot, 6/28/2006:

9/1/2007:

It is about to shed an old frond and reveal more trunk!!!

[Tyrone]

Foxtails and Veitchia's need summer heat to look good and prosper. Though they have cold tolerance, with mild to cool summer temps they'll never get "out of the hole" that winter produces.

regards

Tyrone

[osideterry]

Agree.

Someone (Shon? Elidro?) post a photo of Roosty's. The best CA Veitchia I've seen.

[paulgila]

veitchia arecina is supposed to be the best veitchia for socal(marginal in all but coastal areas,tho),but zone 8?no way...

[epicure3]

In spite of all the problems my SoCal brethren have experienced, I have nothing but success and find it to be one of my most fastest growing palms. The had some damaged, but not completely burned, fronds from the January freeze but have all but outgrown it. I have 2 triples, 1 double and 1 single. All have put out about 4 fronds each so far this year. My tallest is probably about 18' high with about 8' of wood. I saw one seeding in Coronado July 4th. The other I have range from about 4' high to about 15' high. They are a very easy grow for me. Here are some pics from July.

[epicure3]

A couple more....

[epicure3]

[paulgila]

(epicure3 @ Sep. 02 2007,01:34)

QUOTE

A couple more....

i like the upside down one...

[ruskinPalms]

Beautiful shots Epicure!  Do you find that your multis are slower than your single?

[spockvr6]

Bill-

I find that my multiples grow alot slower than the singles.

[fastfeat]

(epicure3 @ Sep. 02 2007,01:29)

QUOTE

In spite of all the problems my SoCal brethren have experienced, I have nothing but success and find it to be one of my most fastest growing palms. The had some damaged, but not completely burned, fronds from the January freeze but have all but outgrown it. I have 2 triples, 1 double and 1 single. All have put out about 4 fronds each so far this year. My tallest is probably about 18' high with about 8' of wood. I saw one seeding in Coronado July 4th. The other I have range from about 4' high to about 15' high. They are a very easy grow for me. Here are some pics from July.

Epi--

Did these come from RSN as Veitchia 'Soledad' ? I saw those at RSN before coming to FL and always wondered what those species were there.

[epicure3]

(fastfeat @ Sep. 02 2007,12:48)

QUOTE

(epicure3 @ Sep. 02 2007,01:29)

QUOTE

In spite of all the problems my SoCal brethren have experienced, I have nothing but success and find it to be one of my most fastest growing palms. The had some damaged, but not completely burned, fronds from the January freeze but have all but outgrown it. I have 2 triples, 1 double and 1 single. All have put out about 4 fronds each so far this year. My tallest is probably about 18' high with about 8' of wood. I saw one seeding in Coronado July 4th. The other I have range from about 4' high to about 15' high. They are a very easy grow for me. Here are some pics from July.

Epi--

Did these come from RSN as Veitchia 'Soledad' ? I saw those at RSN before coming to FL and always wondered what those species were there.

All but one are indeed from RSN. The ones from RSN are just arecinas, however. They started out pretty wimpy losing a ton of fronds to wind in their first winter as I think they were grown in a sheltered environment in Hawaii. They toughened up after that.

My triples are indeed slower than the singles but the doubles seem to grow just as fast.

[happ]

Speaking of arencina.  Anyone know why the 1st leaves of summer are dwarfs?

[epicure3]

(happ @ Sep. 02 2007,14:40)

QUOTE

Speaking of arencina.  Anyone know why the 1st leaves of summer are dwarfs?

Happ, my guess would be the cold that we had last winter. I had the same problem on a couple of veitchias this spring. However, I did not the previous spring which followed a relatively normal winter. I wouldn't stress about it, that's for sure. The fact they grow here at all is pretty amazing to me as these are fairly tropical.

[happ]

Thanks for feedback,epicure  

BTW - drove by a few beautiful specimens in Hollywood late last night.  Maybe I'll get some photos.

Invariably, I tend to underwater & wondered if that also explains the mini-fronds.  Agree that veitchia is tempermental & slow to acclimate to our dry climate  

[osideterry]

When you live in 10a, it's easy to want to grow what your 10b neighbors have success with. It doesn't seem like too much of a stretch. It doesn't help when you have people say "You live in Oceanside? You should be able to grow a Clinostigma savoryana!"

That said, I'm stoked about the variety of palms that not only CAN grow, but will actually thrive in my yard.

[epicure3]

(happ @ Sep. 02 2007,14:52)

QUOTE

Thanks for feedback,epicure  

BTW - drove by a few beautiful specimens in Hollywood late last night.  Maybe I'll get some photos.

Invariably, I tend to underwater & wondered if that also explains the mini-fronds.  Agree that veitchia is tempermental & slow to acclimate to our dry climate  

Unless you soil is poor, you can't give these guys enough water in the summer.

[35HD]

GREAT PICS!!!

FOR MULTIS, WHAT KIND OF SPACING BETWEEN SEEDLINGS IS GOOD...1-2 INCHES?

[bubba]

I purchased four Veitchia's at Fairchild that were six feet tall at the time.I planted them next to the East side of my house. They are now almost fifteen feet and they do not get adequate sun because of their location.

[happ]

(osideterry @ Sep. 02 2007,16:36)

QUOTE

When you live in 10a, it's easy to want to grow what your 10b neighbors have success with. It doesn't seem like too much of a stretch. It doesn't help when you have people say "You live in Oceanside? You should be able to grow a Clinostigma savoryana!"

That said, I'm stoked about the variety of palms that not only CAN grow, but will actually thrive in my yard.

As epicure wrote, last winter was a bad reminder that at our latitude [32-34N] arctic air does manage to find California through the obstacles of high mountains & the Pacific.  It was, nonetheless, the 1st frost since 1990 for many areas.  Another factor is that winter nights are often quite chilly, particularly if a very dry airmass follows a cold gulf of Alaska storm.  Minimums in the 50's during the rain, fall well into the 40's [30's in the valleys] for a week or more.  Also strong drying winds [even during warm santa ana nights] work against veitchia arecina [& just about every other palm   .   It really is a half year of damage & 6 mos of recovery ratio in SoCal. There are several multiple plannings nearby.  Don't think planting veitchia as street palms is a good choice unless provided extra attention.  I'll bring my camera along for some "after-freeze" photos of V. arecina.

epicure - hope my veitchia's grow up looking like yours some day     Bill's Tampa bay specimens are gorgeous

[gavilan1]

I don't think that they are slow, as long as they have the right conditions (heat, water, soil).   Of course I'm speaking from my limited experience, FWIW.  I've got a youngster that I bought from Greg in Lake Forest as a 1G last summer, planted out in the front lawn in full sun next to a young H. indica and it's throwing leaves quickly and they're doing fine in the sun.  It's only about 24" out of lawn at present (the H. indica is about 36" tall) but it's doing fine in the summer heat.  This summer in So. Cal. has mine grinning.  It gets plenty of water in the early morning and also a few minutes in late afternoon, when the sun is low in the west.  The new leaves are green and healthy.  The oldest leaves are a bit sun beaten, but those were already open when the young palm was first aclimating to full sun in April.