Chinese Fan Palm

[mxcolin]

My Chinese Fan Palm is the first palm I ever bought and I’m loathe to give up on it but it’s just never going to thrive in our climate. Too sunny, too dry, too hot. It’s a struggle to get it through the summer and there’s just nowhere I can put it with enough shade at my house. I’m thinking of moving it indoors. I can’t put it near a window as I just don’t have space. Will it die if it’s away from a window? The room itself is very bright in the morning but it wouldn’t get any direct light. Is this a crazy plan? It weighs a ton now so it won’t be an easy task. Should I just give up on it?

[Brucer]

I have given up on trying to grow palms and tree ferns where its just too wrong for them.

I have a few Chinese fan palms at my farm, and the bloody cows love them, along with livistona australis and butias.  And dont mention the vines that try to smother them.

[Fusca]

12 hours ago, mxcolin said:

My Chinese Fan Palm is the first palm I ever bought and I’m loathe to give up on it but it’s just never going to thrive in our climate. Too sunny, too dry, too hot. It’s a struggle to get it through the summer and there’s just nowhere I can put it with enough shade at my house. I’m thinking of moving it indoors. I can’t put it near a window as I just don’t have space. Will it die if it’s away from a window? The room itself is very bright in the morning but it wouldn’t get any direct light. Is this a crazy plan? It weighs a ton now so it won’t be an easy task. Should I just give up on it?

Colin, I'm a little surprised as these are pretty tough palms.  I lost one in San Antonio that had exposure to late afternoon sun but I suspect that it had been in a container too long.  Do you have a recent pic?  Below is mine that is in full sun and gets no supplemental water.  We've already had about 6-7 days above 100° and doesn't look bad in spite of the 7.9 soil pH and almost daily winds.

[mxcolin]

This is it recently. I had it under a patio and it looked great. Had to take it out from under the patio and now it looks cooked. I have no space left to plant it in the ground but I’m going to roll the dice on one last spot before I give up. Lots of days in the 100°’s this week too. 
 

[mxcolin]

We also have next to zero humidity here so that may also be a factor. 

[Patrick]

Hi Mxcolin,

 

It's not THAT dry out there, I think your palm will be allright. If you were in AZ I would agree on the humidity. I'm about 1.5 hours away and I have one that's doing just fine. I pass through there pretty often so I know the area/ climate a little bit. They're slow to start but get faster as they get larger. I think yours needs more water, and perhaps might be happier that way. Mine wasn't happy until it found a good water source. I'm in straight up clay, and I bet if I kept it swampy it would do just fine. I have a french drain on one side of the yard that my tree found and it's been very happy ever since its roots grew into it. The neighbors water too much so I was exploiting their sprinkler water that was saturating my yard. Yours being contained, it's harder for those roots, and there's less of them, to find a good solid chunk of water to sip on constantly. Your palm looks good for being in a pot. I can tell by the yellow that the sun is blasting it a little bit- but it's not a deal-breaker wether the palm will live or not. It's hard to keep them happy this time of the year, especially with all the waves of heat we've been having. What's your lows like? High teens on the bad years? A few nights of mid 20's on a normal year? That could be a challenge, but I've had mine in the high teens for a couple nights and it made it. Long term sustainability I can't comment on, but you look to be in suburbia so you are insulated to a certain point with all the houses around. If it gets into the high 20's here, I have some palms I have to worry about, but this one is not one of them.

My palm buddy around the corner has had one of these in his yard for YEARS, full sun, and it's been super slow- and I'm pretty sure it's because he's not getting it the water it craves; but it's also why I say they're slow to start. The one in my yard I planted in 07 or 08 from a 5 gallon, and it didn't speed up until it got big enough to trunk- and that probably only happened a few years back. Maybe '18 or 17? I don't keep a palm diary lol- but bottom line it was like 10 years in the ground and after finding steady water that it got large enough to trunk. Now it's got probably 8' of trunk and I attribute the growth acceleration to the water. I've given it some fertilizer over the years but unreliably. 

Speaking of, over in Rancho Cordova they sell Palm Plus made by Simplot by the 50Lb bag. Check out: Crop Production Services, and yes they sell to non-contractor types (regular ol' people). It might be worth a drive for you if you didn't have a good fertilizer source.

Do you have an in-ground spot for it? Or perhaps you prefer to keep it in a pot? If you got it in the ground it would probably perform better.

 

As far as indoors goes, I question if you could find a spot with enough light, and you would probably have to be vigilant about bugs. How about on the side yard with a shade cloth stretched across the fence? Then the sun would be cut down a little bit, which is what's causing the leaf yellowing.

Edited June 26, 2022 by Patrick
a few typos.

[96720]

They grow fine in phoenix you need it in the ground it is hard to grow things in pots the roots get cooked better in the ground!!!

[mxcolin]

I wish I had a spot in the ground. Unfortunately not. I can’t give it more water easily where it’s at but the move will allow me to. Here’s hoping. Nothing in the teens here. Barely under 30° in 5 years here. It hit 27° In my yard once this year for about an hour. That’s about it. I have way less cold tolerant palms that are just fine. It’s always the heat that gets them. We’re not Arizona but in summer we have very low humidity compared with San Antonio. As I type this our humidity is lower than Phoenix but generally it’s not. 

[mxcolin]

2 minutes ago, 96720 said:

They grow fine in phoenix you need it in the ground it is hard to grow things in pots the roots get cooked better in the ground!!!

Yeah I know. Ran out of space though ☹️

[Patrick]

2 minutes ago, 96720 said:

They grow fine in phoenix you need it in the ground it is hard to grow things in pots the roots get cooked better in the ground!!!

Water water water- even in Phoenix where there is no water lol.

 

That pot has got to weigh a ton, eh? Would it be too much to maybe try getting something under it to hold water- to give the palm a reserve?

 

Oh, so then you're pretty much just the same temperatures as me- but I'll give it to you, you probably are a little lower on the humidity since you're in the foothills, but I bet it's not by much. i'd go check my backyard right now, but I just hosed everything down and my wireless transmitter says it's 88%, so that's a lie!

[Patrick]

3 minutes ago, mxcolin said:

Yeah I know. Ran out of space though ☹️

Nah, there's always room for one more  !

[96720]

If you have to have it in a pot you are better to have a pot inside pot see what size of a pot will fit inside your clay pot like a 5gal or 15 gal then there will be some air space so the roots aren’t right against the pot

[mxcolin]

12 minutes ago, Patrick said:

Water water water- even in Phoenix where there is no water lol.

 

That pot has got to weigh a ton, eh? Would it be too much to maybe try getting something under it to hold water- to give the palm a reserve?

 

Oh, so then you're pretty much just the same temperatures as me- but I'll give it to you, you probably are a little lower on the humidity since you're in the foothills, but I bet it's not by much. i'd go check my backyard right now, but I just hosed everything down and my wireless transmitter says it's 88%, so that's a lie!

Yeah it weighs a crazy amount. Not looking forward to moving it. Has to be done though. Like I say it was my first palm before I knew what I was doing. 

[Patrick]

8 minutes ago, mxcolin said:

Yeah it weighs a crazy amount. Not looking forward to moving it. Has to be done though. Like I say it was my first palm before I knew what I was doing. 

You got a hand truck? Might be the only way... Watch out for those spikes!

[mxcolin]

On 6/26/2022 at 1:15 PM, Patrick said:

You got a hand truck? Might be the only way... Watch out for those spikes!

Got it moved using one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09DKFTQTV

Genius!!!

[mxcolin]

Boy was I right to move it. Here it is after 4 months of summer heat that would have completely cooked it, including one day at 114. Without the extra sun, sitting in the shade, it's looking fantastic. Totally saved it!!!

[Merlyn]

@mxcolinlooks great!  There's a local nursery that grows them under 100% oak canopy.  I've seen them tossed in a random pile of weeds, fallen over in a pot with no soil, with no sprinklers...and still growing fine!  I'd think that except for being a bit stretched out, it'll grow just fine but a little slow there.  But you'll get nice big round fans! 

[mxcolin]

Thanks, yeah, I don't need it to grow any faster, it's perfect for this spot. Looks like it will fill out perfectly. It was the first palm I bought and really didn't want to get rid of it. It was a killer to move but totally worth it!!!