Choice of coconut palm

[Plantking165]

I'm going to be getting another coconut palm to join my other 2. I'd like you guys votes for what type I should get im zone 9b Florida. It's between a Jamaican tall and a Panama tall.

[kinzyjr]

@Plantking165

If you already have a Jamaican Tall and don't have a Panama Tall, my vote is for Panama Tall.  I planted mine out less than a month before it got cold in January and it is doing great.

[Plantking165]

2 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

@Plantking165

If you already have a Jamaican Tall and don't have a Panama Tall, my vote is for Panama Tall.  I planted mine out less than a month before it got cold in January and it is doing great.

I dont have either and have room for 1 more palm so its either or im getting it from calusa palms next week while I'm down there for the day on vacation. Rn my fiji is burning up completely brown and yellow from intense sun but I'm hoping it will recover some before winter as it's soooo slow to grow.

[kinzyjr]

1 minute ago, Plantking165 said:

I dont have either and have room for 1 more palm so its either or im getting it from calusa palms next week while I'm down there for the day on vacation. Rn my fiji is burning up completely brown and yellow from intense sun but I'm hoping it will recover some before winter as it's soooo slow to grow.

If I had to pick one, Jamaican Tall.  Might grab a Fiji Dwarf tomorrow myself.

[Plantking165]

Just now, kinzyjr said:

If I had to pick one, Jamaican Tall.  Might grab a Fiji Dwarf tomorrow myself.

If you do grab a Fiji they are expensive like 200+ Mines struggling hard with the disease issues and growth it looks horrible but idk how it will preform if it makes it to next year. Be sure to share pics if you do grab one. Why would you choose Jamaican over Panama tall? 

[kinzyjr]

Just now, Plantking165 said:

If you do grab a Fiji they are expensive like 200+ Mines struggling hard with the disease issues and growth it looks horrible but idk how it will preform if it makes it to next year. Be sure to share pics if you do grab one. Why would you choose Jamaican over Panama tall? 

The Jamaican Tall grows a little faster and has a more robust crown.  Even though mine don't have overhead cover and took a dent during that wet, windy cold snap, they recover fast when it warms up and starts raining.  The Panama Tall is a bit more upright.  You could say it's splitting hairs since both are gorgeous palms.  The Panama Tall barely took a hit even being planted in the dead of winter, but it does push fronds a bit slower.  I have two coconuts in pots that are of unknown lineage.  They are suspected to be Green Malayans.  Those either need to be sold/gifted or find a new home in the yard somewhere now that the seedlings they were nursing have established.  My older Green Malayan (planted ~2011) may get moved to a sheltered location with more sun this summer.  I'm suspect on whether it will survive the move, but after the Spectrum root prune, it just doesn't look nice anymore now that the Maypan passed it up and blocks a lot of the morning sun.  If you don't have a Maypan, you may want to make it a 3-way race.

If I snag a Fiji Dwarf, I'll be able to keep it under canopy where I've never had a frost.  That should afford me some decent years out of it if we don't get another 1985 for a while.  Definitely share photos if I get one.

[Plantking165]

4 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

The Jamaican Tall grows a little faster and has a more robust crown.  Even though mine don't have overhead cover and took a dent during that wet, windy cold snap, they recover fast when it warms up and starts raining.  The Panama Tall is a bit more upright.  You could say it's splitting hairs since both are gorgeous palms.  The Panama Tall barely took a hit even being planted in the dead of winter, but it does push fronds a bit slower.  I have two coconuts in pots that are of unknown lineage.  They are suspected to be Green Malayans.  Those either need to be sold/gifted or find a new home in the yard somewhere now that the seedlings they were nursing have established.  My older Green Malayan (planted ~2011) may get moved to a sheltered location with more sun this summer.  I'm suspect on whether it will survive the move, but after the Spectrum root prune, it just doesn't look nice anymore now that the Maypan passed it up and blocks a lot of the morning sun.  If you don't have a Maypan, you may want to make it a 3-way race.

If I snag a Fiji Dwarf, I'll be able to keep it under canopy where I've never had a frost.  That should afford me some decent years out of it if we don't get another 1985 for a while.  Definitely share photos if I get one.

My Fiji had the petiole and rachis blight and now you see the chewed marks or sunken areas those are new any idea on what that is its everywhere and the fijis slow growth isn't helping the fast spread of the disease its in the crown but maybe the fast growth of the Jamaican tall can outpace it.

Edited July 15, 2022 by Plantking165

[kinzyjr]

7 minutes ago, Plantking165 said:

My Fiji had the petiole and rachis blight and now you see the chewed marks or sunken areas those are new any idea on what that is its everywhere and the fijis slow growth isn't helping the fast spread of the disease its in the crown but maybe the fast growth of the Jamaican tall can outpace it.

Wish I could tell you concretely what is going on, but unfortunately I'm not that advanced.  If it was my guess, then pests of some kind.  My petioles sometimes get some scarring from the cold over here an it looks similar to that.  If you're on municipal water, you may want to not water it for a while as my leaflets sometimes get chlorotic and frizzle at the tip if I give them too much tap water. 

Does the new spear leaf have it when it opens?

[Plantking165]

16 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

Wish I could tell you concretely what is going on, but unfortunately I'm not that advanced.  If it was my guess, then pests of some kind.  My petioles sometimes get some scarring from the cold over here an it looks similar to that.  If you're on municipal water, you may want to not water it for a while as my leaflets sometimes get chlorotic and frizzle at the tip if I give them too much tap water. 

Does the new spear leaf have it when it opens?

So I've got It in full sun its burned up especially in person pics don't show it well but the new leaf has stopped growing fornow its smaller than the others and it was half grown when I got it it doubled in size and about 14 inches of spear growth in a month and a half very slow with all the disease ans random things happening to it aswell as sun burn its taking a hit only downfall is fiji is a slow grower so recovery isn't really a strong suit for it.

[Plantking165]

So how do you water a newly planted palm if you can't use the city water? And your malayan was planted in 2011 its over 10yrs old and no fruit yet? 

[kinzyjr]

23 hours ago, Plantking165 said:

So how do you water a newly planted palm if you can't use the city water? And your malayan was planted in 2011 its over 10yrs old and no fruit yet? 

I can get away with boiling the water for 20 minutes and using it after it cools off in a pinch, but using rain barrels would save me a lot of grief.

Yeah, the Malayan had a run in with some cable company folks who decided to remove about half the roots.

This is the palm in 2016: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/52296-palms-and-others-of-interest/&do=findComment&comment=793775

This is it now - sad shape. 

 

On 7/14/2022 at 9:54 PM, Plantking165 said:

So I've got It in full sun its burned up especially in person pics don't show it well but the new leaf has stopped growing fornow its smaller than the others and it was half grown when I got it it doubled in size and about 14 inches of spear growth in a month and a half very slow with all the disease ans random things happening to it aswell as sun burn its taking a hit only downfall is fiji is a slow grower so recovery isn't really a strong suit for it.

You can see some of the spotting and burn from the cold wind we had this winter:

It looks like your symptoms are a little different, especially your palm is not growing.  Mine are growing very fast at this point.  If it doesn't start pushing spears, you might have one that is dead inside or has a root issue.

 

I picked up a small Fiji Dwarf while I was out today.  This should be an interesting experiment for however long it lasts.:

 

[Fishinsteeg234]

I think your palm is still acclimating to full sun. Trying adding some fish emulsion liquid fertilizer to keep the nutrients readily available to the roots this summer. 

[Plantking165]

Yeah its pushing the spear but very slowly I take a picture every Monday to compare and its growing just 2 months in almost and its still pushing the same spear. Fijis are slow to grow I know that but is this slow normal, the disease in the crown is getting worse on the newest leaves its showing the rachis on each leaflet is showing complete death of part of the rachis so my counter to the disease issues is fast growth the fiji is failing to do so. Aswell as those weird looking areas popping up through out the palm is concerning. The mites are relentless rn I've been using avid miticide but they are persistent. And the new frond is turning yellowish brown too thats not good thought that one would have been acclimated to the sun but ig not. The petiole blight doesn't seem as bad on the new leaves other than down in the crown where it stays wet so the new leaves breed it down at the bottom of the forming leaflets. And the sun is frying this palm hard. So all in all this palm is taking its transplant and whatnot hard. I fear it may not make it considering everything its got going on the red spicata is showing some of the same but it's grown a new leaf and is opening a new spear rn and I've had it almost 2 months aswell so its actively growing quick so I'm not too concerned about it. @kinzyjr I've also seen click beetles on the palm just one or 2 during the day but they act at night so seeing them during the day could be an infestation the larve feed on roots but they aren't associated with palms at all more of vegetables and stuff so im not sure they are damaging the palm in any way. Just a note that I'm seeing some.

Edited July 16, 2022 by Plantking165