Pygmy Date Palm in Myrtle Beach

[Pee Dee Palms]

Welp, I had to do it, this will be fun... Update pics soon...

[ChicagoPalma]

Nice, I lost a pygmy for no random reason, it decided to kick the bucket.

[DAVEinMB]

@General Sylvester D. Palm they are very hard to keep alive here, good luck. 

[Pee Dee Palms]

3 minutes ago, DAVEinMB said:

@General Sylvester D. Palm they are very hard to keep alive here, good luck. 

Thanks, I'll definitely need it. It was relatively cheap so I decided that I'd pull the trigger. I'm definitely aware of what I'm getting myself into. I'd be happy if it survived at least one or two winters...

[DAVEinMB]

@General Sylvester D. Palm i picked up a roebelenii dactylifera cross from mpom, looks like a pygmy but is way tougher

[Pee Dee Palms]

4 minutes ago, DAVEinMB said:

@General Sylvester D. Palm i picked up a roebelenii dactylifera cross from mpom, looks like a pygmy but is way tougher

Nice, has it seen a winter yet?

[DAVEinMB]

@General Sylvester D. Palm Been thru 3, took them all like a champ with minimal protection

Edited March 1, 2023 by DAVEinMB

[Fusca]

Pygmy dates seem to do well in containers.  I carried one around with me for 17 years while living in Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina before finally putting it in the ground in Baytown, Texas back in 2005.  It even flowered in the container.  Instead of buying a pine to decorate at Christmas I just decorated the palm! 

[Pee Dee Palms]

4 minutes ago, Fusca said:

Pygmy dates seem to do well in containers.  I carried one around with me for 17 years while living in Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina before finally putting it in the ground in Baytown, Texas back in 2005.  It even flowered in the container.  Instead of buying a pine to decorate at Christmas I just decorated the palm! 

I honestly am seriously considering putting it in a pot. I still want to at least try it in the ground here, I have no idea how well it'll do. I know it will require crazy amounts of protection.

[MarcusH]

51 minutes ago, General Sylvester D. Palm said:

Thanks, I'll definitely need it. It was relatively cheap so I decided that I'd pull the trigger. I'm definitely aware of what I'm getting myself into. I'd be happy if it survived at least one or two winters...

So far my pygmy survived December 2022 with lows of 16,21,24,28.  Some leaf burn.  Put a trash can over it that's it. 

[Pee Dee Palms]

6 minutes ago, MarcusH said:

So far my pygmy survived December 2022 with lows of 16,21,24,28.  Some leaf burn.  Put a trash can over it that's it. 

Nice, that gives me a bit of hope. I'm sure the kind of cold it is also makes a difference.

Edited March 1, 2023 by General Sylvester D. Palm

[MarcusH]

It was a dry cold but the wind was brutal on the first day made it feel much colder than 16F . As long as you can protect it I don't see a problem growing it. 

[Fusca]

1 hour ago, General Sylvester D. Palm said:

I honestly am seriously considering putting it in a pot. I still want to at least try it in the ground here, I have no idea how well it'll do. I know it will require crazy amounts of protection.

They are similar to Livistona chinensis in the fact that they are not very leaf hardy but pretty bud hardy.  I think leaf damage occurs around 25°F but they can completely defoliate and come back.  Putting it in the ground in 9a depends on how much leaf damage you're willing to live with because it takes awhile for it to fully recover it's canopy.  Like you said you can always protect the foliage but be cautious of the needle-like spines that will make protection efforts more challenging!

[Pee Dee Palms]

3 minutes ago, Fusca said:

They are similar to Livistona chinensis in the fact that they are not very leaf hardy but pretty bud hardy.  I think leaf damage occurs around 25°F but they can completely defoliate and come back.  Putting it in the ground in 9a depends on how much leaf damage you're willing to live with because it takes awhile for it to fully recover it's canopy.  Like you said you can always protect the foliage but be cautious of the needle-like spines that will make protection efforts more challenging!

I have seen a few living in Jacksonville which is 9a. I'm in 8b so hopefully it'll still do okay. In December of last year we got down to 18 degrees. My two Queens both had a frost cloth with a heat light near the growing point. The one on the west side got damaged pretty badly and is all discolored yellow. The one on the south side is crispy on the ends of the fronds but the growing point and the lower portion of the fronds look like nothing ever happened. Good thing is neither of them had a spear pull. I'm planning to plant it pretty close to the Queen on the south side so it has the best chance of living.

[Pee Dee Palms]

And here she is! 

[Allen]

Looks good.  There is a guy here who had one in ground with protection.  At least if you decide to protect it they are easy to wrap except the spikes.

[MarcusH]

I digged mine out and planted it in a pot today.  Covered the small pygmy in leaves and a bucket over it and it's doing just fine after surviving lows of 16,21,24,28F.  You can protect it easily just watch for the spikes. It's recovering well in our 8b zone. 

[MarcusH]

On 3/1/2023 at 4:01 PM, General Sylvester D. Palm said:

I have seen a few living in Jacksonville which is 9a. I'm in 8b so hopefully it'll still do okay. In December of last year we got down to 18 degrees. My two Queens both had a frost cloth with a heat light near the growing point. The one on the west side got damaged pretty badly and is all discolored yellow. The one on the south side is crispy on the ends of the fronds but the growing point and the lower portion of the fronds look like nothing ever happened. Good thing is neither of them had a spear pull. I'm planning to plant it pretty close to the Queen on the south side so it has the best chance of living.

Also one of my two queen palms . This one completely defoliated on the Northwest side . Barely established, bought it as a strap leaf palm in May last year.  They're hardier than you think just deep watered them before any freeze with extra layer of mulch around the trunk . Don't worry about the fronds they'll grow back.  

[NBTX11]

16 hours ago, MarcusH said:

I digged mine out and planted it in a pot today.  Covered the small pygmy in leaves and a bucket over it and it's doing just fine after surviving lows of 16,21,24,28F.  You can protect it easily just watch for the spikes. It's recovering well in our 8b zone. 

Marcus if it survived those low temperatures, then maybe it’s hardier than given credit for and could be left in ground. 

[MarcusH]

55 minutes ago, NBTX11 said:

Marcus if it survived those low temperatures, then maybe it’s hardier than given credit for and could be left in ground. 

It surivived because healthy fronts are pushing out on all 3 trunks.  The reason why I digged it out was simply because the Washingtonia was blocking the view .  I planted to put it in a pot before the freeze when I decided to plant 3 more palms in the backyard. I thought it would die in December but it made it . A lucky one .  Now I'm happy it's in a pot.  

[Pee Dee Palms]

I don't think I've ever given an update on how this Pygmy has been doing. It's seeing its first winter this year. It has some rather noticeable discoloration on the outer fronds, but the fronds closest to the center spears are keeping the green a bit better. It has seen several frosts already, I'm just hoping we don't get any really cold weather.

Edited January 8, 2024 by Pee Dee Palms

[Las Palmas Norte]

2 hours ago, Pee Dee Palms said:

I don't think I've ever given an update on how this Pygmy has been doing. It's seeing its first winter this year. It has some rather noticeable discoloration on the outer fronds, but the fronds closest to the center spears are keeping the green a bit better. It has seen several frosts already, I'm just hoping we don't get any really cold weather.

 

Nice! I can't trust my zone 8 climate for a Pigmy. If I ever planted it, there's be some serious protection methods needed. There's 4 palms in this 15 gallon pot which will reside in my unheated garage for winter.

 

[WSimpson]

I have had mine for 10 years and some people had it for another 10 years or so before I had it  . I had leached out all nutrients from the soil and I damn near killed it , as it could barely hold its weakened trunk and crown up on its own without staking it up . Then I fertilized it and gave it epsom salts and it roared back to health . Potted plants need supplemental nutrients , as I had to learn the hard way by almost killing that palm . It now has a solid trunk with many new roots to keep it stabilized .

In other words they make a really good houseplant if cared for properly . 

Will

 

 

[DAVEinMB]

3 hours ago, Pee Dee Palms said:

I don't think I've ever given an update on how this Pygmy has been doing. It's seeing its first winter this year. It has some rather noticeable discoloration on the outer fronds, but the fronds closest to the center spears are keeping the green a bit better. It has seen several frosts already, I'm just hoping we don't get any really cold weather.

I would try to cover it before this storm comes. A bunch of rain and then upper 30s is going to put a hurting on it

[Harry’s Palms]

I would definitely protect that young palm . It looks like it will survive with a little help. 

[Pee Dee Palms]

Well, as expected, all three of the Pygmy Date Palms in the trio-clump had pretty bad spear pulls after the cold snap we recently had. I wrapped them with a frost cloth with no supplemental heating, which is probably why they got damaged so badly. I decided to trunk cut all of them, so far only one (the smallest) of the three is already starting to push new growth. I'm not quite sure, but I think I may have cut the biggest one back too much, but we shall see. Maybe the little one will be the "chosen one".

[Rain52]

• This pic taken a few years ago…my yard…..prob a foot taller now and still going strong. Just yesterday walmart had 3 gallon pigmys marked down to 7 bucks. Pigmys are numerous at the beaches (Jax) and can get 15 feet tall.  Taller ones tend to snap in a strong wind.  Can get messy with the seed pods. Drive 20 miles west of here and they have difficulty thriving.