Chamaedorea elegans growing requirements

[Axel Amsterdam]

I bought these small palms to plant out this spring in Amsterdam. I will protect it during winter as i have done with queens and bangalows in the past.

My question is not about hardiness but rather their needs; do they need heat, water rich soil?

And complete shadow or filtered light? Our UV is only 6 max in summer but still i understood they will burn here in full sun, but perhaps this is because of greenhouse grown fronds. 

Last question, would it be beneficial to take out the smaller ones and leave 2 of the larger trunks for better vertical growth?

Any advice or pictures are very much appreciated. 

Thanks, Axel

[PalmatierMeg]

They want shade or maybe filtered morning sun, never full sun. I've never protected ours during winter even when lows fell almost to 0C. Finally, Chamaedorea elegans is a solitary palm and because they are cheap to produce, is usually sold with many individual palms crammed into a pot. As they want to be solitary, they will compete with one another. The stronger ones survive, the weaker ones do not and none are happy about it. All the C. elegans I planted and potted around the yard came from 4" pots of 30-40 seedlings I separated and grew. They are very pretty and compact little palms if given a chance to grow freely.

[Axel Amsterdam]

Thank you, i don’t want to disturb the roots though. So it seems the larger stems are best served by cutting away the small ones?

[PalmatierMeg]

If you cut the stems at soil level those palms will die.

[Merlyn]

I've had similar results as Meg, mine are under the front porch overhang and never see the sun.  They are nice and green and get a LOT of water, this area stays perpetually moist (but not swampy wet) due to daily sprinklers and gutter overflow during the summer afternoon thunderstorms.  Chamaedorea Elegans and Cataractum are both in this area and grow well.  Both have taken a little cold and frost damage at 28-35F, but really only the fronds that were sticking out and exposed to frost. 

If you want to remove a few without messing up the roots, do as Meg suggested.  Brush a little dirt away from the Root Initiation Zone (base of the trunk) and snip away the ones you don't want.  I'd use a sharp kitchen shears or sharp pruners, something like that.

[Patrick]

Those are really beefy elegans! Those biggest leaves almost look un-elegans-esque. Same with the trunks on the bigger ones- too much growth between segments; but maybe outdoor elegans grow different than indor elegans- which I'm more familiar with. Did you pay a lot because for that much growth as elegans, that's got to be a pretty old planting. Anyways, nice plants! My mom has some pretty old ones that just get some bright light and are indoors all the time. In fact, some of them are very far from windows and still do fine. I would keep them from direct sun, but I bet they can take dappled sun in the morning or evening. Soil, you could probably put them in anything amended and they will do just fine. My mom's plants- I think she waters TOO MUCH. The soil is always too wet in my opinion and they grow just fine; but her mix seems on the lighter side. I think it's just a store-bought mix with a lot of peat. I don't see much pearlite. Like I said- it stays wet. When they go on vacation I water them much much less. Still, like I said, her plants are looking great, throwing out flowers all the time and have several inches of trunk. When I go over there I pull off the old dried up boots because she just cuts the leaves off at the boot when they dry out and leaves them attached to the stem- I can't stand it!

 

I have a group that I bought several months ago and just separated out into triples. What a deal for me at only $4.99! They are all SUPER tiny, and I expect to lose a few. In fact, I already have- it's to be expected. Anyways, blah blah blah from me, sorry! I have mine growing under an LED grow light; and though it seems pretty bright I know it's not as intense as the sun; but bright light from this grow light doesn't seem to harm them. I always think of it like this- if these are old-school Victorian era houseplants they must be tough to have survived on long journeys way back then. You could throw just about anything at them and they would do well- except a sunburn...

 

I would wait a couple more months if you plan on separating them. Let it get warmer...

Edited March 4, 2023 by Patrick

[Axel Amsterdam]

Thanks, yes i was also surprised how well developed they seem, i paid around 20 usd (in Euro) for it. Not too expensive i think for a nice little experiment.

Do they speed up in heat or are they faster during cooler periods? I realise you all live in a different climate than me but i mean are they more or less dormant in summerheat or do they like it as long as there is enough shadow?

[Lou-StAugFL]

Mine have taken 24 F degrees many years ago.  I have a whole grove of them on the north side of my house under cover of cedar and oak canopy.  They have never been damaged. They are protected from frost due to the overhead covering of trees.  I was actually quite surprised they survived that temp.  This year we hit 28 F and no problem again in northeast Florida.

[Jim in Los Altos]

I have a few of these and some are in full shade and the ones pictured are in full midday sun in the summer and have acclimated well to these conditions. There will be occasional sunburn in the hottest of summer days usually exceeding 95°F (35°C). They are well watered and in average garden soil and get fed three times per year in spring, summer, and autumn. 

Full shade will result in deeper green foliage of course. 
 

 

[Axel Amsterdam]

20 minutes ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

I have a few of these and some are in full shade and the ones pictured are in full midday sun in the summer and have acclimated well to these conditions. 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Jim, is the tall one on the right an elegans as well as it’s nearly twice as tall?

Would you say that growing them in a group slows them down all together or are some just growing in different paces? 

[Patrick]

26 minutes ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

I have a few of these and some are in full shade and the ones pictured are in full midday sun in the summer and have acclimated well to these conditions. There will be occasional sunburn in the hottest of summer days usually exceeding 95°F (35°C). They are well watered and in average garden soil and get fed three times per year in spring, summer, and autumn. 

Full shade will result in deeper green foliage of course. 
 

 

All we want are BEASTS!

 

(Like yours)

 

Thanks for the insight, Jim.

[Jim in Los Altos]

12 hours ago, Axel Amsterdam said:

Thanks Jim, is the tall one on the right an elegans as well as it’s nearly twice as tall?

Would you say that growing them in a group slows them down all together or are some just growing in different paces? 

Yes Axel, the taller ones are part of the same clump. They grow much better in multiples particularly if they are to receive direct sun during any part of the day. But even in the shade, I’ve noticed no difference in growth habits between singular and grouped ones as long as they are watered and fed properly. They aren’t fussy at all. 

[Axel Amsterdam]

This is a picture of a chamaedorea in Nice, south of France with a close up of the bloom. Is this elegans or perhaps radicalis? 

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

14 hours ago, Axel Amsterdam said:

This is a picture of a chamaedorea in Nice, south of France with a close up of the bloom. Is this elegans or perhaps radicalis? 

It looks too tall to be elegans to me.

John

[Jim in Los Altos]

17 hours ago, Axel Amsterdam said:

This is a picture of a chamaedorea in Nice, south of France with a close up of the bloom. Is this elegans or perhaps radicalis? 

Definitely not C. elegans. It appears to be C. radicalis ‘tree form.’ A nice specimen. 

[DoomsDave]

On 3/6/2023 at 6:23 AM, Axel Amsterdam said:

This is a picture of a chamaedorea in Nice, south of France with a close up of the bloom. Is this elegans or perhaps radicalis? 

That's a radicalis, and I have free seeds if you want.

[DoomsDave]

On 3/4/2023 at 11:28 AM, Axel Amsterdam said:

 

I bought these small palms to plant out this spring in Amsterdam. I will protect it during winter as i have done with queens and bangalows in the past.

My question is not about hardiness but rather their needs; do they need heat, water rich soil?

And complete shadow or filtered light? Our UV is only 6 max in summer but still i understood they will burn here in full sun, but perhaps this is because of greenhouse grown fronds. 

Last question, would it be beneficial to take out the smaller ones and leave 2 of the larger trunks for better vertical growth?

Any advice or pictures are very much appreciated. 

Thanks, Axel

If you can, split them come like April or May, put each one in a separate pot, and water them. They're tough. They're great inside or outside, and they'll take a bit of cold, certainly worth a shot in A-dam.

[GregH]

I've split several pots of C. elegans. No special care, I just pull them apart and stick them in the dirt, under a canopy of taller plants/trees. Well, in sand actually  -- we don't have real dirt in Central Florida. I don't count them, but I've never noticed one that didn't survive. They grow like weeds. 

[Axel Amsterdam]

I planted the elegans today in the shade of an oleander. Thanks everyone for the advice.

[Foxpalms]

On 3/4/2023 at 8:46 PM, Axel Amsterdam said:

Thanks, yes i was also surprised how well developed they seem, i paid around 20 usd (in Euro) for it. Not too expensive i think for a nice little experiment.

Do they speed up in heat or are they faster during cooler periods? I realise you all live in a different climate than me but i mean are they more or less dormant in summerheat or do they like it as long as there is enough shadow?

They grow fastest in when it's warm not hot. For me april-early June and September to late October they grow the fastest. They will grow in the summer but not as fast especially during a summer like last year when the average high was over 27c for July and August and the average low was just over 18c in July. They don't go dormant in the summer but slow down, Amsterdam is cooler and more humid so they might not slow down as much there. I also have mine in the shade or they will burn even though the max UV index here in the summer is only an 8 and 9 for a few days. As Jim in Los altos said they are not a fan of 95f+ temperatures. Mine burnt on the day it was over 104f here. 

 

Edited March 21, 2023 by Foxpalms

[Phoenikakias]

I have one growing in the ground, protected under the canopy of a Rhapis humilis clump, so in full shade. It is fully hardy down to 0 C or between 0 and -1C.  But it withstood also the 2004 cold spell (-2 C and perhaps lower) with foliage damage. Does not seem demanding reg soil and water quality.

Edited March 21, 2023 by Phoenikakias