Arenga engleri 9a success

[Tropicdoc]

About 8 feet to tallest frond.

having to cut it back at times.

Partial canopy. Been below 20 F a few times now.

[Ben G.]

2 hours ago, Tropicdoc said:

About 8 feet to tallest frond.

having to cut it back at times.

Partial canopy. Been below 20 F a few times now.

It looks very nice. At what temps does it start taking damage, in your experience? When you have dropped below 20F, is it totally burned back, or just partial damage?

[Tropicdoc]

Weird thing is that the fronds don’t get damaged, but the next new spears collapse before opening. I just cut em off. It keeps trucking. I have 2 more that are pretty solid too. I’ve seen some burn on fronds below 20 but not much 

[Swolte]

Thanks for sharing. Mine is slowly coming back from 12f. First year in the ground.

[Harry’s Palms]

These are great palms. I have one in full sun most of the day and it is more compact. I’ve had it for almost 30 years . It gets inflorescence and that stem dies but more come along , sort of like Caryota Mitis . I had it in a pot for almost 4 years before moving to this house and planting it . We don’t get that cold here but good to hear they can take cold weather as well as sun and wind. This is a partial view , it can certainly fill in an area.Harry

[Robbertico18]

3 hours ago, Tropicdoc said:

About 8 feet to tallest frond.

having to cut it back at times.

Partial canopy. Been below 20 F a few times now.

How long did it take to get to this size ?

[Gville Palms]

These can definitely take some cold. I have one in the ground in zone 9a and it has seen its fair share of low 20s/high teens without issue. Here is one that is fruiting where I work. Whatever you do, don't touch the pulp of the fruit with your bare hands. It gave me one of the worst skin reactions I have ever had in my life, and I have had some pretty bad ones due to different plants. 

[Harry’s Palms]

Good to know about the fruit! I have only had about a dozen fruit from mine but I had garden gloves on when I harvested them for a friend. When I was in Kauai I found some C. Mitis fruit and cleaned the seeds to bring home , my hands went numb followed by a tingling that lasted almost an hour. It must be a Caryotoid thing. Harry

[Tropicdoc]

9 hours ago, Robbertico18 said:

How long did it take to get to this size ?

8ish years from 1 gallon from jungle music palms

[necturus]

I'm jealous. Mine have never done well in Houston zone 9A and have all died. Does it stay wet there? I may not be giving them enough water.

[thyerr01]

@Harry’s Palms Their fruits have high amounts of oxalic acid which cause the chemical burns and the numb/tingling sensation - definitely something to avoid contact with. 

I'm still trying to figure out what these guys want in Houston, although its probably just a couple of winters without severe freezes to let them put on some size. I've seen some great plants locally in both deep shade and a fair amount of sun, some in much colder areas than where I live. I have several in raised beds, ~3 years from seed, the most recent RPS A. ryukyuensis batch, which I am sceptical is a separate species. Canopy seems to protect some of the leaves, even when I give them all really solid cover during freezes, and they definitely yellow out when they get direct sun. The two pictures show plants only about 1 m apart, but the back ones get some canopy cover. All had identical protection consisting of large painters buckets filled with dry leaves during our recent freeze (-7c/19f). One of the ones on the left in the first picture doesn't seem to be recovering which is a bit disappointing. Others elsewhere in the garden without canopy look the same.

 

 

 

Edited April 6 by thyerr01

[Harry’s Palms]

5 hours ago, thyerr01 said:

@Harry’s Palms Their fruits have high amounts of oxalic acid which cause the chemical burns and the numb/tingling sensation - definitely something to avoid contact with. 

I'm still trying to figure out what these guys want in Houston, although its probably just a couple of winters without severe freezes to let them put on some size. I've seen some great plants locally in both deep shade and a fair amount of sun, some in much colder areas than where I live. I have several in raised beds, ~3 years from seed, the most recent RPS A. ryukyuensis batch, which I am sceptical is a separate species. Canopy seems to protect some of the leaves, even when I give them all really solid cover during freezes, and they definitely yellow out when they get direct sun. The two pictures show plants only about 1 m apart, but the back ones get some canopy cover. All had identical protection consisting of large painters buckets filled with dry leaves during our recent freeze (-7c/19f). One of the ones on the left in the first picture doesn't seem to be recovering which is a bit disappointing. Others elsewhere in the garden without canopy look the same.

 

 

 

I think they may pull through. Mine was quite a bit larger when I got it but it stayed in its nursery pot for 4 years before planting in the ground . Mine gets a lot of water as it sits between a large Queen and a couple of Howea F. , both of which want water . For me , here , sun and water…..that’s it. We have had our second year of above average rainfall . Harry

[Keys6505]

Here's mine just south of Houston in League City.  Its been in ground for 4-5 years now and I protect when temps get near 20.  During Palmageddon it saw 15 degrees covered with a blanket and plastic but no heat because we didn't have power.  It completely defoliated and took a LONG time to start pushing new spears.  The next year it saw 17 with blanket, plastic, and a reptile heat bulb underneath.  Fared much better, but the side with the light retained some green while the backside was defoliated.  This past winter my low was 19.8 and it got a blanket, plastic, and 2 heat lamps and it came through looking pretty good overall.  It's in full sun and this is the wettest, swampiest part of my yard.

[thyerr01]

I hope mine get that large one day. What size was this one when it was planted?

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

On 4/5/2024 at 7:02 AM, Tropicdoc said:

8ish years from 1 gallon from jungle music palms

I bought mine from @Phil a couple of years ago too. Looking to get this bad boy in the ground soon. Do you recommend under canopy or doesn't matter ? 

T J 

[Dwarf Fan]

TJ, mine seems to be staying very yellow (and growing slowly) because it was a a liner/band size from @Phil and planted it only after a few months of sun acclimatizing. If I had to do over again I would have chosen a spot with some canopy. 
 

Maybe if it was larger it would be doing better in full sun not sure.

[Tropicdoc]

On 4/5/2024 at 8:05 PM, necturus said:

I'm jealous. Mine have never done well in Houston zone 9A and have all died. Does it stay wet there? I may not be giving them enough water.

Our climate should be same 

do you have canopy?

[Tropicdoc]

kids bike for scale and also shows live oak giving canopy to these 2 palms

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

On 4/7/2024 at 9:30 AM, Dwarf Fan said:

Maybe if it was larger it would be doing better in full sun not sure.

I have been too chicken to plant it , I atleast will give it some canopy now. If only we can get a few winters off haha. 

T J 

[Tropicdoc]

 Not the same plant but I just noticed this 

[Keys6505]

For my fellow Houstonians, I stopped by Caldwell today in Rosenberg and they have a bunch of big Englerii for sale.  $600 seems reasonable considering the lack of availability around here.  I believe they are closing their doors for good next month but nothing was on sale yet.  I'd assume they're going to have to firesale some of this stuff soon, they still have a pretty large inventory.

[thyerr01]

On a previous visit when chatting with the owner, he mentioned that they actually grew all those large Arenga from seed. Their two clumps of A. engleri in the ground out the front hadn't returned after the January freeze though. In addition to the Arenga, they have some large mules and what I believe were Nannorrhops.

@Tropicdoc Hopefully you get a good set of seeds. 

[Keys6505]

4 minutes ago, thyerr01 said:

Their two clumps of A. engleri in the ground out the front hadn't returned after the January freeze though

I saw 1 of their Englerii pushing green from ground level today.  Knew I should have taken a pic.

[thyerr01]

Nice, I'm glad they keep bouncing back. One of their employees told me that he has six or so A. engleri at his place somewhere nearby that have survived all the freezes too, and Rosenburg is cold part of town.

[necturus]

Caldwell’s has all sales over $300 30% off. This excludes fruit trees and aroids. There may not be any more sales because the owner plans on making the property into a venue garden and planting unsold plants.

It’ll be a sad day when they close. His wife had a great eye for bringing in unusual plants. Nothing else like them in town or the whole state for that matter.

[Swolte]

7 hours ago, necturus said:

It’ll be a sad day when they close. His wife had a great eye for bringing in unusual plants. Nothing else like them in town or the whole state for that matter.

Ack, I always liked that place!

[Chester B]

1 hour ago, Swolte said:

Ack, I always liked that place!

I only got to go the one time a couple of weeks back.  Picked up a Hibiscus hamabo

[Swolte]

13 hours ago, Chester B said:

Picked up a Hibiscus hamabo

Nice choice!

To get back on topic, here's my Engleri returning from an 8a winter (protected by frostcloth only) 

[thyerr01]

Nice. How large was this one when it went in the ground?

[Swolte]

I guess about 4/5 ft? Pics from before a winter. 

[thyerr01]

I'm guessing the fibre and thick base really help protect the living tissue inside. Big difference versus my seedlings.

[Bkue]

Awesome. My neighbor in 9b has one of the most beautiful and robust ones I’ve seen in person. The pics have been posted on here before. 

[DAVEinMB]

3 hours ago, Swolte said:

I guess about 4/5 ft? Pics from before a winter. 

Hate that beaut got knocked back. I have one I've been pampering but got slack and didn't protect on a night I should have. Wasn't much but still lost the main, suckers are holding strong tho. Cold rain is a ko most of the time

[Swolte]

6 hours ago, DAVEinMB said:

Hate that beaut got knocked back. I have one I've been pampering but got slack and didn't protect on a night I should have. Wasn't much but still lost the main, suckers are holding strong tho. Cold rain is a ko most of the time

I was expecting it to be perennial here at most given all the winters (and most summers) have been a disaster since '21.

Since I figured it would be dicey to grow, I mounded soil a foot+ high and surrounded it by large rock about 6" higher than the base of the palm. Should help create a tiny bit of a warmer microclimate (wind, and rock will hold warmth longer). An added benefit is that any leaves in the fall will accumulate and remain in that enclosure providing additional insulation for cold. It has seen 12F with a frost cloth (and the leaves). What impresses me more is that its the first year in the ground! 

[DAVEinMB]

@Swolte welp I took a look at it last night and the damn thing is somehow alive haha. Main stem is pushing growth and I cut it back almost to the ground, I'll throw a pic or 2 up when I can. 

[Tropicdoc]

I just wish they grew a little faster…….

[DAVEinMB]

Here's the recovering main stem from my A. Engleri. Suckers were unaffected.  tough little bugger 

[Tropicdoc]

So good to know the suckers will survive palmageddon 

makes me want to plant more

[Harry’s Palms]

If I ever run across another one at a good price I would buy it. I have had mine for a very long time and it has never given me any problems , a very tough palm. Harry

[thyerr01]

New spear finally pushing on the little Arenga I was worried about.