Kentiaopsis oliviformis starting grow well

[happypalms]

My oliviformis is just starting to take off, after being in the ground for 23 years under a lot of neglect and dry times, ever since I started paying attention to it around a year ago it’s definitely starting to give a reward for all the attention and water. Just goes to show a little irrigation makes all the difference in dry situations. 

[Johnny Palmseed]

23 years? Are you sure that it has been that long? That looks small even for a neglected palm.

[Harry’s Palms]

I have a K . Pyroformis and it is pushing a spear s l o w l y over the last 6 months or so. It has grown about 1/4” ! One of the slowest palms I have , for sure . It is very small and well cared for but…… super slow growing.  Harry

[Tracy]

8 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

I have a K . Pyroformis and it is pushing a spear s l o w l y over the last 6 months or so. It has grown about 1/4” ! One of the slowest palms I have , for sure . It is very small and well cared for but…… super slow growing.  Harry

I think Chambeyronia pyriformis (Kentiopsis) is a bit slower and more sensitive than Chambeyronia oliviformis (Kentiopsis).  Even so, the original palm in the post must have been very abused to be so small for 23 years.  I have a few C oliviformis, a couple I planted about 15 years ago and a couple were closer to about 10 years ago, all from 7 gallons.   One from the late 2010 planting and another from the 2015 or 16 planting.  Once they form trunk, they are easily as fast as Archontophoenix cunninghamiana in gaining height.

[sonoranfans]

chambeyronia oliviformis loves water, mine took off after I moved back in 2018 and hand watered it plus extra mulching.  Now I dont want them to grow after 14 years.  Seems like a reecurring theme.  I liked fast palms till they got big then I want slower ones so I can see into the crown.  If that is a 23 year old C Oliviformis its hard to believe its still alive at that size.

[happypalms]

11 hours ago, Johnny Palmseed said:

23 years? Are you sure that it has been that long? That looks small even for a neglected palm.

Yes 23 years I know I planted it there it’s been in a dry spot. Plus two droughts and a drought in Australia is a killer. Around 8 years of drought also my annual rainfall is about 1700mm a year. 

[happypalms]

10 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

I have a K . Pyroformis and it is pushing a spear s l o w l y over the last 6 months or so. It has grown about 1/4” ! One of the slowest palms I have , for sure . It is very small and well cared for but…… super slow growing.  Harry

Water water and more water I realised I wasn’t watering enough after the big year of wet weather a couple of years ago that broke the big drought we had. Now I water a lot more and the difference is easy to see.

Richard 

[happypalms]

41 minutes ago, sonoranfans said:

chambeyronia oliviformis loves water, mine took off after I moved back in 2018 and hand watered it plus extra mulching.  Now I dont want them to grow after 14 years.  Seems like a reecurring theme.  I liked fast palms till they got big then I want slower ones so I can see into the crown.  If that is a 23 year old C Oliviformis its hard to believe its still alive at that size.

That’s its age purchased as a seedling from rosebud farm Rich trapnnell in Kuranda. It has suffered many conditions. I did a post of one I just recently planted and that one was its cousin in a six inch pot I always thought there slow but wow so slow for me.

[Harry’s Palms]

The little thing is trying like crazy but as long as it survives its first winter in the ground, I’m hoping it gets a bit faster. I have had palms really gain speed once established but this one is so slow to do so. It gets regular water and filtered sun / shade. Harry

[happypalms]

37 minutes ago, Harry’s Palms said:

The little thing is trying like crazy but as long as it survives its first winter in the ground, I’m hoping it gets a bit faster. I have had palms really gain speed once established but this one is so slow to do so. It gets regular water and filtered sun / shade. Harry

That’s what I thought super slow, oh well time will tell with my one if it picks up  now a bit of attention is been given.

Richard

[sonoranfans]

One of mine was in a dry spot  in my irrigated yard for 6 years from a 5 gallon size.  It didnt trunk in that time.  Since I started supplemental hand watering it it has grown 10 feet of trunk in 6+ years.  Not fast like an archie, royal or satakentia but not slow either.  They just seem to really depend on consistent moisture cycle.  I have (3) that I planted as trunking (2-4' trunk) palms are now 30-35' overall with 20 +/- 2 feet of trunk overall in the same 14 year time period.  They also responded to more water and all love the warm rainy season based on notably faster growth.  For some palms rain is magic, more than any watering.  This is one of those palms that thrives in rain.

[happypalms]

18 hours ago, sonoranfans said:

One of mine was in a dry spot  in my irrigated yard for 6 years from a 5 gallon size.  It didnt trunk in that time.  Since I started supplemental hand watering it it has grown 10 feet of trunk in 6+ years.  Not fast like an archie, royal or satakentia but not slow either.  They just seem to really depend on consistent moisture cycle.  I have (3) that I planted as trunking (2-4' trunk) palms are now 30-35' overall with 20 +/- 2 feet of trunk overall in the same 14 year time period.  They also responded to more water and all love the warm rainy season based on notably faster growth.  For some palms rain is magic, more than any watering.  This is one of those palms that thrives in rain.

As I suspected more water was needed to get it moving along. It has suffered neglect and a lot of adverse weather conditions. Hopefully now the attention is given it will improve with a bit of time. Like you said rainfall is the one element we cannot beat for watering our palms unfortunately my annual rainfall is around 1700mm so not Hawaii or tropical Cairns that’s for sure. I might install a couple of drippers either side to hel0 out the irrigation situation.

[Brian]

I would definitely get it on a few drip emitters. Mine don’t get a lot of water but they do get watered consistently enough to keep them growing strong. 
I germinated mine from seeds I acquired 16 years ago on this forum.

This one went into the ground about 10 years ago and is on drip irrigation.

This next one was in a container for the first 11 years and was somewhat neglected. Its roots had breached the container and were pretty well rooted in the ground next to another ground planted palm. I cut the roots and planted it in its new home in the ground where it struggled for a few months and then took off. Here is how it looks after 5 years in the ground and on drip irrigation.

[Looking Glass]

This site has some nice anecdotal descriptions of palm growth in South Florida.  

https://www.palmbeachpalmcycadsociety.com/palms/documents/KentiopsisOliviformis.pdf

[Looking Glass]

I got these as 7g in October 2021, these now have a few rings of trunk and overall around 12 feet tall.  Great palms for this area.  
 

[happypalms]

12 hours ago, Brian said:

I would definitely get it on a few drip emitters. Mine don’t get a lot of water but they do get watered consistently enough to keep them growing strong. 
I germinated mine from seeds I acquired 16 years ago on this forum.

This one went into the ground about 10 years ago and is on drip irrigation.

This next one was in a container for the first 11 years and was somewhat neglected. Its roots had breached the container and were pretty well rooted in the ground next to another ground planted palm. I cut the roots and planted it in its new home in the ground where it struggled for a few months and then took off. Here is how it looks after 5 years in the ground and on drip irrigation.

Couple of nice palms there and from seed as well. You’re one good grower. Yes it’s time for a few more drippers. 

[happypalms]

11 hours ago, Looking Glass said:

I got these as 7g in October 2021, these now have a few rings of trunk and overall around 12 feet tall.  Great palms for this area.  
 

Looking good if I do say so. Quality palms, now where did I put that hose…..

[KrisKupsch]

Dry isn’t so much a problem. They like full sun. Perhaps you have created extra sun when you removed the eucalyptus. 

[happypalms]

1 hour ago, KrisKupsch said:

Dry isn’t so much a problem. They like full sun. Perhaps you have created extra sun when you removed the eucalyptus. 

Possibly the extra  sun, but the moisture that is available now due to the old growth tree being removed has made a big difference. With more moisture becoming available I loath gum trees they drink all the moisture. 

[KrisKupsch]

21 minutes ago, happypalms said:

Possibly the extra  sun, but the moisture that is available now due to the old growth tree being removed has made a big difference. With more moisture becoming available I loath gum trees they drink all the moisture. 

Just saw dozens in nc over recent weeks. Sun and more sun. 

[happypalms]

1 hour ago, KrisKupsch said:

Just saw dozens in nc over recent weeks. Sun and more sun. 

Well it’s going to get plenty of that now the tree is gone.

[tim_brissy_13]

6 hours ago, KrisKupsch said:

Dry isn’t so much a problem. They like full sun. Perhaps you have created extra sun when you removed the eucalyptus. 

At least down here, they don’t grow at all unless they get direct sun. I’ve had them in mostly shaded spots which remain moist but they just languish. My 2 are now getting basically full sun and really moving now (well at least for Melbourne standards). 

[sonoranfans]

https://palmpedia.net/wiki/Kentiopsis_oliviformis

Culture

They like moderately filtered light when young, full sun when mature (hence the term emergent palm), and lots of water, and a sub-tropical rather than tropical climate. Usually thought to be slow growing, but several plants in south-east Queensland as well as Hawaii, have displayed an impressive growth rate. Cold Hardiness Zone: 9b with canopy when young.

[happypalms]

8 hours ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

At least down here, they don’t grow at all unless they get direct sun. I’ve had them in mostly shaded spots which remain moist but they just languish. My 2 are now getting basically full sun and really moving now (well at least for Melbourne standards). 

I think kris might be onto something here full sun. He knows his palms well, and when it comes to Australian trees he’s a walking botanical garden. My question is Tim how many palms have you killed over the years in research looking for new varieties in the cold, I certainly know I have bumped a few off trying new varieties. 

[tim_brissy_13]

7 minutes ago, happypalms said:

I think kris might be onto something here full sun. He knows his palms well, and when it comes to Australian trees he’s a walking botanical garden. My question is Tim how many palms have you killed over the years in research looking for new varieties in the cold, I certainly know I have bumped a few off trying new varieties. 

I’ve killed countless, but less these days now I mostly know the limits. Honestly I’ve lost few to absolute cold and usually it’s either a combination of other factors or unrelated causes. The most abysmal failures when I was during my learning phase were things like Hyophorbe langencaulis, Ptychosperma propinquum, Satakentia and Veitchia joannis which didn’t even last through June. There are many others which may languish for years and succumb in a bad (particularly wet) winter, but I’ve found larger palms can be more tolerant of the cold and wet combination than seedlings of the same species (Chrysalidocarpus sp are like this) so the key is to grow them up a bit in pots and keep them dry in winter until they get their roots deep enough to be somewhat protected from cold rain.