Beccariophoenix alfredii

[freakypalmguy]

12 inch tall strap leafer with 6 leaves and one emerging. In the ground with very sparse, almost non-exisitent canopy from a Syagrus r.

One night 29F light frost uncovered - no damage

Another night 29F light frost but covered this time. So far no damage.

Fingers crossed for this palm.

Matt

[mnorell]

One strapleaf seedling planted out under open sky for testing purposes, approximately one year old; protected only with a loose leaf-mulch around the crown. exposed leaves burned completely at 23.3F, 15 hours below freezing with frost, on 3 Jan 2008. Tissue protected by the leaf-mulch was okay, spear is green and seems fine. Am guardedly hopeful that this palm will gain hardiness with age; but nevertheless it doesn't appear as hardy as some have suggested it might be.

[Wai`anae Steve]

Just bought a 1 gallon plant. How big will it get? Part Sun?????????? Fast slow???????????

[freakypalmguy]

I planted out three more of these. All about 1 year old, 6 - 10" tall strap leafers. All completely exposed other than some mulch around the crown as Michael mentioned above. Numerous nights at freezing, one night with many hours at 32F dropping to 31 in the morning. Leafs were completely covered in frost. Appeared to be frozen. showing some slight spotting and discoloration. These temps were taken at the top of my property and these plants are down the hill a bit, so I suspect they experienced a few degrees colder, maybe 27-29F.

The other individual that I have had in the ground for a year now was untouched.

If these survive this winter, I am going to plant a bunch more. It definitely seems to be able to take some cold.

Matt

[freakypalmguy]

Update:

hit 26F and many hours at or below freezing. All showing some discoloration. Central leaf still green.

[Kostas]

3 no leaf seedlings(eophyll was an emerging spear...) in large pots exposed to -2C for a couple of nights in total -> perfectly fine with no damage! They were kept dry during the freeze(and before) due to fear of rot.Havent lost a single one to rot however...

Now lets test them to harder freezes next winter...

[DoomsDave]

Any updates from NZ or Oz?

[Caryota_gigas]

Any updates from NZ or Oz?

Well I have put quite a few seedlings out in the frost over the last couple of years... they sometimes mark up a bit while frosted, but this soon clears within a day or 2. These are tough little plants.

[Palmə häl′ik]

That's what I wanna hear Michael! Thanks buddy.

~Ray.

[freakypalmguy]

Update on my palms,

of the four I have in the ground, one is dead, the others have all put out one strap leaf so far this summer. The one that died was frozen solid and I removed the ice by squeezing the frond between my fingers and pulling. I think that damaged the frond leading to a rapid decline in the palm. I won't do that again. I did not touch the others and they thawed and showed almost no cold damage. They all experienced a low of apx 26F and many morning, light frost events.

Matt

[Palmə häl′ik]

Thanks Matt.

I usually get one morning of frost annually here in Brandon.

Maybe twice. You guys in Cali get alot colder than me here at 60' elevation too...

These'll do good here.

Sounds like they like sandy, river bed areas in habitat aswell... Another bonus for FL growers...

~Ray.

[ghar41]

I have a few of these under a shade cloth in 5 gallon pots....I'm very impressed with how they look after to consecutive nights of freezing temps...26.7 and 28F...not a spot on any of them. Im interested in watching how they deal with the long, cold, wet winter.

[John Case]

So far, I do not see any damage on the ones I have. 1 in the ground, partially covered by dead banana leaves looks no different. The others in 2 gallon pots scattered around the yard also look fine so far, but I will withhold judgement until winter is over. I am hopeful however....

[freakypalmguy]

These are one of the slowest palms I have growing Hopefully they pick up speed as the get older.

[Caryota_gigas]

You obviously are not growing many SLOW palms.

[Caryota_gigas]

2 and a 1/2 years from seed...

[freakypalmguy]

You obviously are not growing many SLOW palms.

Not true, but let me repharase that, They are slow as heck in my climate

[Zeeth]

3 out of 4 took 31 with heavy frost fine. 1 has slight browning of one of it's leaves, but it was in the coldest spot of the yard so I relocated it to a better microclimate in case we get cold again.

[AJQ]

I have 2 Beccariophoenix, madagascariensis and alfredii. Both have taken 3 weeks of sub zero temps with at least 2 excursions to -4c/24.8v and 2 lower dips to -5c/23f. very minor damage but generally both looking good.

They were covered in a 4 tier mini g along with a Jubaeopsis caffra which has taken substantial damage.

both Beccariophoenix are in pots the Jubaeopsis is in the ground.

Regards Andy.

[Gallop]

My Beccariophoenix, madagascariensis 7gal size and alfredii 20gal size in the ground unprotected have light damage @ 13 nights below freezing low was around 21˚f for up to 10hr periods. I see no difference in hardiness from the high plataue alfredii and the madagascariensis

[AJQ]

Both of mine did not make it, 2 consecutive weeks with all days sub zero and nights lower.

Michael, what was your lowest temps and duration? Generally our temps should be similar with slighty higher summer temps for yourself and slightly lower winter temps for me.

What size is the one in your photo? I have another which is 90cms tall that I shall try again, as I think this winter here was exceptional rather than the norm.

Paul, do you have any photo's of your 2 ?

That is very encouraging info you have there.

Regards Andy.

Edited March 22, 2010 by AJQ

[Gallop]

It took some time but my madagascariensis did end up showing severe damage, it most likely wont make it, however the high plataue alfredi shows no damage. I've spoken a little to soon on a few of my plants this winter only to see damage later. I'll post a pic of the alfredi when I get off my ship.

[Caryota_gigas]

Andy,

My palms have not, and will never see two weeks of day time temps below freezing.

All the temps I had are recorded here: FROST THREAD

But you have already read all that. My experiments were based solely on frost really, and not prolonged cold. I wanted to see what plants were burnt by frost, and at what temps.

The biggest problem I see with you having success with these palms, (and most others) is the prolonged cold you get, that we do not get in Auckland.

The coldest day temp. high in Auckland that I can ever recall is 9°C, this happened last year, thankfully I was in Brisbane where it was 34°C at the time. So we never get days anywhere near as cold as you, and the overnight cold patches are eratic and not prolonged. We may get a low of -3°C overnight and early morning, but then the day may heat up to 15°C. And the overnight low the next night may be as high as 10°C... it all depends on the cloud cover. Thankfully we do not have weeks on end that are freezing cold.

The palm above is 1000mm tall with a circumference at the base of 180mm.

[Kailua_Krish]

My Beccariophoenix, madagascariensis 7gal size and alfredii 20gal size in the ground unprotected have light damage @ 13 nights below freezing low was around 21˚f for up to 10hr periods. I see no difference in hardiness from the high plataue alfredii and the madagascariensis

Did your alfredii have any protection or was it out in the open? If that is the case it looks as if it is as hardy as, if not hardier than S. romanzoffiana...

-Krishna

[Zeeth]

it looks as if it is as hardy as, if not hardier than S. romanzoffiana...

-Krishna

Even though I think this is a really promising palm, I have serious doubts about that statement. I saw zero queens around me with any damage at all, but my B. alfrediis all had some sort of damage. Of course, this could be a similar situation to Bismarckia, where some of them are really hardy but some are wimps, and we have to wait a while to sort through the non hardy ones to find the hardy ones and use those for the breeding stock. I also noticed that they are damaged more by frost than cold, as palms in the shade can take down to 19F with no damage (happened in Brandon, Fl this year) as long as there was no frost, but if there is frost, I'd say they are damaged at temps in the high 20's, with more damage caused by more frost.

[Kailua_Krish]

it looks as if it is as hardy as, if not hardier than S. romanzoffiana...

-Krishna

Even though I think this is a really promising palm, I have serious doubts about that statement. I saw zero queens around me with any damage at all, but my B. alfrediis all had some sort of damage. Of course, this could be a similar situation to Bismarckia, where some of them are really hardy but some are wimps, and we have to wait a while to sort through the non hardy ones to find the hardy ones and use those for the breeding stock. I also noticed that they are damaged more by frost than cold, as palms in the shade can take down to 19F with no damage (happened in Brandon, Fl this year) as long as there was no frost, but if there is frost, I'd say they are damaged at temps in the high 20's, with more damage caused by more frost.

Thanks for the info, I wasnt saying that it was but was saying that if what Gallop said was applying to an alfredii out in the open then this might be true so I wasnt aiming to make any "statement" I had figured from looking at the other reports on here that what you have said is probably the case. A question for you though on it, you say that they dont get burned much when protected from frost but do they grow well in the shade? Just curious and thanks for your help Zeeth!

-Krishna

[Zeeth]

it looks as if it is as hardy as, if not hardier than S. romanzoffiana...

-Krishna

Even though I think this is a really promising palm, I have serious doubts about that statement. I saw zero queens around me with any damage at all, but my B. alfrediis all had some sort of damage. Of course, this could be a similar situation to Bismarckia, where some of them are really hardy but some are wimps, and we have to wait a while to sort through the non hardy ones to find the hardy ones and use those for the breeding stock. I also noticed that they are damaged more by frost than cold, as palms in the shade can take down to 19F with no damage (happened in Brandon, Fl this year) as long as there was no frost, but if there is frost, I'd say they are damaged at temps in the high 20's, with more damage caused by more frost.

A question for you though on it, you say that they dont get burned much when protected from frost but do they grow well in the shade? Just curious and thanks for your help Zeeth!

-Krishna

Well, They do better in the shade during cold, but they crave full blazing sun when its hot, so I think if one grows them in a pot for the first years of it's life, they can be transitioned according to the weather until too big. I'd say if they are being grown in zone 9a, overhead canopy but not dense shade would probably be the best. They will grow slower, but they won't die in the winter.

[Sutter Bob]

So far this palm looks very promising for this area. My only seedling got through several days of frost into the low 20s with minimal protection in early December without a scratch and handled blazing 100 degree direct sunlight last summer without any trouble.

I suspect it might thrive even in open areas - we'll see!

[Zeeth]

Update: Out of the 4 plants that were subjected to the cold, 2 had spear pull and 2 didn't. The 2 with spear pull have now grown new spears and are really cranking up the speed. Highly recommend these.

[Xenon]

Based on the reports, seems like this palm could last a few years in my area before another 2010-like freeze....

-Jonathan

[Austinpalm]

Two 2-gallon sized plants in the ground under canopy exhibited leaf spotting after an ultimate low of 16F with multiple nights with upper 20's and low 30's. Both were protected with a plastic pot and leaves on the coldest night.

Edited June 4, 2010 by Austinpalm

[Rafael]

One night 28F for two hours. Heavy frost.

Two nights 30F for five hours. Light frost.

Always covered, but not heated...

Some damage...

Let's wait...

[buccaneers37]

My two were completely undamaged. 29.1, 29.1 one week and 24.8, 26.1 a week and a half later. I did wimp out and cover them against frost, though.

Wayne.

[gsytch]

Mine was lost last year. 2yr old seedling. Survived many upper 20's last winter until a HEAVY frost set in. Then it was downhill. It was about 4 ft. RIP>

[sonoranfans]

My alfredii was fully pinnate with 8 fronds, 30,28.5 with frost two nights in a row, its now looking quite bronzed after a week like rafaels. It looked OK initially but days later it doesnt look good. It surely isnt very frost tolerant. One in a container that was covered was OK. This palm looks like a wuss in a frost. Too bad, as it wants full sun, but needs to be covered in a frost event. I guess the "coco look alike" that is going to survive and look well here is the mule palm.

[ghar41]

I have a few of these under a shade cloth in 5 gallon pots....I'm very impressed with how they look after to consecutive nights of freezing temps...26.7 and 28F...not a spot on any of them. Im interested in watching how they deal with the long, cold, wet winter.

These did and continue to do fine under the shade cloth in pots, winter temperatures, this year 29F so far. It is a protected locatation with southeast exposure.

However, when they are taken out from under the shade cloth, and exposed to frost and open sky, they start to show discoloration and damage.

[freakypalmguy]

Multiple nights below freezing (low of around 28F) and multiple light frosts and mine that are fully exposed are very bronzed. These are not as cold hardy as hoped. They are cool hardy, but not truely cold hardy.

[yachtingone]

Multiple nights below freezing (low of around 28F) and multiple light frosts and mine that are fully exposed are very bronzed. These are not as cold hardy as hoped. They are cool hardy, but not truely cold hardy.

Matt,

We have the same climate. Yours were just planted. Mine has been in the ground for over a year

Mine looks great.

Randy

[freakypalmguy]

Multiple nights below freezing (low of around 28F) and multiple light frosts and mine that are fully exposed are very bronzed. These are not as cold hardy as hoped. They are cool hardy, but not truely cold hardy.

Matt,

We have the same climate. Yours were just planted. Mine has been in the ground for over a year

Mine looks great.

Randy

Negative, plants in the ground for 3 years look equally bad.

[yachtingone]

huh:blink: