Spindle, Triangle, Bottle Palms new spears coming

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Nov 02, 2010 5:30 pm

Seem to love being indoors again, am giving them the new palm fertilizer (very dilute) with each watering (abt 2 weeks).

Spindle Palm:

gigantic spear coming on Triangle Palm:

My pride and joy...the Bottle Palm. These aren't known for putting out a lot of fronds, but this is second one in two months.

Barb

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Tue Nov 02, 2010 7:52 pm

your palms look great.................just think in 6 more months you can start to get them outside again!

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Tue Nov 02, 2010 10:38 pm

Barb,
I'm going to be relying on you a lot this winter for advice on indoor palms.
I moved a bunch back outside to enjoy one more week of semi-decent weather, but that won't last long. --Erik

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 9:31 am

Hey Erik, somebody has 500 indoors

I'm really interested to see if the continual feeding (every 2 wks thru winter) of dilute palm special fertilizer is a good/bad idea.
Going on the premise that "palms don't go dormant" (which everyone says), they oughta be able to handle that.
Or they'll all be toast in spring...oh no.

Thanks Tim...and maybe more growth will occur with the 12-month warm conditions.
Barb

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 1:44 pm

OK, let the pestering begin.
What do you do for light for them?

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 5:15 pm

Here's the rationale for my theory because I'm continuing to fertilize (albeit diluted) with each watering indoors all winter long (which will likely be disproved as early as spring)

Palms don't go dormant.
They need warmth and (some) humidity.
I think if they get two of three of their requirements, they'll do fine.
So...I'm not providing extra light in the livingroom, which will be a challenge come December and January.
Big windows south side:

BUT, today I took about 15 juvenile Foxtail palms out of the cold building and brought them into the woodstove-heated basement.
I'll put the fluorescent grow lights 6 inches above the palms and set the timer for 16 hours on.
It's often 85F in the basement with wood heat.

My theory is both the living room and basement palms will grow in the house this winter.
Even the ones that don't get additional light.
Or maybe they'll croak.

Let's see if that old Meatloaf song "Two out of Three ain't Bad" works...

(really dating myself now, huh?)

Barb

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 8:14 pm

They look great Barb-lot's of good light!

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 8:27 pm

Speaking of light, the quality of your photographs is super. Those two you gave us just now as if they were snapshots were not easy to take! Can we hope for more?

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 9:19 pm

Thanks guys!

Sure, a couple more...some of the indoor stuff.

Gonna miss the long sunny days...time change this weekend

Barb

Okanagan desert-palms · Fri Nov 05, 2010 9:05 pm

Barb all your tropicals look great. That palm food is doing the trick. The plants you gave me this summer are doing well. That Cycad has had a flush. I`ll be taking extra care with this one.

John

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 8:48 am

Thanks John. Glad yours are doing well.

Don't remember if I mentioned that the cycas debaoensis will need repotting to better soil than what I had it in.
It'll do better if you repot to a bagged soil mix (I used mostly my garden soil, pH 7.2, a little too high).
Mine are getting spines on stems.
Didn't know they grew those.

Nice warm Fall weather we're having...

Okanagan desert-palms · Sat Nov 06, 2010 11:08 am

Barb that C. deboensis was transplanted into a larger pot as was the basjoo. I use a soil called sunshine mix #4 for all of my plants. It has a higher concentration of perlite and aggregate. It comes in a large bale for about $25. On a side note I have some seeds from my Med. fan palms this year. They are very easy to grow. If you would like some sent to you let me know?

John

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 1:35 pm

Glad you already transplanted the c.debaoensis.
I've transplanted some Foxtails from those big slurpy cups into larger containers.
What a job getting them out of the slurpies (I want to reuse them).

Do you buy the sunshine mix at the Kelowna Flower Farm?
I dropped in there last Fall but they were already closed for the winter.

I'd love some med fan palm seeds...10 or 12 if you can spare 'em.
2-3 months for germination? or longer?

Must've missed your photos of Mediterraneans in flower Bet they were lovely.

Barb

Cowtown Palm Society · Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:06 pm

Those Bottles are so cool Barb! I love seeing them when I'm in the tropics. Do you ever try them out in the summer when the lows are high? Although I doubt they like a dry 38 all that much

! Nice work!

Duncan

Okanagan desert-palms · Sat Nov 06, 2010 6:50 pm

Barb I`ll send you those Med. fan palm seeds asap. I have several soaking right now. It`s really cool to have seeds from my own palms. I buy the soil from Growers supply in Kelowna.I`ll post some pics of the Mom with seeds and Pop Med. fan palms. I can`t wait till my Trachy`s flower and seed. Maybe next year?

John

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 9:35 pm

Thanks John, looking forward to starting seeds that your mediterranean palm produced.
And yes I'd love to see pics of the palms in flower.

Your huge Trachies should be producing flowers/seed for sure next year.
And...dare I hope...one day that my 33+ year old Trachy will produce seed (before menopause?!?!)

(the palm's!)

Duncan, thank you. The bottle palm is one of my all-time favs.
yes indeed ALL my stuff is outdoors all summer/early Fall.
But you're right, our desert winds and 38+C days for at least 2 months is more than a little tough on palms that like SOME humidity, so the Bottle and Triangles and Spindle get only morning sun under a 10 foot overhang.
I usually turn the hose on all of them at least every 2 days.
Come to think of it, I try to cram everything under that roof...fortunately it's very long, so it works.

The only plant(s) I leave in full sun are the oldish CIDP, Sago, 2 little Braheas.
Even the Foxtail juveniles sunburnt with only morning sun.

Barb

Okanagan desert-palms · Tue Nov 09, 2010 6:21 pm

Barb I finally found the pics of my Med. fan palm with seeds. The seeds you are getting still need to be cleaned of their outside covering. http://okanaganpalms.multiply.com/photo ... ith_seeds#

John

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 6:31 pm

Beautiful and unusual looking seeds.

I've never seen a pic of seeds on a Med Fan Palm.

Happy to clean the seeds...sandpaper? grater? rasp? cement mixer? hammer? or drive a truck over them?
Just tell me your method please.

Barb

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 7:21 pm

Hi Barb,

your house is like a botanical garden! So cool! You have some great specimens!!!

Okanagan desert-palms · Tue Nov 09, 2010 8:26 pm

I use a sharp knife to peel them like a banana.Be safe as I still have a band aid on my finger from a week ago!

John

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Nov 10, 2010 11:18 am

Ooooh, Tim, that's the nicest thing anyone could say...thanks!

sharp knife to peel them like a banana

Ya, but how far to go down without damaging the embryo skin/casing? i.e. how thick is the layer I have to cut off? thick as a banana peel?

Sorry for the 49 questions, John.
But if I'm gonna cut myself, at least want to make sure I'm not going too deep on the seed

Barb

bananieru · Post by **bananieru** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 8:35 am

Any of the three survived?

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 11:04 am

Nope, Tavi.

Bad losses. Even H is stunned after all the years I had them.

Sure took the wind out of my sails, so to speak.

Thank you for asking.

Barb

bananieru · Post by **bananieru** » Thu Jul 11, 2013 10:58 am