JoeS475

I was at a local nursery with a greenhouse the other day, and happened to find a couple of large Flamethrower Palms there. The plants are well established and large, with leaves easily reaching 5 feet long. One of the plants has its new leaf emerging, a brilliant red, which immediately makes it one of the most beautiful palms I've seen. Coupled with the fact it's $44, I'm essentially sold, as long as I can find a way to get this giant home in freezing NJ (I have a new sunroom it can live in during the winter).

I was wondering if any of you have one of these and if you can give me some tips for care! I'm getting good with bananas, but I'm not confident with palms whatsoever.

Do a google image search with the scientific name Chambeyronia macrocarpa for pictures, its beautiful!

TIA,

~Joe

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STEELVIPER

Pm Mediahound. He is a palm expert. I bet he can give you some tips.

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MediaHound

Thats a crazy cheap price for that palm!

JoeS475

Seriously! I bought it, and somehow managed to get it home without being delivered. It only has 2 leaves, but each is about 5-6' long, with the new one being brilliant red, bringing the plant to a total of 9-10' tall! For $44 each I'm really tempted to get the other 2 they had, only I've got no room for them. The place I got it also has a 5' Spindle Palm for about $80, a clump of Alexander Palms 15' tall for $250, a few 10-12' Bird of Paradise for $100, a 15' tall Date Palm (I think, didn't check the price), a 5-6' Bottle Palm without a price tag, and of course loads of Bananas... if only I had the space! If anybody in the NY/NJ area wants info on the nursery let me know, I highly recommend them. And they're 3 minutes from my house!!!

I'm so excited to get this Flamethrower Palm outside in the spring! I'll try and get a pic of it soon while the leaf is still red.

From the little research I've done it should be a relatively easy plant to care for, apparently able to take a light frost.

Sorry I ramble on!

~Joe

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JoeS475

Sunroom is finished so here's a picture of the Flamethrower Palm:



Also we had to have the Bottle Palm:



~Joe

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Jane

Oh my gosh!!!! Those are wonderful!!! I really want a Bottle Palm but there is no place around here that sells anything like that.
I just love your sunroom. What I wouldn’t give to have a room like that. I guess I’m lucky to have a spare room with an east and south window in it. But getting around everything in the winter to water is getting to be a real challenge.
Thanks so much for sharing the pictures.

Jane

JoeS475

Thanks for the kind words Jane... According to the guys at the nursery, the bottle palm had been hanging out at the nursery for over a year and nobody bought it. The price was $120, which I think is extremely reasonable, especially considering its size and the fact that this is NJ! And that I've never seen one for sale before in my life...

Sadly just this summer the nursery has upped its prices a lot, making it no longer a bargain to shop there, although the selection is still excellent. I guess they figured out that their prices were just too low!

~Joe

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Lilith

I grow both these palms in the ground in my greenhouse. I love them. They sell the Bottles here at Walmart for $15. One Flamethrower I mail ordered from Hawaii a couple years ago, I traded for 2 others with folks from So FL. I find them easy to grow as long as they are kept warm. The bottle isn't particular about having high humidity, but the Flamethrower likes it humid. The Bottle likes a lot of sun, I have a friend in Ft Lauderdale who has several in full sun. The Flamethrower would like less sun, dappled or broken shade seems to do right by mine.

These are not picky palms, like others can be. They are a breeze compared to Joey Diamonds and Sealing Wax palms.