Tog Tan

Hey people, I am sure many of you out there are palm crazy too, maybe as crazy or worse off than me! It was my first obsession before I went bananas....
This post is for my two new palm-ists friends, Lil Rat and ArchAngel....

It was during my collection trips many donkey years ago that I saw many palms I cannot ID in the jungles here. Most palms from other countries, I can ID but not the local ones cos there's hardly any literature on them. One of the first family of palms which caught my eye was from the genus Pinanga of which there are a few species which have beautiful spotted leaves.

I love to hunt along the streams as these areas have a very diverse plant collection and of course it is also the home ground of the Musa violascens! Here, I have just collected a mid sized Pinanga disticha with very good high contrast coloration.


Here is the star of my first post, Pinanga disticha;
This is a dwarf palm with many forms in M'sia and visually they can be very confusing. They have a pencil thin stem and so far I have only seen specimens growing to a height of about 4ft though the literature says it can get to 7ft. They cluster freely but the clump does not have a messy look. In maturity, the leaves may lose its bifid form and may be slightly pinnate.

This pix was taken ensitu in a moist area of the jungle where this species is easily found.


This spotted leaf species retains the colors throughout their life. I still collect those which have a high color contrast. Base color range from a dark green to a mid yellowish green with highly contrasting yellow spots.

In the jungle, they are often found in the moist areas and beside streams in deep shade of down to 30-40% light infiltration from the canopy. The seeds are red when ripe. However, it is easier to remove a sucker than to germinate the seed! Once established in cultivation, they are undemanding and grow at a steady pace. I have encountered sites whereby, it is almost impossible not to step on the seedlings!

So with this first post, let's hear of the loves of your palm life!

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Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

Dalmatiansoap

Bravo Tog!
I will deffinitlly support this thread. I have for now about 50-60 seedlings of palms from around here and I hope that my collection will soon get some new and exotic members!

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brydon1

Tog ,

thank you so much for your efforts. I will definitely be in your ears about palms and your stories about them.

Can't wait

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Little Rat

lorax

The largest Palm love of my life is Parajubea cocoides, the Quito Palm. It's the highest-altitude growing palm in the world, up to 3,800 meters above sea level. The seeds are edible, too, like tiny coconuts.



After this, I'd say my fave is most likely Socratea exorrhiza (Chonta) or Mauritia flexuosa (Morete). I'll have to troll the archives for photos of those.

just j

love the palm tog wish they wernt so expensive here im a big fan of the ruffled fan and the bismarck

bepah

To find the real experts, www.palmtalk.org is a fantastic resource. There is more knowledge there than anywhere else. Check it out.

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John Case
Rookie Gardener, Veteran Drinker

ArchAngeL01

YAY!! thanxx for making this....i actually found a bismark palm today after a 18 year search lol know anything about him?

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Brad

saltydad

Tog, that is a beautiful palm! Do you think it would winter inside well? Living in Maryland, I have only cold-hardy palms. The following all are outside year-round: Needle Palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix), Chinese Windmill Palm (Trachycarpus fortunei), Dwarf Palmetto (Sabal minor 'McCurtain'), Mexican Palmetto (Sabal mexicana), Chinese Fan Palm (Livistonia chinensis), Woolly Pindo (Jelly) Palm (Butia eriospatha). They all receive winter protection. I also have a cycad -Sago Palm, which of course isn't a palm. This one spends the winter inside.

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Jack Daw

I began with hardy palms in my area too. I started by buying at least 25 seeds from every palm (but respectively, Trachycarpus fortunei was 100 seds ) and then started to germinate. Out of 500 seeds (you see, I have every! known extremely hardy palm), about 100 has sprouted already, with some plants such as Nannorrhops richiana 'Green' and 'Silver' going to 100% germination ratio. However my favourite palm is Jubea chilensis.

I have some 50 seeds of which 3 have already started to sprout, but it's a tough piece to germinate. Other than that of course I already have small seedlings of Sabal minor, Washingtonia filifera and robusta, Trachycarpus takil, Jubaea chilensis, Trachycarpus wagnerianus.

The complete list of what I intend to have one day all in my garden (and are germinating right now) is:

Butia capitata "Odorata" "Southern Jelly Palm"

Butia capitata "Pindo Palm"

Butia eriospatha "Wooly Butia Palm"

Cocos nucifera "Coco Palm" Chamaerops humilis "European Fan Palm"

Jubea chilensis "Chilean Wine Palm", "Coquito Palm"

Nanorrhops ritchiana 'Green' "Mazari Palm"

Nanorrhops ritchiana 'Silver' "Mazari Palm"

Phoenix dactylifera "Date Palm"

Rhapidophyllum hystrix "Needle Palm"

Sabal minor "Dwarf Palmetto"

Sabal palmetto "Cabbage Palm"

Trachycarpus fortunei x wagnerianus

Trachycarpus fortunei Trachykarp konopný "Windmill Palm"

Trachycarpus latisectus "Windamere Palm"

Trachycarpus manipur

Trachycarpus martianus 'Nepal'

Trachycarpus nanus

Trachycarpus oreophilus

Trachycarpus wagnerianus

Washingtonia filifera "California Fan Palm"

Washingtonia robusta "Mexican Fan Palm"

P.S: The most beautiful palm of the world >>

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Thnx to Marcel, Ante, Dr. Chiranjit Parmar and Francesco for the plants I've received.



Zeitgeist - Corporatocracy 101 (~2hrs)

Zeitgeist - Moving Forward (~2.5hrs)

musaboru

Two palms I really want the most is Areca catechu and Cyrtostachys lakka (or renda).
For now, I am fine with a little Archontophoenix in a pot I got, it sorta looks like a little Areca catechu now and enough for my plant fix at the moment.

I hear the cyrtostachys grows like a weed there in Malaysia Tog. :O

I dont really like any other palm. I really care about the attraction of the leaves and shape of the trunk etc and I find those three really beautiful. I know Im so picky. ^____^

Jack Daw

What about Roystonea, Hyophorbe or others?

P.S: Cyrtostachys renda is about to germinate (I have it for greenhouse and home only though)

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Thnx to Marcel, Ante, Dr. Chiranjit Parmar and Francesco for the plants I've received.



Zeitgeist - Corporatocracy 101 (~2hrs)

Zeitgeist - Moving Forward (~2.5hrs)

Tog Tan

Howard, with its size and very low light requirements, I don't see any problems of you bringing it indoors.

Yup, yup, yup, the C renda is everywhere! The A catechu is a nice palm to grow but it gets tall. If you have the chance, get the dwarf version from Thailand. Sometimes sds of this dwarf cultivar are offered but not all germinate true. From what I gather thru the people in Thailand only about 80% comes out dwarf. It is a very lovely stout short palm which does not get more than 6ft in trunk height. I have the rarer form from Myanmar which is much stouter/fatter in trunk size than the Thai variety. A catechu sds will sprout in slightly more than a month if they are fresh.

Here you can see how tall the A catechu can get. It is growing by a river along with the Musa acuminata subsp malaccensis. Do you think you can still handle the height?


Jack, Roystonea regia is one of the first palms to be used in landscaping in the city and they are everywhere. Now people are very tired of it and it's replacement is the Woodeytia bifurcata, the Aussie Fox Tail Palm. Now this palm is everywhere! We have Hyphorbe's as in H lagenicaulis but it is not popular because of the uneven development of the bottle shape. H verschaffeltii is also found as a landscape element but it is not popular as it is common looking. Anyway, both these two genus are very good growers.

Hey John, I tried joining sites like this and others but like here best, they mostly talk about growing it in the cold areas. I was also a mini tropics discovery channel of sort in my posts. I gave up after awhile cos I wasn't learning much. There is no doubt they are very good, especially on the technical side of things but I opted for the friendliness of this site. Probably it will be great for the people from the west as they can learn alot about growing palms in the cold areas.

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Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

just j

what do u need to know? the main thing is put it in a big pot or in ground cause once its planted u cant dig it up they are real sensitive to the roots getting damaged. i killed alot of them this way. u should of put a wanted add up a long time ago i would of sent u one for 10 bucks about 2-3 foot with around 5-9 leaves im all out now

Tog Tan

Yes Beth, I love the S exorrhiza. Real cool looking with the high heels. So do you know all the palm species in your area? I guess you must know what's on my mind already....

AA, This is a real beauty. I had one years ago as a 3 leaf sdlg which grew to a monster size after 9 years. I relocated and left it at that house. I still see it whenever I am in that area. It's a lovely silver colored huge palm. Once they are established in the ground, there's no stopping them. The sds, if you can get them are very easy to germinate. They come up in just a month or so with very long roots. Right now, they have become another landscaping favorite in the city. However, the idiots plant them very close with a distance of only 6ft! How little these small brained version of humans know...

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Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

lorax

Yes, Tog; I know most of them... I do know what's on your mind but you have to wait for me to get an export licence 'cause I assume you'll want live ones (and the seeds are too bulky to smuggle...)

I can get you some neat stuff from the Pseudoarecaceae too - like Toquilla.

musaboru

Tog, awesome pic! Oh yes that is beautiful. And thanks for the info. I do not really know much about the different varieties of Areca catechu. I looked at some pictures of dwarf ones and they are mighty cute. Yes, I said cute.

Would you know a seed source for the variety from Myanmar? (I find this ironic since the Thais seem to come up with all the interesting variety of plants hehe).



Nope. What I really dislike is when the trunk is curvaceous. Not sure why I feel that way, but thats what I don't like.

My main attractions are non-tapering, bamboo-like trunk with beautifully proportioned foliage. The ones I like have aesthetically pleasing overall symmetry to my eyes. Although, I cringe whenever I see Archontophoenix planted in groups because it makes their trunk really curve.
So you see.... Hehe.

Anyways, thats awesome you got them to germinate. Congrats.

ArchAngeL01

How hardy do you think the bismarkia is??? can you campare it's hardiness to another palm ?

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Brad

Jack Daw

It's for zones USDA 10 and upper, it's said to survive also in warmer parts of zone USDA 9, but it's said to be damaged sometimes by seasonal frosts...

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Thnx to Marcel, Ante, Dr. Chiranjit Parmar and Francesco for the plants I've received.



Zeitgeist - Corporatocracy 101 (~2hrs)

Zeitgeist - Moving Forward (~2.5hrs)

Tog Tan

Variegated Palms
Hey, you people into Variegated palms? Over here, they cost a bomb and I have only a couple of them cos I am tired of spending money chasing them.

This is a Variegated Adonida merrillii aka Christmas Palm. I got it as a small sdlg from Bkk. Variegation is stable and it is a good grower.


Variegated Rhapis excelsa aka Lady Palm. I was lucky to get this clump which has good colors. Being variegated, it is very slow growing compared to the green form. I also have have the dwarf Japanese form which is pure yellow and it hardly grows!

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Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

bepah

PREPARE FOR RANT

Like me and 80% of the people who post here as well. Take a look at the distribution of the posters here. I am in 9b and pass by hundreds of posts that are looking for plants to grow in zone 6 or lower.

For example, this thread is talking about C. renda (lipstick palm), Unless you live in the tropics, you'll spend a lot of time and money watching it die. /not good.

It is my opinion (with which you can add 4 bucks and buy a cup of coffee at Starbacks) that if you live in the tropics, everything seems to be pretty easy to grow. Slip into zone 9 or lower, the challenges mount and grow the lower your zone.

Just in this thread, there is a lot of misinformation re: palms already....thery die slowly and early successes in temperate and cooler areas are almost always followed by the palm struggling and eventually dying. I know this....from experience. I push zones as hard as anyone. For example, I currently have a Pseudophoenix cunninghamiana (King Palm, Bangalow Palm) which is a truly a zone 10 palm. I now have about 6 inches of trunk on it....and I know that a freeze could come any year and kill it (almost happened in 07).

I am sorry to be so strident on this topic, but it is frustrating to me to see so many folks push tropicals to such a limit and then fail. You can protect your banana by cutting it down and putting it the garage for the winter, moving palms is not practical once they reach and size at all, past seedling size.

END OF RANT!

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John Case
Rookie Gardener, Veteran Drinker