I am giving up on my Queen palm.

cordyman

Re: I am giving up on my Queen palm.

Post by cordyman »

billdango wrote:
cordyman wrote:Bill glad you're not giving up on it! you'd miss tucking it in at night with the hot water bottle :D

I must admit that I did use the hot water bottle trick but only on about 6 nights spread over the last 2 winters.

But true love never dies so if next winter is as cold as the last 2 winters have been I will lay freezing in my bed while my palm tree is snug and well tucked.

billdango :D

dedication!

we need some recent pics of it too! against your freshly painted walls icon_salut
cordyman

Re: I am giving up on my Queen palm.

Post by cordyman »

billdango wrote:
Rod wrote:No Bill - keep it going ( I only get one leaf a year, and mine has only been in the ground 2-years ) - I am hoping it will speed up a little. I am only going to remove it if it defoliates totally.
I will try the best I can but we have had almost 7 months of winter this year and that's something you will never have to face in New Zealand.

And even worse at least down here in Southampton our yearly sun hours have been a third below normal for the last 2 years so as a result its been much colder then normal.

Last year was the 2nd dullest year since records began almost 130 years ago.

We only had about 1.500 hours of sun last year compared with our usual average of just over 1.800 hours so something is not right there.

At the moment this year dosen't look any better so we could have another below average year.

I feel a bit sorry for my poor Queen palm at the moment but I will see what happens in the coming months before I make a final decision.

rgds billdango icon_thumright

get a cheap blowaway greenhouse over it to give it some hot temps icon_thumleft
Troppoz

Re: I am giving up on my Queen palm.

Post by Troppoz »

Bill Im glad you reconsidered. If it can grow in Hobart and Christchurchs summer then I cant see why your warmer summer wouldnt be to its liking. Maybe water it with warm water to raise soil temperatures and give it a kick start once the weather heats up and see if that makes any difference. I think it deserves at least one more season in the sun icon_thumright
jcec1

Re: I am giving up on my Queen palm.

Post by jcec1 »

I didn't protect my two, and they didn't like the drying northerly winds and the leaves dessicated in March. I was thinking of trying Parajubea torrallyi as it's listed as being hardy down to -7, has anyone had any success with this palm?
Just waiting until Mulu get 10l ones in.
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MikeC

Re: I am giving up on my Queen palm.

Post by MikeC »

jcec1 wrote:I didn't protect my two, and they didn't like the drying northerly winds and the leaves dessicated in March. I was thinking of trying Parajubea torrallyi as it's listed as being hardy down to -7, has anyone had any success with this palm?
Just waiting until Mulu get 10l ones in.
I've got several Parajubea (tvt and microcarpa), they have sailed through the winter and look very good.

But then so have my Phoenix canariensis_CIDP palms.

icon_thumleft
rburrena

Re: I am giving up on my Queen palm.

Post by rburrena »

My thoughts are that the palm would have been putting in a lot initially into establishing itself so give it a chance. :) Now that it is hopefully established it may speed up.
Nathan

Re: I am giving up on my Queen palm.

Post by Nathan »

jcec1 wrote:I didn't protect my two, and they didn't like the drying northerly winds and the leaves dessicated in March. I was thinking of trying Parajubea torrallyi as it's listed as being hardy down to -7, has anyone had any success with this palm?
Just waiting until Mulu get 10l ones in.
Parajubaea TVT are hardy here for me & have come through the last few cold winters with no protection & no damage. I'd say if you can grow Washingtonia robusta outside, then you can get away with a P. TVT icon_thumright
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Re: I am giving up on my Queen palm.

Post by Dave Brown »

Standard Queen palm just can't hack our lack of heat, not only day time but night time lows in summer. There was quite a discussion back on UKO and no-one was getting good growth even in the hotter years.

Apparently they are grown on the beach in Chicago as bedding plants, and do well there for summer, but temps are 30/35C max with 20C min.

Mine succumbed in winter 2008/9 and wasn't replaced.

I have 2 x Butyagrus but these are also soooo slooooow.
Best regards
Dave
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Roll on summer.....
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jcec1

Re: I am giving up on my Queen palm.

Post by jcec1 »

Nathan wrote:
jcec1 wrote:I didn't protect my two, and they didn't like the drying northerly winds and the leaves dessicated in March. I was thinking of trying Parajubea torrallyi as it's listed as being hardy down to -7, has anyone had any success with this palm?
Just waiting until Mulu get 10l ones in.
Parajubaea TVT are hardy here for me & have come through the last few cold winters with no protection & no damage. I'd say if you can grow Washingtonia robusta outside, then you can get away with a P. TVT icon_thumright
Thanks Nathan, winters here are probably just a little colder than yours, so it sounds promising. Just have to get my hands on a couple now. icon_thumright
billdango

Re: I am giving up on my Queen palm.

Post by billdango »

I won't give up just yet because I found out that some large specimens of the queen palm grow in Roscoff in North France so if they can do it with their cooler and less sunny summers then surely I can grow one in warmer and sunnier Southampton.

I think those in Roscoff are at least 20 feet tall and have a massive trunk to match so how do they do it?

If I remember correctly there was a thread on Hardy tropicals about these palms last year.

So maybe these were planted as large palms?

I just don't know but I also heard that they can grow Caryota mitis outdoors without protection there as well.

Even Tresco can't do that.

Anyone on this forum know their secret?

billdango icon_scratch
Troppoz

Re: I am giving up on my Queen palm.

Post by Troppoz »

Compare these climate graphs:

http://www.holidaycheck.com/climate-wet ... _9723.html

http://www.holidaycheck.com/climate-wet ... 10733.html

Though you have warmer summers and colder winters than Roscoff they have slightly more hours of sunshine throughout summer and a more Mediterranean rainfall pattern with drier summers and wetter winters, whereas you have rainfall equally distributed.

So at a guess its not lack of summer heat as such that is the limiting factor, but possibly the colder winter and lesser hours of sunshine in summer to make up growth and store energy for the next winter might be the issue. Not sure how you could rectify that, maybe place reflective material around the palm to maximise the sunshine you do get? Mirrors or quartz gravel perhaps?
billdango

Re: I am giving up on my Queen palm.

Post by billdango »

The winter temperatures in Roscoff are only slightly higher then the South coast of the UK but Southamptons summer is warmer and slightly less sunny.

The sunshine hours for Roscoff are 1.816 hours a year compared with Southamptons 1.775 hours a year so the difference is very slight indeed.

Even Eastbourne or Ventnor has higher sun hours then Roscoff.

Eastbourne gets an average of 1.875 hours a year and Ventnor gets 1.912 hours a year but they can't grow the Queen palm there either so it can't be because of lack of sun hours.

Maybe the French are just lucky?

billdango icon_scratch
cordyman

Re: I am giving up on my Queen palm.

Post by cordyman »

Troppoz wrote:Compare these climate graphs:

http://www.holidaycheck.com/climate-wet ... _9723.html

http://www.holidaycheck.com/climate-wet ... 10733.html

Though you have warmer summers and colder winters than Roscoff they have slightly more hours of sunshine throughout summer and a more Mediterranean rainfall pattern with drier summers and wetter winters, whereas you have rainfall equally distributed.

So at a guess its not lack of summer heat as such that is the limiting factor, but possibly the colder winter and lesser hours of sunshine in summer to make up growth and store energy for the next winter might be the issue. Not sure how you could rectify that, maybe place reflective material around the palm to maximise the sunshine you do get? Mirrors or quartz gravel perhaps?

if drier summers are the key, how about the portable greenhoue over it for 2 months bill? more heat and dryness? = more spear action?
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Re: I am giving up on my Queen palm.

Post by Dave Brown »

cordyman wrote:

if drier summers are the key, how about the portable greenhoue over it for 2 months bill? more heat and dryness? = more spear action?
These get to about 10ft tall before getting any trunk diameter, so not easy to house even in winter.
Best regards
Dave
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Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
billdango

Re: I am giving up on my Queen palm.

Post by billdango »

Nothing beats me so don't worry I will try and think of something.

If they can do it in France I think I can do it here.

Lets see what happens this summer [if we have one] then I will take it from there.

Whatever happens I will keep the forum updated.

rgds billdango icon_thumleft
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