parajubaea cocoides, any experiences

[Jellybob]

Cheers DB. There I go ranting again Trying to use the PC and having children bicker in the background always helps a rant.

[John P]

I grew one for years from a small seedling, sourced from Peter Jenkins. There was an article in Chamaerops magazine saying that it was a good palm for a cool climate, so I had been tempted to buy one. It went in the greenhouse for winter and came out in the summer. I slipped up one year by standing it out too early and it was frosted by a a very minor temperature of just below freezing. The palm recovered but it did not fit in with my planting plan to grow palms that would survive planted out. I did an exchange with Nigel and he grew it to a large size under glass he even posted a picture of him standing underneath it. As he has moved to South America I expect he sold it on. Its not a palm I would try and grow outdoors unless I lived in a very mild location.

John

[toptropics]

I've been growing Parajubaea torallyi in the conservatory. I have to say though that the hot temperatures in there dont seem to have caused it a problem. Its now planted out and I'll see how it fares next winter

sounds very interesting i would love to see a picture, how big is it?

Hey john are you referring to cocoides or torallyi?

[bodster]

Its about 5 feet from the ground to the tops of the fronds so not a bad sized plant. It seems to have really deep roots when I planted it out.

[Dave Brown]

Martin, from what you and John P are saying maybe what I said about not liking hign minimums was wrong, but that was certainly the thought a few years ago. There are some palms that do not like being in a pot, maybe this is one if it has very deep roots. If you have planted it out, how did it fare last winter

[bodster]

I've only just planted it out Dave. It was in a huge pot like a dustbin. When I got it out, it had thick roots going down to and round the bottom of the pot but not much else. This is Parajubaea torallyi rather than parajubaea cocoides

[Adrian]

Cocoides is the least hardy of the Parajubaea, microcarpa is thought to be thr best bet and I have planted one and another has gone into a very tall planter that will stay out for winter so Ill let you know in a years time if microcarpa is worth a punt.
Microcarpa is also smaller and slower than torallyii.
I would say the most tried Parajubaea would be the torallyii v torallyii but no great success has come yet.
I have a few of varying sizes from seedlings to 4 foot palms so they will get tested before too long.

The one im pinning my hopes on and probably the hopes of the UK palm growers is the Butia x Parajubaea cross, Ive had one for a number of years from a strap leaved seedling and that was planted out last summer, it made good growth, much faster in the ground than in a pot, and it came through winter (-9's) with just a single fleece bag and may well have come through unprotected.
This year it should rocket, its looking very much like a Butyagrus at the size (around 3 foot high) but this year should also give me a better idea of how it will look, hoping it will be more Parajubaea like.

Cocoides, well any Parajubaea, should make a good conservatory palm as its fairly well behaved but to put it out in the ground would be a big ask but maybe with a pop up fleece tube and heating cables you might have a chance.

It comes down to how serious you are and what effort you want to put in.

[bodster]

Very true. We wont find out how hardy they are until people try it so lets see! I hope the parajubaea x butia comes on well adrian. Thats something of a rare beastie from what I can see. I was concidering keeping my parajubaea in the conservatory until it was big enough to cross with one of my butias but I'd probably have to wait till i was 103 before i saw what the result would be!

[toptropics]

Very true. We wont find out how hardy they are until people try it so lets see! I hope the parajubaea x butia comes on well adrian. Thats something of a rare beastie from what I can see. I was concidering keeping my parajubaea in the conservatory until it was big enough to cross with one of my butias but I'd probably have to wait till i was 103 before i saw what the result would be!

I'd happily be one of the first to try

anyone know were i can get a torallyi.(don't want seeds, heard they take ages to germinate)

Thanks guys

[bodster]

Akamba often have them. thats where I got mine

[Adrian]

Where are you toptropics? you say warmer UK but locations are quite important when discussing plants.

[toptropics]

Where are you toptropics? you say warmer UK but locations are quite important when discussing plants.

your right it is a bit misleading. I am around london, near the 02
We didn't get to far below -4 this year.we have hit 20C a few times so far.

If I dont find any seedlings locally or online, ill end up buying seeds from rps along with some ph.theoprastii or sylvestris or both depending on price

[Adrian]

Like Bodster said Akamba are a good bet, they had seedlings when we were there the other week Im sure and I bought a fairly large one there just before xmas.

[bodster]

I dont think theres are ever going to be the next butia. The best we're going to get is that they'll survive rather than thrive

[toptropics]

Hey anyone know when the akamba online store is due to open, it says may but anyone know in more detail