Hardy Tropicals UK

As you can see from the picture this Takil seedling just didn't want to give up on life. After forgetting to water it, and it being perched on a windowsill directly above a radiator, it shrivelled and looked totally dead.

I stood it in water for an hour and completely soaked the soil then put it back and filled the saucer with water.

It did nothing for almost a month but in the last week has pushed out some new growth and is fighting back.



I can only assume that Takil prefer to stay wet, or at least damp, through winter when indoors and am wondering whether I should treat it in the same manner as I do my Phoenix Poebellinii?

RPS say this about habitat http://www.trachycarpus-takil.com/ , as for being the hardiest? I've killed 3 Takil and had smaller Fortunei survive within feet of each other, of course there is the 'is it isn't it' debate still raging around this plant...

grub wrote:RPS say this about habitat http://www.trachycarpus-takil.com/ , as for being the hardiest? I've killed 3 Takil and had smaller Fortunei survive within feet of each other, of course there is the 'is it isn't it' debate still raging around this plant...

Cheers for that link Grub, some great pictures on there.

If the natural habitat is "close to the snowline" on a mountain at 6-7,000 feet then I reckon these palms are used to significant amounts of water at below soil level.

The snow melt runoff would saturate the water table at lower than ground level and, during warmer times, there would be natural gravitational runoff of any liquid precipitation to a smilar level as the snowline occurs.

I'm going to try keeping one of my 2 seedlings wetter than the other and see how they compare in terms of growth.

Cunning plan

I guess since PDN has seedlings of these for sale once again I have been hearing so much about them. I don't think I have the paitence for a seedling but id take one in a 5 ltr pot and give it a go

miketropic wrote:I guess since PDN has seedlings of these for sale once again I have been hearing so much about them. I don't think I have the paitence for a seedling but id take one in a 5 ltr pot and give it a go

I am the most impatient person you could ever meet Mike but gardening is slowly teaching me the art of waiting.

I have 2 windowsills full of palms that started life with me a single or two strap leaved babies and are now all starting to form a tiny trunk and push out real fronds.

It's very satisfying. I was saying to my son yesterday that I can't wait to repot them and get them outside next year. They've been inside for 18 months snd watching them change and grow is really heartwarming.

GoggleboxUK wrote:

miketropic wrote:I guess since PDN has seedlings of these for sale once again I have been hearing so much about them. I don't think I have the paitence for a seedling but id take one in a 5 ltr pot and give it a go

I am the most impatient person you could ever meet Mike but gardening is slowly teaching me the art of waiting.

I have 2 windowsills full of palms that started life with me a single or two strap leaved babies and are now all starting to form a tiny trunk and push out real fronds.

It's very satisfying. I was saying to my son yesterday that I can't wait to repot them and get them outside next year. They've been inside for 18 months snd watching them change and grow is really heartwarming.

Well said Gogglebox i agree,totally.

Where's the compost gone from the pot? No wonder the poor thing dried out!!

flounder wrote:Where's the compost gone from the pot? No wonder the poor thing dried out!!

These seedlings were tiny when I potted them up so they went in well aerated compost which has settled over time. The Takil will be getting repotted come Spring but, as there's no roots poking out the bottom of the pot, I'm sure they have plenty of room to grow.

GoggleboxUK wrote:

grub wrote:RPS say this about habitat http://www.trachycarpus-takil.com/ , as for being the hardiest? I've killed 3 Takil and had smaller Fortunei survive within feet of each other, of course there is the 'is it isn't it' debate still raging around this plant...

Cheers for that link Grub, some great pictures on there.

If the natural habitat is "close to the snowline" on a mountain at 6-7,000 feet then I reckon these palms are used to significant amounts of water at below soil level.

The snow melt runoff would saturate the water table at lower than ground level and, during warmer times, there would be natural gravitational runoff of any liquid precipitation to a smilar level as the snowline occurs.

I'm going to try keeping one of my 2 seedlings wetter than the other and see how they compare in terms of growth.

Well they grow between 2000 and 2800 meters. Its wel below the snowline, in the Himalaya at 30 degrees latitude North the snowline would be arround 4500 meter I guess. But where T. takil grows wild you get certainly snow during winter. Often melting again after milder sunnier weather, especially on the south facing slopes. Although the winter is the dry season the Himalays still get hit by coldfronts from the west during winter which also bring some rain or snow.
And the forest there is pretty humid! Lots of ferns and bamboo under a mixed canopy of deciduous, evegreen trees and several conifers among Taxus and Abies. Also Aesculus indica, Juglans regia, Betula alnoides and several species of Acergrow together withy Trachycarpus takil.
And evergreen oaks like Quercus semicarpifolia.

Alexander

The place I stayed in Munsyari lays at 2200 meter. And here you can see that it can snow pretty much there in winter. See at: munsyarihotel.com You pay arround 10 Euro a night there. And there are cheaper places in town I heard from Narendra. So for those whom want a cheap winteroutbreak with a mountainscenary onreviled in Europe. And offcourse palms in the snow.

Alexander