Taht sound about normal for a neddle palm.
Needle palms are more of a bush then a tree.
They are VERY slow growers BUT the up side is that there the hardiest palm in the world they are said to withstand
-20 degrees F.
Hope this helps, Joe

Please, don't go telling everyone that a Needle can take -20ºF. It was reported once, gets repeated by everyone trying to sell or push palms. In z6 or z5, the plant will see below 0º every winter, not just once in 50 years.

While it is true that they are not the fastest growers, maybe you are unintentionally restraining growth. Here are some questions to consider.--Is the container big enough? Are you feeding in the growing season? (Palms are heavy feeders.) Is the palm getting enough sun? And finally, is it getting enough summer heat? While needles have excellent cold tolerance, they also have a high summer heat preference (similar to the temp preferences/tolerances of the hardier Sabals). Good luck!

I would do what njoasis suggests. Check sun, check summer heat, check the pot to make sure its not overly pot bound. Needle Palms are VERY VERY SLOW growers, and some of them do what you are describing. Sometimes it takes them a while to push the whole stem (petiole) out, and the next leaf may start to open before the previous leaf is all the way pushed out.

You should be able to grow this palm outdoors, but you may need to provide some winter protection for it on the coldest nights. -20F is rather absurd. No palm can take that. If they could, you would see people growing palms all over the place in places like Anchorage, Fairbans, AK, St. Petersburg, Russia...etc. That will kill any palm outright. Those are arctic circle type temps. Needles can withstand probably down to about 5 above zero, maybe even zero to -5 for short durations, but I would say that is the limit. -20 would likely kill it outright. If you plant it outside, I would protect it when you get down around 5F to 0F, if it is going to be anything more than a very short duration.

What size palm is this?
Needles like many other palms when they start to mature will start to throw up several spears at once but being that it's a Needle palm that doesn't mean it's going to blast off.
I don't think it would do ANYTHING in a cold greenhouse/during winter.
Maybe this summer it will grow a leaf or two.
There are some that grow faster just like with all palms/plants.

More than a couple Needle palms and some Sabals(Louisiana,Birminghamn) have survived -20 to -25(F)
but only in areas where this is rare/short lived and they have the summer heat to recover.Ex;Oklahoma,Tennessee.

I must confess, initially I was not very fond of this species. Now I have a new appreciation for the non-trunking palm species (Needles and especially Sabal minor--still have a issue with those darn pin cushion needles though). Mine started to push some decent growth last summer in a container (to be planted this spring)--including increasing number of pups growing off the mother plant. I think growth also increases with how established it is in the ground. I currently have all the hardier palms in a cold greenhouse (mostly zone 8's--zone 7's are or will be going into the ground). No, it won't do anything in a cold environment.--Despite their cold hardiness they really like HEAT (like Sabals).

I agree,mine is going on year three and really was about to"take off"last year but then it started to get cold.

I really didn't care for them at first but when you uncover them for the year and see they are unfazed when so many other cold hardys*have suffered you really grow found of these tough guys.
I have certainly gained a new respect for mine after seeing what they can endure!

They grow very slooow, especially in the winter when its cold or in a cool greenhouse.

They live in partial shade so a lack of full sun is not necessarily bad.

When I got my needle palm last year I was afraid I would get no growth or really slow growth, but it did put out 3 new pups (in addition to the one it already had) and about 3-4 new leaves. The height hasnt changed much in a year, but mine is much wider now than it was when I planted it in may. I guess some palms will be faster than others even if they are in the same species. They might be slow, but their leaves probably wont start to get damage until temps get around 7-8F. I think they are reliably hardy to -5F if the duration is short and it is an established clump. -5F would probably do some pretty extensive damage to the leaves without protection and they put out new leaves slowly. I think they are better than sabal minors though because my needle palm grows much faster than my sabal minor and is more cold tolerant too.

P/Shade farther south.
The more north you are...more sun is better-

Good point Jim.

Speaking of points-
You ever get your hand next to the base of these pulling the mulch back on warm early spring days?

There's a reason they call them needle palms!

OUCH!

LOL