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palmsinfl

Tropical Palms

16 years ago

I don't know if I can plant my palm seeds in the ground here in brooksville, fl(bit north of Tampa). the area is sort of protected by tall pine farms so the wind is cut off alot. They include

-Foxtail(wodeytia bifurcata)

-Coconut(cocos nucifera)

-Royals(roystonea regia)

-BIsmarck(Bismarckia nobilis)

-King(alexandrae cunninghamia)

-THis one im not sure they say its hardy to 24,high plateau "coconut"(beccariophoenix alfredii)

-and Florida Thatch (thrinax radiata)

i know my queens and washingtonias will survive easily w/o protection, which ones will need protection, and even with it will the delicate ones survive?

Comments (9)

  • 16 years ago

    Im not sure if you are in a zone 9a or 9b, but if you are in a zone 9a, the only palms that will survive without protection on your list is the queens. Heres how much protection I think each will need....
    -Foxtail(wodeytia bifurcata).....Needs protection below 32F. They probably wont have too hard of a time in a normal zone 9a.
    -Coconut(cocos nucifera) ....Also needs protection below 32F and will get damage below 35F.
    -Royals(roystonea regia)..... Probably can handle a light frost, but damage will likely begin around 28F.
    -BIsmarck(Bismarckia nobilis)....Also handles light frost well with damage probably below 30F or a little lower.
    -King(alexandrae cunninghamia)... Will probably get damage below freezing or maybe a little lower.
    -THis one im not sure they say its hardy to 24,high plateau "coconut"(beccariophoenix alfredii).... I think this one isnt really much more cold tolerant than a coconut palm and will probably get leaf burn starting when temps are below 30. The only reason why this palm is often sold as a cold tolerant coconut palm is because it doesnt need a lot of heat to grow giving california growers a tropical look.
    -and Florida Thatch (thrinax radiata)....Gets damaged at about freezing, some say 35F.

    Seeds should be started in pots for there first 3 maybe 4 years before they become old enough to go in the ground. Usually strap leaves are less cold tolerant than adult leaves.

    Good luck!

  • 16 years ago

    I am marginal 9a/9b ish and I have neighbors with beautiful Bismarck Palms so im not worried about them.... i am just expecting to put some tropicals down, with protection, and at least take advantage that im not up against zone 8 or colder...

  • 16 years ago

    You will need to protect all except queen and bismarkia. The bismarkia will be to big to protect is why I put that in there and the others will be eventually. Bismarkia's are not all the same by the way I know of some that were burnt bad and others not even damaged when temps went down in the mid 20s in central fl. In the years like this year you can lose all of those palms except the queen without protection. The foxtail is about as cold hardy as a coconut in my experience or maybe a few degrees colder if your lucky and both will fry bad from frost and foxtails many times get fungus in the crown. The Fl thatch is tougher than I thought but cant handle frost but maybe the easiest to protect for many years.

  • 16 years ago

    Thank you both, but i am wondering because my 5 inch tall foxtail sprout is green but the tips of the two beginning leaves are greyish at the tips, i would like to know how to put pictures on this site.. and if i could I will post the pictures and see what some other enthusiasts think...

  • 16 years ago

    palmsinfl, i live here in Jax, FL which i think is zone 9b and i just planted a 10ft foxtail last week! I have a much tougher test than you do down there in tampa. I am the only one in my neighborhood with this tree! i have seen a few other foxtails around here in the area, but not many.

  • 16 years ago

    palmsinfl, to upload pictures on here, just get a free account on photobucket.com then upload your pics on there. copy and paste the HTML code on your picture page and paste it on the message block which i am typing on right now. it's very easy!

  • 16 years ago

    My new foxtail palm!

  • 16 years ago

    Very nice Foxtail! Congrats on keeping it so good looking through this oddly cold winter! i've had a seed from st.petersburg a while back and now it's about 5-6 inches. I found my newer seeds in Fort Myers a few weeks a go, and i've been keeping the humidity high and trying to maintian temperatures in the 70's, but you know it's been cold so they've been living in the garage.

  • 16 years ago

    thank you palmsinfl! I just took off the wrappings on my foxtail today! It's amazing that it looks the same way it did when i planted it 3 weeks ago. We had about 5 days that our nighttime lows were at 32 or below the past 10 days. I guess protecting it really helped out alot

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