what are you gonna do with all those robustas?

You can just go to Wal-Mart if they sell them in your area and buy 1 gallon California fan palms for $5.44 and save yourself the growing process,but if its the growing you like then I understand.

How much sun do you give those things on an average day,I was thinking of getting a 1 gal.today at wal-mart just to watch it grow as I find it hard to pass up on palms but I dont know how easy they are to grow indoors.

Josh, it looks like yours are doing real fine and seem bigger than mine especially the first one as I'm still looking for signs of the 3rd strap leaf on all of mine. All of similar size, not much diference at all really. My pic was taken on 7th, no drastic change since then! Longest leaf is 10 1/4 inches, very important that extra 1/4 inch. Have the others in the g/h as there's only so many seedlings my long suffering hubby will contend with, but they're only 1/3rd the size of these.

W&L...what am I going to do with all mine?? Turn our very windy, exposed, approached by steep winding roads, little hilltop village of some 200 hardy folks into a tropical oasis!! That's what I'm going to do! Well actually that's what I'd like to do but guess I'll have to settle for just growing them on for as long as I can, picking out the biggest/strongest and keep those. I just like the challenge of trying to grow palms etc. here in the UK from seeds I collect from our holidays.
If the seedlings are VERY lucky they MAY get 5hrs sun through the window, but that is on VERY GOOD day when I am in to move them from the first window to the following two windows to follow the sun, sometimes they dont make the next 2 steps so stay in the shade. Plus the sun is not that strong at the moment except for a handfull of totally clear days that seem to have eluded us for the past week or so, as it's cloudy and bitterly cold again.
1 gal Palms for £2.70!! I wish!! Anyway, here they are along with 2 Sabal minors and my Adeniums.

How long does it take for these to get to a 3ft size?
I ordered several different varieties of palms that were that size when they came. I expected them to be larger because I NEED THEM NOW. Not in 10 years.

W&L - They definitely don't sell any thing like that in Walmart around here. Plus I'd rather grow them from seed and watch them grow. Some will go outside and some will stay in. They are purely a novelty and experimental plant for me. I would say they get a good 5-6 hours of sun on a sunny day of course. Sadly the big box stores only sell palms hardy in Georgia and south around here. I wont buy any palms anymore from big box stores except a stupid majesty palm that I'll throw away in the fall.

Gill - You should try some supplemental lighting for faster growth. Go buy some cheap track lighting and a pack of compact fluorescents. Thats what I use.

cactusfreak - I would think they will be 3ft by next spring maybe. I'll definitely keep everyone posted on its growth. If you want a big one you're going to have to order one. Whats your location?

Jay

Josh/Jay/JPC...just read your post under the other thread re your SM's....my third Sabal M is ready for potting on after checking it's progress in the propagator later today, I planted 6 and have 3 survivors so far, a 4th one died off. I too hedged my bets and only planted 6 out of the 20 I bought expecting to loose most to rot etc. I never plant all at once with 'exotics' like this. Not sure whether to sow the rest or offer them as swaps along with my other surplus seeds but am limited to swapping with the EU countries, legally, and find the GWeb European and UK forums as slow as my Butias!! Forgot to say the seedlings go under a wall light come lighting up time which shines directly onto them so they do get some extra light.
Topher....what's happening with your seeds then? How long have they been planted now?
Gill.

looks great mine have done nothing !

Have the third strap leaf just showing on couple of the WR seedlings this morning....Neat or what?!
Gill.

They are fast growers, if there is any palm that you can over-pot for maximum growth it is a Washingtonia.

Andy - I know you start pretty much everything from seed which is awesome. I was just wondering if you could approximate how long before robustas get their first fan leaf?

of course it depends on how much heat and how much sun. I would guess by the 4th leaf one should start to see some fanning.

...one more leaf to go!!!!!!!!!!! maybe

Gill, If your after swapping plants you may have better luck on a EU based site, the European Palm society has been re-vamped and is great. A really good bunch of experienced and novice palm growers, you should check it out.

We are meeting up at Kew in a few weeks if you are interested you would be made welcome. I will be taking a load of surplus plants along to give away or swap.

ps: its not limted to europe either, we are attracting global interest now

Here is a link that might be useful: European palm society

TrachyH, thanks for the info, will definately be checking that site out. The meet at Kew sounds most interesting, unfortunately due to a knee operation in early Jan I am still rather immobile, hence the multiple posts on GW forums as my computer is my saviour at the moment!!! ...a trip down to the smoke is sadly beyond my limitations at the moment...isn't that just typical...thanks for the invite, I truly appreciate it. Kew Gdns is on our list of places to go in the UK as we've not made it there so far...along with the Eden Project. If I come on in leaps and bounds in the meantime (I wish) I will contact you again...thanks!
Regards, Gill.