Hello!! They make great potted palms here in and around chicago I see some very large ones.

Hi
These are mostly grown as yard plants in my area but a neighbor has one maintained in a large ceramic pot. IMO it is far more attractice because the "bottle shape" is more exagerated .. Would think that size would be great for you.
Should hold for many years since they are slow growing.
Seems like a good price also. gary

They make wonderful potted plants, but they needs lots of water to fatten up the stems. For me, they are much more manageable and attractive than some other tropical species that us Northerners try like coconuts.

Here is mine, I just took the photo...going into its 3rd summer outdoors. It began as a 7-gal plant with only a few growth rings at the stem, and a minimal "bottle" shape. The growth rate is about 4 new leaves a year, with each leaf adding about 3/4" of stem height. But each leaf is longer than the previous one.

They are really easy plants and grow pretty fast with heat and humidity. This is my first summer with a bottle palm I got off ebay. Picture is below. Its right underneath my new pygmy date palm.

Thanks guys when i'm back up that way i am going to get one !

They make great potted plants at any size. Definitely bring it in when the temperatures get about 40 or less. They are also very sensitive to the slightest bit of frost. I have seen some planted in the ground take 27 degrees and be completely defoliated and come back in the Spring.

Mine in the pot below got leaf burn with 38 degree temperatures. I have kept mine in the house for 3 months when it was smaller next to a window and it still grew. Now that is bigger I keep it in the garage with a grow light and heater.

Those are all some good looking palms. I have two bottle seedlings that sat in a south facing windoa all winter. They did well except for some browning on the edge of the fronds. A new spear has shot up this week with lots of sun and a couple strait days in the 80s.

You can see mine on my palms page.. I actually left it outside this year in zone 8a and paid dearly but it did make it.. its outside now and has a new center spear coming up but stunted.. I love this palm and wont do this again next year.. also it seems to also do great potted..

Here is a link that might be useful: Palms

Just saw 4- to 5-foot bottle palms at my local Home Depot for $36. This is a first. If I only had the space! May have to throw something else out!

For those growing them up North, how do they deal with lower light levels and lower humidity in the winter (like my garage)? Do the the leaf tips brown? Are they as tolerant and easy as the Spindle Palm?

I keep mine in the living room under 350 watts of Metal Halide spotlights. I don't do anything extra for humidity, and the leaf tips are fine.

The leaf tips will burn if the soil is not thoroughly leached and drained with every watering. These plants are particularly sensitive to fertilizer salts.

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Addendum to previous post: the description I gave is where I grow my Bottle during cold weather. The plant enjoys the warm season outdoors in full sun.

That's good to hear. I went ahead and picked up the bottle palm. It's got the beginnings of a fat little trunk already.

Just had to post. These are great plants. I picked up to this year that were 7 foot tall. I need to check out the depot store and see if we got any. This is the first year I have seen these for sale around here. I picked mine up at a little veggy stand on the side of the road. Made the lady and deal and took all she had. I cant wait until they get as big as my huge spindle palm. Wonderful plants.

OK, so do these like to be rootbound? If they are sensitive to a buildup of salts, they would probably be best watered more frequently in a smaller pot, right? How many new fronds can I expect per growing season? One? two?

TIA

The issue of growing plants rootbound has more to do with creating a situation where the root zone can be watered frequently for aeration. A rootbound plant needs water more often so the soil unoccupied by roots is minimal.

If you have an extremely well drained mix then it does not need to be rootbound. If you're not sure, then you are better off restricting the root space and repotting often (every 1-2 yrs.).

In my experience Bottle Palms in pots can easily be watered daily as long as it is warm. They are tolerant of drought but that doesn't mean it is good for them.

For me they grow a new leaf every 2 months in the summer, slowing to every 4 months when it is indoors for the winter. That gives me a total of about 3-4 leaves per year.

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to water thoroughly each time, so that water drains out...and to never let the pot sit in the drained water.

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