Here it is 4 years ago.

Your definition of "slow" is relative. 4 years in the same pot is pretty slow by many palm standards. In the ground I'm betting you'd have seen even more growth. Regardless of growth rate, you have a beautiful tree there!

Here is a link that might be useful: Virginia Beach Weather

Haha

I was going to say the opposite-plant it in the ground
if you want to see what slow growth is over the next few years-until it blasts off!

That is a nice one for sure-mine took about 3 years to establish but once it did.....it was really moving,then
it got spear-pull but it is back in business this year.

I've actually experienced the same Jim. The majority of palms I plant in ground are slow for a few years, busy establishing roots. If I keep them in a pot, they establish much quicker because of less root room and grow pretty fast.

I do have some room left in that pot as you can see, so maybe next spring, if I don't plant it in the ground, I'll add some dirt to the bottom of the pot for more root room. It's hard to find a pot much bigger than that one. It's comparable to a 25 gallon.

I see what you mean,I have a similar
pot I may use to protect something.(-:
I believe it has two sides of plastic.

Hmm, thats a very interesting theory about pot vs in-ground. I would think that much like bonsai, you limit the size by limiting the plant's space to grow, esp it's roots. I wonder...

Here is a link that might be useful: Virginia Beach Weather

I think at some point, a pot would cause a bonsai effect on a palm, once nutrients and water needs aren't being met, but before that point, at least in my experience, windmills apparently love being pot bound.

I don't know but they seem to know they are in the ground,
almost like they know to concentrate on root growth first.

Then they blow up!