Good job! I would leave it in its current container for the time being. (Don't worry about the roots coming out of the bottom.) By the way, you do know that Bismarckia is notoriously sensitive to transplanting and supposedly easy to kill in the process. I bought mine in the Keys several years ago and only attempted to translate it twice. It suffered from bud pull this spring--might have been over-watering it April and May when we were HOT and parched and I was hosing things down every day. Fortunately, it did recover from spear pull but was stunted this past season. Ive seen them used to line boulevards in Miami--stunningly memorable palms!

That's a beauty Mike.

I don't think it needs a pot this winter,do you?

Plant it out and protect next year(-;

BTW

I will probably cover the Washys some time this week(-:

Like most palms, Bismarckias tolerate being in too small a pots for years and years, and you are no where near that point yet. I would not pot that palm up for at least 2-4 years. You really should only be potting up sensitive palms like that when you can remove the palm and its root ball when the root ball is so snuggly in place in the pot that it comes out looking the shape of the pot with minimal moving of any of the roots and no soil falls away. Then it will be a lot safer to mess with. Yours is just getting to the size where it can easily die, or be set back severely from messing with its roots.

Here is a shot of some Bismarckias at a nursery... note the huge one in the middle, (about 8' tall overall) happily growing in a makeshift 20gal pot (smaller than yours I think).

NJoasis I was afraid of killing it thats why I havent repotted it yet. I also became a big fan of these palms when I went to the Miami zoo and they lined the driveways.What was the coldest temps your bizzy was exposed to?

Thanx jim It is an awsome palm. Im gonna see if I can hold off until dec to cover the palms. There is the possiblity that I will see you cover yours and get svared enough to cover mines after lol.

lzrddr each leaf that comes out get bigger and bigger. That bizzy in your pic is fregin cool. I guess Ill just watch it grow and hold back the damn urge to pot it up.

Michael, I know EXACTLY the street to which you are referring!
I used to think of these as "ultra" tropicals, but they can take some chilly weather. I have mine protected now though as it did have a set back in the spring (why chance it?). But mine has seen temps down into the upper 20's without my damage as I discovered they were not nearly as cold sensitive as I thought.--Just watch the watering (in all seasons!).

I had a small 2 gallon Bizzy reach about the same size as your in two summers,and it reached about the same size pot.
It always looked fine and healthy-each new frond was larger than the last-a good sign.
Then I decided it was show sized enough to plant in the front yard.Gophers killed it in weeks. I havent seen another Bizzy for sale in the SF bay area since at even a fairly reasonable price-mine was a good Lowells moderate priced palm.
No,I'm not paying 80$ for a one gallon cactus and succulent nursery Bizzy palm that doesnt look healthy...

I have a Bismarkia that has 3 strap leaves. It had 1 strap leaf when I got it last year, and it grew 2 this year, lol. It's in a 3 gallon pot currently. :)

Mike your palm looks good. Not all Bismarkia's take 20s temps but many do. Some are frost tolerant and some are not. Your palm will be ok in that pot this year.Usually the more silver the more cold hardy but not always as I have seen an extremely silver one that burnt every time it got close to freezing. I don't think they will live long term anywhere in 9a or less myself

"I don't think they will live long term anywhere in 9a or less myself."

I'm assuming you mean if one were to plant it in the ground in a zone lower than a 9. As a containerized, indoor/outdoor plant, they are not nearly as challenging as a lot of other palms. Mine has the silver blue leaves which as you suggest, tend to be associated with greater cold tolerance--but these varieties also tend to have greater issues with excessively damp conditions (so it's a bit of a trade off depending on your growing conditions).

ive been to a guys house where he has tons of palms planted all over his house including a few bismarckias & he lives in a zone 9a.

this is 1 of them, he has a really big bismarck in the back about 18-20 ft. to the top. very big & nice but i couldnt take a pic cuz the back yard is like a forest so trying to get a nice pic is almost impossible. anyways that one been there for 12 years now and seen temps drop to 19 degrees.

i have 4 bismarck seedlings i started from seed. though only have 3 first leafs but very purple! one of my favorites palm!

Perhaps an unrelated statement , but years ago I think I saw one such plant planted along Duval in Key West in a restaurant courtyard and didn't know it's name , but how did they survive the salty flooding from tidal surge a few years back from a hurricane. Just curiosity!

Birdinthepalm is this palms your talking about?

{{gwi:1176339}}

This is pic I took Duval street. There big ones two next to each other.

Sort of though it's been almost thirty years since I saw the one I mentioned and those seem quite small perhaps.It seemed to have huge silvery fan fronds even when the trunk was quite short back then. Wish I could remember the name of the restaurant!

James that palm is one in a million and it looks like it is suffering from its environment. A 12 year old bismarkia would be over twice that big as well. Most would be toast at 23 degrees so I guess its doing good for its circumstances.

ACtually the blue form of Bismarckia is fairly cold tolerant... have a grower friend in Fallbrook who has seen temps often down to 20F and his do get burned a bit but are doing quite well. How long was that Bismarckia in a pot.. may be larger or smaller depending upon what age it got planted out at. All my Bismarckias here in inland So Cal are about 10 years old and none are as large as James, though they are about 1-2 years away. I think that James' Biz is about on track for a cooler zone Bismarckia (I see frost every year here, too, though the coldest so far was 24F where the Bismarckias are.. they didnt even get burned!). but they also do not grow from Nov-April... they look fine, but they never put out a new leaf... sort of like suspended animation

Here are a few shots of my four plants- from 8-10 years old.

This is my oldest... about 10-11... but it gets some shade unfortunately.

This one's in full sun and bout 8 years old

This one gets full sun AND protection from winds... it's never seen much frost in this protected area, but it did get transplanted once, which set it back a year. It's 10+ years old

And this one gets mostly full sun, some protection, but is growing in a cactus area where water is a bit limited... height wise it's my tallest, but it is same age as last one- 10+.

I remember seeing a guy post that his Bizzy in full sun was
like 3 times as big as a shaded one in his backyard,maybe in Phoenix???????

If I remember correctly.

Well there is always exceptions and many times they are protected when small. I have seen them burned at 30 and not burned in the 20s. Out in the open with no protection or after they grow taller than the plants surrounding them they will prove there hardiness then. I have one about 5yrs old that is much larger than the ones pictured here because the environment is better down south and they don't stop growing all year round. Fl and Cal are different in the way it gets cold and stays cold so comparing the two is impossible. By the way if somebody here has a 9a indoors they must get pretty cold in the winter time lol.

the bismarck in the photo is not the one that i was talking about. the 12 year old bizzy in the back has atleast 7-8 ft. of clear trunk and much more nicer looking! sorry i have no photo of it but i agree that the one in the photo has been suffering in its elements particularly shade/ dry winds.

It always amazes me that palms in Cal can take the cold so much better than here. I guess because it gets cooler sooner and stays cool. The palms must adjust better to it than here where it goes from 85 to 32 over night and back to the 70s by the next day..

wow 85 to 32 degrees in one day! that sounds like my area. but i think thats why the palms here in cali can handle the cold better cuz the only way it hits 32 in most of socal is if the day temp barly hits 50's. so its not much of a fluctuation in temp. they adapted to cool temps very well in socal plus temps dont stay below freezing very long.