Echo what jimhardy was said about not being crazy about needles. They just grow soooooo slowly even WITH HEAT. For in-the-ground cold hardy palms, I just love Trachycarpus varieties (fortunei, latisectus, martianus, wagnerianus). Even prefer the notoriously slow Sabals over Rhapidophyllum, or Chamaerops. I have a needle but it just doesn't doooo anything (almost as bad as S. minor).

I had emailed her through ebay.She replied that the needles are about 34" high and 24" wide without the pot.

Sounds super nice!They have some other good deals,worth checking out.

Here is one reason why I am not in love with needle palms right now,in this pic there is a mark on the stick next to this needles new leaf,this mark was made in april when I planted it,remarkable growth rate!maybe 2"in almost 5 months-

I hear ya. My needle, bought as a 3 gallon wwith a really good sized root system has gone through two winters with protection. It has put out one full leaf and another is about 8 inches tall. The whole plant is not much bigger than your picture.That is why I am excited to see your new one when it arrives.I ASSUME they start growing faster as they age.By the way, that growth was for this season.

Maybe I will just dig this one up and plant a new one there every year nucci60,that way I can simulate growth!I can pretend I don't know I just planted it,and come out the next day and say wow look at all the new leaves this grew overnight,anyway,it did not help that I planted it so early as I am sure my palms did not enjoy going out of the finally warm house into the cold ground.I will be excited also to see the new needle,the palms I have planted recently have started growing quickly after being planted in warm soil.

needles arn't bananas, for sure! At least mine is alive. I lost a trachy this winter(about 4 gallon. even though I caged it and filled with leaves, sprayed with fungicide and used wilt-pruf. One small trachy lived but is doing hardly anything. The bananas do well.

Suffering from the bite of the palm bug, I just had to order the three gallon myself. I'm waiting it's arrival. The nursery is closed for the week, I was told. Putting it in place of a struggling med. fan.

Jimhardy,

Has yours arrived yet? Very curious to see what you got! =o)

I actually ordered another one for some reason!I guess because I was able to make some room and have a cool place to put them, and because these look to be pretty good size,anyway they said it(or they)will be mailed tomorrow,so hopefully by the end of the week.I will post some pics,unless they look like c*** !just kidding-I will post some pics either way!

Welcome jasgar, I see you joined up with us today. That is a nice web site and I see you have suggested it in other posts too. Am I seeing the prices right? One sable palmetto sprouted seed for 24.95? 5 for 99.95? Do people really pay that? I'm just curious.

Donray, I noticed that in other threads / posts as well. Hmmm. I poked around the site too, and looks like they have some nice stuff, but I gotta say the prices seemed VERY high to me on some things, and not so high on some others. The prices for some of the smaller stuff seemed rather high, but $400 for an 11 foot trachy thats already a tree didnt seem too bad to me.

Still waiting to see jimhardy's new needles! =o)

Nova, My 3 gallon needle will arrive tomorrow. I think some of those prices are ok with the free shipping and all, but I buy seeds from ortanique and can get 100 for less than 5 from there. I was just thinking about sprouting seeds and getting 24.95 each instead of growing these things to 3 to 5 gallon size for 24.95. I'm thinking of a business adventure for myself if people are willing to pay that price! lol Maybe some folks do!? I'm in on that if so!

That mazari and those washys look great! Can't wait to see those needles! =o)

So according to ups tracking my needles will arrive on monday, bummer.I also ordered a new princeps, S.louisiana and a blue needle palm,(the princeps and b.needle are from palmswholesale)so I will post pics of those just for fun today or tomorrow whenever they arrive.

WOW!!! Jimhardy, you really ARE an ADDICT!!! LOL! ;-)

Just FYI, my 3 gallon needle arrived today and looks real nice. If my teenage daughter can remember where my camera is I'd post a pic! Very happy with it, thanks for sharing the source Jim! Seeds of these seem to be hard to find. Anyone know a source?

Jasgar welcome to the forum !
Jim where did you get that mazari that big ? i want one !

Yea, I know!Thats what you get for having gardenweb forum(palms) as your support group!I will plant a princeps and latisectus outside next year when they are a little bigger,I wanted to have backups of the more pricey ones before I attempt to plant,and you never know how long princeps and latisectus will be around at a reasonable price-anyway here are some pics of the new S.louisiana and latisectus,btw both were about $20.00 each including shipping.You can never have to many palms!

GREAT palm pics! Which nursery shipped them?

Topher,the mazari is from palmswholesale(they are also called coconutclimber) on e-bay,I believe about $28.00 including shipping,he may have given me a big one because I told him I lost the first ones I tried.E-mail him and see if he has anymore with their first fan leaves-worth a try b.t.w.he says they can be a little root sensitive,but I think its less of a prob this time of year.I really like these palms so I hope I can get one to pull through,Good Luck!
PALMFAN-the sabal(which I think was a smokin deal,this plant is almost a foot and a half tall and has a nice big fan coming out)I bought from north of florida palms,they don't have many sales, but are very friendly and shipped out fast(always important for a palm addict!)
The T.latisectus is from "weyardsale"(the same place I got my last 2 T."takils")Just type in(on e-bay)mazari palm for the Nannorrhops Sp silver and the other 2 you can figure out.Here(I hope)is a better picture of that first S.louisiana fan,man.

So,heres the new princeps and the new blue needle palm-

This blue needle palm(Trithrinax campestris)is awesome!Check it out,its the one in the second to the bottom row all the way to the right (inlarge)

Here is a link that might be useful:

The 2 needles arrived today,they are both 30"-36"one is a little nicer(bigger)than the other,they both have lots of healthy babies and ginormous needles.Here is a pic of them out of the box and planted in their new homes.They are still a little scrunchy from being in the box so long.

Ahhhhhh! That's what I have been waiting to see! Those are very nice needles! Especially for that price!!!! Congrats!

I was going to order mine from the same place, but if you read my last posting in the thread about my new additions, I recently visited a place that has really gone crazy with cold hardy palms, cycads, yucca's..etc. I mentioned they had nice needles for $89.00. I think I am going to get one of those. They are definately a good bit larger than the ones you got for 65, but I guess they should be for $25.00 more eh? They have more "fan" leaves too. I will definitely post pics of it once I get it. =o)

Congrats on the great find! Looks like you got an excellent deal to me! =o) Cheers!

Hmmmm...

Hey Donray, Didn't you get one too? Would love to see the pics of yours as well!

Jimhardy, you did order TWO of those right? (paid for two)

Yes I did. Mine was the $20 three gallon one. I will try and get a pic for you when I get home from work. I didn't get the Thank You card that Jim got though!(the one in his pic) :) I have planted mine as well. I may have to use my phone camera unless my digital cam. is found.

donray,that was actually a list of the plants they sell.So I guess I will bring up a LITTLE problem with this whole deal now since they are not replying to my second e-mail,and that is that out of the 9-10 growth spears between the shoots and the main spear,all but one of them pulled.I told them about this and they said they are sure they will be fine.I told them if I lived in florida it would not be that big of a deal,but since this will be their first winter in IOWA that I am concerned and that all the spears should not be pulling on delivery anyway!as these palms have enough to deal with getting established right now and should not need to be putting out all their energy replacing their spears,I am kindof P.O. right now.I will give them some time as I really hate leaving negative feedback,but I don't feel like I got healthy plants.What do you guys think?they are otherwise healthy,haha-SPEARS

Hmmm! Same here, except mine only had one of the two spears fall over. The newest is still in tact but I haven't tried to pull it. Thought it was odd too that they would do that. I'll show you tonight with a pic of what I'm talking about. Should've called Chilly palms I guess! lol! I was just teasing about the card.

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii218/dberend/needlepalm2.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii218/dberend/needlepalm.jpg

Sorry for the quality of pics, but as I figured I would have to use my cell phone camera.

Donray,good one.I wonder whats up with this Bull&*%#,anyway Amy wrote me back and said to get in touch with her if they don't pull through,so I guess thats what I will do unless I hear of more of this b/s,anyway they are very healthy besides having no spears-LOL NOT o.k.LOL a little,there is still about 3months before it gets really cold here they should do something by then,my other needle palm which does have a spesr has grown almost 2" this year!

I'm not sure but I think your palms are in shock from root damage. The tender near growth requires the large amounts of moisture. By aborting new growth, the palm can keep the mature leaves in order to create enough energy to regrow the root system.

I doubt you have enough time left in the growing season in order for the palms to recover and send out new growth. If you protect it and prevent the ground from freezing, they should be able to make through the winter.

For now, I would spray the palms with anti-transpirant and/or cover them with shade cloth.

Well, I wasn't really too concerned about mine until I seen what Jim's looked liked. Mine, being younger and smaller and that I have other options, not so much left this year, but next year, I thought I would give it a chance to adapt to my area. I remember an email from them stating that their nursery was closed for the week made me think that when I got mine it was nice and green but I did notice that the palm seemed really dry. Foliage wise. It has been very hot here and I placed it in mid-day shade and immediatly after, the larger spear drooped. I bet I can go outside and pull the smallest spear right now.( Be right back)And yep it pulled real easily. I'm just guessing here but, I bet these have been prepaired to ship some time before they were. We know how palms are! It takes time to know when problems are upon us! Usually too late. I'm treating with peroxide and see what you do Jim before I make any decisions. If you need me for any reason though I'm behind you on this. Myself personally would replace the palm and ask it be returned and trouble shoot it at my own expense. We'll see I guess.

Did not quite understand the last part about trouble shooting are you keeping yours.

So after hearing that your needle had spear pull too,I wrote them back and told them I think they need to take these back as they will have a better chance of recovering in their climate and that mine need to be healthy to have any chance here.I also offered to pay shipping there and shipping cost for sending new ones out but that the plants are their responsibility,I think this seems fair,they can deal with there sick plants not me,I also told them I would hold off on feedback for now untill we work something out-whatathink?

Guys, man that totally SUCKS! I wish there was something I could do. A palm with spear pull in WARM wather?

I would guess that turtile's assumration is correct though. that very well could be what the problem is... furthermore, you never know what you are going to get. I have worked 5 years in the floral / plant industry, and you wouldnt belive the ways we can make plants LOOK way healthier than they actually are. I would give it a bit of time and see what happens. Ultimately, if they do not make it thru the winter, they owe you every penny back , or new plants that are itentical or as close as possible. good luck guys! I hope they pull thru!

Novaplantguy,you may have been writing you post while I was writing mine.I think if I wait they can just say well they are not rated for 5b,so I think they need to do something now I don't want to go into the winter with sick plants, that does not make any sense to me.

Jim, meaning they should replace your plants and they take the sick ones and do what they want to see if they survive. I'm thinking they will not. You should definetly return yours, I on the other hand, am not sure if it's even worth the trouble, but I haven't invested as much as you. I am sending an email to them this morning to see what they tell me. I'll let you know what happens. At least they'll know it's not just one person having problems with their product.

donray,I wrote them that I would send the plants back as posted earlier.Amy from M.O.Natives e-mailed me this morning and said not to mail the plants back but to keep them as a experiment,and that she would be happy to refund all of my money,very cool of her I think!I also told her that if they survive,(and I intend to see that they do!if possible)thay I would send her the money for them,so it sounds like everything is going to workout fine.So really this is pretty cool,I get to try them out at no cost at this point and if I can get them to pull through then I will pay her for them,good deal.I also told her that I will recomend them and will see if there is anything else they are selling that I might want and pass their deals on to others.Alls well that ends well-time to break out the fungicide

Very good for both parties! I sent an email to them, but I will do the same with this one. I think it may have a pretty good chance with some protection. Hope the best for the two of yours as well.

I think your solution seems fine to me, espeically since you are offering to pay the shipping for sending it back and the new plants. ( for the shipping of new plants, not new plants themselves)

I don't see any reason they would not, or should not go along with this. Im not sure what caused the spear pull, that seems very odd to me. How were they shipped? What kind of packing? did they do a good job of ensuring the plants styed upright and still during shipping? They did look very good for shipped plants when you got them I have to say.

But I can understand your concern, I too would not want to go into a palms first winter with spear pull or any other kind of disadvantage, moreso that you might already be at by planting them in ground late in the season. Good luck! Keep us posted!

I also have a question: Does anyone here know how late it is OK to plant a needle into the ground and have it do well its first winter, AND, should it be protected in its first winter? Im asking this for me more than anything, since I am planning on getting a fairly good sized one this weekend. Im in a zone 8a. Thanks!

GRRRRRRR... I didnt hit the "submit" button when I posted that above at like 7am this morning! Sometimes this forum gets on my nerves because its SO incredibly far behind technology wise.

Anyway, glad to hear things worked out and they are cool enough to stand by their plants so to speak. I hope it DOES work out, and they DO live, and you do end up actually owing and sending the money! Just for the fact that I want to see your plants survive and do well!

Like I said in the post from earlier this morning that never got submitted until just now, I plan on getting myself a fairly good sized needle this weekend.

donray and novaplantguy,thanks for your support and advice during these difficult times!LOL
nova,living in 8a I don't think you have anything to worry about planting now,like I said,if I can plant trachys in Nov in 5b then you can certainly plant needles in 8a in Aug.The soil here in Iowa(on the south side of my house)does not drop out of the 50s(F) untill late Nov if mulched 4"-5" or more as weather becomes cooler.The main focus as weather cools in your area(mid 50s)for highs(mid 20s lows)is to keep the crowns dry.You should really check out the the website-growing palms in colorado springs uada zone 5b-this is what I have modeled my efforts after,and I think this along with some common sense protection methods can give people in AT LEAST zone 5 80% or better success rate if you do all your homework!If I can get 2 trachys planted that late in the season through the winter we had last year there is no good reason not to try this,unless you just don't care that much about having palms in your yard! LOL

Novaplantguy, it depends on the size of the Needle palm. Anything under 7 gal will get a good amount of damage if temperatures drop around 10F. Since your getting a large size, it should be fine.

I'd plant it out now and give it a good layer of mulch. Needle palm roots are sensitive to freezing temperatures. I planted a 3 gal and 7 gal Needle palm last July. The 3 gallon had spear pull on its main spear and a few of the leaves died from the damage within (low 14F). The 7 gallon only had a little damage on the newest growth but its hardly noticeable.

I can post a few pics if you want to see what they look like.

Thanks Jimhardy! I figured as much. Im gonna be moving alot of stuff to "in ground", most likely this weekend. Not only is the new needle gonna go in, but my big Musa Basjoo is gonna go in, as well as my Red Abyssinian (Ensete Ventricosum "maurelii") Ill post pics of it all, and the new needle after its all done. =o)

Cheers!

Sorry to read about your issues with MON--my 2 3G from there are doing fine, though only a 3G from SC and a 7G from HD bloomed this year. I had spear pull with a 1G over its first winter, but it came back great--though there was no spear pull or even discoloration last winter on 6 new 3G to 7G sizes surrounded by leaves and a burlap windscreen.

FL female from HD . . .

plus SC male from Palm Trees, Ltd. . . .

equals NC babies!

Wow! What neat pics of mama, papa, and "chicks"(to be!). Have any of you palm-loving folks ever had a Needle that was both male and female, not needing a "mate"? A nursery near me has a large Needle in a pot with a cluster of fruit as photographed by pdg77.

Well, I did not get everything, ( or anything for that matter) done today, in so far as getting anything in the ground. However, I did get these today:

*****************

So, a short trip to home depot here in Alexandria (S. Pickett St. for those familliar) and what do I find that had just arrived there?

.......

Sabal Minor. About 30 of them. The tag calls them "blue dwarf palmettos", and then the actual name underneath the title on the tag was S. Minor. $23.00. I couldnt resist. I went thru them and picked out the one that was the most visually appealing to me. The one I liked only had 2 growth tips, most of them had 3. I know they are young, but some of them are producing fan leaves like the one I got. Some of them were just starting to produce fan leaves and had mostly strap leaves, while some had shed most of their strap leaves, and had more fan leaves like the one I purchased.

Was completely NOT expecting to see those there, so of COURSE I had to purchase one, especially when I discovered the price. =o)

Ok, sorry for the S. Minor bit in the needle thread. On to more "ON TOPIC" things... I mentioned I was heading down to a place I "rediscovered" last week, to my surprise that had tons of cold hardy palms, yuccas, and some sago palms... ill post a whole n other thread with pics about that shortly....

Anyway, I went back for the needle palms I mentioned earlier in this thread for $89.00, that were pretty good size. Well, everything was %25 off, so I actually got it for $70.26. Anyway, here it is. She is pretty healthy looking, aside from a few old dead fans and straps that need to be removed. She's got about 6 or so sizeable suckers, and her main trunk is fairly tall maybe 6-8"? and, I think it is a she. She has an old flower spike on her main crown that you can see in one of the pics, and she stands about 2 feet tall or so at her largest leaf tips. Anyway...not trying to gloat at all here, but she is a pretty nice specimine and at a great price dont ya think?

Here she is....

Good looking S. minors and R. hystrix, and very good prices! The needle palm does appear to be female, though I don't think you'll get seeds this year. I saw the dried-up flowers on the female shown above before I got it, but it was luck or probability to find the male one.