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My Chinese Fan Palm and Sago

17 years ago

Here's my chinese fan palm and my one only sago. I've gotten really attached to these 2....they're survivors, no doubt about it. The thing about growing palms, you learn quick from your mistakes. 2 years ago, not long after I got them, I had left both of these out one night when I headed off to work. The temperature dropped several degrees lower than what was predicted....

The CF palm got frost-bitten pretty bad, and the poor sago was darn near defoliated. By spring, the sago only had one branch left with just a few brown leaves. I figured it was done for, but look at it now! The chinese palm is doing well too, but is about due to be potted up again.

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This second photo shows, right to left, my Washington filifera, Washington robusta and the Orinoco dwarf bananas.

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Comments (2)

oppalm
17 years ago
they both look good, give that Sago a nother year and it will look great. That Chinese Fan Palm looks outstanding. great color and shape. I have one that gets about 2-3 hours of sun from like 10AM to 1PM, I think its happy because its doing well. How much sun for your CFP?
wingo_43
Original Author
17 years ago
Oppalm,

Thanks for compliment on the CF Palm. I'm really lucky to still have it and the sago after nearly losing them both. I would say the Chinese palm gets partial shade most of the day. The strongest sunlight it gets is in the afternoon, since the palm is usually on the west side of the house.
Are you familiar with David Francko's book, "Palms Won't Grow Here and other myths"? He has pictures in there of a CF palm he overwintered in Ohio. If I'm not mistaken, that's zone 6 or 6a. He says the leaves will die off, but the plant will come back in the spring. Just wondering if you had tried it. I've thought about it, but if the poor thing has to resprout every spring and start over, it would never reach any decent size.
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Repot it right this second! I've never left a potted palm in their original container for more than a couple of days. If it's rootbound, it definitely needs to go in a much larger pot no matter the time of year. I don't care about what anybody says about palms liking to be rootbound. I don't know of any plant that can possibly stay healthy in a pot with no soil! Watering once a day is unhealthy. That's something only nurseries do, or in climates that are hot with fast draining sandy soil. If it's in a 1 gallon pot, put it in at least a 3-5, if it's in a 3, put it in at least a 7, if it's in a 5, put it in a 15 ASAP.
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Hi everyone! My sincere thanks to everyone who's responded and also my sincere apologies for forgetting to check on this forum sooner. I've uploaded 2 photos into the GardenWeb Galleries (first time I've done this so please let me know if it didn't work). The title is "Chinese Fan Palm leaf growing into trunk 1" (and 2). The pics are of the whole plant plus a close-up of the problem. The "bulge" that I went ahead and pulled out of the trunk is green and is on the left of the trunk and it seems to be developing into a genuine leaf. The purple one on the right is the other "bulge" which I can't dislodge. I've pasted the URL of the first photo here. Thanks for the help!! Here is a link that might be useful: Chinese Fan Palm leaf growing into trunk
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Comments (7)
They are deifnately freeze tolerant (mine were in pots and covered with snow many times, they did die later that winter though). I would rate them as cold tolerant to about 15 degrees with mulch, so they will need protection probably for their entire lives, but they should make it. Theya re cheap thouuh so it wont be too big of a loss if they dont make it. They are one of the few palms you can get up north that are cheap and at least somewhat cold tolerant.
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Hi Brandon: Already have it listed on Craigslist. Have called commercial interiorscape firms; called Opryland Hotel; even have it listed on local Freecycle group. Can't attend plant swap, plus it's too huge for my car and I can hardly lift it! But thanks for your input. Just really surprised no one knows of anyone who'd like a plant like this. Oh well ...
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