Andy they are dirt cheap. You can get one from 50 to 250 dollars depending on height. Depends on where you go. Alot are hurricane cut.

Try Nearly Native Nursery for sabal palmettos (1-7 gal)

http://www.nearlynativenursery.com/NNNCatalogBotanicalName.cfm

This palm takes years to form a trunk. It will develop a massive canopy of about 6 to 8 feet diameter, and still no trunk. Give Pungo Palms Nursery (VA Beach) a call they can tell you about the growth pattern of cabbage palms(757-426-3677).

I hear they take 5- 10 yrs
to even start forming a trunk..

very s..l..o..w growing : )

Sabal palmetto takes an average minimum of 10 -12 years to start forming a trunk here in the Southeast. It would be very difficult to find a container grown Sabal palmetto that is trunking because it is not cost effective for the grower. Your next best bet would be to find one that has been b & b and then transplanted to a large container for one season or longer.

Ok, Im really confused about this. Ive never seen a container grown one, every one ive ever seen is dug as about a 4-8' tree. What gets me is if they supposedly take that long to grow a trunk, how can they sell 6-8' trees for $300 around here. I guess I always figured that a 6' sabal would be about 8-10 years old in total!

I guess I could be wrong, certainly wouldnt be the first time!

I guess what the real question in my post is how in the heck can the palm growers make any money selling these trees if they take that long to grow?

The numbers of them available make them cheap. They do take a long time but there are so many older ones available it keeps the price down.

I have to laugh about this one, as it is a mystery to me too. A couple of summers ago, I was in South Florida looking for containerized sabal palms--I found NONE! All the palms I saw in roadside nurseries and Home Depots (from Boca to Key West) were the same ones I could buy in my own town. I was told sabals grow soooooo slowly. I have since received some form ebay sources and am currently growing Sabal palmetto, S. texana (my favorite), S. louisiana, S. riverside, causarium, and S. mauritiiformis (which suffered severe cold damage a two winters ago). I have a minor but really don't like it because it truly grows slower than plastic. I think sabals are cool (even though they don't always get the respect they deserve). Most are relatively cool to cold tolerant but also high heat tolerant.

Sabal palmettos are dug from the wild in Florida. They are typically not pot grown from seedlings. That's why it's hard to find potted specimens.

Does anyone know how well they transplant after being dug up.

They transplant very well if they have a trunk; otherwise, it's a risk.

Here's some great info:

Here is a link that might be useful: Palmetto

andyandy, in front of my condo in Fort Lauderdale they planted a line of sixty sabal palmettos withat least ten feet of trunk on each. The city planted them and it cost the condo 11,000 dollars for the trees. they are cheap in florida. many tree nurseries.

It's a little surprising to me that Florida still allows wild ones to be dug for the trade, since that's been proven to be a recipe for forcing many native plants into extinction in the wild in many countries, as millions were removed and sold over the years. Perhaps there are some regulation however, and considering they're so common there, perhaps there are many millions still in the wild?

"perhaps there are many millions still in the wild?"

Id say thats a safe bet!

They are EVERYWHERE down here....growing in sidewalk cracks, against telephone poles, etc, etc.

One can buy any size Sabal they want for around a hundred bucks. The catch (for the average homeowner) is that the installation costs are alot more than the palm. I planted a couple of harvested Sabals at the end of my driveway (about 15 ft of trunk each) and, due to the weight of these palms, after I rented the Bobcat and trailer, it cost about $600 total for both palms, plus my own labor. (The palms were about $200 for both). In retrosect, I should have had a landscaper do the job, as most of them just charge $250 a palm installed :-)

Also, unless they have about 3-4 ft of trunk, they do not transplant well. I learned this the hard way with three Sabal yapas.

Austin-
That was a great piece, thank you for the information. Spock (or anyone else who may know): I may be looking for one with about 3-4 feet of trunk in the spring. Ideally from N. Carolina (shorter drive and would probably be a little more cold hardy than Florida). I would plan on growing it in a pot for sometime until the roots and fronds fully recovered. I could also harden it off for cold weather. Then some day I may even attempt to put it in the ground. Any idea what I could pay for a four footer. Sounds like under $100.00 (minus the traveling expence)

thanx,
Andy

Around here they grow amazingly wild, about the only thing that can outgrow them is washingtonias. We have more native texanas than palmettos but anywhere that isnt mown regularly sabals popup... No cracks or telephone poles are safe! if you were to go buy a 5' (trunk) tree here it'd probably cost about 200$. I think most all of ours are still coming on trucks from florida. I also must admit that I like the look of the texanas more than the palmetto's not to mention that they are about 3 times larger :)

andy, just a guess but no matter where you get the sabal from, it will probably come from florida so other than drive, I dont think location will matter much....

I'm glad to hear they're so plentiful down there, and I guess in most cases plants, that disappeared so easily in some countries , were not terribly good or fast growing to reproduce themselves, as fast as they were removed, perhaps unlike the sabals, and of course some plants might be even considered invasive, if you happen to have the right climate, and they're croping up everywhere , especially where they're not wanted. If only I were so LUCKY, and most of my invasive plants are not big prizes, though some I do like to see increase!!

Andy
I bought a sabal palmetto in myrtle beach back in 2000. I paid 65 dollars. It is in 20 gallon container and grows 4 fronds a year. It is about 5 ft. and it looks the same as it did back in 2000. The trunk is about 6 inches long. Bill

Here in Florida, you can buy Sabal palmetto any height you want for $65 each, if you buy a truck load. They are dug up from the wild and DO take a long time to grow. If you live around here, getting a truck load and renting a machine will get you some really nice priced plants, even if you go in with a couple of people on your street. I'm surprised they are so much in Texas, it isn't that far away that they should be that much more.

Well if I don't make a road trip down there this summer maybe I know someone who will. I have a friend who wants to move back up here. Maybe I can order a four or five footer and have them bring it back. I really would love one but they sooo long to grow from seed. Someone was good enough to send me some seeds this past spring but I put them in too heavy a potting mix and they rotted. I'll try again some day.

Andy, I hope they have a large truck or trailer. Those palmettos are very, very, very heavy. Growing them from seed is just not worth it.