Trachycarpus Advice

8 years ago

Hi all i am thinking of buying a trachycarpus fortunei but i am having doubts as some people say after a few years they grow fast, but i want it to stay at 3-4foot in height (including pot heigh and trunk height and fronds). So the question is

Is there anyway to keep it at this height, all i know so far is that keeping a palm in a pot will slow down growth and not grow as tall but is there anything else i can do to hinder growth if i decide to buy this? also what is an ideal pot size for a 3-4 ft?

Also if i keep it in a pot for a long time wont the roots want to break out of the pot? i am thinking of buying a ceramic or slate frost protected pot.

I looked at the wagneranius but i dont like the stiffer leaves so i set my mind on the fortunei.I am new to gardening and palms and need this palm small for my exotic garden.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

Jeff Ashenfelter
8 years ago
I have had a Mexican Fan palm almost 20 years. It should probably be about 30 feet tall now. After a year of being in a pot, I took it out and cut back all the roots leaving a smaller ball of roots under the trunk. I thought it would die but it didn't.

I think the effect it had was to turn it into a sort of bonsai palm. It still looks like a Mexican Fan Palm, it just doesn't get very tall. It's about 3 feet tall now. The trunk is about a foot and a half tall.

I don't know if that would even work for a windmill palm but it worked for mine.

One of the problems I had with my windmill palm was too much moisture. I don't know for sure that that was the cause but we got a lot of rain one summer and I had it outside in a pot and the spear rotted. Maybe someone else on here can tell you if they are susceptible to crown rot from too much rain. It seems like that was the death of mine.
stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Trachy can be kept in pots forever. They will also make bonsai like palms. If you notice one of the best potted palms- the Rhapsis palms,look very much like clumping Trachys.

I have a Butia in a 14" pot. Been in it ten years..never did anything but water it and toss on the root ball a few handfuls of soils as the old gets washed out over the years. I like the recurved fronds without having a big palm.
Related Discussions
Need advice for (Trachycarpus Fortunei)
Q
Comments (7)
Better inside then. I would say that you must loose TWO gardening zones in a pot as opposed to the ground. (So that if you wanted to grow something in a container outside in zone 7 (NYC Metro), you should probably consider something hardy to ZONE 5. Believe me, I understand your love for Trachys. I have about 50 different species of palms (tropicals and Mediterraneans) and the Trachys are my favorite! Looking out the window right now, and there is a light snow falling on those beautiful, big leaves. There are any variety of palms you can grow inside a NYC apartment. (Not sure how T.fortunei puts up with the average over-heated, dry interior though.) Southern exposure is good and there is also florescent lighting. My real tropicals are overwintered in the basement (Coconut, Royal Cuban, etc.). If you like Trachys, you might also like Washingtonias (Mexican and California palms). They are EASY, FAST, and CHEAP from seed!--By the way, Trachys and Phoenix canariensis are also relatively easy from fresh seed. In a way, the Washys, Phoenix and Mediterranean fans are superior for your situation because they are very tolerant of high heat and DRY air. Your southern exposure outside probably gets very hot and Trachy resent excessively high summer heat--to the point that they refuse to grow. Eventually, it gets very difficult to keep up with a Trachys watering needs in pot in a southern exposure in our climate zone--summers are just too sweltering (that urban heat island). In fact, I only decided to eventually put mine in the ground because I could not keep up with robust growth and summer watering demands in containers. Good luck! :) PS., My palm obsession started a long time ago in one of those dark and dry NYC apartments.
...See More
Sabal minor vs. trachycarpus fortunei?
Q
Comments (32)
I just stumbled across this thread and I am surprised no end at so many people in cold climates with a passion for palm trees! I live in South Texas, on the Gulf Coast, and we are in zone 9. We love the palm trees, and I am finding more and more to plant in my small garden. I don't know if the Queen Palm would survive in your climate, as it does quite well here, and we do have cold temps- usually in the teens- here too. It is a fast growing and beautiful palm tree. Mine is about 30' tall, and it has been in the ground about 4 years. It was planted there as a 5' specimen. I think the secret of it's growth is that we only water it with water from the pond- a koi pond. Another that I am totally nuts about is the Pygmy Date Palm. It also is hardy for us. It is a nice palm to put in a pot as well. I have just planted close to my pond a lovely Travelers Palm. It is exciting for me, a very nice specimen, and was given to me. The previous owner died, and her husband is not a gardener, and did not want it. We grow the Windmill and the Pindo- the Pindo is one of my favorites. The Mexican Blue Fan is gorgeous, blue, blue, and heat and cold tolerant. It is good down to about 15 degrees. It would grow nicely in a big pot too. Rhaphis is a favorite but I grow it in a pot, as it will put out runners and go everywhere. I also grow the Cardboard palm in a pot. I am nursing a Fishtail palm back to health now, as I almost lost it to cold last year. Sorry I don't know the botanical names for you, but I am happy to know about you all. Janie Here is a link that might be useful:
...See More
Need Advice on Bananas and Palms in KC
Q
Comments (5)
I would not put them in the ground over the winter Â bring them in & put them in a pot. The Washingtonia palm is easy to grow & can be kept in a pot a long time. Build or get a nice stand with rollers on it & place the potted plant on top of it so you can roll it around. Bananas do seem to do better in the ground. I know you are talking about cold hardy varieties, but maybe you could keep them in the ground over the summer & dig them up during the winter. You never know what the weather will be in your area because you are in the center of all those fronts. It can be very warm one day, freezing the next. I would be more concerned more about the wind chill factor rather than temperatures. That can be hard on tropicals. There are posts in which growers built a temporary outdoor greenhouse over their tropical & then heated it. That might work. If you have a massive snow with drifts, it needs to be sturdy enough to handle the drifts. Heating the soil with some form of heat tape might also help. If I were growing bananas in your area, I would put them in the ground over the spring/summer & bring them in the winter. You can not dig them up when the ground is frozen, & you never know what kind of winter you are going to have. The weather is too unpredictable. The palms I would keep in a pot. Most of the palms I have dug up - unless they are seedlings just do not take.
...See More
Trachycarpus Takil-Zone 7 Success
Q
Comments (5)
I am in the process of joining the SE Palm and Exotic Plant society, but in the US, our "southeast" goes from Delaware to Florida with everything in between. This presents a problem for advice even within my home state of Virginia since the tidewater and Virginia Beach areas are Zone 8a and the mountains are Zone 5b in some places. I feel like I am in a no mans land in gardening in general since some warm weather plants like Camelias do fine while birch trees will bite the dust from the heat and humidity, plus a winter that is too short and too warm. Some folks have done well with sabals while not enough have grown Trachys, however, there is one success in Alexandria and the palm is now over 13 feet tall.
...See More
Jeff Ashenfelter
8 years ago
Interesting. I wonder if that would work with a date palm?
edgeplot
8 years ago
I kept a trachy in a 15 gallon pot for several years. I also kept it on the dry side - just enough water so the leaves would not brown. It stayed under 3' and barely grew. Later, after I planted it in the ground and watered it generously, it shot up to about 15' in eight years. So yes you can stunt a trachy by keeping it in a smallish pot and keeping it on the dry side.
tropicalzone7
8 years ago
Trachys will not grow very fast in pots (in the ground they are fast growing under great conditions but pretty average growing palms normally). I have seen trachys do beautifully in pots for their entire lives. Eventually it will get bigger than 3-4 feet but my best advice is to keep it in sun (once the plant is well adapted to sun). The fronds will grow shorter in sun than in shade so it will look much more compact but not stiff like wagnerianus.

Good luck!

Trachycarpus Advice

Comments (5)

Jeff Ashenfelter

stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area

Related Discussions

Jeff Ashenfelter

edgeplot

tropicalzone7

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US