Sabal palmetto in the Fraser valley

Discussion in 'Outdoor Gardening in the Pacific Northwest' started by Dr green thumb, Oct 18, 2014.

  1. Dr green thumb

    Dr green thumb Member

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    Recently i found myself at pacific rim nurseries, browsing through the palms. I intended to buy something easy. A T. Fortunai maybe as I have grown half a dozen of those. Instead, I walked out with a 4' chamaerops humilis and a lil sabal palmetto. Does anybody have any experience with sabals in this climate. 7b where I'm at in chilliwack, and wet winters. I plan to winter it in a non heated greenhouse for a couple years just to keep it dry and out of the wind. Il put it right beside my robusta. (another impulse buy against my better judgement) will post pictures soon. Any advice is appreciated.
     
  2. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    I have a small sabal minor in-ground in my front yard that I've had for going onto 3 winters now - I almost lost it last winter with the weird cold/wet winter we had but it did survive (lost most of the fronds but their coming back now).
    I also HAD a silver saw palmetto but I did lose it last winter.
    And I also have a chamaerops humilis and this will be its second winter in-ground.

    Just try to keep as dry as possible ie. give really good drainage such as planting in raised beds
     
  3. Dr green thumb

    Dr green thumb Member

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    Time for an update. I've had him in a non heated greenhouse all year. So as to increase the amount of heat he gets in summer. Temperature here in the valley has been 30+
    For at least 20 or more days already this summer so it would get up to 45 in the greenhouse. I transplanted this one into a bigger pot in mid May. Gave him some root booster for a couple weeks and a shot of 9-9-9 in early June. Beginning of July his new spear opened almost as fast as the W.robusta beside him. At this time his second new frond of the season is almost fully open. I'm guessing he would have put out 3 or 4 this year if he hadn't been transplanted but he was root bound so I didn't have much choice.
     

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  4. Dr green thumb

    Dr green thumb Member

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    This is the most recent photo. Two new fronds since the pic above. The robusta beside him has pushed out three since the above photo.
     

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  5. LPN

    LPN Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Lookin' healthy. Trick is to size it up but S. palmetto (Sabal in general) always grow faster in the ground.
    My soil is very rocky and sandy so I water quite frequently in Summer. Always plant in the sunniest warmest spot you have.
    No long term specimen have been reported, but that is mainly due to lack of availability.
    Sabal minor seems fine here despite our longer winter cool period. Some species variants have been reported to be hardier ... originating in Oklahoma.
    Sabal 'Birmingham' has been in the ground for 7 years largely unprotected and looks just fine.
    None of these will win any growth awards up here but are worth a try if you can replicate natural growing conditions. Not an easy task in the PNW.

    Cheers, Barrie.
     
  6. Dr green thumb

    Dr green thumb Member

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    Some tips turned brown this winter. Not sure if from not watering it for weeks at a time or a night of -5c we had in December.
    I want to put it outside, it will hit 50c+ in the greenhouse this summer when it's 30+ outside. Problem is the roots have grown down into the soil it sits on. I don't want to set it back but it's probably going to burn inside.
     

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  7. Dr green thumb

    Dr green thumb Member

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    I did the transplant may 10th 2017.
    As you can see from the pictures, it wasn't as easy as just pulling it out of one pot pot and placing it into another. I had to dig down 18-24" to try and get under the roots that had come through the pot. I ended up damaging most of them anyways as I cut the pot in half with my side cutters. I did this during a hot spring evening in the greenhouse, jaw clenched, muscles twitching and eyes bulging from the stress of it all. I didn't think it would react well to having so much root damage but it started growing again two weeks later. I'll post some better pics in a month to show the growth.
     

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  8. thanrose

    thanrose Active Member 10 Years

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    I realize you have additional challenges growing palms in the Pacific Northwest. But down here in Florida, larger palms are literally cut out of the ground with machines and transported great distances completely bare root in blazing sun. Their fibrous root structure is very forgiving. You may feel that you damaged a lot of the roots, but it's likely not a problem.
     

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