Bamboo Palm ID

[studmaster]

Hello All,

Been reading a bit in this forum for the last week or so. I bought these bamboo palms from IKEA about a year ago...maybe less. I was looking to get seeds for bamboo palms off of ebay, and noticed there seems to be many varieties of them. Does anyone know what type of bamboo palms these are?





Male or Female????




Also I'm getting a lot of dust on the leaves, any tips or tricks on how to get the dust off? I live in an apartment, so I can't hose it down outside or anything.
Thanks in advance!

[lucky1]

Hi studmaster (...always wanted to call somebody that )

Looks like my Chamaerops seifreizii

<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2290/218 ... 75b79c.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="DSC00817" />

This, from wiki:
http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http ... 29,r:0,s:0

These are great palms, easy care, flowers several times a summer.

Re dust: now that it's on the palm, there's nothing much you can do except wipe with a very damp cloth.
Once it's clean, maybe have a small fan running on a tabletop 4 feet away aimed at the palm.
That way, dust will land everywhere else BUT on the palm.

These don't like hot midday sun, but hopefully you can put it on a patio in summer where winds will keep it clean.

What area of the country are you from?
Welcome aboard!

Barb

[tropicman]

Mine is pretty much 9ft tall now,and still in a 2 gallon pot,and busting at the seams!!!
Waiting for spring to pot up,mine it is in my sunroom,where I can hose it down daily!
Welcome studmaster!!!

[studmaster]

Barb,

thanks for replying, it must be a Chamaerops seifreizii then as they look identical. Although mine has flowered just a week ago, took that picture tonight. I'm in the GTA, I don't really have any plans to put it outside ever. It's -30 C right now with the wind chill factor. Once I get a spare month, I'll have to try the damp cloth method and wipe some of the dust off the leaves. I have a lot of leaves on one of them.

So is that a male palm or female? I'm trying to read up on everything, but know very little at the moment. Like if I have a male and female plant can I create seeds that will grow new plants, or should I just buy them from ebay all ready to go?!? Wow, I know very little I just recently found out, after reading on here, that palms require different ferts than normal plants. I'll keep reading, but if you have any tips (and I mean ANY), I would gladly appreciate the advice as I would love for my palms to thrive.

[studmaster]

Mine is pretty much 9ft tall now,and still in a 2 gallon pot,and busting at the seams!!!
Waiting for spring to pot up,mine it is in my sunroom,where I can hose it down daily!
Welcome studmaster!!!

Thanks tropicman!
wow 9' eh? that's amazing. I think mine are about 6' now....but maybe someday!!

[lucky1]

Welcome to another frozen Canadian!

(any chance we can call you Bob or something like that? )

As to male/female and seed viability, that gets pretty complex and virtually impossible with one plant indoors.

"...a tree in one year may produce all male flowers and in the next all female flowers"
explained here.
http://www.2020site.org/trees/palm-tree.html

I don't know if your palm is showing male or female, same with mine.
But bamboo palms are clumping, and can easily be divided just like garden perennials by sectioning off outside the main root ball growth, chopping down with a shovel (or if it's a very small section, a hand trowel), which separates a piece of the plant with its own roots for planting in a new small pot. Done!

As to fertilizer, palms do need more nutrients than regular fertilizers, but some people use 20-20-20 several times a year (only dilute it less than the package instructions); I've used that years ago.
They grew like a rocket...but you need to keep an eye out for nutritional problems later on.
for palms: good fertilizer isn't cheap, and cheap fertilizer isn't good

But before you buy palm fertilizer get a little spray mist bottle to use once daily (also helps with dust) but watch out if you have wood floors.
To increase humidity you can also leave shower door open, or cancel dishwasher before it starts the dry cycle.
Apartments can be brutally dry, which isn't good.

To be blunt, apartment "palming" isn't easy, but you've chosen a good one for indoors.
Another Chamaedorea palm that works indoors is the Cat Palm (Cataractarum) and it loves frequent watering (a little more often than the Bamboo).

But you'll find in time, all palms need to go outdoors for fresh air, and to repot and hosing down to clean them.

The Google Search bar will become your best friend, if you precede every query with "Palm tree" or the actual species name.
If you've got good south windows, you can get into more sun-loving palms but they need outdoors too, and sooner rather than later.

Then before you know it, you'll move to a house in the country, plant them outdoors and build heated contraptions so your palms can become the magnificent specimens nature intended.

Barb

[studmaster]

haha, okay, Bob sounds good to me!

If I had two plants that flowered around the same time would it be possible indoors to get some viable seeds? I'm thinking not, but it can't hurt to ask....if it turns out to be possible, soon I would have a small jungle in my apartment.

So you are saying that since bamboo palms are clumping I can cut off a section and repot it and it will then start growing on it's own? Does that pose any danger to the main plant? Obviously you can sense my hesitation as the last thing I want to do is hurt my main plants.

Unfortunately I do have wood floors in my apt, so I don't know if I can mist or not. The good thing is that I have two aquariums that put about a couple litres of water into the air everyday. I think that should keep it somewhat humid enough in here.

I thought I read somewhere on here about a homemade palm fert....maybe I'll head on over to the Fertilizer forum and see what I can find. There was a certain ratio.

Now that I'm sure of the species I'll have more confidence googling around for more answers!

Thanks for all your help Barb!

Sincerely,
Bob

[lucky1]

Bob it is then...

indoors to get some viable seeds

Yes but first you have to ask yourself:
(a) why not just buy seeds?
(b) why not just buy palms from a nursery?

And as for "a small jungle in apartment", that can be done with a visit to the nursery.

But if you're into seed germination (time consuming, but very very rewarding), buy seeds of the species you're hankering after.

Clumping palms can be divided, but not others.
The bamboo palm you have will grow wider and wider in its pot, sending out "shoots" that also get tall like the center of the plant.
Those six to eight inch long "spears", with roots, become a new plant (with care during the process).
Practice on something cheaper first...get, say, a boston fern from local Safeway or HD.
With your fingers you can see where "segments" divide, a perfect spot to strike down with a trowel and remove a little section with its own roots.
Plant it and see if it grows. If not, you either took too small a segment/roots, or you were too hard on the roots.

BTW fish water makes excellent nutrient-rich water for your palms.

Fertilizer for palms should have a 4-1-4 or 4-1-6 ratio plus chelated trace elements (manganese very important), you can see my palm special has it and other important ones.
<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/421 ... 198bc9.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="DSC03169" />

Then there are recipes for homemade, this is no better than most...and do you really want "feathers" in your cupboards?
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/homemade ... lizer.html

Just a tip from someone who has killed more palms and spent more money....
If there's a palm you see at a store--and it actually has a label with a Latin/common name--kinda rare these days unfortunately,
before you buy it, read all you can about it on the internet. See whether it grows around a stagnant lake or on a beach...these need a steady supply of water. Those growing in the middle of sand dunes with not a drop of moisture anywhere obviously have very deep roots (pot size clue) and can handle extreme heat, i.e. full day sun. That kind of thing.

...and there's us here at Palms North.


But I'm betting you want to grow palms from your purchased seeds
Say you want one or two Foxtail palms...seed packages come in anywhere from 10 - 20 seeds.
That's how you end up with an apartment full of palms...a palm nursery.

But if you aren't going to put them on a shady patio all summer long, they won't live forever.
And you'll become really familiar with a dust cloth.

Barb
PS--I've got wood floors...throw a big bed sheet down around the palms to catch drips. Oh...and remove it when guests are expected.

[Cameron_z6a_N.S.]

Welcome to the forum! When I was at the Ikea in North York around 10 years ago, a girl found a small chameleon on some plants that they had brought in from Africa!

If you have 2 flowering palms of the same species (indoors) and they're male/female, you could try and hand-pollinate them, but there's no guarantee that it would work. Chamaedorea seeds are supposed to be pretty easy to germinate. If you have an e-bay account, you could probably get a fair amount of seed without having to go through the minimum orders of a site like RPS.

[studmaster]

Bob it is then...

indoors to get some viable seeds

Yes but first you have to ask yourself:
(a) why not just buy seeds?
(b) why not just buy palms from a nursery?

And as for "a small jungle in apartment", that can be done with a visit to the nursery.

But if you're into seed germination (time consuming, but very very rewarding), buy seeds of the species you're hankering after.

Yeah I think I will maybe just buy some seeds from ebay. Is it difficult to germinate the seeds once I have them purchased?

Clumping palms can be divided, but not others.
The bamboo palm you have will grow wider and wider in its pot, sending out "shoots" that also get tall like the center of the plant.
Those six to eight inch long "spears", with roots, become a new plant (with care during the process).
Practice on something cheaper first...get, say, a boston fern from local Safeway or HD.
With your fingers you can see where "segments" divide, a perfect spot to strike down with a trowel and remove a little section with its own roots.
Plant it and see if it grows. If not, you either took too small a segment/roots, or you were too hard on the roots.

BTW fish water makes excellent nutrient-rich water for your palms.

I think I might let my palms get a bit thicker before dividing them. When I do, I'll post up some pics to get your advice, to make sure I'm not doing anything crazy
I heard that about the fish water a few years back....thanks for reminding me as I forgot. Thankfully I have one freshwater tank and one saltwater tank....pretty sure the saltwater tank water would kill any plant very quickly.

Fertilizer for palms should have a 4-1-4 or 4-1-6 ratio plus chelated trace elements (manganese very important), you can see my palm special has it and other important ones.
<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/421 ... 198bc9.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="DSC03169" />

Then there are recipes for homemade, this is no better than most...and do you really want "feathers" in your cupboards?
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/homemade ... lizer.html

Just a tip from someone who has killed more palms and spent more money....
If there's a palm you see at a store--and it actually has a label with a Latin/common name--kinda rare these days unfortunately,
before you buy it, read all you can about it on the internet. See whether it grows around a stagnant lake or on a beach...these need a steady supply of water. Those growing in the middle of sand dunes with not a drop of moisture anywhere obviously have very deep roots (pot size clue) and can handle extreme heat, i.e. full day sun. That kind of thing.

...and there's us here at Palms North.


But I'm betting you want to grow palms from your purchased seeds
Say you want one or two Foxtail palms...seed packages come in anywhere from 10 - 20 seeds.
That's how you end up with an apartment full of palms...a palm nursery.

But if you aren't going to put them on a shady patio all summer long, they won't live forever.
And you'll become really familiar with a dust cloth.

Barb
PS--I've got wood floors...throw a big bed sheet down around the palms to catch drips. Oh...and remove it when guests are expected.

I thought it was magnesium that was required, not manganese....uh oh.......I better do some more reading. Someone said something about using Epsom Salts. (Magnesium Sulfate).
haha, nope sure don't want feathers in my cupboard....might just stick to the commercial ferts. So you think it's beneficial to mist a bamboo palm? I once kept a majesty palm going for a year by misting...but eventually it died on me.
I have a spider plant in my apt and I seriously think it pulls enough moisture out of the air to survive. It looks better when I don't water it.

[lucky1]

Bob,
Once you get some seeds, we can point you to the "baggie germination" tips.

Palms need magnesium, yes, but they all need trace minerals too (and manganese is listed as a trace mineral).
Every listed mineral is important.
you might see a ratio for PALMS listed as 4-1-6+2.5 (or something like that).

It's beneficial to mist any palm that never sees the outdoors.
Probably any plant

Nope...no water from saltwater tank.

Ray of hope: if you kept a Majesty alive indoors for a year, you need less help than we both think.

Barb

[studmaster]

ahhhh, so glad I have found this forum and thanks to Barb for all the help! Learning so much so fast.

I did keep my majesty alive for about a year....but I'm a very determined person, and probably wasted WAAYYY too much time trying to read up on them and take care of that darn palm, only to have it not make it. Never again with a Majesty. My bamboo palms are so great and such low maintenance.

My freshwater fish tank will thank you Barb, as this will force me to do more regular water changes. Now if only some plant would tolerate salt water

[lucky1]

Our pleasure...

Reserve your salt water for a mangrove tree if you ever buy one