Do you have a general conclusion?

Although full results won't be obvious until this time next year, I do conclude at the end of winter:

Brahea armata in cold building ~45F, sunny south window = OK but it should have received water more frequently than once every 3 months. No bugs at all!

Brahea armata in warm house under lights = larger new leaf but pest (soft-bodied scale, fungus gnats, spider mites) may not be worth the effort.

It'll be interesting to see if the warm-winter Brahea will now just stop (because it had its summer indoors?).
I expect its twin from the cold-building will now start to grow.

We'll see with future comparisons.

Barb

I loooked a time or two Barb,

The second (cold storage) looks much greener.

No bugs has to be a good thing...I think.

😀

For the basement one, and

this for the one by the window.

In two years. 😀

ahahahahahahahaha ;D

That basement one won't fit 😆 😆

I'll be happy with the second one.
Barb

Both were outside all summer, facing south, no shade.

Test update:
Almost identical to last report (and last photos) 😥

Warm winter Brahea armata: bigger than twin by almost half, but hit with soft-bodied scale AGAIN this winter.
Yes, that's cinnamon around the base (hope it works, thanks Tim!)

<a href=" http://www.flickr.com/photos/southslope/6884680891/" title="005 by edible_plum, on Flickr"><img src=" " width="180" height="240" alt="005"></a>

Cold winter Brahea armata: has a nicer -- almost blue color but my camera doesn't show that!!! -- and no bugs, but still small.

<a href=" http://www.flickr.com/photos/southslope/6864139759/" title="019 by edible_plum, on Flickr"><img src=" " width="180" height="240" alt="019"></a>

Conclusion:
They would never survive here outdoors; but if they were planted outdoors, they wouldn't grow the next year.
And if you kept them indoors in winter, they'll grow and get scale because it's too warm. And later they won't fit.

End of Test.
:laughing3:

Barb

Hi Barb

Thanks for the update. Test over?...........it's just started!

Continue the test with one inside and one outside with heated protection. We can monitor growth rates. This would be fun to watch!

Continue the test with one inside and one outside with heated protection. We can monitor growth rates. This would be fun to watch!

Sheesh...ok

gotta get another heater & thermocube for next year...and some clear structure.

Come over and help me build it next September :clown:

I'll come by and help........no problem................but I need a ride..........can you be here by 8am? If you leave now I can be at your place in 2 weeks! 😛

OK I'll go via Florida...may not see you.

No No......can't go the warm way. You'll need to stay in Canada until you reach New Hampshire then you can go south. 😈

😆 😆

I love experiments!
So, do you think these are worth growing? I lost all four of mine a year ago when the greenhouse got so cold. Up until then, my feeling was that Brahea were almost as pretty as Bismarckia, but much less fussy about temps somewhat below freezing. Thinking about trying again with an aim of planting them at my parent's Oregon coast home.
So, thoughts? Worth the trouble?

Hi Erik,
Agree with you that Brahea are almost as pretty as Bizzies.

But these two haven't impressed me, frankly, over the last couple of years.
The cold-building twin didn't like cold (never hit freezing in there!).

Do you think Brahea could handle the amount of rain that Oregon gets?

Actually, I have thought of something new to do with these 2 Brahea.
When I potted them, I had read somewhere Brahea tend to like alkaline-ish soil.
So that's what I did, potted 'em in my soil, which is 7.2.

I'm going to repot both, and give them Miracid.
And since they weren't doing bugger all in alkaline soil, maybe they'll really take off :thumbright:

Certainly couldn't hurt their current rate of growth... :sleepy1:

In 15 years I can plant my brahea outside. 🙄

Yes, keep the experiment going, and let us know about the effect of soil pH.

As for the Oregon coast, I'm going to have trouble with all desert plants in the rainforest. 😆

The lot is very steep, and if I build raised beds with fast draining gravel soils I might be able to grow some. We'll see.