Those are sweet. 😀 I wish they grew around where i live.

Regards,
Jay

Plant some seedlings or seed & in 10-20 years you will have nice mature palm grove. They do fine up to a zone 7

They are beautiful. I am hoping to eventually get 2 or 3 growing up here. I'll have to cover and heat them in the winter.

Allen

Laaz;

I am going to prepare a bed for the S. Minor next spring. How deep will the roots on this palm grow at about 10 years of age? I have heard that the S. minor likes to have well drained soil near the surface and heavier soil below that to 'keep its feet wet'. What kind of soil do the wild sabals have? What is the drainage like?

Your help is appreciated. To grow here the Sabals will need all the help that they can get.

Allen

Large Minors will have trunk & roots down 3-4 feet. Minors are almost bullet proof once you get them established. When transplanting them for one location to another in the ground you will need to cut off all fronds except the new spear. Otherwise the leaves will drain the plant of nourishment & it will usually die.

As for drainage, Both Sabal Minor & Sabal Palmetto thrive in bogs & swamps living right in the water. They are found throughout or area on the banks of streams, rivers and even in swamps & bogs.

Here I can buy Sabal Palmetto's with any size trunk for $125 USD if I pick them up & plant them myself. All Palmetto's are "Hurricane cut" which is the same as stated above. All fronds are removed except the new spear. Takes about 3 years to regrow the crown.

You should try Sabal Minor "McCurtain". Cultivated specimens where reported to survive under -20F unprotected.

The more cold hardy the palm is, the slower it grows. We have never gotten below single digits in this area one night every 50 years or so, but I have never seen a Minor with cold damage in the area.

Thanks for the help. Our local temperature lows in the winter are about -30 F. I am checking for microclimates in the yard this winter where I plan to grow the palms.

Turtile; I have not been able to find a supplier of McCurtains that will export live palms or seeds to Canada. If you know of someone, I would appreciate your help.

Allen

Plant some seedlings or seed & in 10-20 years you will have nice mature palm grove. They do fine up to a zone 7

Sounds like a plan. I have a few seedlings ready to plant this Spring. 🙂

Regards,
Jay

Admin, just a quick 2 cents...
I have a Minor that Desert Zone sent me a year or so ago which I STILL have not payed him for 😳
and I have been pleasently surprised with the growth rate. Constantly has a new leaf emerging and takes about 2 months to fully open, but when it does, there is another starting. I am in zone 5, but I do bring it inside for the Winter.
In the Summer, you can not water too much. I found the more I watered, the faster it grew. I watered it once a day in the heat of June - August with a simple pot fill and let it sink, then hit it again.
HOPEFULLY, just today, I will be recieving some "McCurtain" seeds from a tree in KC that has been totally uncovered for the last two years and seeded the last three years. Hopeing the seeds have some of Momma's Hardy breed in them.

Yeah, I got my seedlings from banana Joe about two or three years ago. They should really take off this summer. 🙂

Admin,
How did your seedlings come (health wise) and how did they do over the winter while in storage from Joe. Been thinking of getting some from him. Also, heard that he sometimes throws extras in???????

Laaz,
In April I will be going to the Texas / Oklahoma border to hunt rattlesnakes. Been there once about three years ago but when I went there I was ONLY hunting Rattlers and was not a Palm guy yet.
However, I do seem to think I saw some Minors growing right along the Red River. If I do get down there and see some growing, what are the secrets to digging up and replanting? Do I need to ig up as much dirt as possible and not worry about soaking in a bucket until I get back? Do I need to cut off all existing fronds? Anything?

They were very healthy and Joe did throw in a few extras. 🙂 They overwinter really well for me.

Regards,
Jay