Areca vestiaria...sun????

Hi,
I am a newbie to tropical gardening....just moved to Keaau, Hi. from Vista, Ca. I spend most of my time over on the Salvia board....anyway, was wondering if anyone here knows how much sun Areca vestiaria 'Red Form' can handle.....water and temps should be no problem here. Many thanks in advance from a newbie.

Andy

Better in shade and don't allow it dry out. I lost mine when the irrigation didn't work.

I've got an orange crownshaft, and it's doing great, heavily filtered light, keep soil moist, good drainage, lots of palm fertilizer, if it's small, use fish emulsion, or I use Maxicrop liquid fish, and Maxicrop liquid seaweed, Ed

Hi Andy, around here they need shade. What area do you live in?
In Hawaiian Paradise Park they will need some irrigation when they are young; upcountry not so much.
They love living in mulch, rather than a lawn.

Aloha, Dave

Aloha Dave,
I just got a place in HPP on 8th. I've got quite a few Ohias on the property that create some dappled shade....I may wait to plant these until I develop some canopy....got some work ahead of me taking out Tibouchina and making some workable soil!

Andy

It gets very hot and dry down there. You're on a 300 year old lava flow. The palm will certainly need some protection.

Aloha....

Thanks for your information.....going to have to do alot of homework before I make anymore plant purchases!

Hope you are in an exceptional microclimate as that is not a palm that can normally survive more than a winter or two in California (even Vista).

Geoff, he's moved from Vista CA to Hawaii so presumeably it is being grown there. But from what Dave said his problems might not be over. In the tropics shade can be very handy. I already had a lot when I bought my place, but here the sun moves right across to the south and the north so at different times of the year you still get a lot of penetration. Now that I've got my irrigation sorted (hopefully) it might be time to try vestiaria again. They're cheap enough to buy.

Yes, Andy lives right down the hill from me, on a chunk of lava. Luckily he gets about 100 inches of rain per year, but the land is sharply drained and dries out as soon as the Sun comes out from the clouds.
It will be necessary to bring in soil to be successful with gardening.

Well then, you lucky guy... no problems. Here is an Areca vestiaria in Hawaii grown in 'almost' full sun (there are other palms now taller than it, but nothing directly overhead). Looks OK to me.

here's a suckering form in full sun, too

Where were those photos taken Geoff?

Unlike Kilauea, they obviously have good soil. From the background, looks like an older island.

I grow Areca vestiaria under 'Ohi'a trees. They get some Sun when it's not raining!

Here's my orange crownshaft, it gets about 30 or 40 minutes of direct morning sun when the sun first comes up, then it's shielded by my Strelitzia nicolai, Ed

Well, I suppose I could dig up a photo of what WAS mine, but no point. They're great photos. Made me more determined to get one up and running again. Geoff, your photos seem to have been taken in cloudy conditions. I guess with it frequently overcast and island conditions providing higher humidity, they can probably do better in an open position.

The first is from the big Island of Hawaii where it's sunny most of the day and rains only at night (perfect climate, in other words), and the second is from Ho'Olamuhia gardens, where it is overcast a lot (in fact, never seen the sun there in three visits)

Metro-the first photo of Palmbob's is, I think, from Sullivans garden down in Kapoho-which, of course, is in Puna and very sunny. I also think that that is cinder that you see in the photol. Palmbob-do you remember what the majority of the soil there at Sullivans is?

Thanks Tiger! Kapoho is covered with cinder.

Forgot to say that I think the 2nd photo is from north of Hilo, up the coast.

Up the coast from Hilo is 65,000 year old volcanic ash soil. It has a good water holding capacity.

It's my favorite part of the Big Island-all of the island, this reminds me the most of Maui-the windward side of Maui, where I always seemed to wind up.