Question about Queen Palm Seedlings

I have what appear to be 2 palm seedlings growing in my flower beds. The only palms around me (neighboring yards) are Queen Palms. So, I'd like to dig them up and pot them until they're larger. Right now they're both about 6-8 inches high.

Question is: I'll dig down deep with the spade and just as wide, but will the palm survive or are they fussy about being moved?

Thanks,

Robin

It will be hard to kill them! They are very easy to grow.

Thanks! I had to dig one up yesterday for some drainage work I'm having done. Still looks good. Got my digits crossed!

Just know that when Queens get established, they have an unbelievable root network. LOTS of roots. If you have one growing close to a sidewalk or concrete deck, watch out. They can raise the concrete easily when they get bigger. And they can crowd out other desirable plants growing near them in the yard. They grow pretty fast when given lots of water and fertilizer. So having said that, they are a nice, showy palm. But you can get pretty good sized ones at HD for pretty cheap if you want bang for your buck in a palm tree. They are hard to remove, though, b/c of the roots. Good luck with your seedlings.

Keep your eye on them though, as I had Mexican Fan Palm (Washingtonia robusta) "weeds" spring up at the base of a Queen palm I have growing in my front yard. I think the Washies seeds must blow in the wind or something. I had to have my gardener pull it out before it got too big. So what you think are Queen seedlings just might turn out to be Washies. Just a thought.

If you post a pic of your seedlings, someone on here, (not me) will prolly be able to confirm what they are...

Funny you should mention that. My gardener was here Saturday and I told him I had a queen palm seedling. He said, "No. That's actually a weed."

Thanks for your offer to look at it. Here's a picI just took of the one I had to dig up. I tried looking up Washies, Washi and Washy in PF but couldn't find it.

Washi is short for Washingtonia. There are only two Robusta and Filifera in this family. I´ve got similar seedlings growing in 2 pots and I wondered too if they could be Queens.
Let´s wait what the experts say...

Your sure looks like mine, mcwolf. I agree. Lets hope to confirm with an expert!

azrobin, the w. robusta seeds itself readily here in PHX, have not heard that about the queen, which likes humidity, is better suited to socal. The w. filifera also seeds itself here, you can see self-seeded groves of filifera at the phx zoo all over. That strapling of yours looks just like a robusta that I found in my yard. I had one seed itself in my yard (it wont reveal itself until it gets bigger, it'll get hairs on the tips of the leaves, not so the queen or chamaerops). I have 15 queen palms in my yard, none have reseeded yet. As best as I can figure, the robusta seed came from the container of a chamaerops humilis that I had in a pot for a while at that site(near a leaky hose bib). It(the robusta strapling) also looked a bit like a chamaerops, I was fooled. Regardless, there are no robustas within a few blocks of my house, so this one came in via another container. Most small palms -those with strap leaves- just dont survive out doors here in the dry/ hot sun, I know that for sure. Alot of people in so cal grow palms in containers in the sun, no hurry to plant them, they take it well there. That wont work here, growing in containers(in the sun) is much more difficult here. Most outdoor nurseries dont even carry 5 gallon specimens, they start at 7 gallon because of the high losses. I have quite a few palm seedlings in my greenhouse in pots, they'd all die in the open sun. I'm gonna bet your palm is a washie.

Gee, thanks much for the great info! I guess my new gardener knows his stuff! I have no room or plans for it, so when my corrective cement work is done in my rear yard, I'll discard the Washie when I relocat the other plants in that tub.

Now, if I can only remember where the other Washie was located. I distinctly remember seeing 2 of them. LOL

Thanks again,

Robin

Don't worry. Those Washies grow really fast. It will prolly show up very soon!
And yes, I call them weeds too.

I had two pretty big ones growing in the landscaping above my pool and had to have them pulled as well. They were actually planted by the guy who owned my house before me. He should have never planted them in that location. Those Washies were 2' tall when I moved in, in April, 1999. By late last year they had totally outgrown their spot and were heading toward 20' tall including the fronds.

I replaced those two Washies with a nice Pygmy date palm transplanted from my front yard (Phoenix roebelinii, on the left) and a mature Kentia (Howea Forsteriana) that I bought at a nursery. And there was a nice Phoenix reclinata growing in between those two Washies that I didn't even know what it was until osideterry, a friend of mine and a member on here, came over to tell me what it was.

I transplanted that one to a sunny spot on the other side of my yard where it will look great in a few years.

Here's a link to the pic of the reclinata. It was hacked up pretty good by my gardener's helper before we moved it. It will come back though. Pretty amazing this was growing in between those two Washies and didn't even know what it was...

http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=3441300

Here´s a pic of the worst palm weed in my garden - Phoenix Reclinata. There´s not one container which doesn´t produce a seedling. On the right side is a tiny Strelitzia Nicolae which also likes to grow wherever its seeds fall on sand. This part of the garden is very shady but not sprinkled since there are mainly Aloes planted. Otherwise Reclinatas grow in full sun, moist conditions or whatever is in between. There´s not one spot which is save of them. I would give a lot if most of my other species would be as tough as this one ;-)

I think I read on another thread about the reclinatas in South Africa. They are a real problem aren't they?
Not so here in SoCal. They grow like weeds, though. I've never seen a tree produce so many pups!

FondOfFronds, those are great photos but I had a hard time figuring out which was the culprit. Nice division of the area, though.

McWolf, you're photo show me clearly what I'm dealing with here. Ack! Think I'll get that thing out of the planting tub RIGHT NOW!!!! Jeesh! Thank you!

azrobin, I'm not sure what you meant by culprit?

Oh, sorry. You had so many palms in your photos I was confused as to which one was the Washie. lol

Yeah you can always ID the Washies pretty easily. Big fans, lots of spines on the frond's limbs and... they're the ones that get 60' tall. Hard to tell I guess between W. robusta and W. filifera though. Makes no difference to me, neither one is going to grow on my property! =-)

Not that I don't like ALL fan palms. Some are really awesome. I have a small Bismarckia nobilis just repotted in a 15 gal. container...(this is not it by the way LOL)
http://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/pdb_palmbob_2003-07-05_1057421476679.jpg

and I would love to get a Chamaerops Humilis (Mediterranean Fan Palm)
http://www.portlandpalms.com/images/Mediterraneanfanpalm.jpg

And this is not to diss the ppl on here who like the Washies. They just grow so commonly around our area that they don't really add anything to the landscape.


This message was edited May 4, 2007 4:26 PM

Both very nice specimens. I love the Bismarckia - nice blue!

You have me wondering now just how many Washies are sold here as opposed to the typical fan palm. I'll no doubt be checking them out while driving, etc. LOL

ummm, Robin, Washies ARE the typical fan palm. You see them throughout the southwest, everywhere you go. The Chamaerops and the Bismarckia are considerably more expensive to buy.

Oh, okay. I still didn't have a place for it. lol