An abundance of Pseudophoenix Sargentii...ideas?

C

cherinbahamas

New Member
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25/01/14
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Bahamas
First off I want to introduce myself. My first post, I'm Cherith, a Canadian expat living in the Bahamas. Hi everyone. :)

Secondly, I need ideas as to what to do with my countless pseudophoenix Sargentii. I know in other places they are considered rare. I have a few acres here and have finished the house building and now need to start my way through this jungle and clear some areas for getting fruit trees established.
The issue is that I can't walk for treading on baby buccaneers.
I would love to share the wealth if i could and that would mean shipping off the island which i am quite prepared to do...

There's really no point to me digging them up and moving them to where i want to landscape as my immediate garden around the house already has several that are over a dozen feet high. I would keep anything over 10 ft or maybe smaller if it had a large base to it and might be harmed by transplanting. I haven't even really ventured to far into the 'back 40' as it were but can already see what is waiting for me. They are quite literally beyond number. At this point i have more buccaneers than a grade "B" pirate film.

I would love to save anything above 3 feet in height...but any idea what to do with them? Anything smaller than that is just getting walked over. I know it's criminal but there's nothing to do for it.

Even if I could harvest seeds to mail to people when i go back to Canada (hop across the line to the US is easy enough). Any advice on the optimum time to harvest the seeds (if i can beat the birds to it)?
I am putting a link on here but please let me know if it works. google has changed EVERYthing lately and so I'm not sure i've shared this right

Any input would be greatly appreciated. cheers!View attachment 24034View attachment 24035
 
Hi Cherith,

Welcome to Palmpedia. It's funny how one man's over abundance can be another man's dream. I had/have a similar situation with the Hawaiian tree fern, that I paid $100 a foot for when living in So. California, and now have hundreds with many feet of trunk that are constantly in the way and require a lot of work to trim, etc.

I do not know the answer to your question, but am alerting several of my palm people in Florida to see if they can offer you any information.

Oh and BTW - the Google link works fine, but the attachments did not come through.
 
In the Florida habitat they are rare. Mostly because a huge % of that habitat has been developed. Thanks to the palm collectors, many have been introduced into the landscapes. Once established, they need virtually no care. Of course a specimen palm appreciates mineral supplements. They can endure a harsh environment but like most of the natives they look best if fertilized.
 
I wish I had your problem! P. sargentii was one of the 1st palm pictures I saw....it was love at 1st sight. I have only seen one here on the Big Island of Hawaii. If Hawaii did not have very strict laws about the importation of palms I would have you send me some.

Lee
 
Thanks for the notes all. I only turn on my computer every few days and not on it much hence my lack of reply.

I contacted a nursery in Nassau and they bring in their buccaneer palms from Florida! A four ft plant in Florida I've priced at average at about $200 over there. But they don't want ours as there may be bugs? you'd think something could be done to insure 'bugs' don't get introduced, but being that we are in a string of islands...chances are they already have our 'bugs'.
Anyway, i went to the local annual garden sale and made a couple of contacts for people who would dearly love a few of these gorgeous trees but that's about it. These don't grow all over the island. just a few lucky pockets so they ARE needed by locals...but i have more palms than there are households!
Seems such a shame when I literally have hundreds that are over four feet high that are easy to transplant.

If anyone has any brainstorms I'd love to hear them.
 
Thanks for the update. Yes it is unfortunate, but not everyone cares for plants as "we" do here.

But the introduction of pests is a real concern. Not so much on the plant, but in the soil of transplanted palms where they are almost impossible to detect. So people can be overly cautious - but who is to say - it has been known to happen.

But it's good to know that there are still people who will go out of their way to try and save plants like these palms.
 
Palm trees have a tendancy to "grow" on you. A year or two from now you may have some neat ideas to use them on location. Here in Tampa we are planning on using specific palm seedlings as a ground cover. A few years ago I never would have dreamed an idea like that, now I'm excited about it. Just curious, what island are you on?
 
koki said:
Palm trees have a tendancy to "grow" on you. A year or two from now you may have some neat ideas to use them on location. Here in Tampa we are planning on using specific palm seedlings as a ground cover. A few years ago I never would have dreamed an idea like that, now I'm excited about it. Just curious, what island are you on?
Click to expand...

These are the most gorgeous palms I know of. Nice and neat, self cleaning, pest resistant, salt resistant, drought resistant. And I will be using loads of them to line the drive, and walkway and various other places. But I seriously have so many that they just get walked on. We are thick with them. I've got more than I could ever use. Also, as they are slow growing, I will only bother transplanting for myself any that are six feet or more. just because i have them. and actually, outside the back I've done basically what you suggested. only I didn't plant any, i just pulled out any other type of tree so now I have about a two foot high carpet of the seedlings. very interesting ground cover indeed.
I just want to spread the wealth! :)

I'm on Great Exuma. google it, I dare you. :) you'll see instantly why i made it my home.
 
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