3rd February 2009:
Website updates:
Homepage
Somewhat overdue new Palm Tree Of The Month, Cocos nucifera (Coconut Palm).

22nd November 2008:
Website updates:
Homepage
New Palm Tree Of The Month, Bismarckia nobilis (Bismarck Palm).

20th November 2008:
Website updates:
Gallery
After considerable time spent in post processing, I've finally completed and added the gallery for my visit to Kew July 2008. Whilst most of the species have been covered in previous visits, the use of a wide angle lens on this occasion has hopefully allowed for a fuller view of some of the larger specimens.

15th November 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Today I have potted up a few of the germinated seeds from my most recent order. I put two Iguanura elegans into a shared tall liner pot and three Pinanga aristata were community planted into a tall 3ltr (1Gal US) pot. The liner was small enough to go back into the propagator, but the Pinanga seedlings are now on a bench in the polytunnel. All of the seedlings have one opened leaf at the moment. After inspecting the other seeds, there is little else happening at the moment, although it looks like one of the Licuala mattanensis (Mapu) seeds has germinated, which is great news as they are very difficult to obtain here.

16th October 2008:
Website updates:
Homepage
New Palm Tree Of The Month, Actinorhytis calapparia (Calappa Palm).

28th September 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
I have just re-potted the long overdue Areca catechu "Dwarf Form". It was totally root bound and pushing itself out of it's tall 3ltr (1Gal US) pot. It is now in a, not much taller, 10ltr (3Gal US) pot, but due to the similarity in pot height it will probably need re-potting again within a few months, if it continues to grow well. Due to the increased pot size, I have also had to re-locate it to to floor level in the polytunnel, which despite good air circulation will undoubtedly be slightly cooler than it's previous raised position.
Website updates:
General
I've still not been able to get onto any major updates or new content for the site, due to still coming across small niggles after the transfer to the new server. Fortunately they have only been minor things, that made the odd page here and there inaccessible, but hopefully they will become less frequent allowing me to get on with moving the site forward. I have also been continuing the post processing of the images from my last trip to Kew, so hopefully I will have that gallery up in the not too distant future.

18th September 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
August was an awful month in the polytunnel. Everything stopped growing then started to go into rapid decline. I couldn't work out what was happening, as nothing obvious had changed and there was no evidence of any pests or diseases. Thanks to the help of various friends on The Palmtalk Forum, we worked out that it was a problem with salt toxicity. There were a few things that would have contributed to this, but probably the main reason was that I was allowing the misters to provide most of the plants' water requirements and was only watering manually when adding fertilizer. Previously, when I had been watering manually every two to three days, it was flushing excess salts out of the pots, but the misters did not provide enough water in one hit to do this. The net result is that most of the smallest seedlings from my previous seed order are dead, as well as the Dypsis albofarinosa and the last Dypsis psammophila. Most of the other plants are starting to recover, having reduced the timings for the misters and keeping things generally a little drier and cooler, although there are still other plants that look unlikely to recover. On a happier note, I have had some Rhopaloblaste singaporensis from my most recent seed order germinate. I have put three from a baggy into a community pot and left a few more that were in a tub in the propagator as they are, to allow a little more growth before potting up. There are signs of a couple of other germinations, but they are still at very early stages.
Website updates:
Links
I have added The Wise Gardener to the Directories & Portals section of the links page.

18th September 2008:
Website updates:
Homepage
I've finally had the opportunity to add the new Palm Tree Of The Month for September, Satakentia liukiuensis (Satake Palm).

15th September 2008:
Website updates:
General
I have found and corrected a few minor errors since transferring to the new server. I dare say there will be a few more minor things, but on the whole everything seems to be OK and working as it should. If anyone notices anything a little strange, I would appreciate a short email or message to let me know. I can always be contacted via the contact page on the site or forum members can PM or email me via the forum.
Website updates:
Gallery
With all the administrative work over the past couple of months, everything else has been somewhat neglected. Although I have photo's for some of my plants from July and August there is not enough to post full monthly galleries, as I have done in the past. Having reviewed the pages of the site that visitors usually go to, it seems that the galleries are not really what people want to see. Most visitors go straight to the palms section and view information on specific species. With this in mind, I have decided to take the site more in the direction of a general information site, rather than being geared more towards my own collection. I think, to be honest, that the monthly galleries are more useful to me than anyone else visiting the site, so with this in mind, I will be stopping the monthly galleries, although I will still post occasional galleries of my own collection, particularly when there are new species added or other events like a palm flowering or trunking for the first time. These may or may not be galleries of the full collection, depending on the time since the previous gallery and how much has changed. Spending less time on this should enable me to get much more done on the database, which will then have a lot more general information and pictures of a greater selection of species. I will still add galleries from visits to various botanical gardens and other locations where I see palms and I am currently still working on a gallery from my latest visit to Kew, which has a few species that I have somehow managed to miss in the past and, hopefully, the use of a wide angle lens has meant I have some better shots of some of the larger or more difficult to photo species there.

13th September 2008:
Website updates:
General
Firstly, apologies for the lack of any updates or news for the past month. I've actually been busier than ever with the website, but it's all been behind the scenes administrative work. The problem with site accessibility that I mentioned on August 9th turned out to be just part of a larger problem, which highlighted a couple of potential security holes in the site. As well as re-writing some code for various pages to improve security, I also had to replace every page on the website with clean backups. On further investigation into the problem, I discovered that there was also the possibility of security problems from the server side, so I decided to transfer the whole site to a new server, which meant creating the site from scratch again, albeit from backups. To further reduce any security risks, I have updated the forum software to the latest version and then had to spend some time testing that everything was working. Everything appears to be up together now, so it should be back to business as usual. Obviously with the lack of updates there is other news, but I will be adding further updates over the next few days.
Website updates:
Homepage
New poll added. As we are already well into September, I've decided to just title it "Palm Poll" rather than "September Poll". I may run the poll into October as well, depending on what other work I'm doing on the site.

12th August 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
There have been more disappointments in the polytunnel. The Dypsis albofarinosa, which has not been well for a long time had showed signs of recovery after re-potting, but after over a month with no growth at all, I moved it to a slightly brighter spot and within two days the whole plant had turned brown and the centre easily pulled out. Despite my concerns about the small seedlings coping with drops in humidity, I had no choice but to open the polytunnel door and allow in some clean air, as the air quality had been getting progressively worse. Within a day, the last Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana was dead and only one of the Asterogyne martianas seems to be clinging onto life. The Areca vestiaria has not grown at all since being potted up and also seems to be deteriorating. Fortunately, the Pholidostachys pulchra seedlings seem to be hanging on, although they also look a little worse for wear. I can only hope that I have better luck with the new batch of seeds that are currently in the propagator.

11th August 2008:
Website updates:
General
I have sorted out most of the problems with accessing the site, but there are still a few issues that I am trying to resolve with the servers. Hopefully everything is working as normal, but if anyone encounters any prblems, I would appreciate an email to let me know.

9th August 2008:
Website updates:
Links
I have added a link to The European Palm Society to the links page.
Website updates:
General
Whilst making the above update, I noticed that a problem has occurred at the server end, which is making much of the site inaccessible. I am working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible and will post an update when things are fixed.

6th August 2008:
Website updates:
Homepage
New Palm Tree Of The Month, Copernicia fallaensis (Giant Yarey Palm).

4th August 2008:
Website Updates:
General
The new computer arrived on 2nd August and I have spent a lot of time getting all of the hardware configured and software installed. There are still more things to do, but I am at the point where I can resume most of the website updates again. I have added a couple of back dated entries here, for the 25th, 30th July and 1st August. I hope to add the usual end of month updates for July over the next few days.

1st August 2008:
Field Trips:
RBG Kew
As planned, I made another trip to Kew today, this time with the advantage of a wide angle lens. The camera is quite new, so I am not fully up to speed with it yet, which resulted in me taking a little longer and not getting as many pictures as I have on previous trips, but I tried to concentrate on the plants that had previously been difficult to photograph at longer focal lengths. I will add a new gallery for this trip, once I have the other outstanding updates completed.

30th July 2008:
The Plants:
Garden
The new coco peat (coir), that I originally ordered in early June, finally arrived from an alternative supplier on the 25th, so I was able to resume re-potting some of the larger plants. Today, I re-potted the Trachycarpus fortunei, which was long overdue, into an 85ltr (22.5gal US) pot, which measures 60cm (24") Dia. x 48cm (19"). This is quite a large step up from the previous pot, due to it having been left so long.

27th July 2008:
Website Updates:
General
Due to a computer malfunction, site updates are temporarily on hold. Fortunately no data has been lost and a replacement computer is on it's way. This may cause a little delay to the end of month updates, gallery, poll, palm tree of the month, etc., but I'm hopeful that things will be back to normal within 1-2 weeks. On a brighter note, I have another trip to Kew scheduled for this week and I'm taking a wide angle lens, which should help to get better pictures of most of the palms there.

25th July 2008:
The plants:
New Seeds
The new seeds arrived today. I have put some of each type in baggies and some in sealed containers, but I did not bother with pre-soaking on this occasion. As with the previous seeds, I used coco peat (coir) as the germination medium and placed all of the baggies/containers inside the propagator in the polytunnel. I moved the ungerminated seeds from the previous batch out of the propagator and left them in the polytunnel, to see if any more will germinate with slightly less heat.

23rd July 2008:
The Plants:
Garden
A combination of wind removing many leaflets and the sun scorching the rest on the main stem of the Chamaedorea microspadix has left it looking rather unsightly, but after a couple of warmer days, it has started to add some new growth. Chamaedoreas generally don't cope well with too much sun, but microspadix is one of the more adaptable species of the genus and, with sufficient water, it should show continued improvement after the initial shock of moving ourside. The other plants in the garden seem to be enjoying the recent warmth and are looking nice and green with slight increases in griwth rate.

20th July 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
I have just potted up the two Pholidostachys pulchra that had been left in their germination container. Due to the lack of drainage holes in the container the medium was starting to get too moist and I had noticed the leaf tips starting to brown. Hopefully re-potting into a more airey mix with good drainage will help to avoid any risk of damping off.

18th July 2008:
The plants:
New Seeds
Rare Palm Seeds have some amazing new seeds on offer this month. Many are species that I have never seen for sale before and it includes species that I have been looking for for some time. I don't have the space for some of the very rare and collectable species, but the list includes some very small species that I just couldn't resist. I have ordered just ten seeds of each Calyptrocalyx leptostachys, Chamaedorea tuerckheimii (Veracruz), Iguanura elegans, Licuala mattanensis (Mapu), Pinanga aristata, Pinanga sp. (Blue Fruit) and Rhopaloblaste singaporensis. Hopefully comtimued improvements to my germination technique should see some reasonable results.

17th July 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Today I received a few new bromeliads from California. They are just small unrooted offsets, but should add a bit of colour to the polytunnel. There were seven plants in total, although one is not for me. The species/cultivars are Billbergia "Smokey Rose", Neoregelia ampulacea hybrid, Neoregelia fluminensis, Neoregelia "Pink Polka Dot", Neoregelia punctatissima and Neoregelia "Red Bird" x "Fireball". The seventh plant was another Neoregelia punctatissima. I have potted them each in very small pots in my usual soil-less mix. Hopefully they will like their new home and will quickly recover from their journey here. Pictures will be included in the July gallery at the end of the month.

16th July 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Another of the Chamaedorea radicalis (Standard Form) has started flowering. The first plant had an erect inflorescence, which I believe suggests it is a female plant, but the new flower seems to be more pendant at this stage, which would imply a male. This new flower may be a little late for pollenation of the first flower, which appears to be dying now, but is promising for future seed production.

14th July 2008:
The Plants:
Garden
I spent much of this weekend tidying the gardens. The back garden still requires a lot of work, but the front is almost clear and I intend to move some of the palms to the front garden soon. Because the front garden is so small, it will probably just be the Chamaedorea microspadix at first, but I also want to put the Chamaedorea radicalis in the front garden when they leave the polytunnel. The front garden is mostly shaded by the house, so it only sees sun very early morning and a little late evening sun in the summer. This should suit the Chamaedoreas quite well, although I suspect the lack of sun may also cause problems with absolute low temperatures in winter.

11th July 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Both the Cycas taitungensis and the smaller Cycas panzihuahensis have started to produce another flush. Despite still looking healthy, the slightly larger panzihuahensis has still not produced any new foliage for some time. Hopefully with the improved light levels of summer, these new flushes will be a little less stretched than the previous flushes. The taitungensis started to produce it's previous flush a little over two months ago on May 5th and, if it continues to produce new leaves at this rate, I'm not sure that there will be enough space for it in the polytunnel until next year. As it's already reaching the time when it will be too late to take it outside this year, rather than risk it not having sufficient time to adjust before winter, I will keep it inside and prune the leaves if necessary.

9th July 2008:
The Plants:
Garden
The wet weather has continued with today being the worst day by far, having already recorded 42.6mm/1.7", which is more than our average rainfall for the whole of July. Along with this rain has been continued drops in temperature with today seeing a maximum of only 16°C/61°F. The forecast suggests that the rain will continue at least until the end of the week. The Chamaedorea microspadix, which was moved outside at the beginning of the month, is having a hard time with such an extreme change of environment and the main stem is lookung rather tatty, although the shorter stems, which are getting a little more protection, still look fine.
Website updates:
Weather
The website has been a little lacking in updates recently, as I have been spending a lot of time working on how the weather section will look. I have tested various software to get the data from the weather station to the website and have since been configuring how web pages will display that data. I will probably have something permanent up and running soon, which I will develop and add to over time.

5th July 2008:
The Plants:
Garden
It's not been a good summer for the outside plants so far. The Musa basjoo had nearly finished producing another new leaf on the main stem and today the winds returned to make a mess of it. We generally don't have much windy weather throughout summer, but we have had a lot of unsettled weather since early June this year. Our average July rainfall is about 40mm/1.5". So far, after just five days, we have had 26.40mm/1.04", which in itself is not a problem, but means we have very little sun or warmth. There is little change on the long range forecast either, with continued wet weather and below average temperatures. Hopefully things will pick up some time soon.

4th July 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
When taking photo's of the Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana and Asterogyne martiana, I noticed that all of the seedlings had started to get brown leaf tips. Two days prior to this all of the seedlings were totally green and the only thing I can think that may have caused this was having the polytunnel door open for a few hours between those times. The polytunnel is normally between 26°C/79°F and 32°C/90°F with humidity ranging from 70% upwards, but while the door was open the temperature dropped to 21°C/70°F with humidity at 50%. I know both species are quite temperamental, particularly where humidity is concerned, but I would have thought that that was not too low for a short period. It may have been that rapid change in dew point that was the problem, although it could be totally unrelated. Hopefully, with conditions remaining more stastic in the polytunnel from now on, they will all be OK. On a brighter note, the three Pholidostachys pulchra that are still alive have all started to push their first leaves.

2nd July 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
I have just moved that Chamaedorea microspadix permanently outside. The latest leaf was touching the roof of the polytunnel, which has far too much inside anyway, so I didn't really have a choice, although I was going to move it outside within the next few weeks anyway. It is currently in the back garden, which is also pushed for space, so I will probably move into the front garden at some point, then move it back into the warmer, sunnier back garden over winter.

1st July 2008:
Website updates:
Homepage
July poll added and a new Palm Tree Of The Month, Neoveitchia storckii.

30th June 2008:
Website updates:
Gallery
New gallery added for June 2008.

28th June 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Having started taking photo's today for this months gallery, I noticed quite a few things to report. The Licuala triphylla is flowering again, this is the second time this year. The Pinanga dicksonii, although still looking very unwell, it pushing a green leaf, for the first time in a few months. The previous three leaves had all come through looking fairly chlorotic, but the current leaf looks pretty healthy. A few of the other plants that had been below par are also showing some improvement with their new growth, these include Dypsis albofarinosa, the two larger Dypsis onilahensis and Ptychosperma macarthurii. Of the four Pholidostachys pulchra that I suspected had damped off, two are showing some green growth, which is encouraging. The one that I had already potted up also seems OK. On a less positive note, the one remaining Dypsis psammophila seems to be losing leaves faster than it is replacing them. I'm hoping that this is the result of spider mite activity, which, going by the other plants, seems to have been cleared up by the predatory mites that I introduced. In the case of the psammophila it doesn't look like mite damage though and I suspect it may be getting too much moisture. Finally, the misters have started to leave calcium deposits of the leaves of many of the plants, most notably the Chamaedorea microspadix, which is directly in the line of fire of one of the nozzles. This can only mean that my RO system is not doing it's job. Unfortunately the TDS meter stopped working a couple of months ago and I hadn't replaced it, but I have ordered a replacement RO membrane together with a new TDS meter, so hopefully things won't get too much worse before they arrive. In the meantime, I have reduced the time that the misters are on for each cycle.
Garden
After mentioning that one of the leaves of the Canna "Durban" had mysteriously been severed from the plant, the stem did continue to grow slowly for a week or two, but now it is turning brown and looking like it will not recover. I didn't even bother to take a photo for this month's gallery, because there really isn't anything left that is worth seeing. There is still the hope that another new stem will start to grow, but I suspect that if that was going to happen, it would have already happened by now. As it is not really taking up any usable space, I will keep it watered until the end of the season and see if anything positive occurs.

27th June 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
One of the Chamaedorea radicalis (Standard Form) has started flowering for the first time. This should enable me to determine it's gender, although with it still being in a community pot, it may be difficult to remember which one it is, once the flowering has finished.

26th June 2008:
Website Updates:
Weather
I have been working on configuring the new weather station to display information on the website. This is still in the early stages at the moment, but the data is online on a test page here. There is quite a bit more work to do on the page, but this gives an idea of the sort of information that will be available. I have also created a Weather Underground account, so there is also a Weather Underground Page, which just shows the outside weather data.

24th June 2008:
The Plants:
General
The new weather station arrived today. All of the hardware is pretty much setup and working, but there is still some work to do with configuration and software. Hopefully, the data collected will be visible on the website in the near future.

23rd June 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Attalea oleifera.

21st June 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
One of the two Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana seedlings is looking rather unhealthy. I suspect that it is damping off and will be dead quite soon. As with the Dypsis psammophila, mentioned only a few days ago, this is in exactly the same conditions as the perfectly healthy Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana seedling, that is growing well. I have used fungicides, etc., to try to reduce instances of damping off, but it has obviously not been effective yet.

19th June 2008:
The Plants:
Garden
The Musa basjoo has been growing very well for the past month or so and has been filling out very nicely with the smaller stems starting to get a little size, but after some heavy winds yesterday and over night the leaves have been left tattered and torn. Fortunately, with Musas growing as quickly as they do, it will hopefully not be too long before it looks nice again.

18th June 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
The two species of predatory mites arrived today, so I distributed them throughout the polytunnel. Hopefully, I will start to see an improvement in the health of the affected plants, mainly the Pinanga dicksonii and the Ptychosperma macarthurii. The thermostat that I recently installed to control the fan seems to be working well with regular switching in a variety of outside conditions, so the inside temperature should be remaining fairly consistant. I will have a better idea when the new weather station arrives, which will hopefully be within the next week or so.

15th June 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
The smaller of the two Dypsis psammophila seems to have mysteriously died. It has been gradually turning more and more brown for a while, but had been continuing to grow, but it now has no green foliage left and the emergent leaf seems to be brown and stopped growing. This plant was immediately adjacent the other psammophila in exactly the same conditions, yet the other one seems OK. I assume some type of root fungus caused it to damp off.

12th June 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
The thermostat for the fan has arrived and been installed. The sensor is about 1.2m/4' directly above the heater and set at 30°C/86°F. This seems to be working well currently, causing quite frequent switching, so the temperature should be remaining fairly constistent, whilst avoiding the air stagnating and the formation of steep temperature gradients. I will have to monitor it to ensure that the switching stays as frequent when outside conditions change. It may be that I have to turn the fan to a higher setting to make sure that the heat gets well distributed while the fan is on. This would also be a closer simulation of the gusting nature of wind.

10th June 2008:
The Plants:
Garden
After being very pleased with the survival of the Canna "Durban", I had noticed a small amount of what looked like slug damage on the first leaf. It was continuing to grow well and looked healthy otherwise, but today I noticed the emergent leaf had snapped off. It may be further slug damage, but I suspect it is more likely that one of my cats damaged the plant. I would think it still has a good chance of recovery, assuming the cats don't do any further damage, but it is very frustrating after surviving against the odds through the winter.

9th June 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
I have ordered a thermostat for the circulation fan. Currently the fan is permanently on, which is not really a problem, but it does cause quite a large temperature reduction, which means the heater is having to work harder, especially in winter to maintain heat. The thermostat will help to maintain a more constant temperature by switching the fan on when the temperature gets too high and switching it off again when it gets too low. Unfortunately without constant circulation there is quite a steep temperature gradient from floor level upwards, so I will have to experiment a bit with the placement of the sensor. Ideally the sensor and temperature settings should be setup in such a way as to cause regular switching, thus allowing the air to maintain almost constant movement. On the plus side, as well as keeping a more even temperature, particularly in winter, it should save a little energy.

8th June 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
I have just re-potted the Chamaedorea microspadix, which, like most of my re-potting was long overdue. I have taken it straight up to a 32ltr (10Gal US) pot, which measures 44cm (18") Dia. x 35cm (14"). This is a rather big leap in pot size from the previous 3ltr (1Gal US) tall pot, but I thought it was necessary for stability, as the plant is already 1.8m (6') tall and will have to move outside within the next month or so, where a smaller pot would have easily blown over. With the plant now producing suckers, it should fill the new pot within a relatively short time.

5th June 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Yesterday, I noticed some small webs on the rather chlorotic looking Pinanga dicksonii. I thought that I had managed to clear all of the spider mites with pesticide, but obviously not. In the past I have used Phytoseiulus persimilis, a predatory mite, with great effect to clear up infestations, but it is difficult to maintain an ongoing population of these predators, as they tend to extinguish their food source, then die of starvation. In an attempt to create a more ongoing defense against spider mites I have, today, ordered some more Phytoseiulus, to help reduce the current spider mite population, but also ordered some Amblyseius californicus, an alternative predatory mite, which have a few advantages. Whilst the Phytoseiulus are better for eradicating a large spider mite population quickly, the Amblyseius can operate in a greater temperature range and have the ability to survive on pollen, when their are no spider mites available. They can also survive longer periods of starvation and are more resistant to chemical pesticides. It will be interesting to see if this approach is more successful as a long term solution.

2nd June 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Today, I have potted up another three germinated Asterogyne martiana, two of which were from a baggy and one from a deep container. I have also potted up the one Pholidostachys pulchra that had germinated in a baggy. The other four germinated Pholidostachys pulchra in a shallow container, remain there for the moment, although I think they may have already damped off. I will continue to monitor them closely and, if there are any signs of greem growth, I will pot them up at that time.

1st June 2008:
Website updates:
Homepage
June poll added and a new Palm Tree Of The Month, Oncosperma tigillarium.

31st May 2008:
Website updates:
Gallery
New gallery added for May 2008.

28th May 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
The Chamaedorea cataractarum has started flowering. This is the second time this plant has flowered, so I already know this plant is female, but without any suitable pollen producers in the vacinity, it will not set seed. The other Chamaedorea species that I have, microspadiz and radicalis, are from different sub-genus families and don't readily hybridize with cataractarum. The Dracaena "Purpurea" has started to produce another couple of offsets. This may be a response to having been repotted a few weeks ago.

27th May 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Attalea crassispatha.

26th May 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
The smaller of the two Cycas panzihuahensis has started to push another new leaf. This is the first for a couple of months, which is unusual, because generally even my flushing cycads produce leaves almost constantly when they are smaller and still only producing one leaf at a time. The other panzihuahensis seems to be suffering a little, as the caudex has gone hard in places. It is not uncommon for cycads to recover from this, but I'm not entirely sure what would have caused this, because this has generally been the healthier one of the two.
General
After some time without any environment monitoring hardware, due to an incompatability with my old hardware and Windows Vista, I have ordered a new weather station with some extra sensors for inside the polytunnel. I hope to add a live stream of data to the website, when everything has arrived and been setup.

21st May 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Another three of the Asterogyne martiana seeds have germinated, two in the baggy and one in a deep container. The baggy method is still proving to be the most successful so far. I have also moved the Pholidostachys pulchra that has germinated in a shallow container out of the propagator and have removed the lid of the container. I will give them a little longer yet, before potting up. The seedlings that I have already potted up seem to be coping well with the environment in the polytunnel and are looking green and healthy and growing steadily. The exception is the Areca vestiaria, which didn't look very well when I potted it up. It hasn't really changed at all, it doesn't look dead, but it hasn't started growing.

20th May 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
As I mentioned, I suspect that the chlorotic leaves on the Pinanga dicksonii, were caused by an inability to take up nutrients due to the roots being cramped. Having re-potted it this should start to improve, but as most of the chlorosis is probably caused by an iron (Fe) deficiency, I have ordered some chelated iron, to help speed up the recovery. At the same time I also ordered a few other things that I would like to experiment with, such as some Nitrate of Soda to help boost early season growth, a Mycorrhiza root treatment, to hopefully improve nutrient uptake and some Humate products, again to improve nutrient uptake. I also noticed today that the Neoregelia "Fancy Free" has produced a new pup. My observation must be slightly lacking, because the new pup already has three or four leaves.

19th May 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
I had been puzzled for some time by the Macrozamia moorei, which had stopped growing a few months ago. This is not a flushing cycad, it grows continuously one leaf at a time, like most palms do. The last time it stopped growing was due to poor soil and needing re-potting, but this didn't seem to be the case on this occasion. Either way, I'm happy to report that it has started growing again and the three leaves that it would have grown over the past few months are all pushing out together. Two of the leaves have some damage at the tip, so I would think the problem was either fungal or pest related. It's difficult to know for sure, it may even have been a nutrient difficiency or the fact that the soil was being kept too moist. Fortunately, when kept warm this plant seems to be fairly bulletproof. Whereas as a palm would have continued to grow and continued to decline, most cycads, seem to stop growing until they are healthy again, conserving resources and allowing a better chance of recovery.

18th May 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
I have just re-potted the Pinanga dicksonii and the Dracaena "Purpurea". They were both fairly overdue for larger pots and the Pinanga has been looking a little chlorotic for some time. I'm hoping the problem with the Pinanga was just a case of an inability to take up nutrients, due to the roots being too cramped. If that is the case, it should start to recover now. Both have gone from their existing small pots into tall 3ltr/1gal(US) pots, although the Dracaena is almost large enough for a larger pot.

14th May 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Attalea cohune.

13th May 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Astrocaryum alatum.

10th May 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Due to a spell of warmer weather, I have left the door to the polytunnel open for the past week, in an attempt to improve the air quality. Some of the plants that weren't looking at their best seem to have perked up a little, whereas the Areca catechu, which was looking very healthy and growing fast, seems to have slowed down a little and, whilst not looking unhealthy, doesn't look quite as healthy as it did. Temperatures in the polytunnel are lower at night with the door open, despite the warmer temperatures outside and little wind, but the biggest difference is reduced humidity, down from 70-95% to 55-75% and at reduced night time temperatures that is a big reduction in the dewpoint. I will continue to leave the door open for the remainder of the warm spell, which is forecast to drop off towards the end of next week, then go back to opening the door for a few hours every day or two until things warm up again.
Garden
The Phoenix dactylifera and loureiroi that were moved outside towards the end of April, seem to be coping with the change of environment. The dactylifera has a small amount of leaf burn, but the loureiroi seems totally unaffected. Otherwise things have been starting to grow a little with the warmer temperatures and all of the stems of the Musa basjoo seem to have come through the winter OK and are growing well. The Canna "Durban" is also slowly continuing with it's re-incarnation, still only one stem, but it should have some foliage by the time of the May gallery.

6th May 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Another couple of seeds have germinated, a second Asterogyne martiana and another of the Pholidostachys pulchra. The Asterogyne is the first seed to have germinated in one of the deep containers and the Pholidostachys was the first of that species to germinate in a baggy.
Garden
I have given all of the plants their first feed of the season. This is a little later than usual after a fairly cool April, but temperatures have warmed up considerably over the past few days, with a warmer than average spell forecast for the next week or so. I have also noticed the first, small sprout from the Canna "Durban". The Canna died back to the ground, fairly early in the winter period, having only been moved outside quite late in the season last year, so I'm quite pleased to see signs of life.

5th May 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
The Cycas taitungensis has just started to produce it's first flush for a few months. The new flush should be well on it's way by the time of the May gallery.

3rd May 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Asterogyne martiana.

2nd May 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
I have just potted up a few of the seeds that had germinated. An Asterogyne martiana, which has already produced it's first leaf, an Areca vestiaria, which looks as though it may have damped off already, but hopefully is still OK and a second Calytrogyne ghiesbreghtiana to add to the one that I potted up in April. All of these seeds have germinated using the baggy method, but I have also noticed that all four of the Pholidostachys pulchra in a shallow container have germinated. This may indicate that different species do better with different germination techniques, but further experimentation with larger numbers would be required to verify this. I have not potted up the Pholidostachys yet, as they have only just sprouted and I would prefer to leave them until the first leaf is at least partially formed.

1st May 2008:
Website updates:
Homepage
May poll added and a new Palm Tree Of The Month, Carpoxylon macrospermum.

28th April 2008:
Website updates:
Gallery
New gallery added for April 2008.

26th April 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
After a colder than normal spell here for April, things are starting to warm up a little, so I decided it was time to move the two Phoenix palms (loureiroi and dactylifera) out of the polytunnel to take up permanent residence outside. This has given some much needed space in the polytunnel, although there are still more plants which will have to move outside at some point this year.
Garden
I have also resumed watering of the outside plants, which I normally do two or three weeks earlier in the year than this, but the colder than normal weather had deemed it unnecessary until now.

25th April 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Arenga obtusifolia.

24th April 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Unfortunately despite my efforts with fungicide the Geonoma schottiana did not recover, which is rather disappointing, being the only Geonoma seed that I had managed to germinate from 10-15 seeds each of two species. On a more positive note, the Aechmea gamosepala has started growing a few new suckers. I also received some new pre-filters for the reverse osmosis unit today, which had been a little overdue being replaced.
Website Updates:
Palms
As noted in the site news on the homepage, I have updated the palms section of the site to point to the database now, instead of the previous format, which was no longer being updated. There is a link at the bottom of the new page for those who still want to visit the old archive.

23rd April 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
There are lots of things happening at the moment. There have been seeds germinate of Areca vestiaria and Asterogyne martiana. I will leave these a little longer before potting up, maybe a week or two, in case any others in the same containers germinate in the meantime. Most of the Chamaedorea radicalis, both forms, and the Dypsis heteromorpha are producing new suckers. The largest of the Dypsis onilahensis seedlings has started to produce an offshoot near to the existing growing point. I'd imagine with this happening at such an early stage in it's life, it will divide back to ground level before it starts trunking. I will try to make as many of the changes/developments as possible visible in the April gallery.

20th April 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Arenga australasica. Unfortunately the two photo's that I have from Fairchild are virtually identical and neither give a very full view of the palm, which was obscured by other plants. I will continue to look for better examples of this palm to take pictures of.

18th April 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New records added to the Database for Aiphanes ulei and Archontophoenix myolensis. Information is fairly scarce on both species, however, the records are fairly complete. As with all species, I will add further information when available.

17th April 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Acanthophoenix rubra.

16th April 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Actinorhytis calapparia.

15th April 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Just an update to the situation I mentioned about powdery mildew on some of the plants, when I returned from Florida. The worst affected plants were the two largest Dypsis onilahensis, the Pinanga dicksonii and the Geonoma schottiana. I suspect the Dypsis will be OK, the Pinanga is still growing so I am also hopeful for this plant. The Geonoma on the other hand is still very small and has lost all except the newest two leaves, which also don't look very healthy. Whilst I remain hopeful for the Geonoma, I think recovery chamces are slim.

On a brighter note, there is a new addition to the collection in the polytunnel, Ravenea lakatra. It is a well rooted seedling, which I have potted in one of my usual 3ltr/1 Gal(US) tall pots. Look out for it in April's gallery.
14th April 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
I have updated the Database to include images from the Fairchild gallery.
13th April 2008:
Website Updates:
Gallery
New gallery added for Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. This is the largest gallery to date featuring 574 photo's of palm trees and other exotics and includes many species not previously featured.
10th April 2008:
Website Updates:
Gallery
I have decided not to add a gallery for March. This decision was not taken lightly, but having been busy, since my return from Florida and with us already being nearly half way through April, it doesn't seem worthwhile. I will be adding April's gallery in another couple of weeks. The thing that really swung the decision is that, after spraying the plants in the polytunnel with fungicide yesterday, they are covered with deposits from the spray and look quite unsightly. Going by the previous application of the same fungicide, these deposits normally take a while to disappear, but I am hopeful that the plants will look normal again in time for the April gallery, which will happen either way. There will, however, be plenty of new content to add to the site, as a result of my time in Florida, so expect to see at least one new gallery from that trip before the end of the month.
9th April 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
During my time away, I had increased the amount of misting, so that the plants would be fine without any extra watering. This seems to have done the job for the most part, but quite a few species seem to have a build up of powdery mildew, particularly on older, dying leaves. I have given everything an extensive spray of fungicide, as well as wiping off the worst of the mildew and pruning any dead foliage. I have also reduced the misting times to hopefully stop it happening again.

8th April 2008:
Website updates:
Homepage
April poll added.

7th April 2008:
Website Updates:
Homepage
New palm tree of the month, Calamus longipinna.

20th March 2008:
Website Updates:
General
This afternoon I will be leaving for an overnight stay in London prior to two weeks in Florida. Whilst I may have the opportunity to check on the site periodically, while I am there, there is unlikely to be anything much in the way of updates during that time. This will obviously delay the March gallery, as well as the April poll and "Palm Tree of the Month". I hope to address each of these shortly after my return. On the plus side I will be getting a lot more photos of palms and other exotics in Florida and there should be a substaintial amount of content to add to the site upon my return, including many species not yet covered. If anyone wants to get in contact with me during this time, email is probably still the best bet, via the online form, and I will endeavour to check it as often as possible.

19th March 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Chamaedorea plumosa. Again, there is only one photo available at the moment, and it is not as clear as I would like. The record is otherwise fairly complete, but there are a few more details to add. I am hoping to get a lot more palm photos over the next couple of weeks, which may include more of Chamaedorea plumosa.

18th March 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel & Garden
I took delivery today of some new pots ready to pot up some plants in spring. The Trachycarpus fortunei in the garden will be potted up and several plants in the polytunnel, some of which will be taking up permanent residence outside this year. I also received some pesticide (Doff All-In-One Garden Pest Killer), which I have sprayed in the polytunnel today.

17th March 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Chamaedorea oblongata.

13th March 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
After reporting on the 10th February that the Chamaedorea radicalis, that had suffered considerable leaf burn, were recovering and showing new growth, today I found one on it's side totally disconected from the roots. Although everything above ground still appeared green and healthy, it had rotted below ground. Whilst this is a disappointment, after showing signs of recovery, all of the other plants that had suffered similar damage, seem to be fine and recovering well. This plant had been the worst affected and was recovering more slowly that the others, so I don't anticipate problems with any of the other recovering plants.

11th March 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Chamaedorea microspadix (Bamboo Palm/Hardy Bamboo Palm).

10th March 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New records added to the Database for Chamaedorea metallica (Metallic Palm/Miniature Fishtail Palm) and Chamaedorea metallica (Split Leaf Form).

8th March 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Chamaedorea klotzschiana.

6th March 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Chamaedorea geonomiformis (Necklace Palm). The entry is relatively complete, however, there is only one photo at the moment, which is not as clear as I would have liked. Hopefully I will be able to rectify this in the near future.

4th March 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
I potted up the germinated Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana today, still the only seed from my recent batch to have germinated. The Areca catechu (Dwarf Form) has produced it's first partially divided leaf and continues to grow at a very healthy rate.

1st March 2008:
Website updates:
Homepage
March poll added and a new Palm Tree Of The Month, Areca vestiaria.

29th February 2008:
Website updates:
Gallery
New gallery added for February 2008.

26th February 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Chamaedorea fragrans (Sangapilla Palm).

24th February 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Another sad day in the polytunnel. After watching the last Heterospathe scitula and the Heterospathe negrosensis decline, I had succumbed to putting them into the germination box, earlier in the week, in the hope that they may recover, but on checking them today, they were both covered in powdery mildew. I gently wiped off the mildew, but the plants just fell apart. I have had no success at all with this genus, despite the plants being kept warm enough. I suspect lack of humidity may be the problem, but with such a variety of plants in a confined area, it's always a question of trying to find a balance that everything can live with.

22nd February 2008:
Website Updates:
Forum
Quite a few more changes made to the default appearance of the Forum today. It's pretty much finished in terms of overall layout and appearance, I just want to replace some of the rather generic looking buttons, so that it really is a forum we can call our own. It may be some time before all of the buttons are replaced, as I still need to devote most of my time to adding content to the site.

21st February 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Chamaedorea ernesti-augusti (Ernest August Palm).

19th February 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Chamaedorea elegans (Parlour Palm).

18th February 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Chamaedorea elatior (Climbing Chamaedorea). This is another species rare in cultivation, so information is generally fairly lacking. The record is, however, reasonably complete, but I will endeavour to add the missing details in the future.

17th February 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
The Cycas taitungensis has just started to produce it's first flush for some months. The new flush should be well on it's way by the time of the February gallery. Space is still a concern, but hopefully the leaves of this flush will be a little more compact than the previous flush now that I have added another light source.

16th February 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Chamaedorea costaricana (Costa Rican Bamboo Palm). Unfortunately, the only photo's available at present are of the seedlings that I lost at a fairly early stage. Hopefully this will be rectified within a couple of months and there will be some better photo's of larger specimens to see.

15th February 2008:
Website Updates:
Links
I have updated the Links page to include a flag icon next to the commercial websites. Hopefully this will make it even easier for visitors to quickly identify sites more relevant to their location. I have also made a minor change to the index to make it a little more clear.

14th February 2008:
Website Updates:
Forum
I have made a few more changes to the default appearance of the Forum. There are still a few more changes that I would like to make, hopefully over the next few days.

12th February 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
I checked the propogator today and noticed that the first of the Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana seeds has sprouted. It is one of the seeds in a shallow container and I am interested to see if there are any trends that indicate a specific container promotes better or faster germination. I don't plan to remove and pot up the seed straight away, as there may be more about to sprout, which I can do at the same time. That said, with it being a shallow container, I won't be able to leave it for too long. This is my second attempt to germinate Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana, after zero germination last time, so naturally I am very happy to see one sprout. Hopefully, it is the first of many.

10th February 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
A mixture of good and bad news. The Chamaedorea radicalis that suffered considerable leaf burn from excess heat, all seem to be pushing up new green leaves. I am very pleased about this, as one in particular suffered in excess of 90% leaf damage. The plants that used to be in the germination box are now all residing in the main area of the polytunnel full time. Most are doing reasonably well, but noteable exceptions are the Heterospathe scitula. Having already lost one of the three plants a month or so ago, another is now pretty much dead. The third is still alive, but doesn't seem to be enjoying it's new environment. The other bad news is my other Heterospathe. The negrosensis seedling that I received last October, is not looking at all well and, although it has started to push a new leaf, growth seems to have stopped and the emergent leaf is turning brown. There is some green left on one of the older leaves, but I seriously doubt this palm will last much longer.

9th February 2008:
Website Updates:
Forum
I have updated the Forum to the latest software release and made a few minor tweaks to the appearance.

8th February 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Chamaedorea cataractarum (Cat Palm).

7th February 2008:
The Plants:
Garden
Today, I took delivery of some new plant labels. I only ordered six labels on this occasion, mainly for the larger plants outside, as it was the first time I have used these labels and I wanted to be sure I liked them before getting more. The labels, from 908 Ltd, who supply many Botanical Gardens and Local Authorities, are a matt black UV resistant plastic with white writing on an angled head support. Many other variations are available. I will endeavour to make them visible in the photo's for February's gallery. I have also added a link to the 908 Ltd website to the Garden Accessory Retailers section of the links page.

6th February 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
After having sprayed fungicide a few days ago, I have been reliably informed that it is actually a scale problem on my Dypsis heteromorpha and Chamaedorea cataractarum. I usually prefer to use biological controls for pests, but there isn't one available here yet for hard scale, which it appeared to be. As such I have sprayed everything with a contact/systemic insecticide. I was advised to use a Malathion based product, again none were available locally, so I used a Thiacloprid based product. As with the fingicide application, the polytunnel misting system was shut off for several hours after application to avoid diluting or washing of the insecticide, prior to it becoming rainfast.

4th February 2008:
Website updates:
Links
I have made a few minor changes to the links page to hopefully more clearly define the nationality of commercial sites. I have also added Indian Rock Cycads And Palms to the Palm & Tropical Plant Nurseries section.

3rd February 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Whilst checking on the plants today I noticed that one of the Chamaedorea radicalis (Trunking Form) is producing it's first sucker. This is the first of this species to do so. The Licuala tryphilla that produced it's first inflorescence about a month ago, now seems to be entering the unfructescence stage. This is the first palm in my collection to start producing fruit and is an incredibly small palm to be flowering and fruiting, so I am quite intrigued to see what size the fruit will be.

2nd February 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Having noticed what looked like some kind of fungal growth spreading on the Dypsis heteromorpha and now affecting the neighbouring Chamaedorea cataractarum, I have sprayed a systemic fungicide throughout the polytunnel today after washing off the effected areas. I will back this up with ongoing fortnightly applications until hopefully it clears. To avoid the fungicide being washed off, I turned off the misters, which also gave me the opportunity to empty the stored RO water tank and plumb in the feed and outlet tubes properly.

1st February 2008:
Website updates:
Homepage
February poll added and a new Palm Tree Of The Month, Acoelorrhaphe wrightii.

31st January 2008:
Website updates:
Gallery
New gallery added for January 2008.

29th January 2008:
Website Updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Chamaedorea alternans (Pacaya).

28th January 2008:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
The Dypsis albofarinosa has been looking unwell for some time and has been gradually declining. I think this is due to being one of the few palms that was still in the compost based medium that I used to use. As such, I have re-potted it into my new medium, a mix of coir (coco peat), perlite and composted bark chips. Rather than use the same pot, I used one of my taller 3ltr (1gal US) pots, which saves space and is a better shape for palm root development.

27th January 2008:
Website updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Ceroxylon quindiuense (Andean Wax Palm).

26th January 2008:
Website updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Caryota urens (Jaggery Palm).

25th January 2008:
The plants:
Polytunnel
Today I have installed a new double outdoor electrical socket, which has enabled me to get the two aquarium heaters that I ordered a couple of weeks ago into the RO water tank. I am a little doubtful that they will have enough power (300W each) to sufficiently warm the water in the RO tank, partly because of the volume of water, partly because the water is being constantly replaced, as it is being used by the misting system and partly because the tank is outside and uninsulated. I will give it a day or two and, if there is no noticeable increase in temperature, I will think of an alternative solution.

24th January 2008:
Website updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Caryota rumphiana (Australian Fishtail Palm).

22nd January 2008:
Website updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Caryota no (Giant Fishtail Palm).

18th January 2008:
The plants:
New Seeds
After the three day pre-soak of the new seeds, I have put them in some coir (coco peat) to germinate. I have used a combination of resealable bags and air tight containers and placed everything in a heated propogator in the polytunnel. I have changed quite a few things, since my last seed batch, including not having used bottom heat last time, so hopefully this will provide better results. I have taken many photo's throughout the process so far and I will add a germination gallery, when the seeds start to sprout.
Website updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Caryota mitis (Clustering Fishtail Palm). Information is fairly readily available for Caryota mitis and we, therefore, have a reasonably complete record. We currently only have photographs of juvenile plants, but this should be addressed in April.

15th January 2008:
The plants:
New Seeds
I have just taken delivery of a seed order from Rare Palm Seeds. The species on this order are Heterospathe (formerly Alsmithia) longipes, Areca vestiaria, Asterogyne martiana, Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana, Heterospathe minor, Pholidostachys pulchra and Pinanga glaucescens. After poor results with my previous seed order, I have only ordered seeds marked as new and I also intend to use the "baggy" method for germination this time, with a three day pre-soak. I have only ordered ten of each seed, although there are invariably one or two more of some species.

11th January 2008:
Website updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Caryota cumingii (Fishtail Palm). Unfortunately, information on this species is somewhat scarce, but I will continue to look for further reference material and will add more details to the record, as they become available.

10th January 2008:
The plants:
Polytunnel
In the polytunnel today, I noticed that the extra misting nozzles that I added last week are causing soil temperatures to drop, as the excess mist falls. To help combat this I have ordered a couple of aquarium heaters, which I will submerse into the tank with the stored RO water, just to warm it slightly. I will have to monitor what effect this has on air temperatures, but it should help to increase soil temperatures, partly because any moisture that falls will be warmer, but also because less water should fall, as warmer air can hold more moisture.

9th January 2008:
The plants:
Polytunnel
I have repotted the Areca catechu (Dwarf Form) into a deep 3ltr/1Gal(US) pot, 158mm/6¼" Dia x 205mm/8" Deep. I had thought it needed repotting since it's arrival, but wanted to wait until it was fully acclimatized with it's new surroundings.

8th January 2008:
The plants:
Polytunnel
I have added a second light fitting to the polytunnel. It is a 600W unit with a standard "Shiny" reflector, which is currently running a Sylvannia Grolux HPS lamp. I have ordered a replacement 600W Metal Halide lamp, as I don't think the Grolux offers sufficient blue spectrum light. Fortunately, it is a universal ballast, which can operate both HPS and MH lamps. The new fitting is mounted at the opposite end of the polytunnel to the existing 400W MH unit. I have set up the timers so that the original 400W fitting runs from 2am - 2pm and the new fitting runs from 12pm to 6pm. This means that both lamps will be on from 12pm to 2pm when light levels would normally be at about their highest and it also goes some way to creating the effect of a moving light source, as the sun would give. Equally the 600W unit is on for substantially less time, which I am hoping will be less of a shock to the plants that were previous receiving less light in the area that it is mounted.

6th January 2008:
Website updates:
Database
New record added to the Database for Carpoxylon macrospermum (Aneityum Palm).

3rd January 2008:
The plants:
Polytunnel
I have just added an extra few nozzles to the misting system to combat the dryness caused by the heater working harder to maintain temperatures. Having removed most of the dead foliage from the Chamaedorea radicalis' that had been affected by the heater, I could see some healthy, new growth, which is very positive.

1st January 2008:
Website updates:
Homepage
January poll added and a new Palm Tree Of The Month, Hedyscepe canterburyana.

30th December 2007:
Website updates:
Gallery
New gallery added for December 2007. As well as the Areca vestiaria (Red Form) and Calytrocalyx flabellatus, which have not survived, I have omitted the Canna "Durban" from the gallery, as there isn't really anything to see at the moment. I moved the Canna outside unprotected as an experiment, in the hope that it will come back from the roots in Spring, so I will include it in the gallery again, when new shoots appear.

29th December 2007:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Whilst taking photo's for December's gallery, I noticed that the Aechmea gamosepala is looking somewhat stretched, so I have moved it to a location with a little more light. I had been keeping one of the Heterospathe scitula permanently outside of the germination box, but it has been steadily declining during that time. Today, whilst removing a dead leaf, the entire centre of the plant pulled out. I have left the roots potted, but I don't expect to see any new growth. The two that remained in the germination box, seem to be healthy still, although growth is quite slow.

25th December 2007:
Website updates:
General
The website has been a little slow in terms of updates with much of my time recently being spent on Christmas preparations. May I take this opportunity to wish all of our visitors a happy Christmas and New Year. Hopefully 2008 will bring a good growing season for everyone with many new palms. There is plenty of new content scheduled for the site, so watch this space.
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Not the best Christmas present. The second of the Areca vestiaria (Red Form) has died. It managed to survive a few weeks longer than the other one, but had been on a steady decline ever since arriving here. On a brighter note, I have some seeds of a few species due to arrive in the near future, so hopefully we will be seeing some new additions to the monthly galleries in 2008.

20th December 2007:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
The Licuala triphylla has started to produce it's first inflorescence. I find this quite staggering on a plant so small and imagine it may be a response to the stress induced by it's journey here, although information is fairly sparse on this species, so it may be normal behaviour. Due to a colder spell of weather the heater has been working overtime recently and, despite good circulation a warm spot in the polytunnel has lead to some browning of the leaves of some of the Chamaedorea radicalis and Dypsis onilahensis. This is actually quite severe in the case of the Chamaedoreas, so I have moved things about as much as possible to avoid direct exposure to the higher temperatures. Hopefully it will be sufficient for the plants to recover fully.

11th December 2007:
The Plants:
Garden
After mild weather for a couple of weeks the Musa basjoo had started to grow again, after having most of it's foliage killed off by our last freeze. Last night the temperature dropped again to -4°C/25°F, which spells the start of another cooler spell, although temperatures aren't forecast to drop that low again. The new growth on the Musa basjoo is still green at the moment, but this could easily change over the next couple of days.

5th December 2007:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
The Cordyline "Lemon & Lime", which is fairly weak at the moment after a period with insufficient light, has started to produce offshoots at various points along the stem. This may be a stress reaction, but I'm happy to leave the new growth and see how it develops.

1st December 2007:
Website updates:
Homepage
December poll added and a new Palm Tree Of The Month, Adonidia merrillii.

30th November 2007:
Website updates:
Gallery
New gallery added for November 2007.

29th November 2007:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Whilst taking photos for the November gallery, I noticed that the larger of the two Dypsis psammophila is producing it's first pinnate leaf. The smaller Dypsis psammophila has been out of the germination for a couple of months now without any ill effects caused by the change of environment, so I have also now relocated the larger one to a similar position outside of the germination box.

25th November 2007:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Both of the Cycas panzhihuaensis are producing new leaves. The one in perlite is producing it's first two leaf (mini) flush, while the plant in composted bark chips is producing one leaf, this despite the latter being the larger plant. A possible reason is that I have pruned some of the older leaves from the plant in perlite, which is something some growers do to promote larger flushes.

24th November 2007:
The Plants:
Garden
After an overnight low temperature of -6°C/21°F, which is the normal winter minimum here, the Musa basjoo and Canna "Durban" have both suffered browong of almost all foliage, something that I had hoped would not happen until a little later in the cold season. The outside palms all appear unaffected at this point.

23rd November 2007:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
The Cycas taitungensis has just started to push another flush. That's the third flush since April, definitely one of the faster growing Cycads. It will probably still be in the fairly early stages of the flush by the time of the November gallery, but should be easily visible.
Website updates:
Database
The website may have looked a little lacking in updates recently. This is due to much of my time being invested in data entry for the database that I am adding to the site. There is a lot of work to do, but there are already quite a few palm species added. You can view the work in progress here.

12th November 2007:
The Plants
Polytunnel
The Calyptrocalyx flabellatus appears to be all but dead. It has never shown any signs of growth since arriving last month and, looking today, all of the remaining green foliage has turned brown. One of the Areca vestiaria (Red Form) seems to be heading the same way. Unfortunately, I don't think many species can cope with the journey here when they are so small. I rarely seem to have a problem with larger seedlings, but my success rate with the smaller plants after long journeys is generally poor. Whilst I do endeavour to get the largest plants available, my choices are usually very limited.

2nd November 2007:
The Plants
Polytunnel
I have moved the three Cordylines to a brighter area in the polytunnel, as they are showing severe signs of insufficient light. The previous position was fine throughout the summer, but with the lower light levels entering the polytunnel from outside and growth of other plants producing more shade, the light that they were receiving had dropped substantially. I am looking into adding another light source in the polytunnel.

1st November 2007:
Website updates:
Homepage
November poll added and a new Palm Tree Of The Month, Ptychosperma elegans.

30th October 2007:
Website updates:
Gallery
New gallery added for October 2007.

26th October 2007:
Website updates:
Links
The Links page has been updated and is now fully indexed and categorized with a few new links added as well.

23th October 2007:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Another new arrival today, Areca vestiaria (Red Form), two small seedlings. I have put both in the polytunnel, but one is in heavy shade and the other is in partial shade. Look out for them in the October Gallery coming soon.

20th October 2007:
Website updates:
Gallery
Palmetum Gallery pages changed to new format.

13th October 2007:
Website updates:
Palms
Dypsis onilahensis pages changed to new format and brought up to date.
Database
Over the past week I have been working on a new format for the palms, cycads and tropical sections, to allow the introduction of all of the species from the various related galleries. This example is just a layout plan at the moment, as I want to use a database to allow look up of species based on various criteria. This would allow users, for example, to search for all clumping species that don't grow above 5m (16') and then sort the results from shortest to tallest species or from most to least cold hardy, etc.

12th October 2007:
Website updates:
Palms
Dypsis psammophila pages changed to new format and brought up to date.

11th October 2007:
Website updates:
Gallery
New gallery added for National Botanic Garden, Wales from my August 2007 visit.

7th October 2007:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Due to the space created by the plants that have gone to a new home, I have moved a few of the remaining plants around, in some cases to provide more space for growth, in others to a location with more appropriate light levels.
Website updates:
Palms
Geonoma schottiana pages changed to new format and brought up to date.

6th October 2007:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
I have sent some plants off to a new home to make a little more space, the smallest of the Cycas panzhihuaensis, one of the Dypsis onilahensis, and one pot each of Chamaedorea microspadix, Chamaedorea radicalis (Standard Form) and Chamaedorea radicalis (Trunking Form). Hopefully they will do well in their new home, which is somewhere I visit regularly, so I may still post occasional updates on their progress.
Website updates:
Palms
Heterospathe minor pages changed to new format.

30th September 2007:
Website updates:
Gallery
New gallery added for September 2007.
Homepage
October poll added and a new Palm Tree Of The Month, Pelagodoxa henryana.

27th September 2007:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
While taking photos for the September gallery, I noticed that one of the Dypsis heteromorpha stems has produced it's first sucker. This obviously happened some time ago, because the new sucker is already fairly well developed, having a couple of mature leaves. I am quite surprised that I didn't notice it before, although the Dypsis heteromorpha is fairly well hidden behind other plants.

25th September 2007:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
I took delivery of some new arrivals today, Areca catechu (Dwarf Form), Calyptrocalyx flabellatus, Heterospathe negrosensis, Licuala triphylla and Pinanga dicksonii. They are all at seedling stage and have taken up residence in the polytunnel. Look out for them in the September Gallery coming soon.
Website updates:
Forum
There has been a lot of configuration work on the forum over the past few days and today I have switched to the latest version of the forum software.

21st September 2007:
Website updates:
Forum
The Palm Life Forum has been created and added as a new site section. Hopefully it will provide a useful exchange of knowledge and ideas.

18th September 2007:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
The Cycas taitungensis has just started to push a new flush within the past couple of days, it's first since April. This should be well on the way by the time of the September photo updates. Some of the Chamaedorea radicalis (Trunking Form) are producing their first partly pinnate leaves, which should also be visible in the September gallery.

16th September 2007:
Website updates:
Palms
Heterospathe scitula pages changed to new format and brought up to date.
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Having noticed quite a large rip on one of the seems of my polytunnel earlier this week, I ordered a new one. Rather than replace the old cover, I have put the new cover over it, which will reduce light transmission, but add an extra layer of insulation as we head towards colder weather.

14th September 2007:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
I have installed a new misting system today, which is a pumped system running from my stored RO water. This should avoid the problems I had with my previous misting system leaving calcium deposits on the leaves. This system is also using a repeat cycle timer on for short bursts with a short delay between, which should help to avoid excessive wetting.

11th September 2007:
Website updates:
Palms
Jubaea X Butia & Jubaea chilensis pages changed to new format and brought up to date, including the final entry for the Jubaea chilensis, which died in June.

9th September 2007:
Website updates:
Palms
Phoenix canariensis 1, Phoenix canariensis 2 & Lytocaryum weddellianum pages changed to new format and brought up to date.
The Plants:
Polytunnel
First pinnate leaf opening on one of the Chamaedorea microspadix, will be visible in September's gallery later this month.

6th September 2007:
Website updates:
Palms
Phoenix dactylifera pages changed to new format and brought up to date.

5th September 2007:
Website updates:
Gallery
New gallery added for my most recent trip to Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

1st September 2007:
Website updates:
Homepage
September poll added and a new Palm Tree Of The Month, Archontophoenix purpurea.

30th August 2007:
Website updates:
Gallery
Gallery Index changed to include a brief description of the gallery types.
Journal
Journal added as a new site section.

26th August 2007:
Website updates:
Gallery
New gallery added for August 2007.
Palms
Phoenix loureiroi, Pholidostachys pulchra and Trachycarpus fortunei pages changed to new format and brought up to date.

24th August 2007:
Field Trips:
NBG Wales
Visited the newly opened tropical glasshouse at the National Botanic Garden of Wales. New gallery to follow.

17th August 2007:
Website updates:
Gallery
New gallery added for my trip to Royal Horticultural Society Garden, Wisley.

16th August 2007:
The Plants:
Polytunnel
Due to what looked like red spider mite damage, I released some Phytoseiulus persimilis, a predatory mite, onto the effected and neighbouring plants in the polytunnel.

31st July 2007:
Website updates:
Homepage
August poll added and a new Palm Tree Of The Month, Pseudophoenix sargentii.

30th July 2007:
Website updates:
Gallery
New gallery added for July 2007.

27th July 2007:
Field Trips:
RBG Kew
My fourth visit to The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. This time my visit was mainly centred around The Temperate House, which had been overlooked on my previous two visits, due to lack of time. New gallery to follow.
RHS Wisley
After visiting Kew I managed to get in a quick visit to the new glasshouse at the Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley. New gallery to follow.