PlantFiles: Pygmy Date Palm, Robellini Palm
Phoenix roebelenii

We have a three trunker (if that is the correct terminology) in our yard here in Central Florida. It has been in the ground for 6 years and is a lovely addition to our landscaping. Could someone please tell me what the white "cherry tomatoe" size clusters that appear are? Are they seeds? Can they be used to propogate more Robellini's? Thanks.

this palm will not survive here, ive seen many planted and they all fry:( but i keep mine on screened porch w/overhang and it does wonderfull out their ,keep it moist and allow brite lite for best results:)

This plant will grow in the Las Vegas area, however it's not as adaptable to our drier, hotter, low humidity climate. It doesn't seem to like our alkaline soil well and can suffer from deficiencies. Plants I have seen in the ground tend to have browning leaf edges. Best culture for Las Vegas would be in a container grown with some afternoon shade. My neighbor's yard is a great example of this. He has a pygmy date palm that looks good in a container near his driveway, and another one planted in the ground ten feet away that is showing significant distress and die back. Personally I have killed two of these plants unfortunately:( Alternate plants for Las Vegas to consider: Sago Palm, Mediterranean Fan Palm, and Pindo Palm. Canary Island Palm and True Date Palms are beautiful but will require much more space!

Grows well even though we're going through a drought right now. It was in my yard when I bought the house and it is a little too close to the driveway. I am very allergic to the spikes and I will swell up in a localized area when I get poked by the spikes. No matter how much protective clothing I wear when handling this plant, I always seemed to get spiked. I wouldn't put it near a walkway or where children might play.

leaves burn at around 30°F, but survives. Mine are around 2' tall and were planted from 5 gal. 2 years ago. Very slow growing here.

Pygmy Date Palm grows in Tallahassee, but very slowly and gets not as large as farther south. Here it survives winters best when it grows under the protection of tall evergreen trees, such as camphortrees or pines.

I have had a triple for just over 2 years that is about 3 1/2 feet tall. I live in Northwest Florida(Gulf Breeze/Navarre) and that means zone 8b. I love the look of this palm.

Pro's: aggresive root system(mine made it through the worst part of Hurricane Dennis with no damage), likes acidic soil, loves full sun.

Con's: cold hardy to 25F(I wrapped the trunks with burlap, as instructed, but it was not enough. The temp dropped to 24F for 4 hours and most of the fronds got frost damaged. I was lucky that the trees survived. Some of my neighbors weren't so fortunate. Next time, I will wrap the fronds and cover them and the trunks. I just was able to prune the dead fronds since there are enough new fronds now.

Recommendations: If you live in a place that frequently drops below 30F, you will not like this palm. I wrap it about 4 times a winter. If temperature is not an issue, this is a great palm!
Beware the thorns close to the trunk!

I had two planted in ground and did quite well in Northern California (zone 9a-b) But this winter we had a hard freeze, down to low twenties/ high teens. They died. Dug them up today and returned to Lowe's and got two more. I like them and I hope we don't have a freeze like this one for another 10-15 years(or until I move to Hawaii). LOL

I love this palm. It is having quite a struggle staying green here in Az. This is a particularly hot period for us. The average temp. for the last 3weeks has been 114. Some days it is up to 125. I have been watering it and it seems to be okay but the leaves are turning yellow on the fringes. I hope it survives its first summer!

This palm can easily be container-grown successfully indoors. Give it plenty of light (such as placement close to a south facing window or near/underneath a skylight) and it should thrive - the more light it receives, the faster it'll grow, and the taller and wider it'll get. Under optimal lighting, its growth rate can be quite spectacular; at lower levels of light growth becomes modest. It's root system is neither deep nor spread out - so you'll have the benefit of using a smaller pot. Light fertilization during the warm months should be sufficient to keep it happy. A healthy, young P. roebelenii does tend to get wide (especially if you buy 'em already planted in groups), so here's a tip: buy it as a single plant (directly from a nursery/grower) and grow it as such. Its thin, green, feathery leaves, small-ish mature size, and easy-care nature all combine to make it a winner inside your home or office.

I really love this palm. It's gorgeous in my Tampa front yard. Doesn't seem to require *too* much pruning, which is nice because the thorns will get ya! The thorns are sharp and abundant.

It survives in a fairly shaded area. (I have two oaks in the front yard) I feed it about twice a year with a '9-4-9' 6 month fertilizer. I prune with leaves are turning more yellow than green. (it seems the practice in my neighborhood that pruning should be harsh, but they look so barren that way!)

Mine is about 5 feet tall, and I'm not sure how much bigger it will get considering the shade, but I'm happy with it's size.

The flowers are creamy white and if you mess with them you'll have much pollen on you and the surrounding plant.

I've not seen a seed yet, but this is my first year here and I'm just now really paying attention.

I bought a couple of these nice looking palms this year and planted them in my yard, which is on the zone 8a-8b border. So far I have not heard of anyone having sucess with this one this far north, but the guy in Central Florida I bought them from said he had seen them survive a mild frost, so I'm optimistic. I'll most likely try to wrap them when it gets cold.

This is one of the most commonly grown palms in malls and public plantings in Southern California. It is hardy, despite its origins in tropical Asia, and is one of the more 'user friendly' Phoenix palms, having soft, feathery leaves. However, it still has some sharp, 1-2" spines at the base of each leaf, so careful when pruning. It is actually, for a palm, one of the faster growing palms in Southern California. Though it is the pigmy of the Phoenix, it can grow up to 15' tall (may take 20-30 years to get that tall, though). It is usually not a clumper, but sold in clumps, making it look that way.

This is a small, very slow growning palm. When I bought mine about 4 years ago it was about 15 inches tall. Now it's about 24-25 inches tall. Tolerates most watering conditions, but if it doesn't get enough the fronds will start to turn yellow. A little epsom salt will help feed it during the growing season. Makes a nice container-grown palm, but beware, it has long, sharp thorns along the fronds. Be careful when working around it and wear gloves when trimming off the dead fronds.