Travelers Palm (Ravenala madagascariensis)

I have two travelers palms which were planted outdoors in the spring of 2003, both are doing well and developed two to three suckers each at their bases, I want to transplant two of the suckers to another area, and tried seperating the suckers from the parent, I dug down on the outside of the small plant and tried pulling it away from the parent but it was too securely attached, I then cut it away from the parent. The result was a couple of leaves attached at the bottom but no roots, I have placed the small plant in a container with water and root start. Is this the way it should be done?

Got me... I have never tried to separate this species before. I have done a lot of Sterlitzii separations, but not sure if they are anything like these, which are more obviously suckers and not just one large plant in which you can divide just about anywhere. Good luck with your next attempt

They are actually not "marginal" in coastal areas of Southern California. In fact, they do quite well here.

I have two in pots that I bring into the greenhouse every winter here in PA. Mine are about 3 feet tall and quite beautiful. I doubt if they will ever get as big as in the pix here in the Greenhouse but I will enjoy them while I have them.

Please send me info and price for the Travellers Palm






Trisha

Mine aren't for sale. You might want to check into Google and see if there are any online nurseries selling the plants or the seeds.

Apopka.. you can find them on eBay as well..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=20534&item=4316943916&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

(not mine, I bid on some others though.)

It's for the seeds only though.

any luck with the travelers palm. i also would like to take some of the offshoots and plant them. please let me know what happened, and if you have found a better way to do it.

thanks
aaron

I, too, separated offshoots of my travellers palm. Most of them don't make it. Very difficult to find roots on the offshoots. Maybe you have to wait until they are large enough to develop their own roots. Mine are over 6 feet tall and very very beautiful to my eyes. They do not have as many leaves as the big one at the top of this thread, but I am very happy with them & as long as I can get them to fit in my greenhouse in Pa. for the winter, I am happy. You can also get their seeds from places like J.L. Hudson & sons (on the internet). I can't remember if I started mine from seeds or bought them from a greenhouse when they were very small. Here is a pix of one of mine in the greenhouse.

Since I am new to Florida and have never had palms I am totally uneducated to the care or species. I would like to plant these along my fence to block the view from the 2 story home next door. The Travelers were recomended by a lanscaping company. My question is how tall is the trunk going to be at the full grown stage, and what determines the total height? I see that the total height ranges from 20-40 ft. I need to be careful because of the overhead power lines. (This still boggles my mind) I love Florida and all the beautiful flowers and trees and the most of all not having to bring in my hibiscus trees indoors. I come from northern Illinois and am looking forward to no shoveling or -19 winter temps.

what zone are you in? How windy does it get? Both those will influence the eventual height of those plants

Well looking at the maps it looks like I am in zone 10. Which is where St. Lucie County is located.

They might grow quite well for you there... they like high humidity and detest cold. I doubt they will grow as perfectly for you as they would in a low-wind tropical climate, but they might get upwards of 20' tall or more (tend to get badly shredded by high winds). I seriously doubt it will reach 40' in your climate.

Mine are still 6' tall and making more pups. The pups I separated last year didn't make it so I will wait this year until they are large enough and separated enough from their mom.

Thank you for all the good information. Hopefully the the 2 story house will help protect them from the winds. The 2 story is to the west of me and I hope they will get big enough to block their view into my windows and pool. Thank you again for the information.