Ick. No. We call them Mexican weed palms in my neck of the woods. There are SO many much more lovely, well-behaved palms you can choose. The Mexican Fan Palm freely self-seeds and will become a nuisance in your neighborhood.

Patty S.

I agree with Patty.
Check out the site below also for Mexican fan palms or any other invasive pest. They are on the Do not plant list.
If you really want a palm get a sago. They can last in a pot for quite a few years.
At least you will have more green instead of just all stalk with a few leaves at the top.

Here is a link that might be useful: CA invasive plant site

Oh and a sago isn't really a palm...they just pretend to be one.

I think the point for me would be getting a free plant. A sago palm is a very, very expensive plant (it would also be pretty painful on a small apartment patio).

It is unlikely that a washingtonia grown in a pot would ever fruit, so the invasiveness will not be an issue.

ltecato, I think it is easier to grow them from seed in a pot. They grow fast. If you can find a very small one, and scoop all of the dirt with the very long root intact, you may be able to transplant one. The roots are just so long that it's tough to get it all.

Renee

Thanks for the feedback everybody. I know the Mexican fan palm is a nuisance, but I thought it might look better in a pot than growing out of a crack in the sidewalk. If I go ahead with this, I'll be digging up a volunteer that would eventually have to be weeded out of its current position anyway. Renee: I know from previous attempts that Washingtonias do appear to have those long deep roots, but oddly enough I came across this site while researching the question, and it seems to indicate that palms don't grow deep taproots like other trees do.

Here is a link that might be useful: Florida document