Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
jeffznjz6

Trachycarpus Fortunei 'Tesan'

jeffznjz6
16 years ago

Here are photos of trachycarpus fortunei 'tesan'. They are grown from seed, are almost one year old now and already they are showing different traits than a normal fortunei. They have stiff leaves, stronger petioles, and are more compact. The seeds came from China, where they are reported to be a long term survivor in equivalent USDA Z6 areas. The link to where I obtained the seeds is www.coldplant.com the quality was excellent, the germination started in two weeks and was at a 75% rate. I will be experimenting with these palms in northern New Jersey z6 and hopefully will be planting some out this spring. I plan on only using mulch as protection. The winters here are not as dry as the trees habitat in China, but this may be the best candidate for a hardy trunking palm for my climate, northern NJ zone 6.

I will be trying more seeds from this same source including trachycarpus princeps (which is hard to find a reliable source, they collect their own seeds) and trachycarpus fortunei var misan. Misan appears to be a new variation of windmill palm that is much smaller in all parts and I think would be great for northern gardeners as it would be easier to apply protection in the winter. In the future I will post results of my experiments with these palms as well as other species including needle palms, sabal minor and other exotics.

{{gwi:1123236}}

{{gwi:1123237}}

Comments (24)

  • andyandy
    16 years ago

    Jeff-
    Those look great. How old are they? Did they germinate at room temperature?

  • jeffznjz6
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Andy, they are close to 1 year old. They did germinate at a warm room temperature and they do grow fairly vigorously.

  • andyandy
    16 years ago

    Ho w much sun do you give them? I want to germinate some this summer.

  • jeffznjz6
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Andy, they received morning sun for 2 hours to start, then I gradually increased that to full sun all day by September. They did most of the growing in October with the warm fall we had.
    They should do good in a z6b climate. Where in MI are you located?
    How many do you plan to germinate?

  • andyandy
    16 years ago

    Jeff-
    I'm in eastern Livonia about 5 mile outside of Detroit. When I buy the seeds I am assuming they would come on packs of about 50. I'd plant all of the seeds and then thin them down to the fastest gowing ones.

  • jeffznjz6
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Andy, I am finding that typically, more of the slower growing plants I have show the trunk creep like the one on the left of the first photo. These may very well be hardier than the faster growing straight trunks.

  • garryendson
    15 years ago

    Here is the photos of bigger Tesan.

    T.fortunei Tesan
    {{gwi:1123238}}

    Regular T.fortunei
    {{gwi:1123239}}

  • jimhardy
    15 years ago

    Very cool Jeff,nice healthy palms!I would still keep the cold rain and snow off crowns during winter,sounds promising though.
    Garry,how can I order some tesan seeds?

  • jimhardy
    15 years ago

    I noticed this is an old post,I thought those pictures looked familiar,does anyone know what happened to jeff and his trachys?

  • nucci60
    15 years ago

    Jim hardy, Mike in Chicago was dealing in Tesan a couple of years ago. He was selling seedlings then. Maybe he has an update on how his are doing.

  • mike-jaramillo
    15 years ago

    I sold all the seeds and had a few seedling. That year I used miracle grow soil and every plant I had repotted with that soil rotted away. I lost so many palms I was so pissed. I lost all my tesan also I never got them large enough to put outside. They were in 5 gallons at that time

  • anttisepp
    15 years ago

    James from "Europalms" sent me one Trachycarpus fortunei that looks really like "Tesan"! Seems to me he wanted to help me to gain most hardy palm for North.
    {{gwi:1123240}}

  • jimhardy
    15 years ago

    Nice anttisepp,how are all your palms doing?I was also wondering if you checked out your thread on E.P.S about using fungicides and potassium fertilizer lately?

  • jimhardy
    15 years ago

    I am posting here so you can see what the small Tesan plants look like,the ones for sale are about a year older than these with a few fan leaves!Let me know if your interested and I will get you the contact info,the price is RIGHT!Only place in this country to get these!

  • jimhardy
    15 years ago

    xckjjkjc;ooh;oosdfeyfdydfudypfuydspfypodsoyfpooiacssyfpoiiosdfpoasdfpooydpfodscdifyidyciuyfipudyfipucdyfpiuydfpiudyfpiu1```2333eue84378u38e

  • NoVaPlantGuy_Z7b_8a
    15 years ago

    WTF?

    Jimhardy, your cat get online or something? LOL!

    I would LOVE to have one, but I only have CASH.

  • jimhardy
    15 years ago

    LOL,
    I don't understand the"I only have cash"?
    He does take paypal-

  • jimhardy
    14 years ago

    Hey Mike

    I brought this thread up so you can see what your new baby looked like.
    Our T.tesan are about 3 years old next month and as you may have seen above,Garry posted a pic of what they look like when they are a little bigger.


    Here's a pic of mine from last year,don't ask what it looks like now )-: it will come back though!
    They are really interesting palms with their stouter growth habit and what not-

    {{gwi:1123242}}

  • statenislandpalm7a
    14 years ago

    what it looks like now

  • jimhardy
    14 years ago

    You had to ask? )-;


    >

  • bradleyo_gw
    11 years ago

    Now y'all got me interested in these so I popped it to the top. I don't remember jeff posting here for a while, and I'm not sure if it's the same Jeff as on the other boards, but I wonder if he has any updates.

  • islandbreeze
    11 years ago

    Jim, I noticed yours doesn't have that darker green color Garry's pic shows. Other than stout growth, have you noticed any other different features? Thicker or stiffer leaves?

  • jimhardy
    11 years ago

    They all seem pretty uniform in appearance.

    In regard to the leaves,these are still pretty small to notice.

    They are much more stout (as you can see in the pics)then Fortunei.

    I got 6 of Jeff's seedlings some years back but went through
    a horrible period with WSM that wiped out countless rare seedlings.

    Most of the damage was from using some cheap Wal-Mart crap
    that said it was Neem oil but turned out to be vegetable oil,this got into the spear area and rotted the poor palms out.

    I still have one left of Jeff's that is dwarfed by constant spear-pull,the only way to avoid the combo of treatment and WSM dessication has been to just plant them out.

    It's tough for young palms to be put in the ground so early though....

    Tesan really have an interesting and beautiful growth habit!

    Here are some pics of the ones I had Feb,2009.

    Comparison of "normal" Fortunei an right.

    Ryan

    They will green up this summer once the roots get going.

    I have 2 in the ground-one is from the original batch
    and the other is the one pictured in the other Tesan thread.

    I traded Mike(Chicago) one that has been growing in Arkansas(?)that he
    said is getting big-hopefully he will see this and get
    on that picture-so he can share it here(-;

  • islandbreeze
    11 years ago

    I definitely see what you mean by different and stout growth, very clear to see with those newest pics you posted. I appreciate your posting and effort. Definitely a unique palm.