Tetrapanax Rex help please!

Hi there, I just joined!

My gf kindly bought me a Tetrapanax paprifer 'Rex' for Christmas as I'd commented on an enormous mature one in the garden of cottage we always walk-by, a really impressive specimen!

It's just a wee 3 litre one. It arrived with a few long and lean leaf stems but they soon wilted and sort of fell off. I called the nursery and they said this was normal and that new ones would grow in Spring. I was told to leave it indoors as it had been grown in a greenhouse and therefore moving it outside in mid-winter wouldn't be a good idea. Within a week or two of our conversation, a new leaf shoot emerged, then another, then another! By end of Jan, it had 3 or 4 lovely large leaves. We were both very happy! We were told to keep the soil moist but not drenched which we did. Then a couple of weeks ago the leaves all started wilting and now it looks like this! I can't understand what I've done, as far as I can recall, I haven't changed the conditions. I worried that our living room was too warm so I moved to a cooler place but it's not showing any signs of recovering.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks v much

First photo was from two weeks back, then last week and last one is yesterday

 

Bit of a tricky one, but its actually growing out of season, cool frost free would be best.
You really dont want it growing at this time of the year, so keep it cool and just moist and in a month or two you can start acclimatizing it to outdoor conditions, still keeping it frost free.

Its got itself out of sync with the seasons, so needs to settle down.

Keep the fig very cool also.

 

I would agree with @pete - it really shouldn't be leafing at this stage in the year. Keep it as cool as possible and hopefully it should stay dormant a bit longer, enabling you to acclimatise it eventually. Be warned - it gets VERY big and impressive. I did find early shoots sometimes suffered if there was late frost, so consider that when choosing its final position outside (and its scale!)

 

One other point, they sucker quite some distance from the main plant after a few years.

 

This is one plant I haven't been able to grow. I've had the same problem with potted ones, they go roots up on me

 

I could send you some if you are interested.
My forest gets bigger every year.

 

That's surprising @pete - mine didn't sucker much at all

 

I think it might be because the roots have spread out into my veg patch, so they get cut off or damaged.

 

Yes Pete, I'm very interested! But not for a couple of weeks, I'm redesigning/clearing an area before I gratefully accept.
I've grown them from seed, I've rooted root cuttings, I've had plants donated to me but for some reason I failed to get them into the garden before they whither away. People such as yourself are removing vast swathes of this large leafed plant, whilst I remain rexless....it has become a bit of an obsession now!

 

Ok, I'll dig you one up in a couple of weeks, let me know when you are ready, it will be bare root.

 

Hi Pete, thank you very much for your message and really sorry for the slow reply. You’ve really put our minds at ease! Completely makes sense.

We’ve left it along with the fig in the coldest part of the house away from any radiator, lots of sunlight tho. And I’ve started putting them outside in the daytime on dryer days.

No leaf growth on the Tetrapanax so far which I guess is a good thing. The fig however has some leaves appearing and fruit is growing too. Seems a bit early? I guess I should just leave it outside now and just bring in if there’s going to be a frost.

Thanks again

 

Thank you v much for your message. I’ve started acclimatising now but only on warmer and dryer days.

The reason why my gf gifted to me for Christmas was because I love this enormous one that is outside a cottage we walk past. It’s got the most impressive leaves! I wish I had a photo of it from last summer.

 

Good to know. I’ll be keeping mine in pots for a while as expecting to have to move about for a few years.