Is Salak pruneable?

[SplorKeLZ]

I was thinking of growing salak indoors(the spikes would get annoying, is there a spikeless salak?) but i was wondering it you could prune it and it would still fruit, also i have heard that the gula pasir variety is monoecious, is that true?

[0hip]

likely not. palms only have a single growing tip and they dont regrow like other trees

[Mike T]

Yes its mono and way smaller than most being var. amboina. The name means brown sugar.My Wallachianas have multiple growing points and taking out the big leaves makes them stop fruiting while they regrow big leaves.

[Jaboticaba45]

There is a spineless salak...
But salaks get very big and they are tough to grow (considering you are trying to grow inside).
I have a nice sized one, and if I can keep it alive, I'll go get some more.
Even with my greenhouse, it's gonna be a push.

[Mike T]

Yes a spineless wallachiana that has left behind its rakum and sakum ancestors and reached a level of development known as sala. It is not as good as sumalee or noen wong still.

[Jaboticaba45]

Yes a spineless wallachiana that has left behind its rakum and sakum ancestors and reached a level of development known as sala. It is not as good as sumalee or noen wong still.

Mike,
what's the best salaks out there?
USA there's not much out there
a few gula pasir,
zalacca
bali
and wallichiana

[Dimitry Fisher]

To the original question - whether salad is pruneable - you need to specify what you mean by pruning it.  Indeed, it doesn't look anything like Phoenix or Washingtonia palm.  Rather, it looks more like a bunch of medieval torture devices growing out of the ground.  Each one is actually a leaf, taller than a human and covered with barbs / spines all over the petiole.  Yes, you can prune individual leaves (if you like pain, that is) but you can't prune the stem, as previous responders said already.  Salak fruit is delicious though!

[Finca La Isla]

I don’t know if you could really keep salak in a pot. I have several types and they all crawl along the ground never really rising up, erect, like most palms. Hence the top of the stem is always low. So, for the question, you could trim the leaves shorter. Full size salak will easily have fronds of 6m/20’. Those could be cut back shorter I guess. A dwarf salak is still going to have 10’ leaves, at least on my farm.
Peter

[Mike T]

Ok there are around 20 species in the genus and they are related to calamus, unsurprisingly. The 2 best edible species are Salacca zalacca which come in 2 forms each with around 20 varieties, that is bali form amboina which is a small mono with good fruit. Gula Pasir from the eastern highlands are amongst the best. Salacca zalacca var zallacca is big has separate sexes and yogyarta is a good one and it has a few names. S.wallichiana from thailand has the wilder types sakum and rakum and the domesticated sala. Sexes are separate and they are big and thorny. Noen wong and sala variety sumalee are the best. Multiseeded fruit of sala are reputed to produce more female plants but suckers are better for propogation in all varieties and edible species.

[Greater Good]

Very cold sensitive palm, Zone 10b they grow until the next severe cold front.

[SplorKeLZ]

To the original question - whether salad is pruneable - you need to specify what you mean by pruning it.  Indeed, it doesn't look anything like Phoenix or Washingtonia palm.  Rather, it looks more like a bunch of medieval torture devices growing out of the ground.  Each one is actually a leaf, taller than a human and covered with barbs / spines all over the petiole.  Yes, you can prune individual leaves (if you like pain, that is) but you can't prune the stem, as previous responders said already.  Salak fruit is delicious though!

I probably should have considered its growth a little more, it grows similarly to a banana in a way having multiple stalkish leaves growing out so it is definitely not “pruneable.” But i wonder how much trimming it can take and still grow, it also probably cant be smashed against a ceiling

[Mike T]

They can take a bit of leaf trimming and are a bit smaller than coconut leaves

[Jal]

Try Salacca zalacca var amboinensis 'dwarf', it is much more suitable for interiors, although with the same thorns. With the advantage of being apomictic.

[Lumi-Ukko]

They can take a bit of leaf trimming and are a bit smaller than coconut leaves

Interesting.

How much of a leaf can one trim and get away with? I've got 6 zalacca seedlings on the go (of course sex is undetermined at this stage) but am trying to work out where to position them due to the leaf size.  If I can get away with trimming the leaf shorter, I may be able to put them in the long mostly shaded run at the side of the house that has an approx 10 feet gap between a tall wall and the house walll.

[Finca La Isla]

You could cut them at 10’
Peter

[Lumi-Ukko]

You could cut them at 10’
Peter

Would that be cutting the leaf to 10 feet long total? Or at 10 feet length, I could cut it down to 5 feet length for example?

[Finca La Isla]

A healthy salacca salacca can have leaves 20’ long.  But if you cut them at 10’ it should still work out.  How much more you can cut them and how it might affect them is for you to experiment with and find out.  It’s not likely that somebody is going to respond that has specific experience of growing salak with the leaves cut to 5’.
Suerte,
Peter

[Jaboticaba45]

My friend in FL had a flowering salak at about 5' total height. The ones at the F and S park in Miami are around 7-8 ft tops.
They don't get as big or take longer to get as big as they do in the real tropical climates.

[Lumi-Ukko]

A healthy salacca salacca can have leaves 20’ long.  But if you cut them at 10’ it should still work out.  How much more you can cut them and how it might affect them is for you to experiment with and find out.  It’s not likely that somebody is going to respond that has specific experience of growing salak with the leaves cut to 5’.
Suerte,
Peter

Ok, wow, 20 feet is a decent size. Not going to work out in a 10ft diameter channel lol. Back to the drawing board on that. Always hard to visualize my current 1ft high seedlings needing a 20ft diameter space!

[Lumi-Ukko]

My friend in FL had a flowering salak at about 5' total height. The ones at the F and S park in Miami are around 7-8 ft tops.
They don't get as big or take longer to get as big as they do in the real tropical climates.

Are these flowering and/or fruiting at that size? I've got a generally agreeable climate to grow Salak (except our 2 month hot/dry April and May from hell), so expecting them to get pretty big.

[Mike T]

S. Wallichiana also has big and extra nasty fronds. Better off with the more gracile and friendlier Bali types