This is why they call it "The Zombie zone"

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sat Nov 24, 2012 6:34 am

Look at the forecast at the end...I am sure this will
be changed but if it did hit 72F that would be a an all time record for December.....

fine with me if this holds,not bad for December.

Today
Partly Cloudy 39 °F
Partly Cloudy

Tonight
Mostly Cloudy 30 °F
Mostly Cloudy

Tomorrow
Partly Cloudy 46 | 34 °F
Partly Cloudy

Monday
Chance of Snow 36 | 21 °F
Chance of Snow
20% chance of precipitation

Tuesday
Partly Cloudy 39 | 28 °F

Wednesday
Clear 48 | 36 °F

Thursday, 29
Mostly Cloudy
54 | 34 °F

Precipitation
0%

Friday, 30
Partly Cloudy
54 | 39 °F
Partly Cloudy
Chance of
Precipitation
0%

Saturday, 1
Partly Cloudy
59 | 54 °F
Partly Cloudy
Chance of
Precipitation
0%

Sunday, 2
Chance of a Thunderstorm
72 | 50 °F
Chance of a Thunderstorm
Chance of
Precipitation
20%

Monday, 3
Chance of a Thunderstorm
66 | 46 °F
Chance of a Thunderstorm
Chance of
Precipitation

<a href="http://www.wunderground.com/US/IA/Fairf ... big2"><img src="http://weathersticker.wunderground.com/ ... rfield.gif" alt="Click for Fairfield, Iowa Forecast" border="0" height="60" width="468" /></a>

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Sat Nov 24, 2012 7:26 am

Nice!
Last year was said 'round here to be the winter that never came. Hoping for a repeat.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Sat Nov 24, 2012 12:08 pm

I wouldnt be surprised im forcast to hit 10c

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sat Nov 24, 2012 1:20 pm

Wow Jim, check Google to see if you've moved south

Envy those temps

You might be doing your Christmas decorating in shorts.

Barb

andym · Post by **andym** » Sat Nov 24, 2012 4:42 pm

72F

No problem for me also

.... in seven months time

marceli · Post by **marceli** » Sat Nov 24, 2012 11:13 pm

It's still 72F here... in my dreams

I can't complain about temperature this year, but I barely see the sun lately. Give it back!

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sun Nov 25, 2012 2:58 pm

I doubt we get anywhere near 72,maybe 60s but more likely fog like last time.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 6:43 am

Forecast low(I said this wouldn't happen again) 16/18F was actually 8F at the airport
and 14F at my home-The bigger Trachy was out,I put a sweater around the crown -
the others were covered and unheated,:roll:

I took some 8F pics this morning of it and the Needles and Sabals,
will compare here later in the afternoon when temps are above freezing.....ideally

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 9:23 am

Oh man, that's quite the forecast goof.

14F....eeeeuuuuuwwwww

Needle will probably be fine.
Sabals?

Hopefully the sun will warm them fast.
Barb

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 2:55 pm

Here is the Fortunei,the one bent frond is from the wind.

8F at the airport/14F here - pictured

<a href="http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... 0_6244.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... 0_6244.jpg" border="0" alt="11-27-12"></a>

Needle palm
<a href="http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... 0_6252.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... 0_6252.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

S.Lou

<a href="http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... 0_6246.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... 0_6246.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Heres the Trachy at 37F

<a href="http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... 0_6254.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... 0_6254.jpg" border="0" alt="11-27-12"></a>

S.Lou

<a href="http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... 0_6255.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... 0_6255.jpg" border="0" alt="11-27-12"></a>

One suspect right now-

Notice the leaf in the 11/12 o'clock area,the blades have not opened as much as the others.

If this is from cold damage there will be a very deep spear-pull as this is the 4 leaf -or so- from the center one..

<a href="http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... 0_6256.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... 0_6256.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

They all seem to have recovered-forecast is for 50s/60s by the weekend then back to 50s.

andym · Post by **andym** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 3:24 pm

Jim they should be fine. Continuous deep freezes as we had in 2010 Winter will kill them.
We are having our own Zombie zone at the moment. Half of the Country is under water The rain has now stopped and we have dry days ahead with frosty nights

Ideal climate for growing Yuccas

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 4:18 pm

Jim,

blades have not opened as much as the others.

Did that precede other years' spear pulls?

I always thought those vertically folded leaves meant it needed water.
Still look pristine to me...

Andy,

Half of the Country is under water The rain has now stopped and we have dry days ahead with frosty nights icon_rolleyes.gif
Ideal climate for growing Yuccas

Saw the water damage on the news

Hope you're not without power as the cold nights arrive.
Good for you for seeing something positive.

Barb

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 7:03 am

lucky1 wrote:Jim,

blades have not opened as much as the others.
Did that precede other years' spear pulls?

I always thought those vertically folded leaves meant it needed water.
Still look pristine to me...

Barb

Yes and yes.
"vertically folded leaves meant it needed water" exactly,when the tissue dies the rest of the leaf/spear are cut off from water.

Checked my Fort x Wag this morning(pulled every year but the first)and it pulled,pretty good leaf too,I had it covered but it was just
to cold as I have not put the lights down-why would I?.....It was only supposed to be around 20F not 8F!

I think if that other leaf doesn't open today,there will be a pretty serious pull on the smaller Fortunei.

I just don't think there is enough time for(esp small) palms to harden off here as they want to keep growing.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 8:11 am

It was only supposed to be around 20F not 8F!
I think if that other leaf doesn't open today,there will be a pretty serious pull on the smaller Fortunei.

I feel for you buddy...that's awful.

I just don't think there is enough time for(esp small) palms to harden off here as they want to keep growing.

You've also gotta stop planting in mid-November!

Wonder if we've gotta stop them growing by putting blocks of ice at their base end of September each year.

Barb

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 10:31 am

I'll just go pull the spears out for them in Oct

Everything I have planted in November,December and February
(thats the right order

)has lived

this is really more
an issue of size with these palms,then individual hardiness.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 11:18 am

February planting isn't too bad.
But November and December?

Bigger palms have more root mass with a lot of old roots that are just for stability.
Young little guys generally have only fleshy delicate roots so it makes sense.

I'll just go pull the spears out for them in Oct icon_biggrin.gif

Almost fell off my chair laughing at that one.

Barb

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 1:59 pm

Bill and I always kid around...if you think you don't have spear pull...your not pulling hard enough.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 4:31 pm

I can just imagine how you and Bill laugh about that.
Crazy dudes.

Barb

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:07 am

So far the Bulgarian,smaller Waggie,Fort x Wag
(had pulled already)little Takil,smaller Nainital have all pulled.

There is another leaf closing on the Fortunei that had the suspect leaf...

Supposed to be ion the 60s over the weekend,with any luck it will be warm enough
for them to push up some growth-probably not though.....on the bright side.....
these are getting harder to cover every year and this will slow them down.

The forecasting is so poor lately....supposed to be in the low 20s last night,was actually 30F.

Side note;

2 Tesan,1 Takil have not pulled and none of the bigger palms that were out for the March event.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Thu Nov 29, 2012 7:47 am

2 Tesan,1 Takil have not pulled

Thank goodness for small mercies.

The forecasting is so poor lately....supposed to be in the low 20s last night,was actually 30F

That kind of error we don't mind.
I swear all the senior guys have retired and they're relying only on computer models.

with any luck it will be warm enough for them to push up some growth-

Soft growth, but growth nevertheless.

Sad that they get knocked back time and time again, especially the fortunei.

Barb

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Thu Nov 29, 2012 9:39 am

The other leaf I thought was going looks better today.

Would be cool if this one can join the bigger ones,so I can torture it more.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Fri Nov 30, 2012 9:10 am

What blows me away, Jim, is that anyone else that has problems with cold damage on palms ends up with palms that look like crap.
Yours bounce back and look pristine in no time.

One day you'll tell us your secret.

Barb

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Fri Nov 30, 2012 9:32 am

[quote="lucky1" One day you'll tell us your secret.

Barb[/quote]

Some kind of shamanism? What's happened to my palms (etc...) this Fall. As you know I went to my North America voyage on November 11th and came back on November 23rd. Usually I start making a winter protection for my Exotic plants on the end of November-first days of December... But those days before I went to NA I was having a feeling that I MUST do everything before I had started my travel... I was surely right, everything has been done in time. That night I came back home it was minus 13C... Shamanism?

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Fri Nov 30, 2012 3:13 pm

I do spend a lot of time with the palms so they know me and grow anyway

The smaller Fortunei I was referring to early with the closed leaf has pulled
all 4 leaves as suspected......I used to not really post this stuff because-

A.heartbreaking
B.doesn't look good

Anyway-over that and feeling like it may help someone else down the road.

heres one thing that helps-catching it early,getting the spears out and getting
it treated with dry fungicide....this way,the cavity is open and air can get in,
if not-think about all the moisture in there all winter/combined with the heat
that builds up during late winter in the enclosures= rapid pathogen growth.

As it is,this palm may retain the leaves it has,whereas if left plugged over winter...
I would probably be trunk cutting again.

Heres a picture of it I just took

<a href="http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... 0_6260.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... 0_6260.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... 0_6259.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... 0_6259.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sat Dec 01, 2012 8:58 am

pulled all 4 leaves as suspected.

How disappointing.

helps-catching it early,getting the spears out and getting
it treated with dry fungicide....this way,the cavity is open and air can get in,
if not-think about all the moisture in there all winter/combined with the heat
that builds up during late winter in the enclosures= rapid pathogen growth.

That info will help everybody, thanks Jim.

Now I get why you call it the Zombie zone.
So warm and then whammo a severe and unexpected freeze that confounds even the weather guys.

My Trachy grows best and fastest in the Fall.

Since palms are a member of the Grass family, there's no way to trick them into slowing down.

Barb

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sat Dec 01, 2012 9:03 am

One nice thing is that they all will retain a good amount of this years growth as of right now.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Sat Dec 01, 2012 7:16 pm

How did the rice paper plants do this year? Did they make last winter?

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 1:08 pm

Jim, I feel your pain!

NS has had an above-average fall, until this past week. For the past few days, my area has been experiencing temps that we normally wouldn't see until Jan/Feb (the coldest time of the year here). It is finally starting to warm up again, but my yard saw close to 4 days of freezing temps. It hit -12 C (10 F) on two or three nights, and I have protected NOTHING! I'm sure that several potted plants must be dead, and others will be severely damaged.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 2:40 pm

No returning rice paper plants.

Yikes,10F was the temp(basically)that did mine in.

Keep an eye on the palms and watch for the tell tale closing leaflets....

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 3:49 pm

We haven't had a freeze here yet this year. We did have some frost, but now we are back up the mid to high 60's this week and lows in the 40's. I can live with this!!!!

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 8:07 am

Definitely some Zombie action here today,just 6 days after the "official"
low at the airport of 8F we may be in the 70s today if the sun stays out.

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:41 am

I hope hope hope this winter is like last winter!!!! I still have petunias in pots and my potted geraniums are still flowering...Global warming rox!

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 7:09 am

Would be nice,one more mild winter right?

Until next winter

We are averaging(for Dec) 38F/62F so far,that is about 25-30 (F) above normal.

Looks like maybe some snow and cold by the weekend-possibly short lived though.

PalmsNorth.com

This is why they call it "The Zombie zone"

This is why they call it "The Zombie zone"

Another reason its the "Z" zone.

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