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That is outstanding! Your coldest has been 8 oF lower than mine, and weeks earlier. You've seen what I have.
Is it the wind protection you credit, or the genetics behind this palm? --Erik
Edit: or the FreezeProof?
Thanks Erik, but it ain't over yet...still February to go.
Interesting question. Wish I knew.
I've hedged my bets, not willing to lose it with only one method alone.
But it was risky to not supply heat.
protected from wind (bucket), protected from cold (airspace inside bucket), bucket might not being enough (applied Freeze-Pruf), hardly any snow.
Genetics PLUS what can be done to help the palm for at least the first few years is my guess.
Killing a palm in open air in its first or second winter tells me nothing except it was too young to be outdoors. And what a waste!
After year 2, 3, or even 8, it'll be closer to what the CRDB says it can withstand.
Our brief cold spell this winter is nothing compared to last December's arctic outflow that lasted 2-3 weeks each time it arrived, and we had a couple of them.
Your palms did considerably better than I guessed they would, Erik.
When I heard your forecasted temperatures, saw the open land with no obvious microclimate area...felt they'd be happier tucked right up against the south side of your house.
Thanks goodness they're OK.
The rest of January looks wonderful here: highs near 60 oF, lows about 40 oF. We were forecast to get to freezing this morning but bottomed out at 38 oF.
Our coldest temps are always in December/January so I'm not worried about single-digits again.
March is what worries me as we swing from the 80's oF to the 20's oF fast and things just rot. I was just outside applying copper fungicide to leaves and spears.
If my Trachy makes it, I'll do more for it next winter.
As for microclimate, yes, I chose the worst option I had available.
Anyways, keep sharing your photos and stories for the rest of us to learn from.
--Erik
The palm looks great Barb! Should pull through no problem. I plan on getting some more trachys too this spring and using your no heat method. feels like spring here too. It's 42f right now and sunny. I actually saw some geese flying over head today! Early spring?? Shouldn't get my hopes up too hight. Like you said we still have February to go!
You're lucky there are so many decent nurseries that stock palms in Ontario!
Your yard will look even nicer than now when more Trachys are planted out!
And the solid fence will give them a nice microclimate.
I sure hope your neighbours appreciate the view they'll soon have.
I'm such a chicken and wouldn't put a young Trachy outside for a few years.
More roots = some leftover healthy roots if some die from really cold soil.
The only thing I applaud when it's dying is a fungus gnat...
Barb
Mine looks like one part of the trunk is in this time zone, the other half is...well, heading somewhere else.
Barb[/quote]
The guy would put that out there is John from the"Growing Palms in Colorado Springs USDA 5b website.
You would have to look back through his threads on the Forum site I gave you.
There is also an excellent commentary on winter damage to Trachy leaves there that he posted in response.
Every forum should have it in their archives!
Barb,
please post here when you find the links Jim refers to.
Short term, I need to know what to do with damaged trachy leaves. Long term, I need help selecting Trachys that are extra-hardy.
--Erik
PS--Jim I searched for that guy/site, but got only "Sorry, Hometown has been shut down"
Anybody know of another link to John of Growing Palms in Colorado Springs, USDA Zone 5b?
My searches took me to Gardenweb twice.
The photos are great even if the damage is not.
My leaves are showing increasing evidence of damage from the cold of 10 days ago. That is why I sprayed the copper fungicide yesterday.
We have at least a week of warm weather so they are all enjoying sunshine and relative warmth. I'll take photos again later in the week for comparison.
As of now, the Ch. humilis and Butia with supplemental heat to the trunk have the best-looking leaves; the unheated Butia and Trachy show much more leaf damage. The poor Trachy is the worst of the bunch.
--Erik
My leaves are showing increasing evidence of damage
Does the damage look the same as mine?
The apparent overnight shredding of leaves puzzles me, as they're 100% protected from wind.
You know how neurotic I am about wind on palms in the winter!
It wasn't even cold last night -1C 30F.
I didn't tug on the spear...afraid to
Everybody here had warned me that damage doesn't show up immediately, takes several weeks.
You were correct, folks!
Damn it.
Barb
Barb,
I understand your fear. Regardless, I've been giving gentle tugs each day (there is no such thing as over-tugging, is there?) and so far, so good.
However, last year my Washies didn't finally succumb until March. I kept seeing green petioles and feeling firm spears and so was confident that the copper spray would make the difference.
--Erik
Don't pull the spear to hard,if it is rotten it will pull right out.
A better plan is to mark the spear and several petioles next to it with
permanent marker and watch for any movement,most likely it will not be growing if it is damaged.
It does need to be checked and treated if need be.
Here is the link-it is not on the site as it doesn't exist anymore-
I lifted it from the Hardy Palm forum and posted it on EPS
and now it is lifted to here
Jim,
I did have to join EPS to read your link but that was no problem. The information was great.
My Trachy looks much worse than any of the photos.
My Butia and Ch. humilis look better, however.
--Erik
Jim, I did read the stuff you posted at that link when I registered.
Found it most interesting.
Does that John fellow from Colorado ever join in on that site since his site is shut down?
It'd be a shame to lose all that experience if he's not around any more.
Barb he has posted here a few times but mostly I see him on the Hardy Palm and Subtropical Board.
Glad you guys got to see that,it really is great info,a must have for any site!
Wonder if Jay would consider doing a Sticky on pictures of palm damage (once the diagnosis is correct).
Probably more pictures of damage than there are forum pages!
I was thinking it would be cool to have 3 palms featured every month(stickies) with growing/protection etc,tips supplied by forum users etc.
Titles could have a * next to them(ex;Trachycarpus princeps*) and after a month be archived for future reference.
Rather than people having to sift through all the posts,which could also be done and the finer points added.
Since there are about 5 of us actively posting these days it might be thin on data
Maybe some onlookers could join and add on.
Otherwise we all need to add about 25 palms a piece to what were already growing to get enough data
