Trachy fortunei in palm hut

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 7:59 am

Getting colder again now
but door was open for a week during our mild weather.

Twice-daily Temperatures are recorded (when the remote is working).
I've removed the thermocube because it was getting too warm.

Adjusting heater manually allows the palm hut temp to drop to -2C 28F.
Recent sunny days showed up to 11C 51.8F

Still smells like (neighbor's) cat pee in there

<img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5123/536 ... 1340dc.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="DSC04346" />

Barb

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 8:18 am

Maybe some chicken wire in the
doorway to keep the cat from partying in there!

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 8:29 am

Only if I can plug it in...

tropicman · Post by **tropicman** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 12:05 pm

And here that poor cat was keeping the field mice at bay!!!LOL

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 12:54 pm

I know, Don. It's a toss-up.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 3:30 pm

GJ barb it looks really good...

Well a trick the country folk here use,is to get your dog to pee in that area. The cats can smell it and wont go near it.... and well yellow snow is better then cat spray

Ive never tried it...... so i dont know

As for the smell:S a few boxes of baking soda?? LOL

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 8:48 pm

Barb,
looks fantastic. Beautiful green colour.
I have gone back to using thermocubes but with Jim's placement advice.

Seems to be working alright.
I have let a cat into the palm hut a couple times as I think she will deter mice from moving in. I don't see a downside.
I am trying to keep a cat (we have six, naturally

) from peeing on the indoor Bizzie by placing broken glass as mulch (quite the animal lover, huh?) with moderate success.
IMO, dog pee does not discourage cats from peeing. But cat pee is a great deterrent to mice.
--Erik

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:20 am

Thanks.

Yup, you had that thermocube in the wrong place...good to listen to papa Jim

peeing on the indoor Bizzie by placing broken glass as mulch

No...not broken glass! Fist-sized rocks, placed closely together will deter the cat from peeing on your Bizzie indoors.
I don't like cats, but even I wouldn't use broken glass...that's plain mean (sorry!)

Barb

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:48 pm

your Trachy is look'n great! I'm afraid to open up my greenhouse to see my palms....hopefully OK.

mnpalms · Post by **mnpalms** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 4:27 am

Your trachy looks great Barb! This thread reminded me, I did do my mid-winter checkup inside my palm hut last weekend too but FORGOT to take pictures! We still have 2 1/2+ feet of snow on the ground here... My temp records indicate the hut temp (inside) has remained between 30.9(f) and 43f ever since covering the palms in Late November (on Thermocube). Well mine are beautiful green and healthy looking, just as they would look in July! Even my 5' yucca thompsoniana appears very happy. I split a 5-gallon bucket of home-distilled water between the large trachies and gave the yuccas a little bit too. Should be good to go now until March when they are uncovered.

This also reminds me, we just returned from Las Vegas where we were for my industry's convention (Shot Show). What a place for cold-hardy palms and yuccas! There are more trachies over 12-15' than I have seen anywhere. Oh, and all the awesome yucca rostratas and others... Of course there's more CIDP's and washys than anything, but it is so nice to see trachies everywhere! We took a little time to visit a local garden center. Man, if I only had the time to pack and ship Fedex, or even check additional baggage on the plane! They had 10' trachies with 5+' trunks in 7 gallon pots (yes, only 7 gallon) for $59!! They had 5.5' trachies with 3+ foot trunks (lots of them) for $18.99!!!! They even had yucca rostratas with 3' trunks (about 5+' overall) for about a hundred bucks. Huge queens and washys (fif and rob) for under $40. I was like a kid in a candy store! My wife really thinks I'm nuts now...

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 8:31 am

Tim, oh man...why wouldn't they be OK?
I couldn't hold off opening up to see.

hi mnpalms...

but FORGOT to take pictures!

You'll just have to get out there again, remove 2 1/2+ feet of replaced snow so we can see

I think that 30.9 min temp inside is perfect for a Trachy, low enough to get it used to a winter but not enough to make it look like crap until July.
Good job.

Home-distilled water

Hmmm...what else do you do?

I've always wondered whether distilled water has ANY benefits.
Probably a great new thread topic.

Ah...Las Vegas, yes their palms are gorgeous.
We had an earlier thread picture about a (forgot name) casino with three 20-foot Brahea armata out front...so very blue looking.
It never occurred to me during my visit with GFs to go to a nursery...friends aren't interested anyway

Wow those nursery prices would've extended my stay another day...helping the nursery pack things for shipment

Now go get your camera and get back out there...

and don't forget the Y.thompsoniana please.
Barb

ScottyON · Post by **ScottyON** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 3:57 pm

Looking great Barb!!!

Okanagan desert-palms · Fri Jan 21, 2011 7:07 pm

Barb your Trachy looks great. I think Trachy`s can handle much more cold than -2 C before the fronds start to brown out. Two years ago mine looked basically untouched after seeing below freezing temps for days on end bottoming out at -17c at night for two or three nights. The bigger they are the better freeze survival. You`ve got one spoiled palm.

John

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 9:13 pm

Thanks guys!

John,
This old palm (34 yrs now) has been so confined in pots that I expect it'll take a while for roots to grow away from the encircled ball.
I don't know how much damage I've done to it in that time.
Next winter I plan to let it routinely see colder temps... -10C 14F

Yours went in the ground without severely-bound roots.

I just wanted to be cautious with this guy...but also didn't want it to get as warm as 8 or 10C (45-48F) with a thermocube.
A bit of winter...more next year.

And then when he outgrows the hut, hopefully he could be on his own?
I'll be totally grey-haired that winter...

Yours have done beautifully John, very impressed when I saw them last month.
We have such horrible windstorms in winter...located just west of the Monashees.
You're easily one zone warmer than me, if not more because of your protected location and proximity to the lake.

Barb

mnpalms · Post by **mnpalms** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 5:06 am

lucky1 wrote:
hi mnpalms...
but FORGOT to take pictures!

You'll just have to get out there again, remove 2 1/2+ feet of replaced snow so we can see
I think that 30.9 min temp inside is perfect for a Trachy, low enough to get it used to a winter but not enough to make it look like crap until July.
Good job.

Home-distilled water Hmmm...what else do you do?
I've always wondered whether distilled water has ANY benefits.
Probably a great new thread topic.

Ah...Las Vegas, yes their palms are gorgeous.
We had an earlier thread picture about a (forgot name) casino with three 20-foot Brahea armata out front...so very blue looking.
It never occurred to me during my visit with GFs to go to a nursery...friends aren't interested anyway
Wow those nursery prices would've extended my stay another day...helping the nursery pack things for shipment

Now go get your camera and get back out there...
and don't forget the Y.thompsoniana please.
Barb

I was thinking I might not have to check on the palms again until uncovering them in March, but knowing me I'll probably be back in there in a few weeks... I will remember the camera then though!

Home-distilled water?? From experience I've learned that all my palms, bananas, etc don't much like our city water. Too much chlorine and it is very hard so we have a softner (salt). The water literally sometimes smells like pool water! So I have a bunch of 5-gallon buckets that I fill and let sit out for a few days before use in watering the plants (or collect rain water). I just keep them in a place out of sight and rotate accordingly. Int he winter I keep a few in the 3-season porch where they get sun and remain thawed.

Vegas... If you or anyone here visits there you MUST go to "Plant World Nursery". The yuccas and cold hardy palms will blow you away and the prices will make you go crazy.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 7:04 am

but knowing me I'll probably be back in there in a few weeks... I will remember the camera then though!

Excellent, will be good to see them again.
I'm betting they're in tip-top shape.

Same here with the chlorine from city water, especially during winter.
The dog won't drink it until the bucket's been standing for a while.
Without "splitting hairs", mn, letting buckets of water sit isn't distilling...but that's OK.

I let water buckets sit for a couple of days, hoping chlorine has dissipated, before watering.
In summer I fill a large garbage can and let it sit warming in the sun for a day before using on plants.
Plants hate cold water on their roots.

You're smart to not water plants with water softened either, all that salt is harmful.
Heck, my parents even disconnected their sink tap from the water softener after they read it could cause kidney problems in old folks.
My mom had kidney stones that required immediate surgery.

Plant World nursery has a nice site: http://www.plantworldnursery.com/store_main.htm

...can't wait to see that Y.thompsoniana of yours soon.
Barb

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 7:09 am

Lots of plants cant take tap water, becasue of the chorine, or the flouride ( alocasia amazonica, Chamedorea cataractarum, Dreceana janet craig for a few).

In the pet store, we told no one to give their pets tap water, unless it sat for a while. Usualy wed give decholorinator fo the fish and reptiles, but Im not sure what this will do to house and or garden plants. It is very hard to over dose fish with it...........

Good job letting the water sit!!!

hilashes · Post by **hilashes** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 8:34 am

Beeeeautiful Barb! Our temps went to -1C overnight last night and I didn't cover my 'un-sheltered" palm. Tonight it will be -4C so i'm going out there today to take care of that. I also forgot the bananas to cover so I hope there isn't too much damage. The trachy under it's shelter is really nice like yours! at least yours has a door and walls, that's so handy.

OH and sorry about the cat pee!!

Heidi

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 12:07 pm

Glad your Trachy's good, Heidi, just wait till you see how much it'll grow this summer!!!!!
I'm hoping my old Trachy will flower soon...but at 34, maybe it's a spinster or an old bachelor

Your -1C will do no harm, but good you're going to be ready for 4 days of cold (cool in Vancouver!) before this system breaks.
It's been so mild we've been pretty spoiled, but here it comes.

The downside of the mild weather including a day of rain is the palm hut door is warped and doesn't close property.
Mental note: next palm hut = ext grade plywood, not OSB (sawdust held with glue).

At -1C your banana will go mushy above ground, but the roots will be OK with some insulation for the coldest periods.

...if I knew where that cat lived, I'd pee in his house

Barb