Protection for Needle palm in zone 6?

bgodwin1987 · Post by **bgodwin1987** » Wed Oct 31, 2012 2:40 pm

I live in zone 6b and I planted 2 large needle palms in June and was wondering should I protect them? or can they survive without it in my zone? anyone have any experience with needle palm in zone 6? thanks

seedscanada · Post by **seedscanada** » Wed Oct 31, 2012 2:45 pm

They will survive once established, if planted and sited well. The first winter, it should be protected, at least from the wind. I suggest a mini hoop house or large tomato cage with landscape fabric around it.

bgodwin1987 · Post by **bgodwin1987** » Wed Oct 31, 2012 3:14 pm

Thanks prob will protect them this year.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 4:25 am

I would use mulch as well. If you guys get regular snowfall, then It wont be a problem, but im sure it would appreciate at least 4 or 5 inches of leaves inside the cage to make sure the roots stay happy. Also, try to keep to on the dryish side... The smaller the plant is, the easier it will be to protect, but wont have its full hardiness.

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 8:34 am

Keep the crowns dry. Needles are notorious for having crown rot, especially in young plants.

bgodwin1987 · Post by **bgodwin1987** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 11:03 pm

Thanks sadly we don't get a lot of snow usually and if we do it felts within a day or two. We have really wet winters. I have some experience overwintering trachys this is my first year with needles also have some sabal minors to protect as well.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 6:04 am

Mine have been easier than the Trachys,never spear pulled.

Okanagan desert-palms · Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:26 pm

My 2 cents. Put a sealed sturdy plastic enclosure over it. Keep it dry. Mulch. Keep some extra heating inside in case it gets really cold 0f -18c (You never know). Give the crown a treatment of copper fungiside before the cold hits. I have lost a couple of 3 gal needles until I gave my recent planted needle palm a little extra protection last winter. All good.

John

MCKATELYN · Post by **MCKATELYN** » Sun Nov 04, 2012 7:23 am

I live a bit north of you by Chicago in zone 5b. I don't think you will need to add any addition heat. I just put up a pop up min greenhouse over it, add some mulch (on the inside and around outside rim), then put in a few milk gallons filled with water. If it is planted in an area that gets some winter sun, it should heat up in the daylight hours. That's what I do to mine anyway. It takes only about 20 minutes tops. It comes through in perfect condition.

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Tue Dec 25, 2012 6:12 am

I have 3 small ones that I bought and planted this year. I wanted to ensure their survival so used these barrels over the top.

One of the 3 has heat tape around the root ball, the other two don't

bgodwin1987 · Post by **bgodwin1987** » Tue Dec 25, 2012 11:18 pm

Thanks I protected them put a tomato cage over them and filled it with dry leaves wrapped it in bubble wrap and put a thick black plastic trash bag over it, to keep it dry. We are getting a blizzard right now really windy there are already like 2 inches of snow so far, it prob wont last more than a few days though.

marceli · Post by **marceli** » Tue Dec 25, 2012 11:55 pm

Speaking of R. hystrix, I have one in pot on the balcony. Pot was wrapped in straw, to keep the roots warmer. There's been like 3 nights with temps -10C/14F, so I put a blanket around it, but palm doesn't look good, now. Some of the leaves still look shrunk from the frost. Am I overreacting?

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 6:44 am

Those temps would freeze the roots.

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 6:50 am

Because it was in a pot, and not planted?

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 7:02 am

Yup.... and the fact it is so young. My Japanese Maple faces the same fate, unless in extremely lucky (same with the needle)

I will say, I left out my P canariensis,P robellenii, Chinese fan palm, and my Philo. selloum (im too lazy to look up the right name lol ) in a few nights at -7C. They all had frond damage, but are all recovering inside quite well. The only difference is, older plants and much bigger pots then yours maybe?

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 7:08 am

I hope his recovers.

All 3 of mine are planted outside and have plastic trash cans, or similar protection over them along with added mulch. It's all 3's first winter though, so we'll see. One has root ball surrounded by heat tape so not as worried about that one.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 7:10 am

sashaeffer wrote:I hope his recovers.

Me too..... I do hope for the best, I would order another one just to be safe though, as it might take this one a while to recover, if it does.

bgodwin1987 · Post by **bgodwin1987** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 8:57 am

It might be ok depends on how frozen the roots got. We got over a foot of snow last night had to dig out my Yucca Rostrata's I didn't protect them

. I think they will be ok they they don't have any visible damage.

cuja1 · Post by **cuja1** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 1:31 pm

Bryce, I'm amazed that you're had a blizzard. I'm 200 miles north and we're dry and barely above freezing. We got our blizzard last Thursday.

marceli · Post by **marceli** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 2:00 pm

I knew it needs much better protection when potted, and thought that straw + blanket will do.
Well, we'll see if my palm recovers

Thanks for your answers

bgodwin1987 · Post by **bgodwin1987** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 8:17 am

Cuja1 I know it's kinda crazy because we usually don't get much snow, this storm mostly hit southern Illinois, and parts of southeast Missouri and western Kentucky.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 9:42 am

thought that straw + blanket will do.

I believe the root area should never be the same temperature as the top.

Even in summer, roots suffer overheated in pots above ground.
I often put a potted palm into another slightly larger pot in summer, so the sun doesn't heat up the pot/roots.

Yet some people say it's no problem to keep potted plants (yuccas and cold hardy palms) outside in winter with roots freezing.
Never worked for me.

Barb

Jeff_Ajax · Post by **Jeff_Ajax** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 7:46 am

I currently have a blanket over the top of my Needle Palm. I've read that they can go down to -23 with no issues. I may get out and blow the snow off around it and just put a insulated box around it before we get really cold snaps. We've only reached -9c at night a couple times so far.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:09 am

If they are not well established or still young plants,constant freezing temps can cause spear-pull.

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:16 am

Jim, how long have you had yours in the ground? and do you protect them at all?

I have 3 that I planted this year, but have them all covered with trash cans, and mulched heavy before putting cans over the top..so hopefully they will do ok their first year in the ground.

marceli · Post by **marceli** » Sun Jan 20, 2013 3:04 am

canadianplant wrote:
sashaeffer wrote:I hope his recovers.

Me too..... I do hope for the best, I would order another one just to be safe though, as it might take this one a while to recover, if it does.

Just checked and it spear pulled

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sun Jan 20, 2013 8:49 am

In this picture you can see the triple stacker over one Needle palm right in the center below the bike.

This one has been in for 5-6 years,it was pretty small when I planted it.

<a href="http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... 0_6269.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... 0_6269.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

The other one,in about 5 years-is under the rose cover all the way to the right of the one with the 5g bucket on top.

Although Needles are capable of withstanding cold-if they pull the recovery can set them back severely as they are slow to rebound.-if the leaves are discoloring from cold it is best to cover
them,esp in a climate like mine where it doesn't always warm up after cold waves.

I usually pull the covers when temps are above 40F for a few days-they are covered now after a couple days of 40s/50s...

The snow in these pics is from mid December-been snow free here for a few weeks now

bgodwin1987 · Post by **bgodwin1987** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 8:30 pm

Nice winter protection Jim it got down to 13 F last night and all my palms are still green. My Agave's Parryis and Harvadias are still looking good too. Ehh I am so ready for spring, I hate winter.

coconutmike · Post by **coconutmike** » Thu Jan 24, 2013 7:44 pm

My Needle palms get mulch at the base and some get a styrofoam bos and others get bubble wrap tarps or 4 foot flower pots. My biggest is 6+ feet and the best method so far is the box. For you you could get away with wrapping it tight mulch base, wrap with frost cloth and then use the bubble wrap insulation tarp.
Cheers
Mike