Trachy and Butia capitata left outside Zone 5

F1aReD · Post by **F1aReD** » Sat Dec 14, 2013 4:56 pm

Hi,

First of all, thank you for any and all reply's. It's been awhile since I've been on here; At one point I had 5 different palms, but I managed to kill them all except for 2....until now that is (maybe).

I have a small Trachy and a small Butia capitata that have been outside all of November and December, Zone 5 in Mass. I've been meaning to bring them inside but hadn't gotten around to it yet...unfortunately, they've seen the Arctic blast of bitterly cold air, nighttime temps to single digits and possibly 0 F, and daytime temps that haven't gotten out of the teens and 20s F.

I finally brought them inside the house today, they're frozen solid. Still green, and the spears didn't pull out (I tried several times).

I'm wondering if they're basically preserved from being completely frozen, that's why there still green and the spears didn't pull...I'm guessing once they thaw out they'll turn brown and the spears will pull...

Opinions?

Last winter, the Trachy saw severe cold and the spear pulled...it pushed out a new one and that pulled, too, so I dumped hydrogen peroxide down the trunk and it eventually came back and pushed out deformed spears....Grew well all summer. I didn't have the Butia at that time yet.

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Sat Dec 14, 2013 5:31 pm

Give the palms a couple of weeks indoors; that way you'll know for sure. With the temps that they've experienced and the fact that they're potted, if they're still alive you'll likely have to trunk-cut them and use the same hydrogen peroxide treatment as last year.

905palms · Post by **905palms** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 1:31 pm

Any news on their condition? Curious...
Thx

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 2:35 pm

Keep an eye on the leaf closest to the spear and the other newer leaves.
If they begin to shrivel or the fans close you know you have issues.

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 6:57 am

0F in pots? That Butia must be dead........That Trachy should be dead too......hopefully it was is some sort of microclimate or buried in snow when the cold hit. Let us know how they faired.

chadec · Post by **chadec** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 8:40 am

I would have to believe that both palms will eventually pull. Depending on the size of the palms, both recover from spear pull fairly well. But mine have always been in the ground and have never seen 0F either.

miketropic · Post by **miketropic** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 8:48 am

0f is a no no in a pot

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 9:05 am

Dont water them

andym · Post by **andym** » Thu Jan 02, 2014 2:42 pm

I struggle to keep Butias alive in my climate Had to dig up a Butia Odorata only to find the roots had rotted. Sorry but a Butia in a pot is a dead butia as the roots are the weakest link with cold

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 12:04 pm

Fastest way I've ever killed a palm was too much water, especially in the winter.

Saw a total collapse of a small potted Pindo that I brought inside last year. Now, all my pindo type palms are in garage and haven't been touched since late Oct and they all look great. Less is more when it comes to care and palm trees sometimes.

chadec · Post by **chadec** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 7:20 pm

I agree, had a large one pull 2 yrs in a row. One was due to taking it out too early. Then the next yr I left it out too long. It never recovered from the second occurance. But I have a potted pindo now that I dug up and trunk cut last spring. Its making a full recovery.

F1aReD · Post by **F1aReD** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 9:56 am

Well, both palms had spear pull a couple days after "thawing out" inside the house. And they're both pretty crispy, the fronds are almost as if I put them in the oven! And actually, not just the center spear pulled-the other one next to it pulled in both palms.

I've done the hydrogen peroxide solution down the trunk, have NOT watered them (I was going to ask if I should or not, but I thought I read somewhere to not water them). The Trachy is still green and the fronds are still "upright" and intact. I've tried to pull on the outer fronds, but they're tight. I don't know for sure if it's dead or not, but it doesn't seem like it (yet)

The Butia didn't fair as well. The frond's are pretty collapsed and it's a very pale green color. I'm not positive if it's dead or not; it's not totally brown and none of the other fronds pulled.

So now it's just a waiting game.

F1aReD · Post by **F1aReD** » Sat Jan 25, 2014 7:32 pm

Well, they're definitely DEAD. The Butia I was pretty sure was dead, but decided to try and trunk cut it...the whole thing popped right off of the roots.

The Trachy I wasn't too sure of, it actually looked OK but I decided to trunk cut that too...the rot was all the way down to the roots. The roots themselves are slimy and rotten.

So, this is pretty much the end of me having any kind of palms for awhile...living in an apartment it's just too difficult to deal with them; I can't take care of them properly and my fiancé absolutely hates them. At one point I actually had about 5 different palms, they all died off eventually leaving me with these two, now these are gone.

Maybe someday when I buy a house I'll be able to get back into "cold hardy palms". Until then, I probably won't be around here much!

Thanks for all the help and reply's everyone!

InsanePalmNinja · Post by **InsanePalmNinja** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 12:04 am

hardyjim wrote:Dont water them

Damn it.. Thats what killed them then..