Somehow managed to get a needle palm to survive

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Tue Apr 14, 2015 5:14 pm

I forgot I planted this last year. I found it today and it looks like it survived. I think the damage on the ends of the leaves are the extent of the damage.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Wed Apr 15, 2015 5:56 am

i forgot to mention. I didnt protect this at all (as mentioned i forgot about it). I am curious as to expectations of survival and growth.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Wed Apr 15, 2015 6:37 am

2 new leaves this summer etc...

-3 leaves this coming winter. :verycold:

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Wed Apr 15, 2015 8:46 am

LOL. I will protect it this winter. Whats the best way to care for it?

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Thu Apr 16, 2015 6:17 am

Styrofoam rose cover with 3-4 c-7 or c-9 bulbs with a thermocube on @35 off @45
would take real nice care of it....you may want to add another palm or 2 since you'll
have a whole strand of X-mas lights anyway

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 7:16 am

... Needle palm... It will literally grow 2 leaves this summer. They are SLOW SLOW SLOW, especially if the soil temperature is anything but tropical hot.

As for protection, in your climate I'd just put 2 layers of frost cloth stuff over it in October, that works really well for very small plants!

Good luck!

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Sat Apr 18, 2015 5:20 am

Thanks Paul. Its only a few inches away from the foundatation, right where the south and east walls meet, planted right int he corner. The ground there started to melt weeks ago. IIve seen the temps soar almost 10C higher being in that spot.

Also, my new Nitida seemed to have survived with no protection (another small plant). Most culms are green almost all the way up. My alata however only has green a few inches above the ground because i didnt protect it.

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 9:52 pm

Thanks for the report!
So, how cold do you think it got?

I have found them to be very hardy, but spear pull has been a challenge.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 2:25 pm

low at the airport was -37C so about -32C at the house.

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 3:00 pm

Wow! Ok, that borders on a miracle.

But, really, needle palm are amazingly leaf hardy. I don't know why more people don't grow them.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 4:59 pm

Mind you its in a proteted corner and had some snow to protect it. IT will be interestig to see how it does with a little bit of protection

905palms · Post by **905palms** » Thu Apr 23, 2015 5:43 pm

Surprisingly, snow really helps these. All mine pulled through the same. Thanks for sharing!