PalmsNorth.com

Gonz wrote:

hardyjim wrote:Snow is a great insulator.
Some of my palm covers stayed near freezing when it was 0(F)without heat.

Good to know.

I agree,it probably wasn't ready.
You guys (I'm sure) had a warm Nov like we did.Not much time for palms to acclimate to winter.
It definitely caught a few of my first years out!

I'll have some good photos up tomorrow, but right now I am too tired to do the upload.
Update: wife, who lived 40 years in Michigan, could not get to work. She was in a 4wd pickup. Spent an hour to go 4 miles, then turned around. Hope nobody had a heat attack today.
The barn has over a foot of snow inside. Yes, despite a roof and four walls, there is a foot of snow. Ice is crusted on the horses. The foam board I had set aside for the palms was jerry-rigged to add insulation for the hens.
My worry was the flimsy Butia shelter. It is doing fine. The wind is too strong for any accumulation on top. The water jug inside has not frozen, so the heat tape must be doing the job.
The Trachy has some snow on the leaves where that door has blocked the wind. I took a few photos just now and will take more by dawn's light.
Off to bed now, before St. Nick comes by.

Here is my Trachy last night:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/zd ... site"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_r-MvN4jW1sE/SzTqv ... GP0745.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/terdalfarm/ ... >Christmas 2009</a></td></tr></table>

and here it is this morning:

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/BF ... site"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_r-MvN4jW1sE/SzTrA ... GP0747.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/terdalfarm/ ... >Christmas 2009</a></td></tr></table>

BRRRRRRR!

Whats that blue stuff above the trees? I have not seen that recently

Jim,
it's a sign that the blizzard has moved on--it is about over you, now. Let us know how you fair in it.
The forecast here is for sunny, windy and cold (below freezing) for a few days. Can't wait until I fly south.

TerdalFarm wrote:Jim,
it's a sign that the blizzard has moved on--it is about over you, now. Let us know how you fair in it.
The forecast here is for sunny, windy and cold (below freezing) for a few days. Can't wait until I fly south.

When going to fly south and where?

I'm heading south about 20o latitude (to Belize) in a few days.
It is not all warmth and sunshine. My friends had a morning low of 57 oF a few days ago. Brrr!

It's snowed a little(less than an inch) and it's windy but we seem to be in the center of the vortex.

We're thinking about you, Jim. It was a record-setter here, but hopefully it has weakened on its way north to you. At least I hope so.
Keep us informed.

Never really got into the cold air on this one.
I noticed yesterday it was 50(F) far southeast and 6(F) far northwest across the state.
We finally have a little snow now,about 2-3"
I would love to see some sun,it's been at least a week.

TerdalFarm wrote:I'm heading south about 20o latitude (to Belize) in a few days.
It is not all warmth and sunshine. My friends had a morning low of 57 oF a few days ago. Brrr!

How cool is that! Have fun and try to stay warm.

Have a good vacation Erik.

Glad that everybody made it through that snowstorm safe and sound.

Barb

TerdalFarm wrote:Here is my Trachy last night:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/zd ... site"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_r-MvN4jW1sE/SzTqv ... GP0745.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/terdalfarm/ ... >Christmas 2009</a></td></tr></table>

and here it is this morning:

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/BF ... site"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_r-MvN4jW1sE/SzTrA ... GP0747.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/terdalfarm/ ... >Christmas 2009</a></td></tr></table>

I uncovered my big palm this morning. Looks like bad hair day.LOL!
Going to keep the crown tied up for a few days but keep the small Frost Protek Plant Cover over the spear. The tiny temp probe inside of the spear base read above 34 degrees on the coldest day with the C7 lights. The cover should keep the water out while letting in sunlight and air flow.
It is 34F outside with 54F in the spear area.

I realize now how important it is to have palms blocked from north and west winds.

Don't need to worry about the soil drying out for a while.

No kidding! The soil will stay moist for weeks, I predict, as the snow slowly melts. We got up to 33 oF this afternoon for a few minutes. Soil temps are still above freezing (per newson6.com; my soil thermometer is buried too deep to look for). Hope the soil stays that way. My pool has not frozen, although it is salt-water and the pump is going 24 hours. (My farm pond is frozen over.)
As for the bad hair day, no kidding. The reports I read had Bixby wind gusts of 43 mph in the blizzard but I'm up on the NW side of a hill so I am sure I got worse than that. Plus I sited my Trachy next to a Gazebo to give it Summer shade but that just amplified the gusts. (See the photos you quoted!).
My new Trachy is far enough from the house I did not run lights or heat tape to it (like I did for the new Butia, or the old C. humilis that finally grew a trunk). I could have, but did not want to buy a long cord. I guess I should have. I promised it I will if it only survives this winter. I'll be so good to it in 2010.

I don't think I will wrap it that way next year. Some of the frond fingers have straightened out though.
Next fall I am going to arrange the lights a different way to put a little heat at the fronds. and rig a windbreaker instead for strong winds.
More lights on the ground instead of just around the bottom bottom of the trunk. Maybe wrap so the heat would rise up between the material and the trunk surrounding the spear.
A few other things I will work on for next winter.
The lights work better than I thought they would.

But if there's an ice storm I will have no choice but to cover.
Learned a lot in the past three days.

I don't like chlorine pools. I'll take salt water any day.

We'll have you over for a swim in June when everything looks good again.

Windmill is doing fine. I have been trying to push it's growth through the summer with Palm food,organic fertilizer,and plenty of water every other day during July and August.
Also adding something called Plant Success Great White Premium Mycorrhizae,and my usual stuff.
The big palm has grown about a foot so far. I've noticed that the trunk upper half is slightly larger in diameter.

This will be the third winter for the big windmill and I think after last year it should do well.
The Christmas lights are in place and the other things (burlap,blankets,plant covers,copper fungicide,Wiltpruf,etc.)are on standby.
This year I will have a wireless temperature probe about 12 inch in ground. Right now it is 62.4F. The highest reading during the summer was about 84F.

This past weekend.


The small palm had a rough go of it last winter. I did not protect it enough during the blizzard. Drenched it with copper fungicide mix and it has been recovering very slowly. Didn't lose a spear though.

Last April


This past weekend.


I guess in another year the big palm will be established in the ground. During the spring I have been watering the ground to hopefully make the root system reach deeper and during the Summer treating the soil with mycorrhizae to increase the root system below.

Will use bungee this year to pull the stems up from now on for heavy snow.

Hi Gonz, nice to hear from you again.

Your trachy looks fabulous...you'll have to move that porch soon

I've been interested in Miccor...for years but never bought any.
From your pic, certainly worth looking into:
http://www.plant-success.com/

Barb

Gonz,
your big Trachy sure had a good year!
Mine (photos above from a year ago) was defoliated from winter, grew some new leaves in Spring, sulked all Summer, and has been doing well again lately.
The invite to come on down to Bixby stands. I'll have my wife feed you in exchange for palm protection ideas. PM me for contact details. --Erik