Question for you vetran trachy owners who protect their tree

palmmandan · Post by **palmmandan** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 10:44 am

This was my first year of over wintering a trachy in a protection structure. Opened up the structure today and a lot of the older leaves are toast. The are either dried and brown or green and curled up. Do have 3 fronds that look fairly healthy coming out. They have a light green color to them. Tree never saw anything below 17 degrees in structure. Is this how these trees look typically after a winter? Will they come back fast in the spring? Also anyone have a picture of their tree after winter and then during summer?

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 1:46 pm

I guess the first question is how did you protect it,most of the damage on mine is from a combination of the soil temps being to cold for proper transpiration and intense sunlight which causes trachys protection to have a temp range outside its comfort range,also cold hardiness builds as palms adapt and grow deeper roots,my 2 oldest outdoor trachys are still perfect even though they saw temps(in a covered structure)as low as 12F and low to mid teens many,many times,another trachy under the same protection had spearpull in Nov and still looks perfect.
My waggies have seen temps in the middle single digits(5F) and are still looking like they did last fall.

palmmandan · Post by **palmmandan** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 4:52 pm

I had it completely covered or boxed in. 2 weeks ago I removed the front panel and put a piece of plexiglass in place. When I opened it up it did not look as bad as it does now. Over the past 2 weeks it has been drying out. The sun does not get to all the fronds. The tempature has not gotten over 65 in the day time on a sunny day. I would think the ground in the enclosure is much warmer than the ground outside the enclosure due to the sun beating on the ground and a heater on at night that does not let it go colder than 32. HELP!!!!

oppalm · Post by **oppalm** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 6:05 pm

I think you want to keep it dark and covered as long as possible. The roots are still very cold and not allowing the transfer of water from roots to fronds so the fronds are dying out. Cover it back up for at least another 30 days. I'll uncover my stuff in late March or early April (depending on the forecast) and then use a white sheet to cover the plants for a week or so.

palmmandan · Post by **palmmandan** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 6:35 pm

Well I went out there and dug around the soil and it seemed like it was dry. Was not frozen. Dumped a couple pitchers of luke warm water around the base. I will try and cover it up tomorrow.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 7:11 pm

It may have dried out as well,it will become more cold hardy the older it gets,something opaque is better than clear,this is the time of year when you really need to watch the temps as the sunlight is getting more intense.
Soil temps need to get back int the 50s before the roots are active enough to rescue the plant above,did you mulch?I don't know what area your in but I use at least 3-5" of mulch,don't forget to pull the mulch back when the highs are above 60F and temps at night are well above freezing,your trachy should make a full recovery if it is healthy once the weather warms up for good,don't let the roots stay to wet until the soil warms;water modestly.
The soil temps are directly related to the amount of space around the plant,my smallest inclosures(24" around) are 35ish and the larget 20'lx10'w is 45F

Cali-wanna-b · Post by **Cali-wanna-b** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 3:30 pm

Dan, does your trachy look like mine?

In my case I think I have more foliage than the roots can supply with water because of the low soil temps. I also gave my palm a drink of warm water last week and it responded well.

Craig

palmmandan · Post by **palmmandan** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 6:33 pm

Yeah, It may be a little worse than yours. I will post some pics tomorrow.

Okanagan desert-palms · Post by **Okanagan desert-palms** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 6:44 pm

I`m thinking it could be a combination of lack of light and dry soil in both cases. I have seen my Trachy`s look like that from not getting enough light for 2 or 3 months and low moisture levels. They are not meant to be cut off from light or natural light for that long.

John

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 8:10 pm

I wonder if it is not light thats the issue but dry air,cold soil and temp swings,there are people who cover their palms in a leaf cage with zero light and when they uncover they are exactly like when they covered them,the reason for this may be that a leaf cage keeps the palm basically refridgerated and in a state of hibernation with very little temp change or stress.
My guess would be that temps of 65-70+ and soil temps in the below 40F range leave the palm pretty thirsty as it can't keep up with winter cold on roots and springs demands on leaves

My trachys in the larger g/house are exactly like they looked in fall,the soil temps never went below 44F

Okanagan desert-palms · Post by **Okanagan desert-palms** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 11:23 pm

Jim I agree that to much heat in the enclosure vs. cold soil will send mixed signals to the plant. Temps ,soil temps ,light levels, light length in winter will determine the health of the plant. IMO you can`t monkey to much with mother nature wintertime and have everything work in harmony. IMO cold frames with minimal heat to stay above leathal freeze damage for Trachy`s -18 0f "MAX" ?is more natural in habitat "IF POSSIBLE". My Trachy`s and needle palms have experienced -15.7c 2f for short durations and they look like they will make it again this year under the wood and plastic cold frame healthy for spring.

http://okanaganpalms.multiply.com/photo ... _tropicals

John

palmmandan · Post by **palmmandan** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 2:31 pm

Here are some pics of the palm.

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm16 ... G_1248.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm16 ... G_1246.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm16 ... G_1247.jpg

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 8:25 pm

I think your palm will do great and in a few years when that massive trunk gets some deep roots down you probably won't even see damage to leaves anymore.When the temps start hitting the 60s pull the mulch back and let the soil warm up,I did this a week and a half ago when we had 4 out of 5 days in the 60s and the soil temp at 4" went up 7F,then of course we got cold again so I pushed the mulch back(before the cold)once the soil temps hit the 50s you don't have to worry about root rot as much.Glad to hear everyones palms are going to make it!

PhilMusa · Post by **PhilMusa** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 5:29 pm

I wasn't expect to see that monster covered up

. Hopefully it makes it through as it would be a great shame to lose that big of a specimen.

good luck

Okanagan desert-palms · Post by **Okanagan desert-palms** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 7:08 pm

Palmandan looks like the new growth is nice and green. That Trachy will grow some new healthy fronds this this year for you. Keep us updated.

John

PALMETTOMAN · Post by **PALMETTOMAN** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 9:35 pm

I would say if this is the first year in the ground for your palm then the cold whacked it.

I have 2-- 4-5 footers that got whacked hard -20C for 2 nights while I was away=heaters unplugged-.They have been in the ground since 07.

The damaged fronds are brownish green....I have decided to keep the heat on if it drops below 32F. Yjey should be okay..this winter was brutal..

Good luck

Palmettoman Z6-Ajax, On

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:02 pm

That's one beauty of a palm! Wow.

I think you did the right thing watering the Trachy when you found unfrozen dry soil.

Barb

PalmsNorth.com

Question for you vetran trachy owners who protect their tree

Question for you vetran trachy owners who protect their tree

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