Surviving -30c Needle palm

Beny · Post by **Beny** » Fri Mar 08, 2013 2:06 pm

Hi folks, just uncover my small Needle palm, and was surprising to see it has survived the -30c we had one time this winter. It has no heat and nothing else then a black pot putting over it. It s located near the fondation and facing south. Thats gonna help to pass trough the winter but with no heat, it s unbelivable

Check my video and you ll see...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv-6t7Tm ... R4CBYZCrhw

Ben

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Fri Mar 08, 2013 5:13 pm

Nice looking Needle palm, Beny.
Perfect!

Good protection from cold winds against the south side of house, also the styro panel adjacent helped.
And maybe the 15 feet of snow

Huge snow piles still

Barb

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Fri Mar 08, 2013 5:14 pm

Great video,enjoyed watching it.....all the styrofoam and plastic sounds made my head tingle...I think I will watch it again

Now...are you sure thats not a glacier out there?

That is some serious snow!-how long will it take(what month)for all that to melt

I think the snow for sure kept your Needle from seeing -30c... is that really like -22F? certainly zone defining cold!

The nice green color in your palms is a good sign...be careful with the Washy,you will need to get the soil dried out quickly when you pull
the protection,you may want to shovel as much snow away from the base as possible(before it melts)-they really do not like cold and wet soil...good luck with that one.

Don't give up on your fungusy Trachy,as long as the spear is solid it will come back and even if it pulls it may still be o.k.-you may need to operate.

One good tell on the spear health is the open fan/the newest leaf,if they start to close up it is usually a sign the leaf is being aborted-good luck
and nice job protecting everything!

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Fri Mar 08, 2013 5:52 pm

if they start to close up

or they're thirsty.

chadec · Post by **chadec** » Fri Mar 08, 2013 8:04 pm

Nice job on the protection those palms really look healthy. I cant imagine the mess youll have when all that snow melts.

Beny · Post by **Beny** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 5:22 am

Thx Jim, ill take these precaution with the Washy. The forecast here till next thursday is +5c(40f) to +8c(45f) during the day and just under the freezing mark for the night. Normally the snow melt in 2-3 weeks thats included the snow bank. The snow is not very hard, so it melt relatively quickly. But this year, we had more than usual

...i hope its not another ice age arriving

.
Cause if its that, ill move to Cabo San Lucas

.

Ben

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 5:33 am

Looks good ben! I usually get that much snow here as well. Makes good free insulation at least..

Just me weary of damage showing up after it warms up. I had a few palms that looked good, then declined after a few weeks of bringing them inside. I would give the new spears a light pull to see if they were loose.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 8:25 am

lucky1 wrote:
if they start to close up
or they're thirsty.

Barb

If they are thirsty,they will all close somewhat-esp the lower leaves....

what I am referring too is the first fan leaf that is opened at the top,
usually by that time the other spears are dead.

Here is an extreme example of this-you may recall the trunk cut Fortunei

If you notice-the leaves close to the center have shriveled but the leaves further down are still open,
ideally you would want to catch this sooner but either way the core is nuked-and there was no hope
but to preform surgery by the time April hit.

<a href="http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... -10010.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... -10010.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 8:44 am

Yes, it looks OK so far... I agree with the Canadianplant, do not force your needle palm entering the spring. Easy,easy....

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 9:42 am

the leaves close to the center have shriveled but the leaves further down are still open,

Yes I recall

You're right, if thirsty, all the leaves "fold" lengthwise.

Barb

Beny · Post by **Beny** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 11:12 am

Yes Igor,
Im agree too, all palms still protected for the next 2-3 weeks..

Ben

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:50 pm

Very well done/Tres bien fait. Bravo!

Beny · Post by **Beny** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 5:39 am

Hey, thx Mike. Very good french

....

Ben

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 6:51 am

Beny wrote:Hey, thx Mike. Very good french ....

Ben

Lived in Strasbourg and then Comores, East AFrica for four years.