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Latest from Ice Station(albino)Zebra

Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 9:16 am
by hardyjim
Not trying to pull the stripes over your eyes but we are locked in to winter...got rid of the last snow the day before this one.

This Arctic carpet rolled out in front of the polar express's delivery from the north pole....looks like it was
-16F at the airport north of here and -10F in my yard in town-what a great micro-climate I have here!-lol

Before it snowed I reinforced the Washy,Nainital,Princeps,Fortunei,Martianus(already pretty
fried-spear is growing though)FortxWag and the bigger Waggie.

The Princeps stayed 57-60F all night,this should be warm enough to keep the leaf tips touching the enclosure from burning..

<a href="http://s297.photobucket.com/user/orbea6 ... 9.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... 4930b9.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 100_7718_zpsf84930b9.jpg"/></a>

Stiff Sequoia

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Temp was staying above freezing(37F)last night in the cactus enclosure with 4-5" of snow,1" bubble wrap and PVC clear plastic(this cuts down on the drips) insulating it...I turned on the heat anyway,you never know how cold those outer edges get,although they are covered in snow.


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Thanks for looking!

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Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 1:35 pm
by chadec
Holy crap Jim........

I sure am thankful for low of only 22F now. Just hope everything pulls through for you. But I tend to believe winter will drag on forever again this yr. And ruin our spring.

Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 2:39 pm
by hardyjim
Thanks Chad...

looks like a brief warm up over the weekend and then a parade of clippers with snow and Arctic temps...

The added protection payed off,the palms stay warmer at night and are cooler during
the day with the lights(eventually off) even with the sun out warming the inside of the enclosures + 40F today over outside temps!

Posted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 2:37 am
by sidpook
everything looks pretty toasty, esp the cactus enclosure. nice

Posted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 4:26 am
by sashaeffer
Wow, you've had a lot more snow there at your place than we've had over here in Omaha...wouldn't mind a nice blanket of snow.....and temps in the upper 20's instead of this single digit and below zero crap that we've been getting.

Posted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 6:48 am
by hardyjim
sashaeffer wrote:Wow, you've had a lot more snow there at your place than we've had over here in Omaha...wouldn't mind a nice blanket of snow.....and temps in the upper 20's instead of this single digit and below zero crap that we've been getting.

I guess there are pros and cons to the snow .....it does insulate the ground and enclosures somewhat
but it also keeps the temps colder by at least 10F.


Mike

They are staying warm for the most part,there are a few palms with less
lights then others I will need to check on but generally everything has plenty of heat.

Posted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 8:17 am
by bgodwin1987
Nice plants, your Sequoia has gotten really big.

Posted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 2:01 pm
by hardyjim
They are magical trees in my experience...I love how the top has stretched out on it now...
this leader is responsible for the almost magic bean like growth!

Posted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 4:49 pm
by miketropic
I would not know how to function with that much snow! we got hit with 3 or so inchs awhile back and I was miserable for the 3 days till it melted. Looks like everything is hanging in there real nice though can't wait to see it come spring.

Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 9:42 am
by chadec
Snow, cold...... Can I just retire early and move to Florida :D

Love the snow pics of the sequoia. Reminds me of winter up on the Blue Ridge.

Looks like we are going to be have lows at 20F for the next week. So I am spending time today improve my protection for the chammy.

Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 1:12 pm
by TerdalFarm
Nice photos as always, Jim. Happy to hear that the structures held up, and that the plants are warm.

Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 6:41 am
by hardyjim
Thanks E and company.

Looks like another round of Arctic air Sun-???

I have set up some thermocubes in the cactus enclosure and for the rest of the palms....
with any luck the whole thing is automated now and I don't have to worry about getting back
before sunset on a cold Arctic evening where temps plummet from 40s/50s while the sun shines
to 0 within an hour or so-only problem is they have not kicked on yet because it is to mild 8)
If this works,I can finally get away and see some palms that are growing uncovered. :D

Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 10:07 am
by lucky1
Man, that was cold, Jim.
Good job on the extra protection, that looks good and snug.

Be grateful you don't have roaring winds to tug at the covers.

Barb

Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 8:07 am
by hardyjim
lucky1 wrote:
Be grateful you don't have roaring winds to tug at the covers.

Barb

That will be the feature Sunday night/Monday...-10F possibly with winds gusting 30-40mph..can you say wind-chill?

Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 8:08 am
by hardyjim
hardyjim wrote:Thanks E and company.

Looks like another round of Arctic air Sun-???

I have set up some thermocubes in the cactus enclosure and for the rest of the palms....
with any luck the whole thing is automated now and I don't have to worry about getting back
before sunset on a cold Arctic evening where temps plummet from 40s/50s -while the sun shines-
to 0 within an hour or so-only problem is they have not kicked on yet because it is to mild 8)
If this works,I can finally get away and see some palms that are growing uncovered. :D

Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 9:00 am
by lucky1
can you say wind-chill?
That brings me back to a discussion we've had here many times.
I still think plants are affected just like us from wind chill ...

Barb