Winter protection pics.........

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 7:00 am

I for one as a newbie..would love to see winter protection pics in one thread. I bought two larger palms that I replanted in larger pots. Didn't want to put them in the ground in middle of summer, so will bring them in garage for the winter, and plant them in the spring.

In the mean time, I have a lot to think about how to over winter them next winter and needs some visual ideas of what others have done for a zone 6 like me.

The two big plams I bought are Windmill Palms about 6/7 feet high(got a real deal on them). I have 3 other seedlings, and just one of those I planted in the ground and will cover with leaves his fall. Other two are in 3 gallon pots outside and will also bring in garage in winter. I want to "teach" them to be cold hardy over time.

Scott/Omaha

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 2:13 pm

Might want to look through some old threads.
Trying to teach palms to be cold hardy is a little
rough if they are potted as the roots are much
less hardy than the trunk and leaves.

I have planted Trachys as late as Nov-Dec,the trick
is keeping the soil dry during the extreme cold.

You might want to consider planting one of your palms
now or...getting another one and planting that....why
lose a whole winter that you can be learning about protection?

All the threads and info on the web about how to
protect your palms is golden but it doesn't come close to
actually doing it yourself-

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 4:30 pm

I just hate to experiment with such nice big palms. I would be crushed if I lost one the very first year. My thinking was if I put one..or both big ones in the ground in the spring they would have a chance to spread their roots out some and get used to the different soil and stand a better chance.

I was looking for pictures of what other people did in my zone to winter protect them to get ideas.

wheelman1976 · Post by **wheelman1976** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 6:17 pm

I'm in the same boat, I have two 5-6 footers in the ground now, planted them about a month ago. I'm still kicking around how I will protect them but will for sure be doing a thermocube with c9 light strand.

wxman · Post by **wxman** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 12:17 pm

This box is framed with 2x2s. One layer of poly on the inside, one layer on the outside (creates 1 1/2 inch air gap). 1 1/2 inch foam on outside. I keep south side removed unless temperature falls below 5F to facilitate solar heating (it's free) and to give the palms sunlight. The inside is heated with a 1500 watt space heater set at 40F. I have it on the low setting so it really only uses 750 watts when it runs. It runs about 1 minute then off about 10.

Worked like a charm the past two winters.

wxman · Post by **wxman** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 12:22 pm

Trachys must be tolerant of frozen roots, because theres no way after 3 years that roots only grow within that box.

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 2:13 pm

Great pics! Just what I was looking for.

Do you tie up the fronds as well? and since these can get pretty tall, will you just keep adding to the height? or will they eventually get winter hardy enough to go without protection?

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 2:19 pm

I would still say to look for a nice deal on e-bay or,wherever
and try one out,the experience you gain will be worth any amount
you would pay for it....not to mention helping you for next year

Okanagan desert-palms · Post by **Okanagan desert-palms** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 11:51 am

All good advice from our other members. Scott Trachycarpus fortunei cold limit is about 0f -18c anything below that no matter how long it has been in the ground will cause frond death and possibly kill the whole tree. Here is what I do for winter protection zone 6b.http://okanaganpalms.multiply.com/photo ... 23rd_2011#

John

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 12:43 pm

Here's my Trachy palm hut.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/southslope/4325696328/" title="DSC03347 by edible_plum, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4018/432 ... 9608ee.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="DSC03347"></a>

A Patton electric heater keeps indoor temp between -5C and +1C (approx).

Barb

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 11:11 pm

Barb I might implementing your idea for protecting my palms. Most likely a window would be an add-on to your project. We have no thermocubes here so I bought a temperature controller (from minus 70 to plus 100 C 2,5 kw beast). And a convection heater will be a source of heat for the palm shelter. Of course west facing house wall along with a vent hole would safe some money supposedly to be payed for the Hydro bills.
And I'm wondering how deep to the soil a palm hut walls should to be dig in? A couple of feet or it's just enough putting some soil (leaves) along the walls perimeter? Last winter my variegated Japanese euonymus plants overwintering successively being covered with the dry leaves in spite of quite cold winter (t minus 24-26 C for 8 successive nights and January mean temperature minus 12).

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 1:37 pm

Yes, a south window would've been a better idea for mine than the clear polycarbonate roof.
The sun is lower in winter and not much shines down onto the palm...but hey, it's growing

I like the idea you have of a west facing house wall along with a vent...which would also let cold back into the house

The palm hut's walls don't go into the ground at all.
The wall panels are set in place on top of railway ties, and screwed to them, as well as to each other.
Then I add leaves to about 1 foot thick on the outside walls.
I think that sinking walls into the soil would shorten the life of the walls (rot?), and also difficult to remove in spring.

Glad your euonymous made it...8 successive nights isn't too bad at those temps.
The trick seems to be to use dry--not wet--leaves.

I can't believe we're talking about winter already.

Barb

JackLord · Post by **JackLord** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 10:44 am

lucky1 wrote:Here's my Trachy palm hut.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/southslope/4325696328/" title="DSC03347 by edible_plum, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4018/432 ... 9608ee.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="DSC03347"></a>

A Patton electric heater keeps indoor temp between -5C and +1C (approx).

Barb

Nicely built. Were it a bit longer, I might be able to live in it myself.

bananieru · Post by **bananieru** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 11:20 am

This is my hut. It has also a door on the opposite side of the window. I had just some Christmas lights inside

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:13 pm

Hardy Jim. Found a real nice sized Windmill palm at a Earl May garden center at 50% off ($24) I'm going to plant it in the ground on south side of garage and provide winter protection of some kind as an experiment. It's decent enough size, and still not too big to build something over it.

I love the end of the season on tropicals that are out there now.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:11 pm

Nice!

Thats what I did the first year....even later.

I planted it on Nov 1

I ordered 3 Trachys for $60
The 2 I didn't plant both died!

Heres one of the first pics I ever took
of my first planted Trachys(the 2 in back that are more yellow colored),
the green one in front was one of the 3,it was already dead when I planted it
out in April.

Anyway,those are the first 2 I ever planted,a Fortunei and(Hayes stiffie) FortXwag.

here they are again after their first summer-

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 4:46 am

This will be my experiment windmill palm I just bought and planted tonight. I will see how I do at my first try and winter protection.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =1&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =1&theater

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 8:18 am

Can't see your pics...
how about using Photobucket?

It's free.

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 8:29 am

Really? They are just links to my facebook page. I thought links would work. I know I can see them when I click on the links on the post. Odd.

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 9:31 am

It says: The page you requested cannot be displayed right now. It may be temporarily unavailable, the link you clicked on may have expired, or you may not have permission to view this page.
Perhaps we have no access to your Facebook account.

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 9:37 am

Good point....I know you can send album links to even non facebook people, but maybe not individual pictures.

Looks like photobucket it is!

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 12:39 pm

Ok, lets try this.....

http://s1085.photobucket.com/albums/j43 ... l%20Pants/

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 1:18 pm

That worked.
Facebook just changed photo privacy setting defaults so that is probably the problem there.
Anyway, nice plants!

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 1:37 pm

Yea I'm starting to get into trouble with my wife as I scour the end of season sales at nursery's. I travel in my job to get to check out a lot of nursery's away from where I live. Just bought a Super Dwarf Cavendish banana plant just today! I also have my eye on a European Palm at 60% off from the same nursery that I bought the two big windmill palms at. Going to get it Friday, when I'll have a truck to bring it home in. Don't really need another palm...but why pass up great deals! I'll post pics of that one too when I get it.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 1:49 pm

Good size to practice with!

Might want to switch over to all mulch around it.

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 1:55 pm

I will add mulch as the dirt settles around the base. I just planted it last night and I know it will settle. I will add mulch, and for winter will surround it with leaves and what ever winter protection I decide to put over it. Right now I'm thinking about those 55gallon plastic barrels? We have a lot of them at work so may use that. I can spray the inside part with insulating foam, and make a hole for a light fixture for some heat. If it survives a few winters and grows taller I'll have to double the size(stack) of the barrels or come up with something different. Being on the south side, it will get a lot of good protection anyway. Again, this will be experimentation palm. I have a extra large 3 car insulated garage, so will put all my other palms and possibly potted banana's in the garage to over winter.

The other baby windmill palm that I have in the ground (and growing like a weed) I will just bury in dry leaves and put a clear plastic tarp over it. I want it to get used to the cold and will be easy to protect when it's this small. It's only about a foot tall.

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 2:19 pm

I like the idea of a large med fan palm. In areas with warm summers, I think they are an excellent choice for cold winters.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 2:55 pm

Nice pics now that I can see them too.

Facebook said to log in first (nope!).

Nice nursery shopping!

Barb

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 3:02 pm

Yea, got a message from them(nursery) Tropicals are now 75% off! Already know what I want..as long as it's still there. Going to try and make it there after work to get it since I have my truck with me.

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 3:09 pm

Wife's going to kill me too.

We don't have that big of yard, but it's hard to pass up such great deals when they present themselves.

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 5:25 pm

Made it before closing time....

Will transplant into much larger pot this weekend.

http://s1085.photobucket.com/albums/j43 ... alm004.jpg

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 5:38 pm

That is a fantastic palm! Plan on protecting it each winter, though.
Maybe we should start on, "show us your Chamearops" for the next thread?

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 9:43 pm

Oooh, that's a nice one.
Yet another good purchase.

Show us pictures of where you plant it.

Wife must be totally ticked by now

Barb

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 2:35 pm

I rule the roost in my castle! But will get pic taken when I put it in larger pot this weekend.

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 6:43 pm

Transplanted European Fan Palm.

http://s1085.photobucket.com/albums/j43 ... nt=007.jpg

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 5:02 am

Since my last post, the palm/tropical plant bug has really got me now. have purchased.....

Slim Lady Palm

Pygmy Date Palm(wife even encouraged!) On sale at Lowe's for $8.50

Pencil Cactus

Oh, and a 6x8 Greenhouse

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 10:46 am

Wives like the palm hobby as they figure it is cheaper than golf, fishing, mistresses, cars, gambling, etc.

Tip: take her somewhere with coconut palms in the winter. They REALLY like that!

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 11:01 am

Ya know, after seeing a customer of mine growing a real cocoanut palm outside his business here in Omaha(potted), I looked online to see if they could be bought...and they are. Hummmm

JackLord · Post by **JackLord** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 5:30 pm

sashaeffer wrote:Ya know, after seeing a customer of mine growing a real cocoanut palm outside his business here in Omaha(potted), I looked online to see if they could be bought...and they are. Hummmm

I would wait until Spring. Very finicky palms.

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 5:37 pm

Yea, I was thinking that. Don't want to worry about yet another tropical plant to bring inside or over winter. Was cool to see though.

PalmsNorth.com

Winter protection pics.........

Winter protection pics.........

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