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Dypsis Santelucei & Dypsis Mahajanga cold hardiness


Sandy Loam

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I have been searching PalmTalk and there isn't a lot of info out there about the cold hardiness of Dypsis Saintelucei and Dypsis Mahajanga. Mine have spent the past 2 or 3 years in northern Florida unprotected and have never experienced any damage, but they were planted after the great freezes of 2009-2010 and have never seen any extreme temperatures. They were unaffected by 26 degrees Fahrenheit and, if I am not mistaken, they had an overnight temperature in the low 20s once.

At some point in the future 18 F or 17 F is foreseeable and unpreventable, although it may take a few years before that happens. Would these two palms survive that type of temperature in their current location under live oak canopy?

I look forward to any comments you have. I have seen the post about Dypsis Saintelucei having no damage at all after experiencing 23 degrees during the great freeze of 2007 in California. However, there simply doesn't seem to be a lot of data on these two palms.

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Two shots in the low twenties anihilated my 3' D. mahajanga. I think a mature specimen would be able to take those temps with complete defoliation and come back. I would put its hardiness similar to maybe D. decaryi or D. prestoniana

Tyler

Coastal Zone 9a

''Karma is a good girl, she just treats you exactly how you treat her"

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Hello Tyler. Did that happen during the big freeze this January (snow, ice, sleet in Pensacola) or did it happen another time due to cold temperatures alone? The reason I ask is that I have never seen a flake of snow in Gainesville, although I heard that a few flakes fell in 1989. I would never expect to see those conditions here --- well, perhaps once every 25 years as a total fluke. There is a big difference between a quick dip into the low twenties vs. the low twenties coupled with fronds coated in ice. I heard that this is what Pensacola faced this January. Otherwise, apart from this January, Pensacola weather is normally not so different from ours over here.

How many years was the Dypsis Mahajanga in the ground at your place?

Your comparison with Dypsis Decaryi does not give me much faith in keeping this palm long-term. I would not plant a Dypsis Decaryi here. I am just a few degrees too cold. Dypsis Decaryi does well 2 hours south of here, but not this far north.

Edited by Sandy Loam
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Yes the damage took place this past winter. Where I am located we did get some freezing rain and ice but that was the 2nd go around. My mahajanga was about a 95% goner the 1st time when I hit a dry 21 degrees. Although, the core and spear where still solid. The 2nd hit at 23 degrees is what finally killed it. It was less than a year in the ground.

Like I said, as full grown specimens, these would definitely defoliate in the low twenties frost or not but could come back as long as it didn't continuously see very cold temperatures. If I were you I would protect your palm from anything lower than 26 degress until it reaches some height and girth and then when you get a hard freeze, chances are it could come back.

Tyler

Coastal Zone 9a

''Karma is a good girl, she just treats you exactly how you treat her"

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We will eventually see temps in the mid to high teens it is inevitable, but as long as they don't get too big and the big chill doesn't hit us for too long you should be able to get them through it with some heavy protection. You have a really nice microclimate and should be able to protect them fairly easily. They probably won't ever been grown by the general populous where we are unless some much more cold hardy strains pop up. Hey, we haven't seen it here since 1989 and that was over twenty years ago; so I would give them a shot just have a heater and tarp handy during the winter.

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Neither species can survive your winters without protection

Meg

Palms of Victory I shall wear

Cape Coral (It's Just Paradise)
Florida
Zone 10A on the Isabelle Canal
Elevation: 15 feet

I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade.

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Thanks for your input, everyone. I don't do much "protection," so these may not be long-term palms for me. I only throw a blanket over the tender plants a couple of nights each year. I don't add heat.

Tyler, was your dypsis mahajanga planted right out in the open, or was it nestled up against other plants. Did it have overhead canopy?

Clearly, if dypsis mahajanga can't take a quick dip to 21 F followed a quick dip down to 23 F, then it is not a tree for my location. My low dips can be just a couple of hours and can be preceded and followed by 70F within hours, but the dips can be quite low like yours. Hearing your story, I am surprised that my dypsis mahajanga and dypsis saintelucei had no damage in the low twenties. Mine are both thigh height -- not big.

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Protected up against the house facing south...good luck

Tyler

Coastal Zone 9a

''Karma is a good girl, she just treats you exactly how you treat her"

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What kind of a cold event can prestoniana survive? Can it recover from a rare occurance of defoliation? I know it isn't a deciepens but what would you compare it too. I might have fifty seedlings or so soon.

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