I really tried to keep my Bizzy warm.

[Duppy]

So, we had a forecast of mid 20's with 20 mph winds.  I have a lot of money and effort invested in my Bizzy so I decided I was going to build a greenhouse for it.  100$ of special ordered four hole pvc joints, pvc pipe, 1000 ft roll of shrink wrap, and 3 mil tarp.  Spent the afternoon building and gluing together a 6'x8'x8' BEEFY pvc frame, covered it with tarp and used all 1000ft of shrink wrap around the whole thing.  Put stakes in the ground and ran cord back and forth across the top until I was comfortable it was secure, stuffed some Christmas lights into it and quite happy with myself, went inside.  The winds came at 10pm and I went out at 10:30 to check on my accomplishment.  It was gone! The 8ft sail I had created did what sails do, caught the wind and went!  In a panic, all I could do was wrap the Christmas lights around the trunk to maybe, MAYBE save the bud.  We saw 17 degree wind chill that night and I pretty much conceded that my Bizzy was a loss. 

That was 3 weeks ago and here is the damage thus far.  Only 1 frond is a complete loss with another partial.  Everything else seems to be ok. It's even opening another.  We also saw an overnight ambient temp of 16 degrees a week ago and so far, no additional damage. All the segments feel soft like a healthy segment should, I could tell which ones took damage initially as they felt dry and almost brittle.

The pvc posts in the ground are what my greenhouse slid down over for additional non existent support. It was supposed to be removable when temps weren't so bad, then I could just slide it down on the posts again.

As you can see in the 2nd pic background.  My mules said "Oh, did it get cold?"

Edit: I did find my greenhouse the next morning, about 200 yards away caught in a neighbors fence.

Edited January 10, 2017 by Duppy

[GottmitAlex]

Sorry to hear about your "sail". But glad to know the palm is doing ok.

I can see from the pictures how the pvc pipes leaned just enough to make a kite out of the plastic shell.

There is a video of an inexpensive but effective way of protecting a palm/tree. 

At the end of the day the trick is to make sure something heavy like rocks are supporting the plastic onto the ground and use wood stakes, not PVC.

Works for AZ, I imagine it will work for TX.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGQ2wf3FmiE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UgvEXbxoSU

 

 

[Las Palmas Norte]

Hopefully it pulls thru. In years past I've found the full effect of winter damage don't manifest itself until spring. However that's my climate and not yours so perhaps you'll have better luck.

Cheers, Barrie. 

[Jamesasb]

if it survives 16F it will be very unique. such nice palms

 

 

 

[Tropicdoc]

Would like to know the end result of the bizzy if it lives I may consider this palm for my yard. 

On the greenhouse...... been there done that. Woke up one morning to a missing greenhouse. Never found it think it ended up being n the bottom of the pond I now lash mine to my fence. Before  had the fence I used 2 foot spiral ground anchors. 

I tried all kinds of homemade greenhouses to no avail. For the time and money get a spring gardener greenhouse goes up in about 30 minutes

[Las Palmas Norte]

Wow Tropicdoc ... that must've been some heavy wind! 

[Tropicdoc]

I always underestimate the violent cold fronts that we are subjected to here. The wind will shift from south to north within a few hours and the temps can drop 40 or 50 degrees in a day

[Las Palmas Norte]

On ‎1‎/‎14‎/‎2017‎ ‎8‎:‎33‎:‎28‎, Tropicdoc said:

.... the temps can drop 40 or 50 degrees in a day

 Yikes! Now that's a weather bomb.

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

On 1/16/2017, 6:49:30, Las Palmas Norte said:

 Yikes! Now that's a weather bomb.

 

On 1/14/2017, 11:33:28, Tropicdoc said:

I always underestimate the violent cold fronts that we are subjected to here. The wind will shift from south to north within a few hours and the temps can drop 40 or 50 degrees in a day

It is.  It happens here too.  Usually in fall and sometimes in winter.  A couple times this winter its been 60's even 70 degrees, then boom.  Cold front hits, high winds kick up within minutes and in an hour its dropped 20 degrees.  Within 12 hours or so its dropped sometimes 40 degrees or more. 

[Duppy]

It's looking worse and worse as the days go on. We're back in the 60's to 80's now with 50's at night. Debating on trying to help it with fertilizer or let it try to pull through naturally.  I'm guessing it's a goner though. On the upside, the mules look like they took it in stride.

 

we have some 20ft CIDP's 15 miles south that look like they took it pretty hard as well as numerous washy's that have browned. Those two separate nights were rough all around apparently  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 18, 2017 by Duppy

[Straight6tt]

On 1/14/2017, 10:33:28, Tropicdoc said:

I always underestimate the violent cold fronts that we are subjected to here. The wind will shift from south to north within a few hours and the temps can drop 40 or 50 degrees in a day

I would be pretty shocked if you cant grow a bizzy in houma with just a little protection.  

[Tropicdoc]

4 hours ago, Straight6tt said:

I would be pretty shocked if you cant grow a bizzy in houma with just a little protection.  

I have plans for a bed along my property line to have a Bizzy, but I'm kind of waiting for a live oak to get a couple of branches over it. I need the oak to grow about 10 more feet wide. I could use a protection measures but I already protect some kings and enough is enough.

[Tropicdoc]

4 hours ago, Straight6tt said:

I would be pretty shocked if you cant grow a bizzy in houma with just a little protection.  

There are some Bizmarkia over at Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. (actually a very nice place to see palms and other flora)

[Jimhardy]

Why do you think its a goner?

 

Out in the open like that is pretty tough...

to bad it can't be on the south side of some structure

to protect it from the north wind while its smaller.

One thing you can do to keep the/a temp G-house

from taking off is to anchor it to the ground with

ropes over the top of it,also....I would definitely never

use anything but compost etc(during the growing season)

as the MG and other "synthetic" ferts will weaken its overall

health and cold resistance....hope it comes back,I had a small one

survive 23F(bone dry) on the porch but with long nights this time of year....

 

good luck!

[Tropicdoc]

On 1/14/2017, 10:33:28, Tropicdoc said:

I always underestimate the violent cold fronts that we are subjected to here. The wind will shift from south to north within a few hours and the temps can drop 40 or 50 degrees in a day

Today north wind 25 mph gusts to 43 had to stake one of my hybrids it was about to blow over 

[Duppy]

What a difference a week makes.

JimHardy, I did have rope over the top and staked, but apparently not thick enough as it snapped.  The pvc posts in the ground were just guide posts so I could slide the Green house on and off as needed in the same position, so the fronds didn't poke a hole in it.  We were 16 that night, but 80 a week later so wanted to be able to easily remove, and install it.  The wife also reminded me AFTER THE FACT that I had 3 50lb bags of sand in the garage that could have helped hold it down.  There is some green in there still, I'm going to wait a little while longer before I go tug on the spear.

I call it a goner to prepare myself for the worst. If it pulls through I'm going to have a party specifically for that palm.   It was a zone push for sure, so I knew this was a possibility.  Lived here for 7 years and can't remember going below high 20's in the winter. So I took my chances that it would get bigger before we had a snap like this year.

v/r

 

 

[Austinpalm]

Duppy,

 

Give it until June to start growing again before you dig it up or remove it.  I had a similar situation here in Austin with a bizzy about the size of yours back in the winter of 2010-2011. We had a low of 18F with approximately 72 straight hours below freezing. My bizzy is/was located under a live oak in the front yard away from the southeast corner of my house. The bizzy lost every frond and the spear. Once spring arrived, I cut the small trunk level with the ground.  Within a month a new frond began to emerge. Now, the bizzy is almost back to the same size as it was before the hard freeze. Your bizzy is in more sun, so it will likely grow even faster. I would suggest putting some hydrogen peroxide into the trunk if the spear pulls, then try to keep it dry for the remainder of the winter.  Unless we get another bout of extreme cold, I bet it will pull thru.  Good luck.

[Duppy]

That's encouraging Austin. I'll try to remain patient.

[Las Palmas Norte]

The issue in some of these cases is where the damage exists. If the damage on the emerging spear/s is above a visual point, it may be OK. If not, then the risk is it outgrowing the damage before it progresses downward into the crown killing the palm. In other words, the growth must out-pace the damage and it's residual effects. Some carefully applied Hydrogen Peroxide to the emerging spears may help.

Cheers, Barrie.

[Jimhardy]

Thats a very important point....I wonder if you peek in

there a little if you would see any green??

Maybe not,you can also(on a calm day)stick your

nose near there and see if there is any smell...as Barrie mentioned

its really a question of how far down the damage goes,if there

is moisture in there etc...if you can look down in there and see any

green you may be in good shape...now getting back to the fungal infection

progressing downward faster than the spear can grow out,this is a canditate

for trunk cutting if you do not see life in there and this can save a palms life.

You dont want to go to far at first because you can cut out the meristem if

you go to deep...anyway,trunk cutting alleviates several issues...for one

it allows oxygen and light to get to the inner part of the trunk and a fungal

infection cannot take hold in those conditions...so if your instincts(or the palm-

same thing)tell you to cut then do it,this can halt any progression of

the infection getting a foothold...waiting can be a good thing but if

there is a large area of damage that gets wet and has warmth the

fungal growth is explosive....so cutting a little bit to find live tissue

can be a life savor!

[Duppy]

There's a good amount of fungal growth. I treated with copper soap. But should I just continue to cut the spear down? It seems that if I cut all the fungus out, there will be only petiole remaining. There is another spear that is still tight, so that may be the candidate to focus on saving?
Also I've hesitated on cutting off the dead fronds because I read that the tree will reclaim nutrients from them.  The lamina is dead but the petioles still have some green. 

Edited January 25, 2017 by Duppy

[Jdiaz31089]

44 minutes ago, Duppy said:

There's a good amount of fungal growth. I treated with copper soap. But should I just continue to cut the spear down? Also I've hesitated on cutting off the dead fronds because I read that the tree will reclaim nutrients from them.  The lamina is dead but the petioles still have some green. 

That's a bummer! I was rooting for your bismarkia to pull through 

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

On 1/25/2017, 11:22:09, Duppy said:

There's a good amount of fungal growth. I treated with copper soap. But should I just continue to cut the spear down? It seems that if I cut all the fungus out, there will be only petiole remaining. There is another spear that is still tight, so that may be the candidate to focus on saving?
Also I've hesitated on cutting off the dead fronds because I read that the tree will reclaim nutrients from them.  The lamina is dead but the petioles still have some green. 

Were I you, that fungus covered frond would be outta there.  Cut it and get rid of it.  I would also pike around the tight spear just a little.  Try and pull a tiny bit of it apart. If you can see clean green then you may be in better shape than it looks. If it is brittle brown, maybe wait to see if it pushes out any.  IF you see any fungus in that new spear, treat with fungicide and  you will likely want to cut down past that.      Just my opinion.  Maybe someone else who knows more can guide you better.  

[Jimhardy]

Maybe make a mark with permanent marker to see if there is

any movement...if not,maybe try cutting down a bit on the trunk...

you may need to wait for a warm spell to see if it moves???

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

4 hours ago, Jimhardy said:

Maybe make a mark with permanent marker to see if there is

any movement...if not,maybe try cutting down a bit on the trunk...

you may need to wait for a warm spell to see if it moves???

Excellent idea.  I would def do that as well, but I would def remove every bit of fungal infected plant that you see down there. 

[Duppy]

It's back! Spears obviously took some damage, but it's chugging along.

[PalmatierMeg]

Great news. Summer sun & heat should speed its recovery.

[Fusca]

Awesome - so happy for you!  Your efforts and patience paid off!  That's such a great palm - I'm trying to find one for my Corpus Christi yard, but having difficulty finding one locally.  I remember a few nurseries in Houston that sold them, but they don't have any this year due to the bad cold snap.  Even in the RGV the only ones I could find are field-grown and I don't have the equipment to try and move one.  We had one night of 27º F in January, but that's as cold as it's been here in the past 5 years (as I have been told) so I'd think even a small Bizzie would do well here.

Jon

[Duppy]

Jon,  I had to drive to Houston to get this one, hence why I wanted it to live. Big Tex Trees was the nursery.  There was only one place here in San Antonio and it was a 13 footer. Too many zeroes in the price tag for that one.

 

[Jimhardy]

very nice it came back!  Really cool to see that!

[Fusca]

Hey Duppy,

Yes, Big Tex was one of the nurseries I remembered selling them.  I just called them this past weekend and they told me they were trying to sell more cold-hardy varieties since this past winter's nasty cold has scared potential buyers.  I was told they'd probably carry the Bizzies again after a couple more "normal" winters!  There is a nursery near my house that has some huge ones, but like you mentioned high dollar price tags.  They have one 15-gal plant that I wanted, but the container has been "planted" in the ground for more than a year so I fear that the roots would get disturbed way too easily.  I might just buy one of Joseph's (TexasColdHardyPalms) 1 gal plants since I would feel more confident that it would survive.

Jon