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Would These Survive a Zone 7a/7b Winter?


PalmTreeDude

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If i were to plant these in the ground right now, which gives them all summer to grow, would they make it through our Virginia zone 7a/7b Winter?

 

PalmTreeDude

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Ok well apparently the photo won't upload, they are two 4 inch tall needle palm seedlings.

PalmTreeDude

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You probably want to protect them for 2 or 3 winters before letting them fly solo.

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Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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46 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

You probably want to protect them for 2 or 3 winters before letting them fly solo.

I agree with this advice. I've lived in 7a and 7b areas the whole time I've grown any palms. Needles as well as trachycarpus always seem less hardy their first winter or two in the ground. 

They seem prone to spear pull until they are well established.

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I planted 5 strap leaf needle palms June 2 last year in Zone 7a and found that they're surprisingly hardy. This winter was rather mild so the only protection I provided to my needles was wrapping them with burlap before any large snowstorms and temperature dips without any supplemental heat. By the end of February, four of the five needle palms had survived multiple dips into the teens and an ultimate low of 10 degrees. The one that died was, unsurprisingly, the smallest palm of the five.

Since the end of February was so mild, I got lazy and thought I could get away with not protecting the needles for the rest of the reason. Then March came along and turned out to be even colder than February! I lost two more needles this month, leaving me with only two that were the largest of the five I had planted. The smaller survivor later spear pulled (but still has green leaves) and only the largest palm made it through the winter unscathed.

I'm not sure that seedlings would be capable of surviving your winters. It's hard to tell without a picture. They would definitely need significant protection if you do decide to plant them. Size certainly matters a lot when it comes to hardiness. The difference in size between my needles wasn't even that great but it made a huge difference when winter came around.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just getting back here after a long while...can't speak for straplings but the two needles I have are doing great here in Northern Va. Springfield...about 8 miles away from DC. The larger made it through the winter of 2014 with loose cover but no supplemental heat...the smaller has been in the ground and is headed for its third winter unprotected. Both are situated on a south facing embankment with good north wind protection. They really are carefree...sort of...:)image.thumb.jpg.b23e4393765d6c74126e82e9image.thumb.jpg.b23e4393765d6c74126e82e9

image.jpg

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9 hours ago, GregVirginia7 said:

Just getting back here after a long while...can't speak for straplings but the two needles I have are doing great here in Northern Va. Springfield...about 8 miles away from DC. The larger made it through the winter of 2014 with loose cover but no supplemental heat...the smaller has been in the ground and is headed for its third winter unprotected. Both are situated on a south facing embankment with good north wind protection. They really are carefree...sort of...:)image.thumb.jpg.b23e4393765d6c74126e82e9image.thumb.jpg.b23e4393765d6c74126e82e9

image.jpg

I have one with an inch of trunk and a ton of strap leaf suckers that I never protected from day one here in the Richmond area, and they do great.It is just I don't know about these smaller individual plants. 

PalmTreeDude

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On June 21, 2017 at 2:14:22 PM, Ben OK said:

I agree with this advice. I've lived in 7a and 7b areas the whole time I've grown any palms. Needles as well as trachycarpus always seem less hardy their first winter or two in the ground. 

They seem prone to spear pull until they are well established.

I use a golf umbrella for my Trachy to keep the snow and rain off the crown in the winter...electric taped to a 7' shepherd's hook iron plant hanger...works like a charm...being situated under a pine tree helps, too.

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