"Royal" Protection

[Joey Powell]

Some of you saw the pics I posted a few days ago. Well, winter hit us early last week. We had temps in the low 20s on two different mornings. And now we are expected to have low 20s again for the next three mornings. And wind chill temps are predicted to be in the upper single digits here Monday morning.

Okay well I couldn't just let my favorite palm go without protection. My Cuban Royal has been in the ground since February of 2008. This will be it's third winter.

Here's a "before" shot (click the pics to enlarge them)...

...then $100 and few hours later...

I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do next winter. But this winter, it's all taken care of

[Al in Kona]

Thanks for sharing your "saving a palm" project. I'd of done the same thing if I was in your situation - keep that nice Royal palm as long as you can. Will you leave that protective cover on all winter or can it be opened during your warmer days, as I know you can get some nice days in winter as well. This effort will reward you with another long season to enjoy that Royal in your garden!

[markpeters77]

I thought that this would be a lively debate regarding the efficacy of the police with regards to the events in London on Thursday night and the attack on Prince Charles' limousine. Imagine my dissapointment when I realised it was about plants!

Seriously, that's quite a setup Joey, hope it does the trick!

[edric]

Your a saint! Good luck! Ed

[osideterry]

That Royal will look even more tropical surrounded by a bunch of Zone 8 friendly palms. Butias, Sabals Washies, Trachycarpus and Chamarhops may not be as sexy as a royal, but they won't require the winter maintenance.

[BS Man about Palms]

Be sure to open it if the temp approaches 70F, it will be very hot in there..

[tjwalters]

Next winter you made need to add a third level. Looks great!

[Walt]

Great job! I believe (unless some violent wind came along and blew down your structure) your royal palm will be fine.

Over the past 12 winters I've experimenated with myriad types of cold/frost protection. Total enclosers with supplemental heat like yours, I believe, is the best protection you can give. Of course, as you already realize, once the palm grows too big a total enclosure my become impractical if not practicable. But until that time, I believe your enclosure will protect your royal palm just fine, providing you can control the amount of supplemental heat.

I still construct rough, down and dirty, enclosures to protect smaller palms and shrubs. Most enclosures are PVC tents with supplemental heat (like a discarded electric skillet/frying pan or a 1500 watt space heater, depending on the volume of the enclosure.

One palms too tall to erect/construct an enclosure (like my adonidia palm in below photos) I bundle the fronds, coil a 7 BTU/LF heating cable around the palm, then wrap it in several layers of flannel sheets(in this case I used a heavy quilted mattress cover). Sometimes I even overwrap the sheets with a PVC tarp (keeps dew off and penetration of the sheets). This system also works verey well for me. The only caveat is that you must first cover the crown shaft and any petioles that the cables might come in contact with (trunk is okay to contact), as the cables will eventually scorch the tendger green tissue. It's not that the cables run hot (they are warm to the touch) but eventually after say 8-10 hours of running the heat does damage the crownshaft tissues. No problem if you first wrap with terry cloth towel.

My cables activate at 37 degrees by a built-in, in-line thermostat and shut off at 45 degrees. Normally, I unplug the cables just after sun up once the air temperature is above freezing.

In the below 1st photo I removed the bottom two fronds to make it easier to bundle the fronds. Of course, the more fronds you leave on the better the inner fronds will be insulated.

Let us know how your royal makes out. BTW, I have an Oregon Scientific digital thermometer with three remote sensors. Some times I will put a remote sensor in my enclosure so I can monitor the temperature inside (viewing my bbase station read out), resting assured that my palm is being protected.

[Alicehunter2000]

Geez...Lu-eez.......thats some serious palm protection. Just icicle lights wrapped in sheets for me, hope it works again this year.

[Joey Powell]

Wow amazing to hear this. I do many things very similarly.

I too have an Oregon Scientific wireless weather station, complete with anemometer. It allows me to monitor seasonal highs/lows and the temps inside of my greenhouses.

Also, I protect my Canary Island Date Palm and Medjool Date Palms when temps get below 22. I tie the fronds up and then wrap them in small Christmas tree lights. Then I cover them with bed comforters/quilts and tie that off. So far this has saved my the fronds on them every time the temp has gotten to 20 or below. This happened several times last year.

On a sadder note I spent a lot of time out protecting stuff in the yard today, but I was unable to wrap the CIDPs and Medjools. Temps will be near 21 tonight and then 19 tomorrow night. And the wind is blowing 15-20 mph. Wind chills for the next two mornings expected to be in the high single digits. I put a comforter around the base of each. Maybe they can make tonight and I'll be able to protect them better tomorrow. From what I've seen these palms burn at around 20 degrees. But I'll be willing to bet the wind will make it worse.

Here's a few pics I took a few days ago...

[Walt]

Once a trunked palm gets too large to protect the fronds, I resort to what I call my catastrophic protection mode. That is, I only concern myself with protecting the trunk and meristem (growth bud).

I wrap the trunk up past the meristem with a heating cable (I have both 24 feet and 40 feet lengths and use them according to palm size) and then heavy insulative wraps. While the fronds may be killed by the cold, there's enough starch in the palm's root system and trunk to regrow a new crown over the next spring, summer and fall (although on some palms it may take two years to regrow a complete new crown).

I've employeed this type of protection now for many years and I know it works for me. Of course, most winters I only need to employee this technique 1-2 times. It may not be successful where one tries to do this over the entire winter.

Last winter, especially 12 days January and also a good stretch in February I had to use it far more frequently. Still, it worked and my palms (king, teddy bear, adonidia, and coconut) I used it on were fine.

I've been growing my small coconut palm now for about five years, since it was a 10 gallon size. At first I could bundle all the fronds and wrap them. But by last winter it became impractical (and dangerous trying to work off a 10 feet step ladder) to wrap it. So, I resorted to my catastrophic technique. My coconut palm came through last winter with no problems, while others growing in warmer locations than mine were killed or severely hurt (and haven't yet fully recuperated).

About a week ago in anticipation of very early cold weather I employeed my winter protection on my coconut palm. Good thing I did as it got down into the 20s last Monday and Tuesday mornings. The fronds are already badly burned, with only green in the very center. This Tuesday and Wednesday morning could be even colder.

Note the digital thermometer sensor placed in a webbed pocket on my coconut palm. Once wrapped the sensor transmits back to my base station. It never dropped below 55 degrees under the wraps. Of course, the sensor could be slightly influenced by the heating cable. In any event, the palm's trunk and meristem wasn't hurt last winter. Hopefully, it will be okay again this winter.

I wrapped over the heating cables with a heavy quilted mattress cover. These things make great insulation blankets.

[DoomsDave]

Joey:

You just so rock the house, I don't know what to say except keep us apprized.

Gonna go swoon on the sofa . .

[palmsOrl]

Joey, I think that is amazing. If I lived in southern Alabama, I would do the exact same thing. Just like I was up on an 8 ft. step-ladder tonight, struggling to throw blankets over my 15 ft. Areca triandra that just barely survived last winter. When it gets too tall for your enclosure (after you've already added the 3rd and 4th level), you could probably keep it for several more years by giving it that catastrophic protection mode that Walt mentioned. It is only one palm, after all, so it is definitely worth the effort for a palm that nobody else in the area has in the ground.

-Michael

Edited December 14, 2010 by palmsOrl

[Tampa Scott]

I put a good amount of time protecting my Royal when it was small. Now it always looks bad with freeze damaged leaves holding on every year. Here is a picture of it now still showing last winters damage.

[zootropical]

Hi Joey,

Any news from your Royal? Does it get to tall?

Sincerely.

Jean-Michel

[Joey Powell]

It's doing great this year. I have it wrapped in LED Christmas lights. Cover it when we frost or when temps get really cold.

This year has been very different for us. I've been living here since 2007. Each year the temp has gotten down to 20 degrees or colder. But so far this year the lowest temp we've had is 25.2. We've had frost only on four of five nights, it seems.

I look forward to another good year of growth on my Royal. More pics in the fall...

[Jim in Los Altos]

It's doing great this year. I have it wrapped in LED Christmas lights. Cover it when we frost or when temps get really cold.

This year has been very different for us. I've been living here since 2007. Each year the temp has gotten down to 20 degrees or colder. But so far this year the lowest temp we've had is 25.2. We've had frost only on four of five nights, it seems.

I look forward to another good year of growth on my Royal. More pics in the fall...

Joey, Hate to tell you but LED lights emit almost no heat at all. That's what makes them such energy efficient lights. You need conventional light bulb strings, either miniature or the larger c7 or c9 bulbs. Good luck with that beautiful royal.

[sonoranfans]

It's doing great this year. I have it wrapped in LED Christmas lights. Cover it when we frost or when temps get really cold.

This year has been very different for us. I've been living here since 2007. Each year the temp has gotten down to 20 degrees or colder. But so far this year the lowest temp we've had is 25.2. We've had frost only on four of five nights, it seems.

I look forward to another good year of growth on my Royal. More pics in the fall...

Joey, Hate to tell you but LED lights emit almost no heat at all. That's what makes them such energy efficient lights. You need conventional light bulb strings, either miniature or the larger c7 or c9 bulbs. Good luck with that beautiful royal.

Jim is right joey. A heat emitting light must be broad band so it has infrared(heat) not just visible. LED's are narrow, only the circuitry would emit much heat and that circuitry is low wattage(very efficient lighting). A conventional incandescent light is the best bet. If you want to convice yourself, hold each type in your hand for awhile.... enclose your and around it.

[Joey Powell]

Perhaps I misspoke. The lights are probably not LED, just the small Christmas tree lights. In any case they definitely work to keep things warm. I've been using them for years.

[zootropical]

How tall your king palm now? Does it grown fast? What is your plan to keep it warm in the future?

Any pictures welcome .

Sincerely.

[zootropical]

Hey!

Any news after this cold winter?

All the best.

Jean-Michel

[Tropicdoc]

OK, So I've read that palms have relatively small roots compared to the above ground parts. And, around town I see huge palms sitting in "bags" of soil laid around at nurseries. So..... why not leave the palms in a fairly large pot, plunged in the ground. Then, come winter, dig the pot up and lay the palm over under a poly high tunnel with heat? Then you don't kill yourself on the ladder trying to wrap the thing. This would work on small to medium sized palms I assume.