Wodyetia bifurcata

[PALM MOD 525]

Damage began: 30 degrees

Severe damage/death: 27-28 degees

Ultimate damage after experiencing 21 F.

[elHoagie 275]

30F (night one) - little or no damage

27F (night two) - 50% of leaves turned brown.  spear still green.

My palm is similar in size to the ones pictured, and has been in the ground for 3 years.

[epicure3 91]

No visible damage yet to either of mine. One under the fronds of a royal, the other partly covered by kentia and fiddle leafed fig. Low of 29 Sunday morning was the worst.

[doubravsky 697]

2 in the front... no damage at all which I was surprised by. It must be the proximity to the house.

(Edit 1/16) - now beginning to show damage, appears like it may get severe.  

next edit 1/30- one plant on the other side of the garage- 100% leaf damage, spear browning. Probably dead. The other two 15-20% leaf damage.

[Cycadcenter 24]

Fallbrook

20 degrees two nights ....................DEAD

[RadPalms 2]

I have 59 foxtails ranging in size from 32 inches to 6 feet. They are all fried, but the spears still look good on most of them.  I also have 1 maybe 11 foot or so still in a 25 gallon pot that got some what fried but looks to be ok.  I had a temp reading of 25.5F on Sunday morining and a 27.6F reading This morining. I did clean out my garage on Sunday and got everyone of the other foxtails out of the cold.  I leave them there until thrusday nite.....Here is a pic of the larger foxtail

[Jim in Los Altos 2,389]

26.5F and two of my foxtails, slightly larger than the ones in the pics. at the top, are fried except for their spears. One on my side yard near the house, no visible damage.

[frisbee 11]

(IPSPTModerator @ Jan. 15 2007,13:53)

QUOTE

Damage began: 30 degrees

Severe damage/death: 27-28 degees

Yup...these are my Foxtails after seeing 21F.

Edit by Mod: Thanks for the info Sam. I went back and edited. I used your pic to try and get the ball rolling for this freeze forum.

[frisbee 11]

I lost 11 of them (9'-10' tall). Here is the close up picture.

[MattyB 2,017]

Foxtail, 1 foot of clear trunk, stem diameter 3", in ground, 7 feet overall.

24.1F, no frost, no canopy

40%-50% leaf burn

(took 28F, no frost, night before w/ no immediate, dramatic damage.  Note: this palms normally shows minor leaf spotting/tip burning during winter but didn't show major damage until the night of 24.1F.)

[DoomsDave 8,753]

Approx. 29 FF, large specimens, from fifteeners, no damage.

Three solid nights of 28-29 FF, -1 C.

dave

[Don Little 15]

Have two foxtails, one in the back fully exposed and on in front with some protection.  The lowest reading I got was 29 and neither showed any damage exept for perhaps some very minor spotting at worst.

[Kathy 18]

Several just-trunking individuals pretty fried here after 24F, nearly 80-100% burn, and maybe gone unless spears survive.  (What to replace them with?......)

[Geoff 267]

27F for 5 hours... 8' tall plant now has 'cholate' colored leaves.. spike might survive...

[aztropic 2,108]

I had 2 nights at 25F,5mph wind,8 hours exposure to minimum both nights,no frost,wrapped with a sheet.Total defoliation including soft brown spear into the trunk.Expect death on this one.

aztropic,

Mesa,Arizona

[aztropic 2,108]

Foxtail seedlings ...  Some totally fried,some barely have a scratch even though they are all side by side.Genetic variation?These were not protected.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[epicure3 91]

(aztropic @ Jan. 19 2007,20:45)

QUOTE

I had 2 nights at 25F,5mph wind,8 hours exposure to minimum both nights,no frost,wrapped with a sheet.Total defoliation including soft brown spear into the trunk.Expect death on this one.

aztropic,

Mesa,Arizona

Sorry about that one. If you got it at HD, bring it on back and pick out a new one.

[aztropic 2,108]

(epicure3 @ Jan. 20 2007,11:22)

QUOTE

(aztropic @ Jan. 19 2007,20:45)

QUOTE

I had 2 nights at 25F,5mph wind,8 hours exposure to minimum both nights,no frost,wrapped with a sheet.Total defoliation including soft brown spear into the trunk.Expect death on this one.

aztropic,

Mesa,Arizona

Sorry about that one. If you got it at HD, bring it on back and pick out a new one.

Bought it from a private nursery.It's been in the ground 3 years now.I have anticipated it freezing eventually and if you look at the pic,it's replacement is already established.(Female "medjool" date palm grown from a cutting I took off a certified mother tree.)

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[epicure3 91]

(aztropic @ Jan. 20 2007,12:27)

QUOTE

(epicure3 @ Jan. 20 2007,11:22)

QUOTE

(aztropic @ Jan. 19 2007,20:45)

QUOTE

I had 2 nights at 25F,5mph wind,8 hours exposure to minimum both nights,no frost,wrapped with a sheet.Total defoliation including soft brown spear into the trunk.Expect death on this one.

aztropic,

Mesa,Arizona

Sorry about that one. If you got it at HD, bring it on back and pick out a new one.

Bought it from a private nursery.It's been in the ground 3 years now.I have anticipated it freezing eventually and if you look at the pic,it's replacement is already established.(Female "medjool" date palm grown from a cutting I took off a certified mother tree.)

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

Well that's cool. At least you'll get something edible out of it. dates in Phoenix sound like a good match.  

[happ 140]

Coldest minimum : 37F

[RadPalms 2]

This is an update from an earlier post.  It has now been 10 days and my foxtails are a field of brown frownds.

[RadPalms 2]

Here is the field

[ghar41 201]

I have 3 small trees in my yard all planted out of 2 gallon pots 2005.  They were all covered with heavy duty garbage bags and 2 of them were in close proximity to warm fires.  The 2 that were next to the fires are almost completely chocolate brown but the third, located in a prime southeast facing location right up against the house, is shown in the picture.  It has lots of spots, minimal leaf damage.

[gavilan1 4]

This is a second try at posting this - last try died due to image size.  The young foxtail in this image saw 32°F on Jan. 15 and 27°F on Jan.16 (for two hrs.) in Garden Grove, CA.  Since the fronds and new spears are above the level of the adjacent block wall just east of this palm, it was fully exposed to the elements.  Prior to the freeze, my only concern with this palm was that the spears were not opening normally (also observed on some small Phoenix roebelenii I have in containers in full sun).

[gavilan1 4]

I know that this foxtail did not die, as the new spears are still growing.  I marked the spears on Feb.24 (7 days ago) and today (Mar. 3) the newest spear shows over a half-inch of growth. The spear over five feet (still unopened) showed almost no movement.

[gavilan1 4]

So here's my question:  what to do about the unopened spear that has been closed for a couple of months, at a minimum?  Should I help it along in some manner, or let it open (or not) on its own?

[aztropic 2,108]

Let the spear open on its own.If you try to open it up manually,the individual leaves tend to dry up.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[ghar41 201]

Four months later....the W. bifircata that "survived" in my above post has slowly deteriorated over the course of the the last four months and appears dead.

I have seen this plant survive freezing weather here...only to deteriorate slowly until it's dead by May.

I am convinced that its our months of cold, soggy soil rather than a specific low temperature that finishes these palms off.  

Are there examples out there that survived lower temperatures than my 24.9 F?

[ruskinPalms 540]

Went below 32F at 330am, went back above 32F by 830am. 5 total hours of freezing temperatures. Ultimate low of 29.7F with 7.6 "freezing degree hours" calculated as discussed in the weather forum. Moderate winds varying from NNW to NNE all night, dewpoints in low teens, no frost. No overhead canopy in my yard. No protection provided. Photos from 4 days after the freeze event.

Mimimal to no damage

South east corner of house:

Fairly open yard:

North side of yard:

Northeast corner of house:

[Big Tex 15]

I have one that is about 20 foot.

29F for 2 hours

below 32 for 5 hours

The trunk was wrapped in Christmas lights and covered in insulation.  The fronds were tied together and wrapped in frost cloth.

No frost.

No damage!

[_Keith 757]

26.2 degrees, 10+ below freezing, no frost, 50% frond damage.    Expect a full comeback, but had there been any frost at all, I suspect it would be dead.

[Pete in Paradise Hills 129]

4 nights below 40 a month ago, with lows around 35. This tree is about 12 feet tall to the top of the spear. One lowest frond completely died, some others are browning but hopefully they will make it. The upper most fronds look completely healthy.

[Rafael 424]

31F for two back to back nights. Greenhouse grown folliage. Little damage showing after 30 days, mainly on older fronds.

[enigma99 585]

4 nights below 40 a month ago, with lows around 35. This tree is about 12 feet tall to the top of the spear. One lowest frond completely died, some others are browning but hopefully they will make it. The upper most fronds look completely healthy.

Did you have any frost on those nights?

[Pete in Paradise Hills 129]

No frost. It was planted in november2014 from a 20 gallon. It is exposed with no protection

[enigma99 585]

So it looks like 27F is 90-100% defoliation and 25F is death?

Edited January 7, 2016 by enigma99

[RedRabbit 1,667]

Mixed results from 28f. This palm has a lot of variability in hardiness. Most local specimens had moderate damaged, some look perfectly fine, and at least one looks like it might die.

Additional info can be found here: http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/55520-2018-freeze-in-central-florida/&do=findComment&comment=834723