Pritchardia affinis

[epicure3]

Another one I forgot to add. Ok....

Sun AM: 29F. No frost

Mon AM: 34F. No frost

Tues AM: 29F. No frost.

Wed AM: 34F. No Frost

Thurs AM: 35F. No frost

Mottled coloring to one frond. Otherwise, looks ok for now.

[epicure3]

(epicure3 @ Jan. 18 2007,12:20)

QUOTE

Another one I forgot to add. Ok....

Sun AM: 29F. No frost

Mon AM: 34F. No frost

Tues AM: 29F. No frost.

Wed AM: 34F. No Frost

Thurs AM: 35F. No frost

Mottled coloring to one frond. Otherwise, looks ok for now.

Update....

ended up losing 2 fronds on this plant. Both have been trimmed off and a new frond has opened.

[BigFrond]

I bought one from Joe Palma 4 months prior to the freeze and it is doing quite well.  It actually pushed out a nice frond during The Great Freeze of 2007.

[Austinpalm]

I planted a 1 gallon size plant last summer in full sun on the southeast side of the house. This past winter it experienced little damage until the last hard freeze of 25F. All 5 small fronds were lost but the spear remained green. It managed to survive and put on 5 new fronds this summer. A fast grower during the summer.

[surgeon83]

A Pritchardia survived a winter in Austin, TX!?!??! That's incredible, especially for a 1 gallon plant. How about a picture of it?

[Austinpalm]

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Here is the offending plant. Since I last posted, it has opened another frond. That makes 6 this summer. Not the fastest by any means, but faster than some.

[Austinpalm]

Pritchardia affinis survived this past winter's low of 28F without any protection other than its location between mine and my neighbors house. It exhibited burn to approximately 50% of fronds, but has already begun replacing them.

[Austinpalm]

Ultimate low of 16F was very hard on the P. affinis, however it is still alive and growing. Even with protection of being near the house and covered with leaves and a plastic bucket, the palm lost all fronds except for the spear. It has since put forth and new spear and is growing well. First pix shows the P. affinis in Sept09 and the second shows it in June10. The D. lutescens to the left did not survive. However the foxy-lady in the back is returning from the grave.

[epicure3]

Ultimate low of 16F was very hard on the P. affinis, however it is still alive and growing. Even with protection of being near the house and covered with leaves and a plastic bucket, the palm lost all fronds except for the spear. It has since put forth and new spear and is growing well. First pix shows the P. affinis in Sept09 and the second shows it in June10. The D. lutescens to the left did not survive. However the foxy-lady in the back is returning from the grave.

Are you sure it got that cold? There is no way any Pritchardia will survive 16F.

[Austinpalm]

Ultimate low of 16F was very hard on the P. affinis, however it is still alive and growing. Even with protection of being near the house and covered with leaves and a plastic bucket, the palm lost all fronds except for the spear. It has since put forth and new spear and is growing well. First pix shows the P. affinis in Sept09 and the second shows it in June10. The D. lutescens to the left did not survive. However the foxy-lady in the back is returning from the grave.

Are you sure it got that cold? There is no way any Pritchardia will survive 16F.

I do not have a thermometer along that side of the house so it is possible that that portion of the yard stayed slightly warmer. I am simply going by the reported low temperature for my part of town (18F). I have also lately been able to find an amateur weather station approximately 1-2 miles from my house that reported an overall low of 16F for that night. This is the warmest part of my yard, so it may have been slightly warmer. Below is a list of other species in that portion of my yard and how they fared.

20 feet Brachychiton acerfolis died,

B. rupestris went from 5 feet tall to 1 foot tall*

Chorisia speciosa went from 10 feet to 1 foot tall*

1 gallon Foxy lady died during the summer (I am assuming from damage sustained during the winter) $

Livistona decora (10 feet to top of fronds) exhibited 70% fried fronds

3 gallon sized Liv. decora burnt to the ground*$

Liv. australis x decora (7 feet to top of fronds) exhibited 100% fried fronds

Leucanea pulverenta went from 20 feet tall to 1 foot

4-5 feet tall giant turks cap burnt to the ground*

3 gallon Dypsis lutescens died $

7 gallon Bismarckia nobilis exhibited 30% fried fronds*$

1 gallon Thrinax radiata probably dead but still has 1 green frond$

3 gallon Coccothrinax barbadensis burnt to ground but is growing*$

5 gallon Leucothrinax morrissii exhibited 5% fried fronds$

10 gallon bird of paradise burnt to ground but growing$

5 gallon giant bird of paradise burnt to ground but growing*$

5 gallon Phoenix roebilini dead$ (I actually had P. roebilinii in another area of the yard survive)*$

5 gallon Zamia maritima totally defoliated*$

10 gallon Heliconia schiedena burnt to the ground*$

* - plants under canopy (live oak or house)

$ - plant protected by sheet or plastic pot.

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

Ultimate low of 16F was very hard on the P. affinis, however it is still alive and growing. Even with protection of being near the house and covered with leaves and a plastic bucket, the palm lost all fronds except for the spear. It has since put forth and new spear and is growing well. First pix shows the P. affinis in Sept09 and the second shows it in June10. The D. lutescens to the left did not survive. However the foxy-lady in the back is returning from the grave.

Are you sure it got that cold? There is no way any Pritchardia will survive 16F.

I do not have a thermometer along that side of the house so it is possible that that portion of the yard stayed slightly warmer. I am simply going by the reported low temperature for my part of town (18F). I have also lately been able to find an amateur weather station approximately 1-2 miles from my house that reported an overall low of 16F for that night. This is the warmest part of my yard, so it may have been slightly warmer. Below is a list of other species in that portion of my yard and how they fared.

20 feet Brachychiton acerfolis died,

B. rupestris went from 5 feet tall to 1 foot tall*

Chorisia speciosa went from 10 feet to 1 foot tall*

1 gallon Foxy lady died during the summer (I am assuming from damage sustained during the winter) $

Livistona decora (10 feet to top of fronds) exhibited 70% fried fronds

3 gallon sized Liv. decora burnt to the ground*$

Liv. australis x decora (7 feet to top of fronds) exhibited 100% fried fronds

Leucanea pulverenta went from 20 feet tall to 1 foot

4-5 feet tall giant turks cap burnt to the ground*

3 gallon Dypsis lutescens died $

7 gallon Bismarckia nobilis exhibited 30% fried fronds*$

1 gallon Thrinax radiata probably dead but still has 1 green frond$

3 gallon Coccothrinax barbadensis burnt to ground but is growing*$

5 gallon Leucothrinax morrissii exhibited 5% fried fronds$

10 gallon bird of paradise burnt to ground but growing$

5 gallon giant bird of paradise burnt to ground but growing*$

5 gallon Phoenix roebilini dead$ (I actually had P. roebilinii in another area of the yard survive)*$

5 gallon Zamia maritima totally defoliated*$

10 gallon Heliconia schiedena burnt to the ground*$

* - plants under canopy (live oak or house)

$ - plant protected by sheet or plastic pot.

Based on your complete damage report, I'd say your actual temps were in the low to mid 20f 's .

Thats the kind of damage I get about once every 10 to 15 years here in Modesto.

jeff

[Austinpalm]

Low to mid 20's is certainly possible since I do not have a thermometer in the in area in question. However, IMHO I doubt that I have that great of a microclimate here. I believe it is more of a reflection of the soil temps than anything. But I guess I really don't care, I just want the palm to grow as long as possible.

[MattyB]

Pritchardia affinis now Pritchardia maideniana

This P. maideniana is in a large pot at my parents house in Alpine, CA 91901, at 1800 ft. elev. It sits halfway under a lath overhang and half exposed to the sky. So far this winter they have had about 5 very cold mornings at 31F with frost. The most exposed, horizontal leaf seems to have suffered frost burn, but the other leaves only have cold spotting.