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Ouch Western Gulf, You're Getting Hammered Right Now


Xerarch

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Takes time for damage to fully manifest itself after a good freeze, I'll be interested to get the full report in the coming weeks. 

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Corpus Christi, TX, near salt water, zone 9b/10a! Except when it isn't and everything gets nuked.

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On 1/6/2017, 8:17:35, Xenon said:

Very bad...already 29F here at 8 pm...forecast for a low of 24F. Anyways my tropical fruit trees are screwed :lol:...fabric cover without heat isn't going to do much. Even Brownsville is forecast for 30F...looks like the coast will be spared due to the warm water (surf temp at SPI was 70F yesterday). 

 

What kind of fruit trees are you growing?  My neighbors mango looks fine but I have no idea how cold tolerant they are. 

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5 minutes ago, topwater said:

What kind of fruit trees are you growing?  My neighbors mango looks fine but I have no idea how cold tolerant they are. 

My mango and guava definitely don't look fine even with heavy covering and lights, duration of cold was too long. They were planted last summer...was hoping for a few mild winters to get them established. Really hoping some of the wood on the Nam Doc Mai mango is still alive. 

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Jonathan

Katy, TX (Zone 9a)

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The good news is that warm weather is in store for the foreseeable future, going through the forecast range. Rain chances occur in some days, so that can help get some new growth started, to ease the carnage that may have happened this winter (still need to check).

The Gulf Freeway is interesting:
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.727472,-95.3368179,3a,15y,103.01h,97.22t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sGZNchPZo0mX_CEboQFR2ow!2e0!5s20160601T000000!7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7270837,-95.3367655,3a,75y,208.02h,95.97t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sGPPCGWw82lb8Ais6O80kog!2e0!5s20160601T000000!7i13312!8i6656

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11 hours ago, Xenon said:

My mango and guava definitely don't look fine even with heavy covering and lights, duration of cold was too long. They were planted last summer...was hoping for a few mild winters to get them established. Really hoping some of the wood on the Nam Doc Mai mango is still alive. 

Try mounding as high as you can with dirt and mulch to protect the graft.

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Palms not just a tree also a state of mind

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Kinda good news - It looks like I may now know what kind of winter it takes to burn brahea armata and Trithrinax campestris.

Bad news- If brahea armata burn everything else is a giant mess.  I have a feeling that spring will rack up quite the death toll of potted/containerized plants around here.

Nothing like going from 75F to 13F back to 79F degrees in a few days to brown things out even more than they were before.  Many of my brahea, JxB all grew 4-5" of spear during the Christmas break.

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Went around downtown today...damage was not as bad as I was expecting. Phoenix roebelenii has some moderate bronzing but not totally defoliated. The one Bismarckia I saw was undamaged. Ravenea rivularis have some spotty discoloration, but there is definitely some green left and spears are tight. I wonder if any of the Wodyetia bifurcata will make it...didn't see any today. 

Tropicals like Philodendron selluom, Monstera deliciosa, Schefflera arboricola, Ficus, bougainvillea, bananas etc are totally defoliated. Strelitzia nicolai looks a little bit better and Strelitzia reginae only minor to moderate damage. Most citrus appear to be fine. Very minor/no damage on Yucca elephantipes and Aloe vera. 

Edited by Xenon
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Jonathan

Katy, TX (Zone 9a)

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5 minutes ago, Xenon said:

Went around downtown today...damage was not as bad as I was expecting. Phoenix roebelenii has some moderate bronzing but not totally defoliated. The one Bismarckia I saw was undamaged. Ravenea rivularis have some spotty discoloration, but there is definitely some green left and spears are tight. I wonder if any of the Wodyetia bifurcata will make it...didn't see any today. 

Tropicals like Philodendron selluom, Monstera deliciosa, Schefflera arboricola, Ficus, bougainvillea, bananas etc are totally defoliated. Strelitzia nicolai looks a little bit better and Strelitzia reginae only minor to moderate damage. Most citrus appear to be fine. Very minor/no damage on Yucca elephantipes and Aloe vera. 

I have a feeling that things will look a little different at the end of the week after 4-5 day just shy of 80F.  My mule looked completely untouched for 10 days this year before finally showing 70% burn. After this last drop in temp i dont think it will make it. 

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This is turning out to be pretty bad. After two days in the upper 70s larger butia 4-6' of trunk) at the nursery are showing a lot of burn and crispy spear and so are the smaller jubaea. This last dip burned the spears of all the silver med fans including large mature ones. All of the green med fans will be defoliated. Now the smaller california fan palms in the ground are burning and will probably all spear pull as well.  Saw palmettos spear pulled today as well. 

Only palms with zero burn are mature JXBf1, trunking jubaea, nannorhorps ritcheana (in a 65g pot outside), sabal minor, sabal mexicana and sanal blackburnia. Mules will be dead, brahea decumbens will be dead, any butia in a pot smaller than 25g, probably all potted filifera and some med fans-dead. Butia eriospatha, brahea brandegeei probably dead too. Smaller trithrinax campestris will die too. Worst.winter.ever for us. 

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Biggest surprise is a dyckia "cherry coke" that we got from tom broome. Completely unscathed and a few feet from a dead campestris, mature burned silver med fans and an ultra healthy jubaea that now has a brown spear. 

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11 minutes ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

This is turning out to be pretty bad. After two days in the upper 70s larger butia 4-6' of trunk) at the nursery are showing a lot of burn and crispy spear and so are the smaller jubaea. This last dip burned the spears of all the silver med fans including large mature ones. All of the green med fans will be defoliated. Now the smaller california fan palms in the ground are burning and will probably all spear pull as well.  Saw palmettos spear pulled today as well. 

Only palms with zero burn are mature JXBf1, trunking jubaea, nannorhorps ritcheana (in a 65g pot outside), sabal minor, sabal mexicana and sanal blackburnia. Mules will be dead, brahea decumbens will be dead, any butia in a pot smaller than 25g, probably all potted filifera and some med fans-dead. Butia eriospatha, brahea brandegeei probably dead too. Smaller trithrinax campestris will die too. Worst.winter.ever for us. 

Sorry to hear the news. What is the hardiness zone number of the area where you have those palms?

5 year high 42.2C/108F (07/06/2018)--5 year low 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)--Lowest recent/current winter: 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)

 

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40 minutes ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

This is turning out to be pretty bad. After two days in the upper 70s larger butia 4-6' of trunk) at the nursery are showing a lot of burn and crispy spear and so are the smaller jubaea. This last dip burned the spears of all the silver med fans including large mature ones. All of the green med fans will be defoliated. Now the smaller california fan palms in the ground are burning and will probably all spear pull as well.  Saw palmettos spear pulled today as well. 

Only palms with zero burn are mature JXBf1, trunking jubaea, nannorhorps ritcheana (in a 65g pot outside), sabal minor, sabal mexicana and sanal blackburnia. Mules will be dead, brahea decumbens will be dead, any butia in a pot smaller than 25g, probably all potted filifera and some med fans-dead. Butia eriospatha, brahea brandegeei probably dead too. Smaller trithrinax campestris will die too. Worst.winter.ever for us. 

Yikes. Sorry to hear that. I think we are all hoping the winter of 16/17 will soon be in the rear view mirror.

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10 hours ago, GottmitAlex said:

Sorry to hear the news. What is the hardiness zone number of the area where you have those palms?

Strong 8a. 

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Brutal for Dallas... Sorry to hear about that.

Really surprised the difference you can tell from just driving from downtown Houston to my area in Magnolia (about 30 Miles northwest of downtown).   Near the Galleria where I work downtown, there is minimal visible damage to Mexican fans.  By the time you get about 15 miles northwest of town (near the beltway on 290) you start to see some burn on the leaf tips.  Then in my area all W. Robusta's are 100% severely bronzed, most small queen palms completely killed.   I saw 19 for two nights in a row and well over 30 hours of below freezing temperatures along with some freezing rain to start.

I had a pretty rough go as most of my plants went into the ground in early June when I moved... here is the report, and size when it went in the ground.  Some of these I knew wouldn't make it and were just "annuals" or hopefully was going to have them for a couple years at least.

Dead/Likely Dead:

Silver Queens 15 gallon (unprotected)  -- 100% defoliated... some chance they could live, but doesn't look good

Livistona Muelleri 5 gallon (unprotected)-- Looked good initially, then 100% burned and spear pull.. dead.

Dypsis Onilahensis  3 gallon (covered with bucket) - 100% burn and mush.

Archontopheonix Tuckeri 5 gallon. (covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth).  Immediate 100% crispy burn. 

Syagrus Schizophylla 15 Gallon and 5 Gallon (covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth). 100% burn by day 2, goner. 

Attalea Cohune 5 gallon. (covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth) 80% burn... might make it. 

Jubeopsis Caffra 5 gallon.  (covered with garbage can) 100% burn by day 2.

Beccariophoenix Alfredii 5 gallon (covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth).  100% burn by 2 days after freeze

Things that survived:

Dypsis Decipiens ~7 Gallon (covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth).  Newly opening spear about 80% burned, no damage to older leaves or emerging spear.

Mule Palms (numerous sizes, unprotected).  Minor leaf spotting so far, but look mostly untouched.

Sabal Uresana, Sabal Blackburniana, Sabal Texana  zero damage, no protection.

Needle Palm -  zero damage, no protection

Butia Eriospatha 15 gallon  - zero damage, no protection

Butia Odorata 15 gallon - zero damage, no protection

Bismarckia 5 gallon (covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth) -- no apparent damage

Brahea Armata 15 gallon - zero damage, no protection

Phoenix loureiroi, reclinata and dactylifera all 5-15 gallon -- zero damage, no protection

Have several Patric Shafer hybrids in ground that all did well..

BXJXJ -- 1 Gallon, covered with garbage can, no damage.

JXB -- 1 Gallon, covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth, no damage

JXBXS -- 1 Gallon, covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth, some leaf spotting, but minimal

Butia ParaguayensisXQueen -- 1 Gallon, covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth, no damage

Jubaea X Syagrus --15 gallon, covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth, some minor but noticeable leaf spotting on most leaves

Butix X PJC -- 1 gallon, covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth, no damage

Nannorrhops Ritchiana -- 1 gallon, no protection, no damage

I am probably forgetting quite a few here... but hey, this list is big enough.

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OUCH

OUCH

OUCH

OUCH

Keep us apprized. This will add to the body of information.

(ouch!)

Let's keep our forum fun and friendly.

Any data in this post is provided 'as is' and in no event shall I be liable for any damages, including, without limitation, damages resulting from accuracy or lack thereof, insult, or lost profits or revenue, claims by third parties or for other similar costs, or any special, incidental, or consequential damages arising out of my opinion or the use of this data. The accuracy or reliability of the data is not guaranteed or warranted in any way and I disclaim liability of any kind whatsoever, including, without limitation, liability for quality, performance, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose arising out of the use, or inability to use my data. Other terms may apply.

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44 minutes ago, meteorologistpalmguy said:

Brutal for Dallas... Sorry to hear about that.

Really surprised the difference you can tell from just driving from downtown Houston to my area in Magnolia (about 30 Miles northwest of downtown).   Near the Galleria where I work downtown, there is minimal visible damage to Mexican fans.  By the time you get about 15 miles northwest of town (near the beltway on 290) you start to see some burn on the leaf tips.  Then in my area all W. Robusta's are 100% severely bronzed, most small queen palms completely killed.   I saw 19 for two nights in a row and well over 30 hours of below freezing temperatures along with some freezing rain to start.

I had a pretty rough go as most of my plants went into the ground in early June when I moved... here is the report, and size when it went in the ground.  Some of these I knew wouldn't make it and were just "annuals" or hopefully was going to have them for a couple years at least.

Dead/Likely Dead:

Silver Queens 15 gallon (unprotected)  -- 100% defoliated... some chance they could live, but doesn't look good

Livistona Muelleri 5 gallon (unprotected)-- Looked good initially, then 100% burned and spear pull.. dead.

Dypsis Onilahensis  3 gallon (covered with bucket) - 100% burn and mush.

Archontopheonix Tuckeri 5 gallon. (covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth).  Immediate 100% crispy burn. 

Syagrus Schizophylla 15 Gallon and 5 Gallon (covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth). 100% burn by day 2, goner. 

Attalea Cohune 5 gallon. (covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth) 80% burn... might make it. 

Jubeopsis Caffra 5 gallon.  (covered with garbage can) 100% burn by day 2.

Beccariophoenix Alfredii 5 gallon (covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth).  100% burn by 2 days after freeze

Things that survived:

Dypsis Decipiens ~7 Gallon (covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth).  Newly opening spear about 80% burned, no damage to older leaves or emerging spear.

Mule Palms (numerous sizes, unprotected).  Minor leaf spotting so far, but look mostly untouched.

Sabal Uresana, Sabal Blackburniana, Sabal Texana  zero damage, no protection.

Needle Palm -  zero damage, no protection

Butia Eriospatha 15 gallon  - zero damage, no protection

Butia Odorata 15 gallon - zero damage, no protection

Bismarckia 5 gallon (covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth) -- no apparent damage

Brahea Armata 15 gallon - zero damage, no protection

Phoenix loureiroi, reclinata and dactylifera all 5-15 gallon -- zero damage, no protection

Have several Patric Shafer hybrids in ground that all did well..

BXJXJ -- 1 Gallon, covered with garbage can, no damage.

JXB -- 1 Gallon, covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth, no damage

JXBXS -- 1 Gallon, covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth, some leaf spotting, but minimal

Butia ParaguayensisXQueen -- 1 Gallon, covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth, no damage

Jubaea X Syagrus --15 gallon, covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth, some minor but noticeable leaf spotting on most leaves

Butix X PJC -- 1 gallon, covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth, no damage

Nannorrhops Ritchiana -- 1 gallon, no protection, no damage

I am probably forgetting quite a few here... but hey, this list is big enough.

Sorry to hear about all the damage, on the plus side it sounds like you've got a really great collection, especially since you recently moved there. This should give you a good gauge of what can make it more long term.  Some of your palms that made it with little or damage is really encouraging also, hope they don't continue to manifest more damage going forward. 

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Corpus Christi, TX, near salt water, zone 9b/10a! Except when it isn't and everything gets nuked.

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1 hour ago, topwater said:

Really impressed Bismarckia could take two nights of 19f.  It may turn out to be a solid 9a palm in Houston. 

I was thinking the same thing. I wouldnt have guessed a bismarkia would survive a freeze that killed queens.

Westchase | 9b 10a  ◆  Nokomis | 10a  ◆  St. Petersburg | 10a 10b 

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2 hours ago, topwater said:

Really impressed Bismarckia could take two nights of 19f.  It may turn out to be a solid 9a palm in Houston. 

I'm really impressed by this also!

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5 hours ago, meteorologistpalmguy said:

Brutal for Dallas... Sorry to hear about that.

Really surprised the difference you can tell from just driving from downtown Houston to my area in Magnolia (about 30 Miles northwest of downtown).   Near the Galleria where I work downtown, there is minimal visible damage to Mexican fans.  By the time you get about 15 miles northwest of town (near the beltway on 290) you start to see some burn on the leaf tips.  Then in my area all W. Robusta's are 100% severely bronzed, most small queen palms completely killed.   I saw 19 for two nights in a row and well over 30 hours of below freezing temperatures along with some freezing rain to start.

I had a pretty rough go as most of my plants went into the ground in early June when I moved... here is the report, and size when it went in the ground.  Some of these I knew wouldn't make it and were just "annuals" or hopefully was going to have them for a couple years at least.

Dead/Likely Dead:

Silver Queens 15 gallon (unprotected)  -- 100% defoliated... some chance they could live, but doesn't look good

Livistona Muelleri 5 gallon (unprotected)-- Looked good initially, then 100% burned and spear pull.. dead.

Dypsis Onilahensis  3 gallon (covered with bucket) - 100% burn and mush.

Archontopheonix Tuckeri 5 gallon. (covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth).  Immediate 100% crispy burn. 

Syagrus Schizophylla 15 Gallon and 5 Gallon (covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth). 100% burn by day 2, goner. 

Attalea Cohune 5 gallon. (covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth) 80% burn... might make it. 

Jubeopsis Caffra 5 gallon.  (covered with garbage can) 100% burn by day 2.

Beccariophoenix Alfredii 5 gallon (covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth).  100% burn by 2 days after freeze

Things that survived:

Dypsis Decipiens ~7 Gallon (covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth).  Newly opening spear about 80% burned, no damage to older leaves or emerging spear.

Mule Palms (numerous sizes, unprotected).  Minor leaf spotting so far, but look mostly untouched.

Sabal Uresana, Sabal Blackburniana, Sabal Texana  zero damage, no protection.

Needle Palm -  zero damage, no protection

Butia Eriospatha 15 gallon  - zero damage, no protection

Butia Odorata 15 gallon - zero damage, no protection

Bismarckia 5 gallon (covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth) -- no apparent damage

Brahea Armata 15 gallon - zero damage, no protection

Phoenix loureiroi, reclinata and dactylifera all 5-15 gallon -- zero damage, no protection

Have several Patric Shafer hybrids in ground that all did well..

BXJXJ -- 1 Gallon, covered with garbage can, no damage.

JXB -- 1 Gallon, covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth, no damage

JXBXS -- 1 Gallon, covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth, some leaf spotting, but minimal

Butia ParaguayensisXQueen -- 1 Gallon, covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth, no damage

Jubaea X Syagrus --15 gallon, covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth, some minor but noticeable leaf spotting on most leaves

Butix X PJC -- 1 gallon, covered with 1.5 oz frost cloth, no damage

Nannorrhops Ritchiana -- 1 gallon, no protection, no damage

I am probably forgetting quite a few here... but hey, this list is big enough.

Where did you find such an eclectic mix of palms in the Houston area?  I'm impressed, even worse, envious. 

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Yes the queens are fried, but they were also not protected in any way.  There is one other very mature queen down the road that didn't seem terribly damaged, but mine were freshly planted.   The Bismarckia was at least covered with a fairly heavy weight frost cloth.  We shall see if it just has a delayed response to the cold, but it still looks good as if this afternoon.

As far as where I got most of my palms... not locally for most!  Combination of getting from Ebay, Jungle Music, and a few other places along the Gulf Coast that I would raid on a road trip.  Many of these were at my previous house a little closer to Houston and I transplanted when I moved in early June.

Funny thing is the apparently cold hardy Bismarckia is actually from my March trip to South Florida (Redland Nursery in Homestead).

The damage is a bummer, but I am alright with thinning the herd and not worrying when the next cold hits.  Have a bunch of Sabal (Brazoria, Riverside, Uresana) and about 40 tiny mules grown from seed and 4 more Patric hybrids waiting for homes in the spring that will gladly go where the palm corpses currently sit.

 

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3 hours ago, AnTonY said:

Reclinata survived the freeze?

Yep... though I did notice a little discoloration this afternoon.  There is a monster clump of Reclinata at Mercer Gardens and it seems like it has thrived through numerous Houston cold episodes.

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4 hours ago, topwater said:

Where did you find such an eclectic mix of palms in the Houston area?  I'm impressed, even worse, envious. 

A lot of those hybrids are great choices for Houston, why in the world aren't there nurseries that carry that kind of stuff in Houston? The population is huge, I would think business would be great for something new instead of just planting more washies everywhere.  

Corpus Christi, TX, near salt water, zone 9b/10a! Except when it isn't and everything gets nuked.

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I had some casualties on my patio. Mostly aloes that melted, Schefflera actinophylla in a pot that got decimated.

I found Ed's weather maps really interesting. The first night the whole off Houston suffered. Only the southeast side from Hobby down to the coast saw much relief from the low 20s, and even then I suspect they were below freezing for 12+ hours. The second night much of inner city Houston stayed at or above freezing, whereas the western and northern suburbs went back down to the low 20s. I guess the urban heat effect was able to overcome the radiational freeze but not the preceding advective freeze.

With all that said, I didn't see a huge difference between inner city Houston and Sugar Land (where my parents live) yesterday. Philodendrons and Ficus elastica melted everywhere. I only saw a few large queens with minor burn. I saw a large Bismarck palm in an exposed position that looked completely unfazed in a yard with melted Philodendron Xanadu. Curiously, my parent's Hong Kong orchid tree lost all of its leaves, but I think many of its branches will survive. In contrast, a couple of Jacarandas are leaking sap and will probably see a big die back. Our Ceiba speciosa is about 15 feet tall and probably lost the top 5 feet and branches, but the lower 10 feet looks fine. Finally, a Yucca elephantipes got leaf burn but should pull through.

My parents have two small greenhouses that were unheated. Almost everything inside, including columnar euphorbias, numerous kalachoes and bromeliads, look completely fine. A few plumeria defoliated.

Interesting times. I think my take away is, it continues to be worth growing a lot of tropicals if you can protect them. And by protection I mean enclosures +/- heating. Growing stuff near your house won't save you from this kind of cold. 

Edited by necturus
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The bummer is we still have another month and a half of winter.  Does anyone have an idea what the long term forecast looks like?

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1 hour ago, topwater said:

The bummer is we still have another month and a half of winter.  Does anyone have an idea what the long term forecast looks like?

Nothing but coconut weather for the foreseeable future. I don't usually link to those hardcore WX forums (too much nutty cold-lovers), but they do have the technicalities: atmospheric models suggest an upper trough may develop down through the Western US, which may bring cooler weather.

On the other hand, on average, the coldest of winter is usually passed beyond mid January or so around Houston:
http://assets.climatecentral.org/images/uploads/news/1_8_15_News_ColdestDay.jpg

And the average last freeze is from late January to early February; thus, by the first weeks of February, spring typically is getting started in Houston. Winter cold can still happen, but the chances are unreliable compared to January. Thus, once can say with considerable confidence that winter ends beyond the 1st week of February.

Edited by AnTonY
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15 minutes ago, AnTonY said:

Nothing but coconut weather for the foreseeable future. I don't usually link to those hardcore WX forums (too much nutty cold-lovers), but they do have the technicalities: atmospheric models suggest an upper trough may develop down through the Western US, which may bring cooler weather.

On the other hand, on average, the coldest of winter is usually passed beyond mid January or so around Houston:
http://assets.climatecentral.org/images/uploads/news/1_8_15_News_ColdestDay.jpg

And the average last freeze is from late January to early February; thus, by the first weeks of February, spring typically is getting started in Houston. Winter cold can still happen, but the chances are unreliable compared to January. Thus, once can say with considerable confidence that winter ends beyond the 1st week of February.

That's a really cool graphic. Kind of gives the visual of how the West experiences it's coldest days in Dec.

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1 hour ago, NorCalKing said:

That's a really cool graphic. Kind of gives the visual of how the West experiences it's coldest days in Dec.

I've always did notice a West-East progression in cold throughout winter. Even in Texas, I notice that all the amplified cold shots that happen in December are focused on the state, only for that apex to seemingly move east come January/February. Of course, the cold shots still happen in Texas, but, the do seem more "potent" earlier in winter than later.

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On 1/8/2017, 3:30:09, Xenon said:

Wonder what those large papayas near Agnes Arnold will look like lol. Other than some nice Monstera vines, I haven't really found anything too tender on campus. 

 

The papaya stems still look strong, but the foliage is wilted. I'll get some pictures when the weather is drier.

But, in order for those things to get so large, they had to have survived winters like 2010, 2011, and 2014, which saw temps just as cold/even colder, and with longer cold duration.

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32 minutes ago, AnTonY said:

The papaya stems still look strong, but the foliage is wilted. I'll get some pictures when the weather is drier.

But, in order for those things to get so large, they had to have survived winters like 2010, 2011, and 2014, which saw temps just as cold/even colder, and with longer cold duration.

Checked today and there's already some new growth sprouting from the lower parts of the stem.

I think this year was pretty bad, not this much burn on Livistona chinensis and queen palms since 2010. Dramatic decline as you head west...west of TX-99, palms look like they got nuked (Washies included). Southwest Houston looks pretty bad too. 

 

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Jonathan

Katy, TX (Zone 9a)

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On 1/19/2017, 12:52:50, Xenon said:

Checked today and there's already some new growth sprouting from the lower parts of the stem.

I think this year was pretty bad, not this much burn on Livistona chinensis and queen palms since 2010. Dramatic decline as you head west...west of TX-99, palms look like they got nuked (Washies included). Southwest Houston looks pretty bad too. 

 

I'm interested in seeing what kind of papayas those are. Many varieties get killed with even light freezes, let alone 20s.

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I was about 3 miles west of downtown Houston yesterday and saw queen palms that were burned pretty badly. It must have been around 22-23 there.

In S.E. Houston queens looked untouched but I young pygmy dates in exposed areas are mostly defoliated. Older ones with a six foot trunk not in exposed areas had only 5-10% burn. Low at my place in S.E. Houston was 26.

Ed in Houston

 

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11 hours ago, Ed in Houston said:

I was about 3 miles west of downtown Houston yesterday and saw queen palms that were burned pretty badly. It must have been around 22-23 there.

In S.E. Houston queens looked untouched but I young pygmy dates in exposed areas are mostly defoliated. Older ones with a six foot trunk not in exposed areas had only 5-10% burn. Low at my place in S.E. Houston was 26.

Ed in Houston

 

Wow, Ed, we in Corpus got as cold as you guys up there.  At the airport, it got down to 26F both nights, and at my place in Flour Bluff, it got down to 27.2F the first night and 29.5F the second night.  Even Padre Island here got down to 28F!  I wonder how cold it got in Galveston?

John

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4 hours ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Wow, Ed, we in Corpus got as cold as you guys up there.  At the airport, it got down to 26F both nights, and at my place in Flour Bluff, it got down to 27.2F the first night and 29.5F the second night.  Even Padre Island here got down to 28F!  I wonder how cold it got in Galveston?

John

Weatherunderground reports that it was 30 on January 7th at Galveston's Scholes airport. I had the impression that the greatest thrust of that cold spell was a little farther west than Houston/Galveston.

https://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KGLS/2017/1/23/MonthlyCalendar.html?req_city=Galveston&req_state=TX&reqdb.zip=77550&reqdb.magic=1&reqdb.wmo=99999#calendar

Ed in Houston

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18 hours ago, Ed in Houston said:

Weatherunderground reports that it was 30 on January 7th at Galveston's Scholes airport. I had the impression that the greatest thrust of that cold spell was a little farther west than Houston/Galveston.

https://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KGLS/2017/1/23/MonthlyCalendar.html?req_city=Galveston&req_state=TX&reqdb.zip=77550&reqdb.magic=1&reqdb.wmo=99999#calendar

Ed in Houston

  • Ed,  I think you are right.  I think we got the worst of it to be so far south.
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I walked Mercer last Friday and every cycad except Revoluta, C. Hildae, Dioon Edule, and Coontie were defoliated.  Allogoptera were burned, the giant reclinata mentioned in the prior thread didn't look that bad either.  The Livistona Nitida and chilensis all looked good as did most of the queens so I don't think Mercer dropped below 22-23.  The pygmy dates were completely fried as were all of the others on the north side of Houston.  Just about every queen north of beltway 8 was completely fried and a few robusta had substantial burn. 

Here at the nursery area we dropped to 16F two days in a row with around 30 hours straight below freezing and 20-30mph winds, followed by two weeks of 65-80F days and then dropped down to 19F one night followed by a killer 12F and 25-30MPH winds that added up to and another 30+ straight hours below freezing and at least 10 consecutive hours below 20F. I lost every single 7G potted pindo and probably 100% of the 7G filifera.  Half of the 7G filifera in the ground spear pulled the other half are holding strong.  The filifera with a trunk 1' diameter still have green spears and a few green leaves and are actively growing. 

65Gallon potted CIDP 100% burned during the first cold spell but are already pushing green spears.  65G True dates are 100% burn and I think I lost at least a few. I keep hearing reports that dactyl are more hardy than CIDP but I'm not convinced.

15G jubaea are showing a lot of burn and 50% have spear pulled.  25G show 50% burn and one a few spearpulled.  40" containered ones have 25% burn with a few brown spears. Trunking specimen in the ground looks untouched.

25G potted BxJ F1 completely untouched

25-40" potted JxBF1 only a few potted specimens have brown spear.  All of them in the ground are perfect.

Brahea Armata - 100% burn, but already pushed a few inches of green spear.

Brahea Brandegeei - 25G and 40" trunking plants 100% burn.  Waiting to see.

Mules - 100% torched, no spear pull

Brahea Decumbens 100% burn and plants in the ground are dead.

T. Campestris - small plants were in the ground and all except 1 are presumed dead

Silver med fans - Large plants in the ground look perfect.  Smaller ones in the ground and pots range from unphased to spearpulled and burned. Most look good.

Green med fans - Every single one is 100% defoliated

Sabals - Zero burn on any Mexicana, Bermuda, palmetto, uresana, minor or riverside. Causarium 100% defoliated during first freeze and high winds broke the petioles.

Nannorhorps - Ritcheana 1G unphased by the first frees outside.  Pot completely froze.  Big 65g 1-2' trunked specimen looks perfect. N. Arabica dies when the temps drop below 25.  They are clearly two completely different species.

Silver saw's one spear pulled in the ground.  Was a 7G last year.  No green ones planted outside.

Brahea supersilver - 100% burned but pushing green spear

Butia Odorata - 0 burn, 4-5' CT

Butia Eriospatha in 25G pot 100% burned from first freeze and is dead for sure after the second freeze

Butia Catariensis - 5-7' CT from north of Panama City, FL ranges from 25% to 75% burned

Livistona - Chilensis 6' CT 100% defoliated during first freeze. These will live and already are pushing green spears. I have a 14'CT decora at my house in the best microclimate I have that is 95% defoliated.  It is wind protected and probably saw around 15F in that area.

Every cycad defoliated during the first freeze (macrozamia Moorei, johnsonii, comunis, cycas Tait., debao, RxDF1, Diannensis, panzhihuensis, Coonties)  100% except the 2-3' CT dioon Edule, which one of the 4 defoliated(I think it was var. angustifolia?)  However I lost at least 250 out of 300 potted 3-5" caudex edule var. rio verde.  About half died during the first cold snap but the second one whipped out the rest.  Note that I do not have ceratozamia outside at this point in time but Latifolia, Kuesteriana and Hildae look like they may give edule a run for the money. The real test is a soccer ball sized ferox that was left 100% exposed during the first freeze.  It obviously defoliated but so far the caudex good but time will tell.  I have a few hundred 1-2'CT revoluta in 15-25G pots that we will see how they fare. I fully expect to loose more than a few to trunk rot.

Arenga engeri - first freeze 75-100% defoliation on 2'trunk specimens in the ground next to a structure protected from the wind. The second wave undoubtedly killed them.

Trithrinax Anthacoma - Large 5-6' CT first freeze kinda wind whipped it a bit, second cold spell 75% burned it.  It looks kinda sad right now.

Acrocomia Totai - I had a few 15g in a cold frame next to some macrozamia, lepidozamia and ceratozamia and they appear to burn just as easily as the macrozamia. I was pretty bummed out about this.

A few hundred 1G California's were under 4oz frost cloth outside and are still green and look good.

I'll add more to the freeze damage once spring gets underway.

 

 

 

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I forgot my 1G trial test.  These were all outside during the first cold spell and the pots completely froze

Sabal Causarium - Dead

C. Radicalis and microspadix - Both dead

S. Rosei completely burned but growing and alive

T. Nova - spear pulled and Dead

T. Fortunei - spear pulled and Dead

C. Alba - dead but stayed green a really long time

S. Uresana 3 leaf seedling - completely unphased

3G P Theo - Dead

CIDP - Dead

Coontie - Probably dead

N. Ritcheana - Not even phased

B. Armata spear pulled, not burned

S. Mexicana 2G unphased

S. Riverside - kind of bronzed.

1G agave Victoria Reginae rotted and dead

Trithrinax campestris - spear pulled

W. Filifera appears to be dead

Needle palm - perfect

 

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