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Spindle Palm Frost/Cold Tolerance


ruskinPalms

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Hello,

I am trying the ask before I plant technique. How much cold can these take? And better yet for my area, how much frost can they take? They would be in open yard without overhead canopy. I have no canopy in my yard at all as it is a new development. Anyway, thanks for any repies.

Bill

Parrish, FL

Zone 9B

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Bill -

 

 I've seen quite a few in our area growing fine (so far), even north of Orlando. Yes, the foilage is somewhat frost sensitive, but if you don't have an overhead canopy, planting one adjacent to a south-facing wall should keep it toasty enough....as close to your house as you dare to plant it.

Minneola, Florida

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Hi Ruskin,

I'm over in St. Pete and I have a nice big spindle near my house.  It's been here for years and not under canopy.  But back in Jan of 2003, we got down to 27F  and although it was wrapped in blankets, it lost half its fronds.  It recovered by summer and was fine.  So, it's definitely tender to cold.

By the way, some large old bottle palms went through the same winter, unprotected and unscathed, but they were under tree canopy.

You are in a slightly colder zone than I am, so if you get a spindle, prepare to protect it most winters.  As for frost, that could be serious trouble, even fatal, if the spindle was not adequately protected.

Whether or not you should get one depends on how much you're willing to do to help it through bad winters.  You may find they are worth the effort - very nice palms, comparatively easy to grow IF they're protected from frost or temps below 30.

Hope this helps.

St. Pete

Zone - a wacked-out place between 9b & 10

Elevation = 44' - not that it does any good

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This plant has done very nicely in our 10A/10B climate. It does slow down a lot during our lengthy cool winters, but mine showed only some leaf discoloration during the coldest spells- perhaps 33F this tear. Contrast this with the almost complete defoliation of the few (young) Bottle palms around the 'hood. Spindle palms--2 thumbs up!

B/R's

Bret

Bret

 

Coastal canyon area of San Diego

 

"In the shadow of the Cross"

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(SunnyFl @ Jul. 28 2006,07:34)

QUOTE
I have a nice big spindle near my house.  

 As for frost, that could be serious trouble, even fatal,

For the sake of longevity, I would follow this path and plant the Spindle near your house.

Larry 

Palm Harbor, FL 10a / Ft Myers, FL 10b

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Larry, I have planted a lot of very tender palms pretty much right up on the house. My baby bottle palm got a prime spot on the south wall of my house. I actually have a lot of wall real estate left but I would like to have something out in more open yard. Were I plan to put them is about 15' from the back wall of the house and it is another 30' to the retention pond.  I was wanting to create a couple of beds by joining some existing palms in the yard into beds. On one side it would be Royal, Coconut and spindle; on the other side it would be double foxtail, coconut and spindle. And I was going to add some crotons and other sun tolerant "tropical foliage" in the gaps with mulch. This is all still in the infancy of planning. When I look at spindle palms, they just seem that they should be able to take some cold, even if their fronds get fried with frost. They seem to get very thick trunks at a young age which suggests to me that they may be able to take cold better??? I guess they can't be any worse than the other stuff I have planted out there as far as cold/frost tolerance  :D . I plan to protect with frost cloth and I guess I can throw it over the whole bed. Larry, I'm not planning to use palm socks just yet!

Parrish, FL

Zone 9B

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Spindles and bottles are one of the easist palms to protect. I bundle my fronds, install some X-mas lights, spiraling them around the palm, then wrapping several layers of flannel sheets around them to hold in the small amount of heat from the lights and also to keep potential frost off the  leaves. For extra insurance you can also wrap a PVC tarp over the sheets.

Mad about palms

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(ruskinPalms @ Jul. 28 2006,18:54)

QUOTE
. Larry, I'm not planning to use palm socks just yet!

Bill-

If you plan to put your Spindle in the open (or anywhere really), I suggest you follow Walt's advice and wrap that sucker!  

As mentioned, Spindles and Bottles are just about the easiest palms to protect.  They have stiff fronds which dont mind the bundling up and they are relatively short for many many years (essentially forever).  So, theres hardly an excuse for not protecting one to avoid its loss.  A good insulative wrap, a small amount of heat, and a standard tarp over the whole shebang will go a long way.  

So...in short if you want to plant it in the open, plan on actively protecting it.  If you only want to use a sheet of frost cloth on top....Id stay close to the house!  Frost cloth doesnt do much for heat retention on a palm, but its better than nothing.

There is a reason while Spindle palms do not grace every yard in central FL......

Larry 

Palm Harbor, FL 10a / Ft Myers, FL 10b

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Well Larry, I have a feeling I will break down and protect the palms in some sort of way. I have visions of putting a Hefty Cinch Sack over the top of the palm and tying it closed, but I realize it is a little more complex than that. I am already attached to the palms I have in the ground so I am sure that I will be sweating in the winter. I am afraid my wife will commit me if I am getting too eleborate.  I think a frost cloth is not out of the question, maybe even some bastardized version of your palm sock Larry, but a cold frame or greenhouse would be too excessive. Guess I better put them near the house as this is the best bet. Probably will put Dypsis Lutecens in the places that I thought to put the Spindles. I have seen some decent DL's in the open here so I guess I should go by that. It would be very demoralizing to lose my entire garden in a bad freeze...

Parrish, FL

Zone 9B

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My spindle has done very well, protected never the less has taken 22F and is doing OK. I have lost 3 big bottles over the years.Big difference between the two cold hardy wise.Selby Garden have big spindles,but no bottles.I sold them a big bottle a few years back and I think they lost it. The good news is they are very easy to wrap on a cold night.

Old Miakka, Florida

23 miles inland from Sarasota Bay

Zone 9b

middle of a swamp in SW Central FL

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Probably 50% of the foliage on mine burned this past winter when I had one night near freezing (33F) with NO frost...

Jack Sayers

East Los Angeles

growing cold tolerant palms halfway between the equator and the arctic circle...

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(John @ Jul. 29 2006,07:35)

QUOTE
My spindle has done very well, protected never the less has taken 22F and is doing OK. I have lost 3 big bottles over the years.Big difference between the two cold hardy wise.Selby Garden have big spindles,but no bottles.I sold them a big bottle a few years back and I think they lost it. The good news is they are very easy to wrap on a cold night.

This is very interesting - your spindle took 22 with protection and is fine.   I doubt my spindle would survive that, given how much protection we did at 27F, and how little good it did.

I have a feeling that cold-tolerance can vary between individual palms within a species - and I may have one of the more sensitive ones.

St. Pete

Zone - a wacked-out place between 9b & 10

Elevation = 44' - not that it does any good

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(spockvr6 @ Jul. 28 2006,23:13)

QUOTE
There is a reason while Spindle palms do not grace every yard in central FL......

Ain't that the truth!

And Larry, I have some very bad news about this wacked-out zone we're in.

Was visiting a nursery and got to talking with the person who runs it - said that back in '83, the temps went down to (ready 4 this?)... 17!

Now I was here in '83, and I don't remember anything like that.  But that could be an age/memory thing hehe.

Talk about spindle-mush!  I don't think even a palm sock would save it.

St. Pete

Zone - a wacked-out place between 9b & 10

Elevation = 44' - not that it does any good

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(SunnyFl @ Jul. 29 2006,21:07)

QUOTE
And Larry, I have some very bad news about this wacked-out zone we're in.

Was visiting a nursery and got to talking with the person who runs it - said that back in '83, the temps went down to (ready 4 this?)... 17!

That is completely believable!

The nursery I go to up here in Tarpon Springs is in a nasty cold pocket.  As an example of how bad this cold pocket is, they recorded 24F on 2/14/2006!  I am but a few miles further west and was 34F.

In any case, they are inland maybe 7-8 miles and in a low spot relative to the surrounding area.  They have also been in this location for about 50 years.  The owner told me the lowest temp they have ever recorded was...GULP....13F!

Larry 

Palm Harbor, FL 10a / Ft Myers, FL 10b

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(SunnyFl @ Jul. 29 2006,21:07)

QUOTE
 I don't think even a palm sock would save it.

I am not braggin' on my palm socks, but the socks along with rope lights could COOK a Spindle!  

But...a sock alone with no supplemental heat....salut Spindle :D

Larry 

Palm Harbor, FL 10a / Ft Myers, FL 10b

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Spindles don't handle frost and low temperatures in the high 20s well; I learned that the hard way on two occasions.

I have a small spindle palm that got fried the morning of 2/14/06 and it's only put out one frond since then. That's a bad sign as many palms, once severly cold damaged slow way down in growth. And invariably, they don't make it in the long term.  But I will have to wait and see on this particular spindle palm before I pass final judgement.

The spindle palm below is growing in Sebring, Florida. I know for a fact it was there in May of 1989 as I have a photo of it, hence it surely survied the infamous Christmas of 1989 freeze. However, it is in a protected spot, facing east with the building behind it and partial building to the north of it.

359816869kRvbXb_th.jpg

by waltcat100

Mad about palms

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Well, I haven't put in any spindles yet but I did create the beds in the yard. There is pleny of room for a spindle in each bed if I decide. So far reports are inconsistent on the frost/cold hardiness of Spindles. I planted a triple Adonidia in each bed - and some little $4 dypsis lutecens clumps from Walmart for the time being. I planted these because I have seen these in the area decent enough. Everything I have planted will perish in a bad winter but I guess I may as well try. Even if these last 3 to 4 years at a time they will be beautiful and well worth the $4 to $10 each that I paid. I will throw a cover or frost cloth over the bed if freezing temps are forcasted. I planted other cheap "tropical foliage" in the beds as well...

IMG_1010.jpg

IMG_1012.jpg

Parrish, FL

Zone 9B

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Nice job Bill!  It looks like you got a headstart on all the neighbors.  The planters look great with the clean borders and mulch.  Now you just need to wait a few years and you'll have a jungle out there. :cool:

Matt Bradford

"Manambe Lavaka"

Spring Valley, CA (8.5 miles inland from San Diego Bay)

10B on the hill (635 ft. elevation)

9B in the canyon (520 ft. elevation)

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Spindles can take a few degrees below freezing without much noticeable damage.  it does not however, possess much if any frost tolerance.

Ray

Tampa, Interbay Peninsula, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10A

Bokeelia, Pine Island, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10B

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They are a lot hardier than most of us first thought.

see them in all soughts of places you would not expect southern NSW

Gibraltor, california. When planting one 10 years ago my supplier genuinely thought i was crazy tring . have 2 very healthy ones

regards

colin

coastal north facing location

100klm south of Sydney

NSW

Australia

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Here is a recent picture of mine. It has never gotten below 34 degrees in my garden but the older fronds turn a little yellowy after out winters here.

hyophorbeverschafeltii.jpg

  • Like 1

Coastal San Diego, California

Z10b

Dry summer subtropical/Mediterranean

warm summer/mild winter

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It has been hardier than H. lagenicualis for me.

Tampa, Interbay Peninsula, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10A

Bokeelia, Pine Island, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10B

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