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Palmageddon, SE Texas Edition


Keys6505

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2 hours ago, Chester B said:

Wow, you really got hit hard.  Might be worth getting a couple large Sabals as nice backbone trees and then continue on with your current selections.

Yeah, maybe Royals and Foxtails were a bit optimistic! Had these S. Mexicana and Filifera installed a few weeks ago, so if it happens again at least something will stay green.

20210402_120502.jpg

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I saw your foxtail that looked good after the freeze. It was mostly all green correct?

the reason why I would guess that happened is shock from cold soil temperatures. You just can’t grow some palms in cool soil, even if it’s only a week.

Current Texas Gardening Zone 9a, Mean (1999-2024): 22F Low/104F High. Yearly Precipitation 39.17 inches.

Extremes: Low Min 4F 2021, 13.8F 2024. High Max 112F 2011/2023, Precipitation Max 58 inches 2015, Lowest 19 Inches 2011.

Weather Station: https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KTXCOLLE465

Ryan (Paleoclimatologist Since 4 billion Years ago, Meteorologist/Earth Scientist/Physicist Since 1995, Savy Horticulturist Since Birth.)

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3 hours ago, Collectorpalms said:

I saw your foxtail that looked good after the freeze. It was mostly all green correct?

the reason why I would guess that happened is shock from cold soil temperatures. You just can’t grow some palms in cool soil, even if it’s only a week.

Yup, stayed green for weeks.  It was the ONLY gree thing in my yard.  The spear is still holding the green, although not moving much.  I know I shouldn't be wishing for the heat to get here... but kinda am.

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9 hours ago, Keys6505 said:

Yeah, maybe Royals and Foxtails were a bit optimistic! Had these S. Mexicana and Filifera installed a few weeks ago, so if it happens again at least something will stay green.

20210402_120502.jpg

All of these palms are going to be huge, you're going to have a wall of palms.

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8 hours ago, NBTX11 said:

All of these palms are going to be huge, you're going to have a wall of palms.

That's the plan!  It was a wall of oleander before the freeze.  It was so dense I literally didn't know how close that giant 2 story house was to my fence line until it all died.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I finally cut the 1 Buzzy that I had left that spear pulled about 3 weeks ago.  Within 24 hours I noticed movement, this was it today after 48 hours.  Maybe I got lucky.

Also seeing growth on a lot of the A. Englerii stalks.  I kind of felt my way down each one from the top until I felt a lump and then separated the tightly would fibers to find new spears pushing their way out.

 

 

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12 hours ago, Keys6505 said:

I finally cut the 1 Buzzy that I had left that spear pulled about 3 weeks ago.  Within 24 hours I noticed movement, this was it today after 48 hours.  Maybe I got lucky.

Looks like it's going to make it!  It will help to keep it dry over the next week or so.  If there's rain in the forecast you can cover it with an inverted nursery pot.

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Jon Sunder

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15 hours ago, Keys6505 said:

I finally cut the 1 Buzzy that I had left that spear pulled about 3 weeks ago.  Within 24 hours I noticed movement, this was it today after 48 hours.  Maybe I got lucky.

Also seeing growth on a lot of the A. Englerii stalks.  I kind of felt my way down each one from the top until I felt a lump and then separated the tightly would fibers to find new spears pushing their way out.

 

 

20210504_174446.jpg

Did you protect this one? Must've been in about 16 degrees?

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1 hour ago, Teegurr said:

Did you protect this one? Must've been in about 16 degrees?

I had it wrapped in 6mil plastic with a strand of C7's but the power was out for most of the 3 days.  So yes, protected, but I don't think plastic offers much other than keeping it dry.  Maybe the sporadic 15min with the lights on every 8-10hrs thawed it just enough to keep it alive?

 

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I think both of my Bismarckia survived. My bigger one, a HD special, was planted deep, had three 5 gallon buckets around it, and was wrapped in frost cloth. The spear was just starting to emerge and ended up with a little damage. Most leaves got nuked, but one crazily still looks good. The other came from @TexasColdHardyPalms. It’s sibling died in the last bad freeze before this one a few years back. This one survived that one because it was still in a pot. It had only been in the ground since last spring. I thought it died despite similar protection - the spear pulled and all leaves died. However, yesterday I realized there was some growth near the opening, so I did a little surgery and you’ll see what I found.

 

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Here’s my Butia yatay. The spear completely pulled out, but only one other leaf died. It had me worried because it took a while to push a new spear.

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18 minutes ago, necturus said:

I think both of my Bismarckia survived. My bigger one, a HD special, was planted deep, had three 5 gallon buckets around it, and was wrapped in frost cloth. The spear was just starting to emerge and ended up with a little damage. Most leaves got nuked, but one crazily still looks good. The other came from @TexasColdHardyPalms. It’s sibling died in the last bad freeze before this one a few years back. This one survived that one because it was still in a pot. It had only been in the ground since last spring. I thought it died despite similar protection - the spear pulled and all leaves died. However, yesterday I realized there was some growth near the opening, so I did a little surgery and you’ll see what I found.

 

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They are rather resilient at that size.

Current Texas Gardening Zone 9a, Mean (1999-2024): 22F Low/104F High. Yearly Precipitation 39.17 inches.

Extremes: Low Min 4F 2021, 13.8F 2024. High Max 112F 2011/2023, Precipitation Max 58 inches 2015, Lowest 19 Inches 2011.

Weather Station: https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KTXCOLLE465

Ryan (Paleoclimatologist Since 4 billion Years ago, Meteorologist/Earth Scientist/Physicist Since 1995, Savy Horticulturist Since Birth.)

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I had 4 bizzies in my yard 2 in the front and 2 by my pool. The 2 in the front pushed new growth pretty quick and are on there way to there former glory. The 2 in the raised planter never showed any movement. After about 3 inches of rain this past weekend they finally spear pulled =(  All 4 got the same freeze protection Xmas lights,  moving blanket, planket. Biggest difference I believe was the raised planter allowed the roots to see much colder temps. 

T J 

20210502_143324.jpg

T J 

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On 4/20/2021 at 10:46 AM, Chester B said:

Wow, you really got hit hard.  Might be worth getting a couple large Sabals as nice backbone trees and then continue on with your current selections.

Truth.

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The big Bismarckia in my neighborhood were trimmed to their spears. I haven't seen any growth yet but am holding out hope. If they were mine, I'd hire a bucket crane so I could get up there and examine and treat the crown myself. :P I haven't seen any other big Bismarckia pushing growth but also haven't looked too closely.

Obviously, the smaller palms with their hearts closer to or even in the ground are better off, but what gets me is I lost several stems of a Mazari palm, yet these two are going to make it. Crazy!

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One that I thought was dead was alive and one that I thought was alive was dead.

My foxtail finally spear pulled today.  I cut it down but didn't find any good tissue.  Kind of weird because I had marked the spear and it had moved since the freeze and this is the one that didnt start dropping leaves until weeks after the freeze.

I still have a garbage pile on the side of my house since my trash collection only takes a certain amount of plant junk per week.  On top of the pile was this Robellini that I had assumed was dead.  I dug this thing up FOUR weeks ago and it has been sitting on this pile since.  There was no green when I dug it but today I found this tiny new growth on the side.  I stuck it back in the ground and will see what happens.

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Keys6505 said:

I still have a garbage pile on the side of my house since my trash collection only takes a certain amount of plant junk per week. 

 

Throw it in your regular trash can, and they will haul it off.  I just put all my palm scraps in the regular brown trash can, stuff it down, and put it out by the road.  They haul it away like any other trash.

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18 minutes ago, Keys6505 said:

One that I thought was dead was alive and one that I thought was alive was dead.

My foxtail finally spear pulled today.  I cut it down but didn't find any good tissue.  Kind of weird because I had marked the spear and it had moved since the freeze and this is the one that didnt start dropping leaves until weeks after the freeze.

I still have a garbage pile on the side of my house since my trash collection only takes a certain amount of plant junk per week.  On top of the pile was this Robellini that I had assumed was dead.  I dug this thing up FOUR weeks ago and it has been sitting on this pile since.  There was no green when I dug it but today I found this tiny new growth on the side.  I stuck it back in the ground and will see what happens.

 

 

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I had no idea that they were clustering palms!!!

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35 minutes ago, PricklyPearSATC said:

I had no idea that they were clustering palms!!!

There's a rare variety that suckers but normally they are solitary.  If it's suckering it's most likely a hybrid with a suckering Phoenix like theophrasti, dactylifera or reclinata.

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Jon Sunder

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New here! I am in Pearland, I lost a big queen, but my meds, Sylvesters, and robusta are pushing green pretty well now! Also added livistona decora, a Phoenix rupicola, picked up a few cycads from jungle music, and a 1 gallon ravenea glauca which is my current favorite! Here is a pic of my sylvesters and robusta

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1 hour ago, T-RAV said:

Also added livistona decora, a Phoenix rupicola, picked up a few cycads from jungle music, and a 1 gallon ravenea glauca which is my current favorite!

Nice selections - welcome to PalmTalk!  Are you planning on keeping the Ravenea glauca in a container?  Where did you get the Ravenea?  I've got a small one myself that I plan on planting in the ground in the RGV.  I think your Washingtonia is a filibusta due to its thick trunk.  I like how you have it trimmed!

Jon

Edited by Fusca

Jon Sunder

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1 hour ago, Fusca said:

Nice selections - welcome to PalmTalk!  Are you planning on keeping the Ravenea glauca in a container?  Where did you get the Ravenea?  I've got a small one myself that I plan on planting in the ground in the RGV.  I think your Washingtonia is a filibusta due to its thick trunk.  I like how you have it trimmed!

Jon

The washy was tagged as a robusta, but I agree it’s pretty fat. Not sure what I am going to do with the glauca yet, it still has a lot of growing to do, so I’ll keep it in a pot for some time. I forgot to add I also picked up a super silver as well, it’s getting acclimated. I got both from Phil over at jungle music. 

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12 hours ago, T-RAV said:

The washy was tagged as a robusta, but I agree it’s pretty fat.

Yeah, 99% of Washingtonia sold are filibusta and labeled as robusta or filifera.  I was shocked once I saw Washingtonias at a big box store correctly labeled as filibusta!  Doesn't happen often.

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Jon Sunder

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On 5/5/2021 at 8:18 PM, Collectorpalms said:

They are rather resilient at that size.

 

On 5/5/2021 at 7:59 PM, necturus said:

I think both of my Bismarckia survived. My bigger one, a HD special, was planted deep, had three 5 gallon buckets around it, and was wrapped in frost cloth. The spear was just starting to emerge and ended up with a little damage. Most leaves got nuked, but one crazily still looks good. The other came from @TexasColdHardyPalms. It’s sibling died in the last bad freeze before this one a few years back. This one survived that one because it was still in a pot. It had only been in the ground since last spring. I thought it died despite similar protection - the spear pulled and all leaves died. However, yesterday I realized there was some growth near the opening, so I did a little surgery and you’ll see what I found.

 

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I have a Bismarck that I rescued from a nursery in Beaumont,  I planted it here in Alabama and it was doing fine. It finished pushing up the frond that it had, then started pushing up a new spear and when that new spear stuck out a few inches it just rotted and spear pulled. I don’t know why it would grow and then throw in the towel. 

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All Bismarckia in my area took a few days to show any signs of damage. Part of one leaf on my bigger plant never took any damage as you can see. Many of my hardy palms took a week or longer to show damage to the spears. The hardier ones have since pushed new growth.

Take a stick and push it into the center of your palm. If the bottom feels firm and the stick doesn't go in very far, there may be new growth coming up. You can also cut down like I did to see if there's live tissue. Sometimes you need to do this because the dead tissue contracts and restricts new growth.

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I still can't tell if any Bismarckia in Houston are alive or not...Haven't seen any open new leaves but spears are stiff and they are not looking any "worse" than they were a month ago...

Jonathan

Katy, TX (Zone 9a)

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  • 1 month later...

So we are almost at the 5 month anniversary of Palmageddon 2021 so I figured I'd update my progress.  I'm going to post this and then go back in and edit to try to copy/paste my original protection method to coordinate with the correct photos. 

 

~5' OA Roystonea Regia- C7's, sleeved in 8" R8 HVAC flex duct, wrapped in 2mil garbage bags *DEAD*

 

~5' OA Wodyetia Bifurcata- C7's, sleeved in 8" R8 HVAC flex duct, wrapped in 2mil garbage bags *DEAD* - but I really thought this one had a chance.  Was still green and moved a spear for months after the freeze but finally succumbed

 

3' OA Ravenea Rivularis- 3mil garbage bag only *DEAD*

 

( one triple, one double) ~4'OA L. Decora- under flipped over garbage cans *ALL DEAD*

 

~4' OA clump of P. Robellini- 2mil garbage bag only -thought it was dead, dug it up and threw on the trash heap, A MONTH later saw some green so I stick it back in the ground and it's growing back.  (Insert Jurassic Park "life will find a way" meme)

 

(2) ~ 15' OA Queens- no protection *DEAD*

 

~6' overall clump of Rhapis Excelsa- C9's, drop cloth over top, wrapped in 6mil plastic - this surprisingly took the cold the best out of everything.

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3+' CT P. Rupicola- sheet, 2 strand C9's, moving blanket, 6mil plastic, shrink wrap- just a disappointing tree.  Happy it's still alive but the heavy protection saved most of the fronds but they all eventually yellowed or just snapped off.  This tree has never looked good for me.

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~6' CT L. Chinensis- sheet, C9's', moving blanket, 6mil plastic- slow at first but she has hit her stride.  Lowest part of my yard, clay muck with nonstop rain and I think she's into it.

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~7' OA clump of Arenga Engleri- 60w light bulb in center of clump, wrapped in 6mil plastic- another slow rebound and completely defoliated but only lost a few stalks.

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(4) ~3' OA L. Chinensis- wrapped in 6mil plastic only- 3 out of 4 dead.  I cut the others but no help.  This guy was in exact same conditions and complety defoliated but pulled through.

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(2) ~6' OA Bizzy's- C7's, 6mil plastic - one died, although I didn't give it as much time as this one because I still had a Lowes receipt and was nearing my 1 year live plant guarantee expiration.  This one looked good, was moving a spear, then finally pulled a few months later.  I cut it and I think that's the only thing that saves it.  (Thanks to people on this board)

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3' CT CIDP- full YOLO, no protection. - looks good, I actually still had a warranty on this tree and called Moon on it for a replacement but cancelled when I saw how strong the tree was coming back. 

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~10' OA Mule- sheet, C9's' moving blankets, 6mil plastic - almost completely defoliated but looks good now

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2' OA clump of Acoelorrhaphe wrightii- C7's, drop cloth over top, wrapped in 6mil plastic.  Completely defoliated but only lost 1 stalk (the tallest) 

 

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Edited by Keys6505
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Not sure why I never included this guy in my original list.  This Trachy was an afterthought, it was a leftover at Houston Garden Center early in the winter when they're dumping everything for 70% off so I picked it up for maybe $20.  It was on my patio and blew over about 637 times over the course of a few months essentially removing 30% of the dirt from the pot.  This is Texas, so one January day it was about 70-something degrees so I figured what the hell and very unceremoniously stuck it in the ground.  It had no protection at 15 degrees a month later.  It looked good afterwards but spear pulled not long post-freeze.  Not long after I found a colony of fire ants took over the root system of the now-spearless tree.  I tried disrupting the ants over and over in hopes that they'd move so I didn't have to dump poison on an already almost dead tree but instead they ended up dislodging so much dirt that the tree was actually loose.  Soon thereafter it rained for a few weeks straight and when I checked again the ants had mounded up over the entire trunk and I had caught them right when all the flying ones were emerging.  So being the mature adult that I am I grabbed my tar roof torch and went to work.  The only issue is, and this was news to me, trees are very flammable.  So I unwittingly set the thing on fire.  Afterwards, I figured I had finally done it in so I just left it and went on with my life.   Weeks go by and I'm in that part of the yard again (it's back behind my jungle) and this guy is falling over at a 45 degree angle with barely any dirt supporting the roots and wrapped in a charred Trachy sweater and I notice it's pushing a new spear!  I straighten him out, clean up the bunt stuff, and pat myself on the back for obviously being an expert on all things palm.  A few days later I go to check on my unadulterated success and notice that some leaves are browning.  I check a little closer and find an unmistakable beetle hole right at the base of the palm.  What a douche, right?  It starts rainy literally AS I'm figuring out how to deal with this and end up going away for work the next day so another week goes by before I can try to do anything.  I finally get around to it, dig him out, cleaned off the roots to ensure beetlelessness and stick him back in the same pot he came in 8 months prior with some new shmancy turface/garden soil/perlite mix.  New spear on its way and I am going to take full undeserved credit for it.

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There are some big Trachies here and there, but by and large I don't think they're a good fit for our climate. I also bought a few from HGC years ago of similar size - all dead.

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On 7/12/2021 at 11:01 PM, Swolte said:

Ox beetle? Ouch... keep an eye on the other palms too!

 

7 hours ago, Cindy Adair said:

Sorry you have to deal with beetles too...

Yup, ox beetle as far as I can tell and the first time I've dealt with them.  I didn't find any when I dug it up though, but the hole was exactly like all the pics I saw on here.  I packed some dirt in it when I initially found it and realized I didn't have time to deal with it and the hole was re-excavated when I got back to it.  There's a young Majesty a few feet away but so far no beetle holes.

 

On 7/13/2021 at 4:22 PM, necturus said:

I also bought a few from HGC years ago of similar size - all dead.

Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of them.  If it wasn't $20 I wouldn't have bought it either.  But a cheap palm is a cheap palm, right?

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Try wrapping the trunk and the top of the spear with housing insulation after the Christmas lights. This one had a moving blanket thrown on top of that and somehow made out with just tip burn.(see older fronds) It’s a great microclimate in Pearland. The area dropped to 15-17*F according to the weather maps. They did lose power but I believe the following day after the second night.

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  • 1 year later...

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