Damage assessment after Texas freeze - need to find cold hardy palms

[OC2Texaspalmlvr 1,135]

@CiprianS If it's visibly growing then you shouldn't have anything to worry about. 

T J 

[CiprianS 130]

1 hour ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

@CiprianS If it's visibly growing then you shouldn't have anything to worry about. 

T J 

The spear is visibly growing... I marked it with a sharpie.  

[OC2Texaspalmlvr 1,135]

6 hours ago, CiprianS said:

The spear is visibly growing... I marked it with a sharpie.  

 After the freeze 2 of my bizzies never showed movement. I tugged on the newest spears but they never pulled. 2 months later when they finally spear pulled the bud rot was too far gone =/ 

T J 

[CiprianS 130]

Finally the second Bismarckia opened (in fact it has just started opening) one of its two spears today. As I am looking in this topic and also in my phone it opened it two weeks after the other one. Not bad at all, its hot outside and I can bet that they love that heat and I am also watering them once in two-three days when it does not rain at all. And with these daily temperatures between 90-100 degrees they really like it I guess. I was looking at the other one since I marked its opened spear and it grew like crazy. It is time to stop marking their spears and just keep on looking from time to time for new spears now. I got to another level with them.

Also, the two Sabal Riverside I see that one of them is opening its spear that it had when I got it from Phil and I am paying attention also at the other one how it is moving the spear that it has there. I think I did not shock them that much after I moved them.

Edited June 21, 2021 by CiprianS

[CiprianS 130]

I went outside a little bit earlier to look at the spear that is opening from the second Bismarckia and... surprise. Both of them are growing another spear so that they will have two unopened ones. I don't want to mention that I did not even look at the one that is opening anymore, I just texted my wife and she said that I am crazy with my spears.  

I reached the next level with them it seems, now I can say that they got well in the ground since both of them have opened one of the two spears that they had when I bought them and also they are growing a new spear each. 

[CiprianS 130]

Good news for me, both of the Riverside are sprouting new spears, also the small palmetto seedlings. All of my relocations and transplants were successful.  

Yesterday I also planted one of the Filifera saplings that I had, to replace one of my dead Robusta. Again, I hope that is a Filifera, but I will see in a few years maybe exactly what it is. Next week I will remove the second Robusta (that is also dead), too and plant another Filifera sapling to replace it.

Edited July 3, 2021 by CiprianS

[OC2Texaspalmlvr 1,135]

@CiprianS you my friend definitely have yourself some bulletproof palms going.

T J 

[CiprianS 130]

2 hours ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

@CiprianS you my friend definitely have yourself some bulletproof palms going.

T J 

Considering how much I moved them around and they are still growing, indeed they are bulletproof.  

[SeanK 50]

Dump the robusta. I've been all over the US, including Houston. W.robusta needs to be planted against a multi-story building or out in the low desert to look good. The city lots in Houston are 1/4 to 1/2 acre and the palm just doesn't fit. Think about having the yard green during the (normally) pleasant winter months. Live oak, Sabals, Chamaerops, Butia, maybe a mule. Think scale and architecture. 

[OC2Texaspalmlvr 1,135]

2 hours ago, SeanK said:

Dump the robusta.

I think he replaced his robusta with Filifera. Much slower growing and more cold hardy 

T J 

[CiprianS 130]

1 hour ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

I think he replaced his robusta with Filifera. Much slower growing and more cold hardy 

T J 

I still have one Robusta that is dead and I need to cut it down this week, leave the soil there for another week and another Filifera will get its place. But first these rains need to give me a little break and after that they can continue.  

[CiprianS 130]

I am done with replanting, instead of the other dead Robusta I planted a Filifera and I am done for this year. In the extreme case that we will have again some very low temperatures as we had in February I looked on Amazon and I bought two heated wires, one of 30 feet and another one of 60 feet. I still need to get another two and in this case I will have four to protect the two Canaries and also the two Bismarckia.

Now my question is : how safe is it to use these heated wires, because I tested them today with an IR thermometer and they get to a maximum of 110 F as far as I have seen? I am just afraid that I will burn the palms like that. Do you guys have any ideas? Below is a photo with these heated wires that I got.