Keeping palms inside unter growlight in winter

[Will]

Hi,

 

Some friends and me had a discussion about wether its benefital to keep palms inside under growlight in winter or wether its better keeping them cold.

Our question was if keeping it inside would reduce its cold hardiness or health in general if the plan is to put it in the ground in spring. I put my Sabal minor in a growing box with growlights, because i was thinking the more roots and the more growth it has till spring the faster it will adapt and in the end also be hardier.

The other statement was that keeping the palm under "winter-like" conditions will make it hardier and overall healthier in the next growing season.

So my question. Which of those statements are true? 

 

Regards,

Will

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

IMO if you have a hardy palm then it doesn't really matter what you do with it during 1 winter before you plant. In theory the bigger the palm the faster it gets to its potential hardiness. When your dealing with seedlings in a grand scale keeping them cold will prolly help weed out the weak ones.

T J 

[Will]

I also think so. I put my Sabal inside the growing box. I repotted it in summer I think, so hopefully inside the box it will fill the complete pot with roots.

[sonoranfans]

I think the right spectrum shouldnt you will get a jump on spring, but there are many garbage grow lights out there.  Probably a good one that will last at laest 10 yrs will cost $300.   LED's are nice because a better LED system has low heat generation and runs cooler than the cheap ones.  IF you want faster root growth, use a (waterproof) heat mat and a light.   I would put the heat mat under a flat rock(slate) or glass baking dish and the plant on top so the rock will retain heat instead of heating plastic directly.  These plant heat mats generally dont get very hot but you want to trap some of the heat for radiative heating like a water filled radiator vs a simple conductor of applying the heat directly to the pot.

[Chester B]

The genetics are what determines its cold hardiness. Keeping it inside won’t affect its overall cold tolerance, but it will allow you to extend the growing season. As mentioned most palms get hardier with size so there really are no negatives keeping it inside while small. 

[Will]

Thanks your the replies! Good to hear its not gonna somehow reduce its hardiness.