Trachycarpus fortunei in zone 6, west of Ukraine

[serj]

Hi, guys! I live in west of Ukraine, zone 6. This zone is not the best choice for growing palms and other exotic plants. But last year, i planted small trachycarpus fortunei in my fathers garden. This palm have survived our winter with frost about -20 C for two days in december without any damage. I do not use any extra heat.

[paulgila]

hi serj,nice to hear from you.how close are you to chernobyl? maybe you will get giant mutated glow-in-the-dark trachies!!!

[serj]

  the dewd abides said:

hi serj,nice to hear from you.how close are you to chernobyl? maybe you will get giant mutated glow-in-the-dark trachies!!!

Hi, I live within 250 miles of the Chernobyl! Ha-ha-ha, my trachycarpus is not giant mutated glow-in-the-dark palms. I treat this with copper fungicide to prevent root of stem and leaves!

[DoomsDave]

sERJ!

Nice to meet you!

Don't worry about your English . . . .

Were you upwind or downwind from Chernobyl . . . . .

I hear the entire area nearby is now a wild game preserve, filled with well-preserved wild game . . . .

[serj]

Hi, Dave! Nature of Chernobyl still wild. This year, i have seen film about sheatfish from Chernobyl. This had about 1,5 m lenght!

[gyuseppe]

hello Serj! .

I am happy to meet you,

and are happy for your Trachycarpus fortunei.

[serj]

Thanks, gyuseppe! Apropos, this Trachycarpus fortunei arrived from north of Italy last spring!

[palmtreesforpleasure]

Hello Seri

welcome to palmtalk

do you have any other palms?

there are other species that might grow there that are hardier in the cold than Trachycarpus fortunei, what summer temperature do you get at home

regards

Colin

[serj]

Hi, Colin! I have got a lot of palm such as sabal minor, washingtonia filifera and robusta, butia capitata, brahea armata, copernicia alba, sabal maritima, archontophoenix alexandrae, phoenix canariens, trachycarpus wagnerianus and mazari palm. In summer we usually have much rainy days and low temperatures near 20-30 C. Thereofe sabal minor, mazari palm and needle palm did not suitable for our climate. I think what trachie species is more suitable for our wet and cold climate.

[palmtreesforpleasure]

Hello Seri

have you considered Trachycarpus nanus, they only grow to about 1m tall and handles cold temperatures very well.

regards

colin

[serj]

Hello, palmsforpleasure. I have concidered Trachycarpus wagnerianus. This time i have been germinating 20 seeds waggie. I hear this grow into Iceland.

[paulgila]

i thought the needle palm was supposed to be among the hardiest palms?

good luck with your garden!

[serj]

  the dewd abides said:

i thought the needle palm was supposed to be among the hardiest palms?

good luck with your garden!

Paul, needle palm is one of the most cold-hardy palms in the world. But this palm need hot, humid summer temperatures to thrive. In my zone summer is cold.

[mlovecan]

Hi Seri,

I have been working in Budapest this winter - just west of the zone 6/7 borderline.

There are a few Trachys around town. Most are lightly protected right now ( bubble wrap and / or cardboard around the bud ) and I don't see any problems with them.

There are also a half-dozen or so at a cafe right next to the Danube that are not protected at all - these are looking ok too.

I think your chances are quite good! The best of luck!

Regards

Maurice

[serj]

Maurice, thanks for the very useful information!

[Corrosion]

Hello serj! I´m planning similar experiment here in Estonia but a bit larger specimen of trachy fortunei/wagnerius which I´m going to order from Holland as soon the snow has melted. We have also zone 6 a, even 5 in the east but last few years we have had extremly mild winters except few weeks in february In Estonia I haven´t heard of any palms being grown outside so far, but I´m gonna fix that I have a small garden near town centre faced south, also it is protected from strong winds etc..

Getting plants/seeds required is very difficult in Est, but EU internet shops are helping my and my wallet out Even if we have something which may interest me it usually costs a fortune! I mean it if I look at the prices in southern europe or in the US then it´s like a day and night.

I´m also a member of scanpalms.no forum, I have gained lots of knowledge about growing palms in severe conditions in the north.

Good luck with your efforts in Ukraine!

Ralf.

[soro]

Hello Serj,

I have done some experiments with palms in Slovakia before I moved to New Zealand... see http://www.palmetto.sk and http://www.palmetto.sk/palms_marian.htm The website and article is way out of date though and my English wasn't that good at the time of writing... but it will give you some idea. You should definitely get hold of Kiril Donov from Bulgaria www.polarpalm.net and have a look at some Czech websites also: http://www.bambusarium.cz/forum/viewtopic....sc&start=60

Cheers,

Marian

[serj]

Hi Soro! Excuse me for late reply. I see your point. I was reading about Kiril Donov palms on a Bulgarian website! Could you tell me about your experiments with palms in Slovakia?

[iamjv]

Man those guys at polarpalms sure go through a huge effort to keep those palms alive.... my hats off to them! Jv

[serj]

iamjv, thanks for praising. This year i will try other cold hardy palms such as brahea armata, butai capitata, washingtonia filifera, sabal minor.

[Corrosion]

  serj said:

iamjv, thanks for praising. This year i will try other cold hardy palms such as brahea armata, butai capitata, washingtonia filifera, sabal minor.

Those you have listed are not really considered fully hardy imo braheas and butias can take- 7 c without protection, washies are even worst but sabal minor will do problaby in your zone. There´s also variety called Rhapidophyllum hystrix which should be very tolerant to cold and freeze.

So if your not going to use wrapping, lights, custom greenhouse etc they wont survive.

[serj]

Corrosion, i'm able to provide significantly protection without any extra heat! In the my styrofoam shield, temperature never dropped below 32F when we had -28,8 F. Therefore my palms have chance to survive.

[serj]

Sorry, guys. I was mistaken. The temperature had risen near 6,6F! (not -28,8 C)!

[Howeadypsis]

good to see a Trachy growing in the cold, nice to meet you Serj

[serj]

Thank you, Howeadypsis!

[Howeadypsis]

  serj said:

Thank you, Howeadypsis!

Nozdrovye tovarich!

[Tad]

privyet serj,

[serj]

Hi, Tad! Your russian is very well!

[Howeadypsis]

Kak dela tovarich?

Ia ploho tovoru pa russkye!

[serj]

  Howeadypsis said:

Kak dela tovarich?

Ia ploho tovoru pa russkye!

Thank you, i am very well! And my palms too. This time my trachy has two additional leafs! It was growed for 3 last week's.

[Howeadypsis]

  serj said:

  Howeadypsis said:

Kak dela tovarich?

Ia ploho tovoru pa russkye!

Thank you, i am very well! And my palms too. This time my trachy has two additional leafs! It was growed for 3 last week's.

Ah that is good. And if you can grow Trachycarpus in Ukraine then I should be able to grow them here in England! Your winters are hard yes?

[serj]

  Howeadypsis said:

[Ah that is good. And if you can grow Trachycarpus in Ukraine then I should be able to grow them here in England! Your winters are hard yes?

Howeadypsis, you are right! Last winter, we had about -20 C for two night. In the winter 2005-2006 we had -28 C!!!

[Howeadypsis]

  serj said:

Howeadypsis, you are right! Last winter, we had about -20 C for two night. In the winter 2005-2006 we had -28 C!!!

Wow that IS cold! We have cold winters too but also lots of rain so the plants get frozen,then thawed,then frozen etc. Tough for plants and its usually the thawing that kills

[serj]

  Howeadypsis said:

Wow that IS cold! We have cold winters too but also lots of rain so the plants get frozen,then thawed,then frozen etc. Tough for plants and its usually the thawing that kills

I have a one way to grow my palms - good protection by styrofoame shields. The simple styrofoame shields increase temperature inside more than 10-15 C with respect to outside!!! And we have often a thaw too!

[gyuseppe]

sery the cold, not stop the passion for palms!.

(sorry my English)

[serj]

  gyuseppe said:

sery the cold, not stop the passion for palms!.

(sorry my English)

gyuseppe, I agree completely!

[Corrosion]

  serj said:

  Howeadypsis said:

Wow that IS cold! We have cold winters too but also lots of rain so the plants get frozen,then thawed,then frozen etc. Tough for plants and its usually the thawing that kills

I have a one way to grow my palms - good protection by styrofoame shields. The simple styrofoame shields increase temperature inside more than 10-15 C with respect to outside!!! And we have often a thaw too!

styrofoam is a good idea but wont the lack of light going to be a problem? Or you just keep it on during the "xtreme cold" days? Regular plastic greenhouse with christmas lights would give the same effect but with sunlight during day, although it takes electricity

[serj]

1. The palm in winter does not need any light.

2. In the thaw i opened shield and my palm take some sun light.

[damir]

  On 4/14/2009 at 4:19 AM, serj said:

1. The palm in winter does not need any light.

2. In the thaw i opened shield and my palm take some sun light.

here is one pic from my garden taken this summer, croatia zone 7a

regards

[damir]

and few days ago