What should I do with my Texas triangle palm?

[WebT]

Hi guys. Help me!! A couple of years ago I posted the question here, if I should plant my triangle palm in the ground or try to keep it in its pot. At the time it was pretty big and hard to deal with, but everybody told me to leave it in the pot or I would risk losing it to freezes in the winter.

I did as people told me. I made a small wooden support for the pot to keep it from blowing over, and also tied it to a wooden post. When cold weather was forecast I would lay the palm down along with some others I have (big foxtails, fishtails, etc.) and covered them with sheets and tarps. Over the past several years that worked ok, and we only had a few freezes every year to deal with, the palm continued to do well.

But now the plant is much bigger and I need to do something. It's a double trunk (it used to be three but the smallest one died) that I bought in the Valley many years ago as a small little thing. Now the trunks are over 6 feet and the fronds of course much larger than that. This spring I repotted it into a cattle feed bucket thing, 20 inches tall and probably 24 inches across. I thought it would be big enough, it's about the same size as the pot it had been in, only this one has straight sides so it has more volume than the old one with a more traditional shape. But it's not big enough, it sticks up out of the pot and keeps trying to fall over, even when the pot itself stays upright (I still have it in the wooden enclosure but it's very difficult to tie it to the post anymore.)

I am very tempted to plant it in the ground, I know it would be happy there, at least for the summer. Then what? Can I dig it back up every winter and maybe wrap its roots and keep it ready to protect it for a freeze? Or can I simply cover and wrap it in the ground? I don't have much of a protected place for it, the one semi-protected side of my house already has a royal palm that I went through the same ordeal a couple of years ago, and it's done ok so far. With the other tropicals in the same spot there isn't much room right there.

I'm in a rural area, Wharton County, southwest of Houston where we seldom have freezes, but every year we get a couple of nights with temps to maybe 24, plus several other nights around 30 or so. We used to get temps into the teens but that hasn't happened in many years.

If I lived in Houston I wouldn't think twice about planting the thing, it seems like it never gets cold in Houston and everything grows there anymore. The same is pretty much true with where I live, hibiscuses, bouganvillias, pigmy dates, all those things are now common around here. But I know the triangle palm is tender. My majesty palm lost most of its fronds this year, but it grows quickly. I don't think the triangle is as hardy or as quick to grow back.

If I were rich I would put it in a giant pot and move it around with a forklift. As it is, I am a poor, 50ish teacher person with plastic pot budget and a dolly to move things, so it's not easy.

Any ideas? Please?

I will try to find some pictures to post of this and my other palms. My camera broke this week but I do have many pictures, I'll just need to find them.

Thanks guys.

---Web

[quaman58]

Web,

Mine is reasonably cold hardy, looking good year around--the exception was a brutal freeze in Jan. 2007. It was about 9 ft. overall and suffered substantial leaf burn at 27F. Given the rather slow rate of leaf production, I figure it will be another year or so until it acheives it pre-freeze beauty. How feasable is it to plant in ground, and have a lightweight way of covering it during bad spells? It sounds like you only need to pick up 3 or 4 degrees to protect it from damage.

Bret

[WebT]

Web,

Mine is reasonably cold hardy, looking good year around--the exception was a brutal freeze in Jan. 2007. It was about 9 ft. overall and suffered substantial leaf burn at 27F. Given the rather slow rate of leaf production, I figure it will be another year or so until it acheives it pre-freeze beauty. How feasable is it to plant in ground, and have a lightweight way of covering it during bad spells? It sounds like you only need to pick up 3 or 4 degrees to protect it from damage.

Bret

Thanks, Bret. I think that's what I'm going to do. Short of moving I don't see anything else I can do, it won't last long in a pot this size and I just don't think I can handle one much bigger.

Every year there are a couple of nights that sneak up on me where it gets colder than they say, or I'm too lazy, and I don't get the palms down on the ground and covered. Usually it will be 30 or so, but I think it's probably been 27 a few times, and the triangle is the only one that shows any leaf burn, but it always comes back ok. The foxtails and fishtail seem hardier. But if I'm careful and plan ahead I think I can do this, and if not, well, I only spent a few dollars on the plant anyway, many years ago...

The place I plan to put it will have some protection and be close to a plug so I can use a light or something to warm it if I need to.

Wish me luck...

[_Keith]

Go for it. I am a tad cooler than you and mine made it through last winter just fine.

[iamjv]

Web, placement can be the key between it getting a little toasted or out right killed.... mind you if we have an artic blast similar to 83 or 89, the palm is doomed, yet outside of that realm, you should be able to keep it alive. I know of two triangles here in town that have made it through recent winters without a problem but they are both in excellent microclimates. Both are well protected from northern winds and get heat exposure from surrounding walls. If you could accomodiate yours similarly then I think you'll have decent succes and only have to protect it under severe conditions... wish you all the best. Jv

[WebT]

thanks, guys, all that sounds like good news. Last time I posted this everybody said "it's toast the first winter." Like I said, if I lived in Houston or any other city around here I'd be less worried, but it's colder out here in the country. But there are lots of trees that keep it a little warmer and it should have some protection from the wind, and I can work on wrapping it if I need to when it gets cold.

But for now, it looks awesome:

[freakypalmguy]

That is a beauty WebT, nice work.

[Jim in Los Altos]

Web,

Beautiful palms but they're planted too high. I see lots of roots exposed beneath the trunks. Since those triangles are already planted, you just need to mound some soil up to the base of their trunks. Being planted too high can make most palms wobbly and "air prune" new roots coming out of the bases of their trunks so those roots never reach the soil.

Good luck.

[WebT]

Web,

Beautiful palms but they're planted too high. I see lots of roots exposed beneath the trunks. Since those triangles are already planted, you just need to mound some soil up to the base of their trunks. Being planted too high can make most palms wobbly and "air prune" new roots coming out of the bases of their trunks so those roots never reach the soil.

Good luck.

Yea, I know, I just saw that too when I looked back at the picture. The thing is, it's been like that for a long time cause it was in pots that were always too small for it. Plus, man, was it hard to get the hole deep enough. I have very good soil, but when you get down 16 inches or so it turns into clay that takes a jack hammer to get through. I was hoping I'd dug it deep enough, but clearly it wasn't. But also, I didn't want to bury it below where it had been exposed for years, I was afraid it might rot it.

Anyhow, I''m planning on putting a little more dirt around it.

Thanks for the tip.

[palmdudetx]

Web T,

Just a little north of you at the junction of Ft Bend County and Waller County. If you have access to an electrical outlet, get you one of those trouble light fixtures with a shield over the bulb. Then you can cover a palm and place the light down on the ground placed in some type of case to keep it stable, I use a plastic case of the type that milk is delivered to stores in. I have been able to keep citrus as well as palms from severe damage by using incandesant bulbs as the heat source. The size of the wattage dependant on the temp. forecast.

The other alternative is to start working on a micro climate, with planting as fast growing evergreen trees that you can find that will grow tall enough to provide some canopy cover. I have plumerias and other tropical plants and palms that stay out all winter with nothing but canopy cover from some of my taller palms that are winter hardy.

Good luck with your triangle'

By the way, I travel to East Bernard quite often to the DVM office there.

Regards,

Marvin

Southern Waller County

[WebT]

Web T,

Just a little north of you at the junction of Ft Bend County and Waller County. If you have access to an electrical outlet, get you one of those trouble light fixtures with a shield over the bulb. Then you can cover a palm and place the light down on the ground placed in some type of case to keep it stable, I use a plastic case of the type that milk is delivered to stores in. I have been able to keep citrus as well as palms from severe damage by using incandesant bulbs as the heat source. The size of the wattage dependant on the temp. forecast.

The other alternative is to start working on a micro climate, with planting as fast growing evergreen trees that you can find that will grow tall enough to provide some canopy cover. I have plumerias and other tropical plants and palms that stay out all winter with nothing but canopy cover from some of my taller palms that are winter hardy.

Good luck with your triangle'

By the way, I travel to East Bernard quite often to the DVM office there.

Regards,

Marvin

Southern Waller County

Thanks. There is a plug right behind the palm on the porch, I think that's going to work.

[Big Tex]

Hi guys. Help me!! A couple of years ago I posted the question here, if I should plant my triangle palm in the ground or try to keep it in its pot. At the time it was pretty big and hard to deal with, but everybody told me to leave it in the pot or I would risk losing it to freezes in the winter.

Web, I have had mine in the ground for 3 years now. It has been through and ice storm, a hurricane, snow, and 26 degrees. I got some damage but it grow out very quickly. I wrap mine with Christmas lights anytime it gets below freezing and cover it with double layers of frost cloth. I also cover it with frost cloth anytime it I expect it will frost. I have a Queen palm growing close to it that in 3 years should provide a canopy for it so the frost will not get to it.

[Zoltan]

On 5/2/2009 at 6:28 PM, WebT said:

Hi guys. Help me!! A couple of years ago I posted the question here, if I should plant my triangle palm in the ground or try to keep it in its pot. At the time it was pretty big and hard to deal with, but everybody told me to leave it in the pot or I would risk losing it to freezes in the winter.

 

I did as people told me. I made a small wooden support for the pot to keep it from blowing over, and also tied it to a wooden post. When cold weather was forecast I would lay the palm down along with some others I have (big foxtails, fishtails, etc.) and covered them with sheets and tarps. Over the past several years that worked ok, and we only had a few freezes every year to deal with, the palm continued to do well.

 

But now the plant is much bigger and I need to do something. It's a double trunk (it used to be three but the smallest one died) that I bought in the Valley many years ago as a small little thing. Now the trunks are over 6 feet and the fronds of course much larger than that. This spring I repotted it into a cattle feed bucket thing, 20 inches tall and probably 24 inches across. I thought it would be big enough, it's about the same size as the pot it had been in, only this one has straight sides so it has more volume than the old one with a more traditional shape. But it's not big enough, it sticks up out of the pot and keeps trying to fall over, even when the pot itself stays upright (I still have it in the wooden enclosure but it's very difficult to tie it to the post anymore.)

 

I am very tempted to plant it in the ground, I know it would be happy there, at least for the summer. Then what? Can I dig it back up every winter and maybe wrap its roots and keep it ready to protect it for a freeze? Or can I simply cover and wrap it in the ground? I don't have much of a protected place for it, the one semi-protected side of my house already has a royal palm that I went through the same ordeal a couple of years ago, and it's done ok so far. With the other tropicals in the same spot there isn't much room right there.

 

I'm in a rural area, Wharton County, southwest of Houston where we seldom have freezes, but every year we get a couple of nights with temps to maybe 24, plus several other nights around 30 or so. We used to get temps into the teens but that hasn't happened in many years.

 

If I lived in Houston I wouldn't think twice about planting the thing, it seems like it never gets cold in Houston and everything grows there anymore. The same is pretty much true with where I live, hibiscuses, bouganvillias, pigmy dates, all those things are now common around here. But I know the triangle palm is tender. My majesty palm lost most of its fronds this year, but it grows quickly. I don't think the triangle is as hardy or as quick to grow back.

 

If I were rich I would put it in a giant pot and move it around with a forklift. As it is, I am a poor, 50ish teacher person with plastic pot budget and a dolly to move things, so it's not easy.

 

Any ideas? Please?

 

I will try to find some pictures to post of this and my other palms. My camera broke this week but I do have many pictures, I'll just need to find them.

 

Thanks guys.

 

 

---Web

 

[Harry’s Palms]

I love the Triangle Palms , they are significantly different than others so when planted correctly give a variation amongst other palms. I have two, one out front next to a Venezuelan Royal and the other in my courtyard next to my Koi pond and Howea F. Even as crowded as my garden is , they stand out. I guess the only negative is the stubborn leaf bases.