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Persistent Cold Air in Florida


gsytch

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I am glad that I was in Florida a few weeks ago and it was nice and warm. I had enough cold weather for the season.

dk

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

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Click here to visit Amazonas

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In the 13 years I've lived here in Highlands County, Florida, this predicted string of sub 40 degree temperatures (five nights in a row) has never happened. With all the GW touting, coupled with the weak El Nino, I surely didn't expect this.

Mad about palms

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Walt I was thinking the same thing. I don't remember a weather pattern like this one here either. Well we will see how it affects are palms. Good luck too all.

David

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It hit 39.1 in the shadehouse last night. W-underground says we will hit 34 tonight and tomorrow night, then mid-30s thru Wed, blasting up to 42 Thurs morn then 40ish into next weekend. Highs for the next week will be upper 50s to low 60s. Yikes, the cold front that never leaves.

So far today, we've brought in all the potted tropicals from the shade garden and crowded them onto a tarp in our FL room. We also broke out the greenhouse plastic and laid it over the shadecloth to cut the wind. Tonight we will set up a space heater inside it.

Now I got to figure out how to protect the 10' Areca concinna and our young Bentinckia nicobaria, plus cover the small tropicals in the shade garden. Thank goodness it's the weekend so I have time to work.

Meg

Palms of Victory I shall wear

Cape Coral (It's Just Paradise)
Florida
Zone 10A on the Isabelle Canal
Elevation: 15 feet

I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade.

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Man this is really getting old i just hate being glued to the computer or the weather seeing what if or that is going to happen the forecast in my area

weather.com NOAA

Friday 1 65/45 -- 65/45

Saturday 2 56/40 -- 58/38

Sunday 3 51/41 -- 55/38

Monday 4 55/40 -- 56/38

Tuesday 5 51/35 -- 53/38

Wednesday 6 57/43 -- 56/45

Thursday 7 59/49 -- 61/ ??

Friday 8 62/50

Saturday 9 58/47

Sunday 10 62/49

This Forecast was updated at 11:AM however things still can change for the better I will wrap my smaller palms and my much much bigger palms will have to ride this out. I think they will be OK they do get much hardier when they get older so hopefully things will be OK. chances are if i lose anything I will not replace this is getting old and it sorta destroys your interest in the hobby :angry:

Dear Matthew:

It's in our blood to stretch growing zones from 11 to 10 and 10 to 9 etc. The cold events like this one upcoming, are relatively infrequent so we can take a bit of encouragement knowing that. I really hate the aftermaths of these freeze events too, but I hate more the barren landscape after the cold is over for another year! I just save up enough to replant and have a landscaper do the planting (because my back is still terrible from the auto accidents) and enjoy everthing "back in place" by July 4th Weekend. Fortunately, we humans have a short memory, otherwise there are many things we redo, even after we say we will not repeat!

I guess that there are people who don't keep the same plant diversity in their hobby, but they don't make up the majority. Maybe you are burned out Matthew; that's always a possibility, but I hope that you are not, because you ARE a talently plantsman.

Dr.Paul

Thanks for the encouragement Paul that was very nice of you. I think I was just venting getting frustration out. but so far Pinellas is not in no freeze warnings crossing fingers.

Matthew Albach

Pinellas Park FLorida

USDA zone 10a

sunset zone 26

heat zone   10

mostly frost free most years.

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Unfortunately it CAN also get WORSE,as it usually does the closer to the event.

They are all over the board on forecasted temps for here, with Weather.com being the most pessimistic at this point!They forecast us to hit the freeze mark 2 of the 5 days. What seems fairly consistent at this point is that for the next 5 days our lows will be somwhere in the 30's.

weather.com-----NWS-----------w/underground

39 ------------------ 40 -----------------40

35 ------------------ 38 -----------------38

32 ------------------ 38 -----------------38

33 ------------------ 37 -----------------36

32 ------------------ 39 -----------------38

I also don't ever remember this protracted of a cold event,even though right now most are saying no freeze. The most persisitent cold I can remember is 3 days before some type of warm-up, not 5 or 6 days!!! :angry:

revised forecast temps 24 hours later in parenthesis

weather.com-------NWS-----------w/underground

39 ------------------ 40 -----------------40

35 -(34)------------ 38 -(34)----------- 38- (34)

32 -(33)------------ 38 -(32)----------- 38- (32)

33 -(31)------------ 37 -(31)------------36- (31)

32 -(31)------------ 39 -(30)------------38 -(31)

Just for the record my low last night/morning was 37.2 F, or approx 3 degrees colder than predicted,not a good sign! :angry:

I still stand by my statement if the forecast lows in the 30's hold up, that I don't ever remember here in central Florida having this long of a protracted cold event (lows)... This isn't California, we are supposed to have our cold snaps then a warm up! just sayin...

Scott

Titusville, FL

1/2 mile from the Indian River

USDA Zone COLD

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I fully agree with you on that gsn this not good at all here's an update on the forecast

-------TWC ---NOAA

1/2= 56/39--- -57/37

1/3= 50/39--- -54/38

1/4= 53/40--- -56/38

1/5= 51/36--- -53/35

1/6= 54/39--- -53/39

1/7= 61/46--- -58/45

1/8= 52/44--- -54/??

Updated @ 12:35pm EST

hmmm either way still looks cold not Florida standers at all this completely bites time to wrap some

small palms not taking any chances on this. I hope everyone pull thru this one without any damage to

there plants. Good Luck everyone!!!!!

Matthew Albach

Pinellas Park FLorida

USDA zone 10a

sunset zone 26

heat zone   10

mostly frost free most years.

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I am taking a lunch break from moving all my palm seedlings on the lanai into the shadehouse (now full, with Cham. elegans lining the floor). Just enough room for the space heater. The cold wind is blowing so hard I'm getting an earache. Next stop is the tropical palm selection under the front awning. Everybody comes indoors. All the Coccothrinax in the Caribbean garden must fend for themselves - most are getting too unwieldy to cover. It's going to be awfully crowded in the house for the next week or more.

Meg

Palms of Victory I shall wear

Cape Coral (It's Just Paradise)
Florida
Zone 10A on the Isabelle Canal
Elevation: 15 feet

I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade.

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FYI I have used frost cloth to cover all my tropicals for years. Last year's freezes were hard here. 28F three times in Feb. Anything uderneath came through. Impatiens in the yard, too. My back is somewhat open so it frosts, too, and the cloth really helps. We're talking palms, Alocasia, Brugs, tall cane begonias, even Cattleyas. Just an FYI Greg where it is only 53F at 1pm. Yikes! :o

Begonias are my thing. I've been growing and selling them for three decades, nearly two in Tampa Bay. NPR is an bhour N of St Pete, coast

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Haven't heard to much from you folks in Orlando - I am sure your busy covering palms and getting ready for the next few days! The forecasts for the Orlando area sound worse than Tampa, with several nights of freezing temperatures and a week long cold spell. As was mentioned before - the week long cold spell is a bit more like "California" cold where we often have arctic storms that linger for a week or more. What is unusually about the forecast is in central Florida where there are some areas expecting more than three nights of freezing temperatures! In coastal southern California that would be devastating indeed. The last time we had something like that was in the late 90's with palm fronds fried, Plumerias turned to rubber, and Bougainvillea blackened. I lived in the burbs of LA then and we hit 26F one night and 31F the next - we even had a light freeze on February 1st at 32F - we don't usually get freezes after Jan 20th along the coast!

It will be very interesting to hear how the coconuts and Manila palms fair out of this event in central Florida. If this cold snap happened here in San Diego we would lose all these ultra tropicals because we still have two months of cool winter left....at least! I hope it warms up fast for Florida after this event! Keep us updated on how your protection methods worked and how bad it gets there!

Sending warm thoughts!

BobSDCA

San Diego

Sunset Zone 23, 10a

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Unfortunately it CAN also get WORSE,as it usually does the closer to the event.

They are all over the board on forecasted temps for here, with Weather.com being the most pessimistic at this point!They forecast us to hit the freeze mark 2 of the 5 days. What seems fairly consistent at this point is that for the next 5 days our lows will be somwhere in the 30's.

weather.com-----NWS-----------w/underground

39 ------------------ 40 -----------------40

35 ------------------ 38 -----------------38

32 ------------------ 38 -----------------38

33 ------------------ 37 -----------------36

32 ------------------ 39 -----------------38

I also don't ever remember this protracted of a cold event,even though right now most are saying no freeze. The most persisitent cold I can remember is 3 days before some type of warm-up, not 5 or 6 days!!! :angry:

revised forecast temps 24 hours later in parenthesis

weather.com-------NWS-----------w/underground

39 ------------------ 40 -----------------40

35 -(34)------------ 38 -(34)----------- 38- (34)

32 -(33)------------ 38 -(32)----------- 38- (32)

33 -(31)------------ 37 -(31)------------36- (31)

32 -(31)------------ 39 -(30)------------38 -(31)

Just for the record my low last night/morning was 37.2 F, or approx 3 degrees colder than predicted,not a good sign! :angry:

I still stand by my statement if the forecast lows in the 30's hold up, that I don't ever remember here in central Florida having this long of a protracted cold event (lows)... This isn't California, we are supposed to have our cold snaps then a warm up! just sayin...

Temps going in the same direction here gsn! Right on cue.........

This AM wasnt too bad (I think the winds stayed up enough to keep temps in the lower 40's), but I suspect tomorrow AM will be quite a bit colder.

Too much fun :mrlooney:

Larry 

Palm Harbor, FL 10a / Ft Myers, FL 10b

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Haven't heard to much from you folks in Orlando - I am sure your busy covering palms and getting ready for the next few days! The forecasts for the Orlando area sound worse than Tampa, with several nights of freezing temperatures and a week long cold spell.

Interior Tampa (Brandon, Temple Terrace, etc. which are the usual Tampa area cold spots) have forecasts showing 5 days in a row of 30F or less, with some down the middle 20's as per weather.com.

The Tampa area proper locales are still all showing forecasts in the 30's and the warmest areas still ~40F. But, still plenty of time for the weather computers to spit out lower numbers.

Larry 

Palm Harbor, FL 10a / Ft Myers, FL 10b

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The last time we had something like that was in the late 90's with palm fronds fried, Plumerias turned to rubber, and Bougainvillea blackened. I lived in the burbs of LA then and we hit 26F one night and 31F the next - we even had a light freeze on February 1st at 32F - we don't usually get freezes after Jan 20th along the coast!

It will be very interesting to hear how the coconuts and Manila palms fair out of this event in central Florida. If this cold snap happened here in San Diego we would lose all these ultra tropicals because we still have two months of cool winter left....at least! I hope it warms up fast for Florida after this event! Keep us updated on how your protection methods worked and how bad it gets there!

Sending warm thoughts!

Thank you for the warm thoughts - even here in St. Pete, we need them! Unfortunately, there won't be a fast warmup by our standards - this cold is going to linger right thru next Saturday.... maybe beyond? The high today was 50-something gawdawful; tomorrow it will be around 55 - and that's the high. bleah.

Bob, may I ask you at what temp your bougainvillea fried? I'm a bit nervous about an uncommon one I have that I really like, it's called "Vera Purple" (and I believe another name is "Blakeman's Wine") - it's fussier than my other bougies and is looking very stressed right now - thinking maybe we should bring them in, but there's not much room with all the crotons and palmies in here.

Larry in Tarpon said:

The Tampa area proper locales are still all showing forecasts in the 30's and the warmest areas still ~40F. But, still plenty of time for the weather computers to spit out lower numbers.

That they will, almost certainly. There must be some doubt about Tuesday night - for our area, first they forecast 37, then dropped it to 34 (!!!!), now it's 35. Hope it doesn't go lower, but it probably will.

My very dear husband has built a "cage" around our bottle palm and is covering it with blankets. We may get up obscenely early and run a heater in there. Bottle palm fronds can fry at 38, and we may see lower than that tonight.

St. Pete

Zone - a wacked-out place between 9b & 10

Elevation = 44' - not that it does any good

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looks like I'll be around 30 to 32 all week until Thursday. I brought the potted palms in and the rest will ride it out. I would rather have 30 for a few hours than 34 and frost. I see no talk of frost at all.

Tom

With a tin cup for a chalice

Fill it up with good red wine,

And I'm-a chewin' on a honeysuckle vine.

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Hi SunnyFl,

The coldest I have been here in SD has been 31F for one night, and that was only for an hour or two! No damage to subtropical plants including Bougainvillea during that time. However during that same freeze event, Palm Springs was blasted with 27F for a few hours. All the Bougainvillea and anything that was remotely subtropical was damaged. The Bougainvillea were brown for months, but mostly defoliated. They came right back in spring, however, I lost a Cocothrinax dussiana in that Palm Springs freeze! I would say that most Bougainvillea have a serious problem with temperatures below 28-29F - though the damage on mature specimens seems minimal at those upper limit temperatures, and some varieties can take lower temps. The duration of the freeze and the possibility of a radiational freeze can cause more damage than a mild freeze (say 31-32 for just an hour or so). Sounds like you are taking good precautions with covering anything that you would like to keep undamaged! Good luck and I hope the frosts and freezes are brief!

BobSDCA

San Diego

Sunset Zone 23, 10a

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I wish all of you the best of luck with your plants....anything here at Jackass Flatts that is tender will have to sink or swim on it's own...now admittedly, i live in a slightly warmer zone than some of you to the north , but my guess this one will be a retrograde zone push, and i am at the coldest spot on the island......likely i will erect a memorial to the Cyrtostachys growing in the pond in the coming weeks, but so be it..

I've thrown out the thermometers, and the lights, and the wraps...

NG2...No Guts, No Glory!

Keeping my fingers crossed for you all...best of luck for your palms!!!!

Rusty

Rusty Bell

Pine Island - the Ex-Pat part of Lee County, Fl , USA

Zone 10b, life in the subs!...except when it isn't....

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Just a reminder to anyone on irrigation (me! me!). Turn it off at night if lows are to dip near freezing. You may save a palm's life and yourself tons of grief, guilt and recriminations. Good luck to all facing this mess.

Meg

Palms of Victory I shall wear

Cape Coral (It's Just Paradise)
Florida
Zone 10A on the Isabelle Canal
Elevation: 15 feet

I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade.

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looks like I'll be around 30 to 32 all week until Thursday. I brought the potted palms in and the rest will ride it out. I would rather have 30 for a few hours than 34 and frost. I see no talk of frost at all.

Tom

Tom you have way more confidence than me in the forecasters...

I'll beleive it when I see it, that out of all those nights/ mornings hovering at or below freezing ,that at least one will not be a frost event...Hope I'm WRONG!!!

Humidity will have to remain very low, and dry air will have to stay in place all week for no frost to form,that would be very un- Florida like!

Although the wind may be our friend...

Edited by gsn

Scott

Titusville, FL

1/2 mile from the Indian River

USDA Zone COLD

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Just a reminder to anyone on irrigation (me! me!). Turn it off at night if lows are to dip near freezing. You may save a palm's life and yourself tons of grief, guilt and recriminations. Good luck to all facing this mess.

Meg, that's some great advice...I've seen ice form at a couple of degrees above 32 degrees, a real shocker!

Rusty

Rusty Bell

Pine Island - the Ex-Pat part of Lee County, Fl , USA

Zone 10b, life in the subs!...except when it isn't....

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I wish all of you the best of luck with your plants....anything here at Jackass Flatts that is tender will have to sink or swim on it's own...now admittedly, i live in a slightly warmer zone than some of you to the north , but my guess this one will be a retrograde zone push, and i am at the coldest spot on the island......likely i will erect a memorial to the Cyrtostachys growing in the pond in the coming weeks, but so be it..

I've thrown out the thermometers, and the lights, and the wraps...

NG2...No Guts, No Glory!

Keeping my fingers crossed for you all...best of luck for your palms!!!!

Rusty

Im with ya Rustaroo........everything has to ride it out! I do still have a big bunch of "palm socks" but I just cant see myself out there wrapping palms anymore. Most everything is far too big for that anyway.

Larry 

Palm Harbor, FL 10a / Ft Myers, FL 10b

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, but my guess this one will be a retrograde zone push,

Note my 9b/10a designation in my sig :rolleyes: Nights like the coming are why my signature has always read like this.....just too many times the mercury is awful close to the freezing mark :rage:

Larry 

Palm Harbor, FL 10a / Ft Myers, FL 10b

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OK.....8:00 pm....wind still around 10 knots and temp is around 40 degrees......I'm starting to think it might not be as bad as predicted....it will probably freeze but not a hard freeze....at least here on the northwest coast.

This is probably good news to you further south...what is up here is blowing south and east to you all....not sure about the inland areas.

David Simms zone 9a on Highway 30a

200 steps from the Gulf in NW Florida

30 ft. elevation and sandy soil

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, but my guess this one will be a retrograde zone push,

Note my 9b/10a designation in my sig :rolleyes: Nights like the coming are why my signature has always read like this.....just too many times the mercury is awful close to the freezing mark :rage:

Ah Larry, you are so correct, and in keeping with your learned attitude i have changed my signature........ :lol:

Thanks, and best of luck to you and all throughout this!

Rusty

Rusty Bell

Pine Island - the Ex-Pat part of Lee County, Fl , USA

Zone 10b, life in the subs!...except when it isn't....

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Odd. Temp went UP from 44.9F at 8p to 46.9 at 9p. I pulled up WUnderground and noticed Larry's dewpoint up to 38F from 34F. Perhaps we are getting a Gulf wind flow? Hope it stays....Greg

Begonias are my thing. I've been growing and selling them for three decades, nearly two in Tampa Bay. NPR is an bhour N of St Pete, coast

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It's interesting and, at the same time, disconcerting that your cold wave is going to last a week. The old "run the irrigation" is probabky not a good idea since there is no warm-up for a while and that would probably do more damage than good. Hopefully, things will stay above freezing for you guys.

Coastal San Diego, California

Z10b

Dry summer subtropical/Mediterranean

warm summer/mild winter

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Odd. Temp went UP from 44.9F at 8p to 46.9 at 9p. I pulled up WUnderground and noticed Larry's dewpoint up to 38F from 34F. Perhaps we are getting a Gulf wind flow? Hope it stays....Greg

Yes Greg....note the wind speed plot relative to temperature. The temp has actually risen to ~49F in the past few hours.

But, if this goes like it many times does, the winds will either completely die off, or switch N/NE, and the Gulf benefit will diminish :angry:

post-200-1262486146_thumb.png

Larry 

Palm Harbor, FL 10a / Ft Myers, FL 10b

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Good luck down there!

Its 17.8 on my thermometer, and the two weather stations closest to me one of which is in my sig is reporting 18. We usually dont see this kind of cold until very late jan and feb. Not to mention, were getting wind gusting to 55+ here. It sounds like a freight train outside tonight. with all this cold, my windmills are still comfy 40 degrees or so in their plastic / xmas lights. The HIGH today was 27, and the high tomrrow will be 28. Were usually around 43 or so for daytime highs. YUK!

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Wish I could edit my above post. Anyway...

Its 17.3 here now. By contrast, its 18F in Fairbanks, AK, and 37F in Nuuk Greenland. Yeah, thats 37F ABOVE zero, in Nuuk, Greenland, just a couple degrees south of the Arctic Circle.

Tampa is sitting at 41F.

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Sitting here on the equator it all seems a bit far away right now. But, a few weeks ago it wasn´t. It is interesting that in Great Falls, Montana where I was then it is now a pleasant 31 F by comparison. That beats 15 below. Here it is just the same old 75 F at 3 AM as it is most every day of the year.

This acccuweather map looks menacing for those of you in it´s path to say the least.

weatherjan32.jpg

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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Wish I could edit my above post. Anyway...

Its 17.3 here now. By contrast, its 18F in Fairbanks, AK, and 37F in Nuuk Greenland. Yeah, thats 37F ABOVE zero, in Nuuk, Greenland, just a couple degrees south of the Arctic Circle.

Tampa is sitting at 41F.

How lovely. Tampa is 4F warmer than Greenland. No wonder it feels arctic here :angry:

Hi, DCA! Btw, I was born in Alexandria, but that was decades ago (too many decades, hm). Those temps sound wicked - hope your trachy makes it okay. I couldn't believe the snowfall you all had last month - unreal.

The temps around Central FL are unusual this morning - there doesn't seem to be as much variation as you'd expect. Dunno what it is at my house - the thermom is moved near the spindle, which is near the house. Last time I checked it was 40.5. Out by the bottle palm, probably a couple of degrees colder. Hope the "tent" helps.

I don't know if the bottle will make it. There's no warmup in sight - and Tuesday the low is now forecast to be 33!! Not good. If we take off the blankets by day, the heat won't accumulate in the "tent." If we leave it on for this long cold spell, it's bad for the palm.

I kind of agree with Rusty & Larry - stuff has to sink or swim. But we will protect the bottle palm and bring the container ranch indoors. Next winter we're hoping to have a covered patio where we can keep the potted plants - and just enclose in canvas on cold nights. Too much lugging plants around.

This......

is.....

getting......

OLD !

St. Pete

Zone - a wacked-out place between 9b & 10

Elevation = 44' - not that it does any good

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I wanted to put in my two cents as far as this cold front and protection. We are obviously in for a week of weather we haven't seen in awhile, but it is the prolonged chilly weather we really aren't used to. On the west coast from Tampa to Naples, temps aren't getting to 60 for some time, and getting near or just above 32 every night. Even if it doesn't freeze, and you get just a light frost, you will see what prolonged cold, non-freezing weather can do to your palms. Certain palms are used to this (Archontophoenix, Syagrus, etc.), but there are some plants that just will not deal with the wind and chill EVEN if you never get a frost. There will be no "bounce-back" temps, so I would recommend keeping a close eye on the following plants, which I am sure were recent plantings in a lot of yards around here:

Coconuts - hate this, this is why they don't do well in CA

Non-Hawaiian Pritchardias

Carpoxylon

Neoveitchia

Pinanga spp.

Areca spp.

Some will have no problem with prolonged cool:

Archontophoenix

Syagrus

Kentiopsis

Chambeyronia

Corypha

Arenga

Caryota

Hope that helps!

I hit 39F about an hour ago and saw even Brooksville was at 33F. I am curious how high it will get today.

Christian Faulkner

Venice, Florida - South Sarasota County.

www.faulknerspalms.com

 

Μολὼν λάβε

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I hate this! I'm leaving all my coconuts in the garage with the big fluorescent light on. I don't think it's enough light, but coconuts don't photosynthesize above 50F so there's no point in taking them outside until this front is over. There's no chance for frost out there anyway.

Edited by Zeeth

Keith 

Palmetto, Florida (10a) and Tampa, Florida (9b/10a)

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Wish I could edit my above post. Anyway...

Its 17.3 here now. By contrast, its 18F in Fairbanks, AK, and 37F in Nuuk Greenland. Yeah, thats 37F ABOVE zero, in Nuuk, Greenland, just a couple degrees south of the Arctic Circle.

Tampa is sitting at 41F.

How lovely. Tampa is 4F warmer than Greenland. No wonder it feels arctic here :angry:

Hi, DCA! Btw, I was born in Alexandria, but that was decades ago (too many decades, hm). Those temps sound wicked - hope your trachy makes it okay. I couldn't believe the snowfall you all had last month - unreal.

The temps around Central FL are unusual this morning - there doesn't seem to be as much variation as you'd expect. Dunno what it is at my house - the thermom is moved near the spindle, which is near the house. Last time I checked it was 40.5. Out by the bottle palm, probably a couple of degrees colder. Hope the "tent" helps.

I don't know if the bottle will make it. There's no warmup in sight - and Tuesday the low is now forecast to be 33!! Not good. If we take off the blankets by day, the heat won't accumulate in the "tent." If we leave it on for this long cold spell, it's bad for the palm.

I kind of agree with Rusty & Larry - stuff has to sink or swim. But we will protect the bottle palm and bring the container ranch indoors. Next winter we're hoping to have a covered patio where we can keep the potted plants - and just enclose in canvas on cold nights. Too much lugging plants around.

This......

is.....

getting......

OLD !

an Update: I just got up and its now 15.3 F here in Old Town Alexandria, VA, which is zone 7b/8a. WOW! so cold the The Potomac river is steaming, though its hard to see since were still getting winds gusting up to 50mph. BRRRRRRR!!!!!!

Howdy SunnyF! I think my Trachy's will be fine. Last year they saw lots of ice3, and 9F 6 times, and 8F once. Only protection was one pot was inside another and stuffed with dead leaves, and wrapped in plastic. They never froze. This year, they are in single pots, wrapped in plastic up to the trunk. As with last year, the crowns are open so some heat does escape, but its staying at the very minimum ABOVE 32F in there because the soil si not frozing, neither are the pots, nor the trunks/ crowns. The leaves I would imagine are seeing close to the actual air temps tho. The cold did not damage the leaves last winter.

Yeah, we have not seen snow like we had a couple weeks ago here since 1996. I measured 24inches in areas where it was NOT drifted. I had some areas where it drifted where it was almost up to my chest. On the order of about 4 feet. Nasty stuff for sure. It was beautiful to look at tho.

Stay warm!!!!!

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.

So far today, we've brought in all the potted tropicals from the shade garden and crowded them onto a tarp in our FL room.

Hi Meg,

Your FL room must look like our bedroom. We spread out the visquene and have all our potted crotons there. They fill the room, and the potted palmies are in the foyer.

post-94-1262525509_thumb.jpg

St. Pete

Zone - a wacked-out place between 9b & 10

Elevation = 44' - not that it does any good

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The image below is of a weather station that is very close to me. I did the screen shot about 45 minutes after I woke up this morning. When I woke, it was 15.5F. This station is almost exactly the same as my outdoor temp sensor, which is behind my place on the north side, 6 feet off the ground, in shade, in a cedar tree, about 15 feet away from the building.

EDIT: I dont know why I am having such an AWFUL time in posting an image to this website, but for some reason, it will absolutely NOT allow me to post this image from my account on bananas.org.

So, that said, I had to upload the same photo to another online storage area to get it to work. Anyway....

COLD2010Jan3.jpg

Edited by DCA_Palm_Fan
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Wish I could edit my above post. Anyway...

Its 17.3 here now. By contrast, its 18F in Fairbanks, AK, and 37F in Nuuk Greenland. Yeah, thats 37F ABOVE zero, in Nuuk, Greenland, just a couple degrees south of the Arctic Circle.

Tampa is sitting at 41F.

How lovely. Tampa is 4F warmer than Greenland. No wonder it feels arctic here :angry:

Hi, DCA! Btw, I was born in Alexandria, but that was decades ago (too many decades, hm). Those temps sound wicked - hope your trachy makes it okay. I couldn't believe the snowfall you all had last month - unreal.

The temps around Central FL are unusual this morning - there doesn't seem to be as much variation as you'd expect. Dunno what it is at my house - the thermom is moved near the spindle, which is near the house. Last time I checked it was 40.5. Out by the bottle palm, probably a couple of degrees colder. Hope the "tent" helps.

I don't know if the bottle will make it. There's no warmup in sight - and Tuesday the low is now forecast to be 33!! Not good. If we take off the blankets by day, the heat won't accumulate in the "tent." If we leave it on for this long cold spell, it's bad for the palm.

I kind of agree with Rusty & Larry - stuff has to sink or swim. But we will protect the bottle palm and bring the container ranch indoors. Next winter we're hoping to have a covered patio where we can keep the potted plants - and just enclose in canvas on cold nights. Too much lugging plants around.

This......

is.....

getting......

OLD !

an Update: I just got up and its now 15.3 F here in Old Town Alexandria, VA, which is zone 7b/8a. WOW! so cold the The Potomac river is steaming, though its hard to see since were still getting winds gusting up to 50mph. BRRRRRRR!!!!!!

Howdy SunnyF! I think my Trachy's will be fine. Last year they saw lots of ice3, and 9F 6 times, and 8F once. Only protection was one pot was inside another and stuffed with dead leaves, and wrapped in plastic. They never froze. This year, they are in single pots, wrapped in plastic up to the trunk. As with last year, the crowns are open so some heat does escape, but its staying at the very minimum ABOVE 32F in there because the soil si not frozing, neither are the pots, nor the trunks/ crowns. The leaves I would imagine are seeing close to the actual air temps tho. The cold did not damage the leaves last winter.

Yeah, we have not seen snow like we had a couple weeks ago here since 1996. I measured 24inches in areas where it was NOT drifted. I had some areas where it drifted where it was almost up to my chest. On the order of about 4 feet. Nasty stuff for sure. It was beautiful to look at tho.

Stay warm!!!!!

Well, better the Potomac is steaming, rather than a solid sheet of ice. I know; been there, done that.

I worked across the river from Alexandria at the Naval Research Laboratory for 21-1/2 years. I know the river had a thermal effect, with respect to an extended frost date in the fall. In fact, the biggest fig tree (Ficus carica) I ever saw was once growing at the lab. The large, tropical looking tree had a southern exposure and was surrounded on its east, west, and north sides by three-story buildings, basically blocking north winds. Further, there were about three steam pits in proximity of the tree that radiated heat, helping create a great microclimate. Too bad they eventually cut down the tree and made a parking lot of the area.

Mad about palms

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Hi Walt! Thank you so much for your hospitality last weekend - it was a joy to see your tropical oasis, and so hard to believe you're doing all that in zone 9. Everything looks so healthy and robust - yeah you've had a few cold problems, but it's amazing to see what's thriving there. It's one thing to grow the more sensitive things by the coast in St. Pete - it's a much bigger challenge doing it so incredibly well in FL's interior!

We adore the little S. etonia - it's a cutie! Not sure how long it can stay in a pot - hope I don't have to plant it out any time soon. If we have to move, I'd like to take it with. Have always wanted one of those gems - thank you so much!

St. Pete

Zone - a wacked-out place between 9b & 10

Elevation = 44' - not that it does any good

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Wish I could edit my above post. Anyway...

Its 17.3 here now. By contrast, its 18F in Fairbanks, AK, and 37F in Nuuk Greenland. Yeah, thats 37F ABOVE zero, in Nuuk, Greenland, just a couple degrees south of the Arctic Circle.

Tampa is sitting at 41F.

How lovely. Tampa is 4F warmer than Greenland. No wonder it feels arctic here :angry:

Hi, DCA! Btw, I was born in Alexandria, but that was decades ago (too many decades, hm). Those temps sound wicked - hope your trachy makes it okay. I couldn't believe the snowfall you all had last month - unreal.

The temps around Central FL are unusual this morning - there doesn't seem to be as much variation as you'd expect. Dunno what it is at my house - the thermom is moved near the spindle, which is near the house. Last time I checked it was 40.5. Out by the bottle palm, probably a couple of degrees colder. Hope the "tent" helps.

I don't know if the bottle will make it. There's no warmup in sight - and Tuesday the low is now forecast to be 33!! Not good. If we take off the blankets by day, the heat won't accumulate in the "tent." If we leave it on for this long cold spell, it's bad for the palm.

I kind of agree with Rusty & Larry - stuff has to sink or swim. But we will protect the bottle palm and bring the container ranch indoors. Next winter we're hoping to have a covered patio where we can keep the potted plants - and just enclose in canvas on cold nights. Too much lugging plants around.

This......

is.....

getting......

OLD !

an Update: I just got up and its now 15.3 F here in Old Town Alexandria, VA, which is zone 7b/8a. WOW! so cold the The Potomac river is steaming, though its hard to see since were still getting winds gusting up to 50mph. BRRRRRRR!!!!!!

Howdy SunnyF! I think my Trachy's will be fine. Last year they saw lots of ice3, and 9F 6 times, and 8F once. Only protection was one pot was inside another and stuffed with dead leaves, and wrapped in plastic. They never froze. This year, they are in single pots, wrapped in plastic up to the trunk. As with last year, the crowns are open so some heat does escape, but its staying at the very minimum ABOVE 32F in there because the soil si not frozing, neither are the pots, nor the trunks/ crowns. The leaves I would imagine are seeing close to the actual air temps tho. The cold did not damage the leaves last winter.

Yeah, we have not seen snow like we had a couple weeks ago here since 1996. I measured 24inches in areas where it was NOT drifted. I had some areas where it drifted where it was almost up to my chest. On the order of about 4 feet. Nasty stuff for sure. It was beautiful to look at tho.

Stay warm!!!!!

Well, better the Potomac is steaming, rather than a solid sheet of ice. I know; been there, done that.

I worked across the river from Alexandria at the Naval Research Laboratory for 21-1/2 years. I know the river had a thermal effect, with respect to an extended frost date in the fall. In fact, the biggest fig tree (Ficus carica) I ever saw was once growing at the lab. The large, tropical looking tree had a southern exposure and was surrounded on its east, west, and north sides by three-story buildings, basically blocking north winds. Further, there were about three steam pits in proximity of the tree that radiated heat, helping create a great microclimate. Too bad they eventually cut down the tree and made a parking lot of the area.

What a shame they cut it down! There are a lot of Ficus carica trees in my neighborhood, but the vast majority of them are 15, maybe 20 feet tall, max. Seems like there are a few of those on each block here. There is one, which is on the west facing wall of a two story red brick building (the YMCA in Del Ray) which is very close to me. That one has surpassed the roof of the 2 story building by about 10 feet, so I am guessing it is about 30 feet tall. Its ENORMOUS! Funny thing is, hardly anyone knows its there. Its fairly well protected, there is a red brick house not too far away further west, but it does get exposed somewhat to winds, however they are probably greatly reduced winds as there are ALOT of trees, some of which are evergreen between those two buildings.

And yeah, better the Potomac is steaming this morning than a solid sheet of ice. Though some parts of it close to shore in areas that remain relatively calm do have a thin sheet of ice over it. While this kind of cold is not terribly unusual, it is unusual for this early in winter. Usually when this hits its very late Jan / February. Fortunately, as cold as everywhere is going to be this week, last night was supposed to be the coldest it is going to get here. The lows are going to moderate into the low to mid 20s from tonight for the rest of the week in the city areas (inside the beltway) here.

Like you, Im also likely going to retreat to FLA. Planning on moving down within the next year. Hopefully before next Christmas. Heading to the Tampa/ St. Petersburg area.

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Hi Walt! Thank you so much for your hospitality last weekend - it was a joy to see your tropical oasis, and so hard to believe you're doing all that in zone 9. Everything looks so healthy and robust - yeah you've had a few cold problems, but it's amazing to see what's thriving there. It's one thing to grow the more sensitive things by the coast in St. Pete - it's a much bigger challenge doing it so incredibly well in FL's interior!

We adore the little S. etonia - it's a cutie! Not sure how long it can stay in a pot - hope I don't have to plant it out any time soon. If we have to move, I'd like to take it with. Have always wanted one of those gems - thank you so much!

Hi Nyssa. You and hubby are most welcome for the S. etonia. I enjoyed both your visit here very much -- and I was happy you got to see my garden before it gets wiped out (again) this winter. Fortunately, it didn't happen last night, as my low was 35 degrees just at day break. The low was 43 degrees at my parent's house on Lake June.

I think the Sabal etonia will be fine in its pot. In anything, you could step it up one pot size if you fee that might be better. I'm going to step up the pot size of the Syagrus botryophora you gave me. And thanks so much for that palm. I would have potted it up already but with this protracted cold event we are having, I've had to divert my efforts elsewhere. Mainly, I spent all day yesterday preparing for the forecasted freezes. Our radio weatherman said yesterday that it could drop to 26 degrees low ground this morning. Since I'm on low ground, I about had a panic attack.

The two photos below show how I wrapped my bottle palm. Luckily, I didn't have to turn on the heating cables, but tonight who knows. At least yesterday there was bright sunshine all day long, and the soil soaked up lots of radiant heat. Today it's cloudy and the soil will be much colder going into tonight.

I'm now into my 13th winter here and I've never experienced a protracted cold period like we are inow in. This doesn't bode well for my tropicals.

BottlepalmFP1.jpg

BottlePalmFP2.jpg

Mad about palms

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