Archontophoenix alexandrae

[peachy]

Most of my Alex palms are too big to cover, and none of the thousands of them planted around my suburb are covered either. Big ones come back from a frost. They look awful for a while but eventually pick up again. However if you get frost every winter, then you will never have them looking their best. Cold doesnt seem to worry them. We get 20 or more below 0c down to -2 or -3, no frost though, and they are fine. Only other way to protect them is to grow something taller on side of them that the frost affects. (here it is the east that the shelter must come from.) If they are on the western side of a house, large tree etc, they will be fine. Siting is an important factor. I think for you also the north side of the house offers shelter too. I love Verschafelltia splendida. I have bought so many of them, watched them grow strong and happy, then die in a few days once winter sets in. A part of growing palms is accepting that something will not do well for you. Right now we are having terrible heat (40+) and many of my high altitude tropical palms are quite sick, so there is always something happening.

Peachy

[Rafael]

As you can see here: http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=20979, this new palm seems to be a cunninghamiana.

However, do your advisements remain valid to this palm?

May i cover the crown shaft Walt?

Peachy, its so curious, i was looking for a cunninghamiana, and i just had one in my yard!

Here are some photos of my palm.

Edited November 21, 2009 by rafael

[Rafael]

Another one

[Rafael]

And the last one

[Rafael]

Besides all that i wonder the following: my palm is located east, protected by my house, as shelter, from west sea winds.

How far is that protection important. Concerning to its size do u think it would be ok if located facing west winds? Thats because i am thinking "giving her a sister", the next spring.

[peachy]

I saw that the flowers on the tree are a pink colour. That is definately a cunninghamia. I dont think frost will bother it at all. Or maybe just burn the very ends of the leaflets at most. Always put frost sensitive plants to the west side of shelter. The sun comes up in the east and that on the frost is what they say does the most damage. I get a strong easterly wind from the sea late almost every afternoon, and mine are in its direct path, but they look good. It needs to be a very very strong wind to make them tear. One point to note however. Alex palms usually relocate without a problem Cunninghamias on the other hand do not like to be moved once they are planted and the loss rate I am told is about 80%. I have never successfully transplanted a cunninghamia.

Peachy

[Walt]

As you can see here: http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=20979, this new palm seems to be a cunninghamiana.

However, do your advisements remain valid to this palm?

May i cover the crown shaft Walt?

Peachy, its so curious, i was looking for a cunninghamiana, and i just had one in my yard!

Here are some photos of my palm.

Rafael: I only wrap (using heating cables or string lights and blankets) to the crownshaft (to protect the growth bud) and trunk when the temperature would drop low enough to actually kill the palm and/or damage the growth bud severely. My theory is that the palm will incur less physical trauma and regrow its fronds better if the growth bud never sees temperaturs below 0C.

I found that it's not wise to directly contact the crown shaft with heating cables or string lights, as they can scorch the crownshaft tissue. However, direct contact to A. cunninghamina seems to be okay as the crown shaft tissue is much more dense and tougher and layered, whereas A. alexandrae is not. Same goes for adonidia (I scorched one of these badly many years ago). Now I first wrap the crown shaft with a terry cloth towel or some other type of fabric so the cables/lights don't make direct contact. Then I wrap a blanket over the cables/lights to hold in the heat.

Below is an old photo of a triangle palm that I spirally wrapped over the growth bud area with a heating cable prior to wrapping over that with a blanket

The heating cables (Easyheat brand) are like soft, supple and very flexible electric extension cords. Mine are rated at 7 watts per lineal feet (or 22 BTU/LF).

[Rafael]

Peachy: as i told, my a. cunninghamiana is east side planted, and must remain there. Next spring i will bring another and put it at west side.

Walt: but the new spear must not be covered, as i understood, right?

[Walt]

Peachy: as i told, my a. cunninghamiana is east side planted, and must remain there. Next spring i will bring another and put it at west side.

Walt: but the new spear must not be covered, as i understood, right?

Rafael: The more you can cover the better. What I'm saying is if you can't protect the fronds and spear (because the palm is too big to cover) at least protect the trunk and crownshaft. And again, I would only do this if the temperature was going to drop much below 0C.

[Rafael]

PEACHY

My west side sheltered receives sea wind too, 2/3 times a year a strong wind. If i buy another adult cunninghamiana, what is the best side?

I have a Howea fosteriana (http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=20663), and i will plant it in the ground, maybe next spring. What of these two sides would you choose?

Edited November 29, 2009 by rafael

[peachy]

Rafael, wait and see how your cunninghamia is after this winter. I think it should be alright on the east side. If it is, then plant the new one there too. Howeas dont live after a bad frost. However, the sea wind probably will not hurt it as they come from a small and windy island, where it can get very cool. Howea dont mind cold, just not a heavy frost. I would plant it on the west side where there is no frost risk to it. Trachycarpus should be good for your east side too. They are attractive and frost never hurts them. I have seen photos of them covered in snow and still unharmed.

Peachy

[Rafael]

Walt, please, should i protect on rainy nights too ?

And should the protection be put only at night, and removed on the begginning of the day?

[Walt]

Walt, please, should i protect on rainy nights too ?

And should the protection be put only at night, and removed on the begginning of the day?

Rafael: No protection should be needed, rain or no rain, as long as the low temperature doesn't go below, say, -2C.

When I wrap a palm, I generally leave the wrappings on for two nights, as that is usually how long the worst of the cold spell is where I live.

Below is a series of photos showing how I wrapped a small majesty palm. No frost can get to the fronds to burn them, wrapped this way. You can see a heating cable wrapped over the flannel bed sheets I used to wrap the palm. I then wrapped a PVC tarp over the sheet, as the sheet would have gotten wet with dew prior to freezing. The dew condenses on the tarp rather than on the sheet (wet sheets provide no insulation value).

Further, you never directly wrap a plastic (PVC) tarp over foliage, as the tarp is a good heat conductor and will conduct heat from the foliage (leaves) and the leaves will burn.

Step 1: Bundle (tie up) the fronds with rope so as to reduce the girth of the palm canopy. Tied up fronds help better protect the foliage on the inside from cold. Note that I installed a 1" PVC pipe and tied it to the palm. The pipe extends to the top of the palm. The pipe is used to support most of the static weight of the sheets and PVC tarp. If one sheet isn't enough to cover the palm, start a second sheet and clip it to the top sheet with spring loaded clothes pins.

Step 2: Cover tied up fronds with a flannel sheet (of some other insulative material), then spirally wind a heating cable around the palm

Step 3: Wrap a PVC tarp around the palm, covering the sheet so that dew will form on tarp and not sheet, as the dew will wet the sheet and render it usless as insulation

After the frost and freezes, I unwrapped my majesty palm and it was flawless, while some unwrapped palms were frost damaged.

[Rafael]

Thanks a lot Walt, you are really very kind!

What an exaustive procedure! What a lesson!

[Paul The Palm Doctor!]

I cannot add anything to the advice you have already received, but post freeze fungicide cannot be stressed too much! Brands like Subdue Maxx & Aliette WDG are the broadest spectrum fungicides and are the most effective for me in saving palms from cold damage.

They are systemic which is helpful (especially on larger specimen trees.) They should be available where growers' chemicals are sold in your area.

Best wishes for a good Christmas Holiday, Rafael!

Paul

[Rafael]

I cannot add anything to the advice you have already received, but post freeze fungicide cannot be stressed too much! Brands like Subdue Maxx & Aliette WDG are the broadest spectrum fungicides and are the most effective for me in saving palms from cold damage.

They are systemic which is helpful (especially on larger specimen trees.) They should be available where growers' chemicals are sold in your area.

Best wishes for a good Christmas Holiday, Rafael!

Paul

Thanks Paul,

I am wishing winter freeze and frost (light here) wont hurt so much any of my outdoors palms.

My only fear is about my howea, wich i talked about at http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?sh...mp;#entry353456, that was indoors and now is outdoors in the ground.

But anyway, i will consider your advisements.

Best Christmas wishes to you too, Paul.

Rafael

[Palmsbro]

I have seen depressed-looking Archontophoenix around St. Pete. Their foliage is almost entirely brown. That is after a low of 32F.

[kinzyjr]

@Palmsbro I'm surprised that there was so much damage in St. Pete!

My observation: 

Mine got some (~50%) leaf burn over here in Lakeland.  I recorded a low of 28F on my property on 2 thermometers.  My plant is sheltered with overhead canopy from a mature avocado tree and a PVC fence to the north.

[RedRabbit]

On 3/26/2018, 8:52:21, Palmsbro said:

I have seen depressed-looking Archontophoenix around St. Pete. Their foliage is almost entirely brown. That is after a low of 32F.

Really? My cunninghamiana didn't have any damage from 28 and the other archontophoenix I've seen over here have looked fine for the most part. 

 

Edited March 31, 2018 by RedRabbit

[Palmsbro]

 They weren't dead, but definitely not happy. UPDATE: They are coming back and I see new fronds call the ones I see.

[cbmnz]

See this pdf. Easier to properly lay out  the story and not have to reduce the resolution of each photograph to stop the post becoming huge.

 

 

 

 

Untitled document-5.pdf

Edited December 16, 2022 by cbmnz
Update pdf, quoted temp was wrong.

[gyuseppe]

died to - 5.7 degrees celsius,in january 2017