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Share your personal microclimate!


Sandy Loam

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Share your personal microclimate, if you have one!

A few days ago, we endured the coldest night of the winter.  Our "summer" begins on March 1, so the coldest nights of the year are now over.  However, a few nights ago this town in northern Florida experienced an extreme low temperature of 30 degrees Fahrenheit (one weather source was even showing 29 F for 15 minutes-30 minutes).  However, my thermometer memory shows 32.3 Fahrenheit as the record low temperature, and yet I am in a colder on the western outskirts of town.  In real (live) time, WeatherUnderground.com was showing 34 Fahrenheit at several private thermometers in or around the centre of town (during the coldest part of the night, 6:00 am - 7:00 am).  Two thermometers on WeatherUnderground.com were even showing 36 degrees Fahrenheit as the extreme low.  By contrast, there was at least one private weather station showing 29 F on the western outskirts of town while others were experiencing 36 degrees around the centre of town. 

As always, the warm afternoon temperatures quickly sprang back into the 70s Fahrenheit/20s Celcius after the brief cold snap, but we have these cold snaps at least twice every "winter".  

BOTTOM LINE --  All of this is to say that a seven degree difference between one part of town and another is the difference between growing Washingtonias vs. growing Bismarckia or even trees with higher cold tolerance.  For some of you in warmer locations, that could be the difference between growing Washingtonia vs. growing coconuts!     

Tell us about your own microclimates that allow you to push boundaries.

 

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My microclimate  (SoCal) is more topographically induced than anything.  I sit a couple of hundred feet up on a set of hills.  However there is a ridge behind my house that creates for some cold air drainage right into my backyard.

I have a pool that runs about 1/2 the length and sits to the right side when looking out from the back door.

I am a 10a location.  Without the hill I think it would be 10b. The pool on the right side mixes the air and averts frost on that side of the yard.  I have never seen any.  This spring I will attempt a Bottle Palm over there.

On the right side, the cold air drainage reliably yields frost when I hit 38°f.  Bananas, heliconia, even Kentiopsis have suffered damage at 10b temps due to frost.  34°f toasted many leaves on my Ficus dammaropsis a couple weeks ago.  

It's amazing what a hill and a pool will do to give you essentially two growing zones in one yard.

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I'm on the south side of a hill at 612'.  The elevation at the bottom of the hill gradually drops to 475'.  The bottom of the hill is absolutely an 8A climate where as my house is an 8B (USDA interactive map designates my house as a 14.6F 8A).  I drive through the lower area 2-3 times per week and there is always a 3-5F temperature drop in DEC-FEB, but it is even worse on the coldest of mornings.  Last year I bottomed out at 18.3 degrees for the winter at my house and it was 12-13F just 2 miles away.  There are warmer areas than I am close to Irving and West Dallas in the center of the heat island but being on the top of a hill I receive the morning sun MUCH sooner than other areas which also helps warm things up on those super cold, clear mornings. There is a big winter temperature difference from the North of Dallas/Ft. Worth to the south of the Metroplex.  Luckily I am on the South side.

 

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Microclimates are interesting subject to me an many others. I think that many try to grow palms that are marginal for their climates and recognizing microclimates is an important aspect of that. In my area, Houston, the mildest low temps are from the center of the city and southeast toward the Galveston bay area.

houston2.jpg.1904a19a40565a6dbeb92f53d5b

I have a mostly evergreen canopy in my backyard but that is not the warmest part of the yard. Warmer by about 2 degrees is on the back porch under the breeze way. I suspect that the cement of the porch adds to that, besides being near the house.

A typical breeze way looks something like this and is great for growing shade loving potted palms like Chamaedorea.

http://cdn.significanthomes.com/29015/Hearl-house-breezeway-800x532.jpg

The warmest part of the yard is a bed located on the southeast side of my two story house between the drive way and the house. The bricks and the drive absorb the suns warmth and re-radiates the warmth at night yielding a 3-4 degree temp increase on calm nights above the backyard evergreen canopy temperature. That bed is where I grow the most cold tender palms in my garden like C. cataractarum and Pinanga coronata Kuhlii.

The evergreen canopy area has been 9b post 1989.

I bet New Orleans has some great microclimates with giant evergreen live oaks and Lake Pontchartrain to the north and courtyards in the city.

Ed in Houston

 

 

 

 

 

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I've got jack at the moment, but I'm very interested in working on this. My one oak tree is about to be cut down (poor wife is highly allergic) so I don't really have any sort of canopy... Does anyone have some tips on making a warmer microclimate? Obviously I can't install a lake or put my house on a hill lol... My yard is really small so I don't want to put in a shade tree in the backyard for lack of space for palms. I'm considering putting in some hardy palms as a compromise. Apart from that, I've read rocks might help radiate heat out at night. What about painting the fence a dark color to absorb more heat during the day? I'd love to hear some good suggestions, would be great to eek out an extra 4-5f to combat frosts and radiational cooling.

  • Upvote 1

Westchase | 9b 10a  ◆  Nokomis | 10a  ◆  St. Petersburg | 10a 10b 

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2guik9d.jpg

I'm at 38º 58'N latitude. This station from above is a quite new station, located at the beach, averages 20ºC (68F) of average in the last 3 years.

The official weather station of Gandia has an average of 19.10ºC (66,38F) for the last 11 years, the one from above is placed on another place with a very good microclimate located in the beach of Gandia (no heat island effect at all because the beach of Gandia hasn't got more than 20k inhabitants).

Also rain amount is a bit different, in the official station the rain amount is always (at least 10%) higher than in the station from the beach.

This is the evolution of some public planted Bismarckias in the last 7 years:

2r2omz6.jpg

Edited by pRoeZa*
  • Upvote 2

I live in Altea, Spain 38°34'N 0º03'O. USDA zone 11a. Coastal microclimate sheltered by mountains. 
The coconuts shown in my avatar are from the Canary Islands, Spain ! :)

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I'm new to my area, so I can only comment on what I know from my short time here, anecdotes from my relatives (who've lived on the island for 50+ years), information provided on forums like this, and the extant physical evidence in the form plant species I can view on the island. My house is in a solid 10a climate, though I've been told that most winters are 10b (as this one has been so far). The 10a zone is limited to our island and a comparably thin (if not thinner) strip on the mainland along the Indian River Lagoon. Our island, though it averages only about a mile in width, is better understood as having divide between east and west in terms of micro-microclimates.

The western side (the side nearest the Indian River Lagoon) has the most favorable growing conditions. Virtually any 10a plant seems to grow there without significant wind or salt damage. I don't know whether the lagoon-side properties get slightly colder than the beach-side properties. The eastern side--the beach-side--has very serious wind and salt issues. This is something I did not understand when we bought our house on the side of the island nearest the ocean.

It is a four-minute walk (normal pace) from my front door to the sand on the beach, and this beach proximity has been great fun for my family but a nightmare for my plants. Only typical beach-friendly flora like coconuts, thatch palms, and sea grapes seem to be happy here all year. Other plants, such as papaya, mango, and plumeria, do fairly well too. Royal palms look terrible if they are within 1,000' of the beach, as do citrus plants.

In California, the biggest limiting factor is absolute cold. Yes, cool-to-warm coastal vs. cold-to-hot inland temperatures make a big difference for some plants, but absolute cold made the real difference. In SoCal, I saw many properties that were closer to the ocean than I am grow tropicals with little or no salt damage. And the soil, both in SoCal and NorCal, needed little from me to grow plants well. Here on our Florida island, the sand (it's NOT soil) is death to all but the native cabbage palms, sea grapes, strangler fig, palmettos, coconuts, Australian pines, plumeria, and thatch palms. Nothing else shows any growth without lots of work to create soil. As an example, my cousin gave me a banana pup in June. I planted it in my backyard with no added soil. I gave it root stimulant and made sure it had enough water (not hard in this rainy cycle). It has lost and regrown its leaves several times, and it is now about 14" tall. In CA, the same banana would have grown to 10 or 15' and produced multiple pups in a 6-month period.

I guess it's easy to dream of moving up from a 9a~9b to a 10a~10b without considering that those zones only tell part of the story: wind, rain, salt, and soil make a HUGE difference in terms of assessing microclimates. I just wish Sunset had a counterpart out here that actually put the work into identifying FL microclimates with the same precision that Sunset has done such identification in CA.

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At the moment I don't really have any specific microclimates in my yard, I just decided to plant my Phoenix Roebelinii on the south side of my garage so that cold and dry northern winds would be blocked. But my neighborhood is the highest point in Montgomery at about 250'. I imagine this keeps us a little warmer then the lower lying areas. Plus there is a small heat island effect because i'm close to downtown and pretty much in the middle of the city.

This was proven to be true last November-December when we first reached 32F. In other areas of Montgomery the banana trees were decimated but it took until January and our first dip into the 20's for the bananas in my neighborhood to die back. In fact, one of my neighbor's Alocasia Borneo Giants which is planted against their home, facing south, and sheltered by a large bush is still completely green after a minimum of 25F. 

If I had room I'd love to plant a huge live oak and give something like a Queen palm a shot underneath. 

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A P. roebelenii will be a zone push in Montgomery for sure, but it wouldn't stop me if I lived there!  The species' modest stature will help when you have to shelter/cover it, which I would whenever a low below 30F is predicted, just to be on the safe side, or during frozen precipitation events, which are few and far between there.

I'd be the only nut with a 10 foot coconut in the ground in a large makeshift PVC "pipe greenhouse" and a $10 space heater.

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6 hours ago, palmsOrl said:

A P. roebelenii will be a zone push in Montgomery for sure, but it wouldn't stop me if I lived there!  The species' modest stature will help when you have to shelter/cover it, which I would whenever a low below 30F is predicted, just to be on the safe side, or during frozen precipitation events, which are few and far between there.

I'd be the only nut with a 10 foot coconut in the ground in a large makeshift PVC "pipe greenhouse" and a $10 space heater.

I might have to give that coconut idea a try, I'm germinating one now :lol: But I have seriously been considering planting a Foxtail or Royal and trying to protect it for as long as possible. Maybe once it gets tall I can find ways to reach the leaves, wrap in lights, and cover them up.

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10 hours ago, palmsOrl said:

A P. roebelenii will be a zone push in Montgomery for sure, but it wouldn't stop me if I lived there!  The species' modest stature will help when you have to shelter/cover it, which I would whenever a low below 30F is predicted, just to be on the safe side, or during frozen precipitation events, which are few and far between there.

I'd be the only nut with a 10 foot coconut in the ground in a large makeshift PVC "pipe greenhouse" and a $10 space heater.

Yeah it's nice because they're small and easy to cover, that's what people here on the Northern Gulf Coast were doing for the last several years: until the reality that you live in zone 8 hits when those temps below 20 degrees occur- I saw roebelennii's in my area that even though they were covered with good blankets and a spotlight underneath, die from the upper teens. Something more substantial (like a portable greenhouse) is probably the way to go.

Edited by Opal92
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16 hours ago, palmsOrl said:

A P. roebelenii will be a zone push in Montgomery for sure, but it wouldn't stop me if I lived there!  The species' modest stature will help when you have to shelter/cover it, which I would whenever a low below 30F is predicted, just to be on the safe side, or during frozen precipitation events, which are few and far between there.

I'd be the only nut with a 10 foot coconut in the ground in a large makeshift PVC "pipe greenhouse" and a $10 space heater.

:greenthumb:

9 hours ago, nitsua0895 said:

Maybe once it gets tall I can find ways to reach the leaves, wrap in lights, and cover them up.

There are 3 factors that keep me from getting too crazy with what palms I select here and that is one of them. It is one thing to grow a Royal and protect it when it is young, but good luck protecting it when it is 80ft tall. The other two of my reasons are if I'm out of town I can't do anything, and I also don't want to plant a garden that dies the year after I move away because realistically most of us won't live in the same home forever. 

 

Anyhow, anyone have microclimate tips when starting from a blank slate?

  • Upvote 1

Westchase | 9b 10a  ◆  Nokomis | 10a  ◆  St. Petersburg | 10a 10b 

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6 minutes ago, RedRabbit said:

Anyhow, anyone have microclimate tips when starting from a blank slate?

I think the biggest ways to create microclimates in Florida are canopy, proximity to water and elevation (in cases where there are elevation changes). Other ones I've seen work are planting tender palms on the south side of a house or planting them near a lot of concrete or asphalt.

 

Proper irrigation and fertilization during the growing season always helps. 

  • Upvote 1

Keith 

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

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14 hours ago, nitsua0895 said:

I might have to give that coconut idea a try, I'm germinating one now :lol: But I have seriously been considering planting a Foxtail or Royal and trying to protect it for as long as possible. Maybe once it gets tall I can find ways to reach the leaves, wrap in lights, and cover them up.

Agree with others...a Royal will grow so fast, especially in your summers.  It'll end up breaking your heart.

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5 hours ago, Zeeth said:

I think the biggest ways to create microclimates in Florida are canopy, proximity to water and elevation (in cases where there are elevation changes). Other ones I've seen work are planting tender palms on the south side of a house or planting them near a lot of concrete or asphalt.

 

Proper irrigation and fertilization during the growing season always helps. 

Thanks, I'm planning on planting a couple palms on the south side of my house... Now, gotta find some sort of canopy solution. <_<

Westchase | 9b 10a  ◆  Nokomis | 10a  ◆  St. Petersburg | 10a 10b 

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1 hour ago, Hammer said:

Agree with others...a Royal will grow so fast, especially in your summers.  It'll end up breaking your heart.

Yeah a Royal would get way too tall eventually. Do you think a bottle palm could work here? I'd use the same greenhouse protection as I do with my Pygmy Date which is working great and from what I've read they grow slow and stay at a pretty short height when mature.

 

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I’m luck to live in a great microclimate on Florida’s east central coast. I’m live in Indian Harbour Beach which is one of the many beachside cities of Melbourne. Melbourne has a humid subtropical climate, Koppen climate classification of Cfa, Melbourne is in the broad transition zone from sub-tropical to tropical (all months have a mean temperature of 64.4 F or higher). We have two seasons, a hot and wet season and a warm and dry season. 

In the winter, we consistently have temps 5-10 degrees warmer than Melbourne. What makes this great microclimate? Several main factors are the proximity of the warm Gulf Stream, which is about 25-30 miles off the coast. Next is the Indian River Lagoon, which provides distance of 1 mile to the mainland. Next is the population density of the barrier island in the areas from Patrick Air Force Base to Melbourne Beach. All these factors allow us to grow many of the plants that are grown in areas further south. 

Here's a regional view of the area.

Screen%20Shot%202016-02-17%20at%208.19.2

 

Here's a closer view.

Screen%20Shot%202016-02-17%20at%208.19.4

 

This image shows the population density.

Screen%20Shot%202016-02-17%20at%209.21.2

 

Here are some coconut photos.

75315ACA-8E74-4DDF-8B37-76E7CED2613A_zps

ABDBF2A1-454B-4E45-B63D-D4ABEDE77586-618

2B885FE7-032A-4F13-8563-96E9AFF5CA16_zps

4CB40BB6-73C4-4E19-B43B-C36D9398DE33_zps

 

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Augusta, GA., USA:  33.46 North, 81.96 West.

I'm at 415', but the elevation drops off to 135' two blocks away.  On a still cold night, I am 5F to 20F warmer than the airport (Bush Field),  which is about 5 miles away and at 145'.  All the cold air sinks.  On windy nights, the difference in temperature related to the altitude is negligible.  Usually I am in zone 8b and went for about 15 years without going below 20F.  Two years ago I hit 13F (gross), so mid-zone 8 seems to be the most accurate estimate.

Backyard pic:

DSC_0013.jpg

 

 

 

Joseph C. Le Vert

Augusta, GA

USA

Zone 8

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7 hours ago, nitsua0895 said:

Yeah a Royal would get way too tall eventually. Do you think a bottle palm could work here? I'd use the same greenhouse protection as I do with my Pygmy Date which is working great and from what I've read they grow slow and stay at a pretty short height when mature.

 

It might but I am probably the wrong person to ask.  I live in Southern California.  The challenge with Bottles here is the long, cool, damp Winters.  Constant above freezing nights with 30s and 40s for lows and then highs in the 50s or 60s just stresses them here.

Not sure what your day time Winter temps are like, but if they are at all like here, some supplemental heat will probably be needed.  But again, I would run that by some other folks in your area to verify.

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Wow, Hammer, I don't know where you are located in Southern California, but I thought SoCal (LA and any place south of there) basically had 70 degrees Fahrenheit every winter afternoon, on average, except during the short cold snaps.

From what I hear, Coconuts and Hyphorbes are some of the toughest palms to grow in SoCal.  I can't grow Hyphorbe palms in my region either, but not because of my lack of daytime heat or dampness in winter. 

 

 

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3 hours ago, Sandy Loam said:

Wow, Hammer, I don't know where you are located in Southern California, but I thought SoCal (LA and any place south of there) basically had 70 degrees Fahrenheit every winter afternoon, on average, except during the short cold snaps.

From what I hear, Coconuts and Hyphorbes are some of the toughest palms to grow in SoCal.  I can't grow Hyphorbe palms in my region either, but not because of my lack of daytime heat or dampness in winter. 

 

 

Wunderground  reported an average daily high temp for January in LA of 64°f.  This number is high compared to my place I am guessing, due to the heat island effect.

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Wow, Hammer, that's colder than I thought.  We have LA friends here who insist that LA is warmer than northern Florida in winter, and yet our afternoon highs are statistically warmer, it seems.  One of our LA friends reminisces that he used to swim every day at an outdoor UCLA pool, all year round, because there was never cloud cover in LA (unlike here) and it feels so much warmer when you're directly under the LA sun.     

Just for kicks, to compare a non-coastal California desert location, I checked the January average temperatures for El Centro, CA on Wunderground.com.  It showed an average January high of 73 degrees Fahrenheit and an average January low of 64 Fahrenheit.  However, I think it may have been showing me the average for January 2016 only.  The high of 73 sounds right for inland desert heat in January, but the average low of 64 sounds too warm to be an average for that month.  

 

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On February 17, 2016 at 9:24:36 AM, IHB1979 said:

I’m luck to live in a great microclimate on Florida’s east central coast. I’m live in Indian Harbour Beach which is one of the many beachside cities of Melbourne. Melbourne has a humid subtropical climate, Koppen climate classification of Cfa, Melbourne is in the broad transition zone from sub-tropical to tropical (all months have a mean temperature of 64.4 F or higher). We have two seasons, a hot and wet season and a warm and dry season. 

In the winter, we consistently have temps 5-10 degrees warmer than Melbourne. What makes this great microclimate? Several main factors are the proximity of the warm Gulf Stream, which is about 25-30 miles off the coast. Next is the Indian River Lagoon, which provides distance of 1 mile to the mainland. Next is the population density of the barrier island in the areas from Patrick Air Force Base to Melbourne Beach. All these factors allow us to grow many of the plants that are grown in areas further south. 

Here's a regional view of the area.

Screen%20Shot%202016-02-17%20at%208.19.2

 

Here's a closer view.

Screen%20Shot%202016-02-17%20at%208.19.4

 

This image shows the population density.

Screen%20Shot%202016-02-17%20at%209.21.2

 

Here are some coconut photos.

75315ACA-8E74-4DDF-8B37-76E7CED2613A_zps

ABDBF2A1-454B-4E45-B63D-D4ABEDE77586-618

2B885FE7-032A-4F13-8563-96E9AFF5CA16_zps

4CB40BB6-73C4-4E19-B43B-C36D9398DE33_zps

 

Very nice! It is really remarkable what a difference it makes being south of Cape Canaveral.

Westchase | 9b 10a  ◆  Nokomis | 10a  ◆  St. Petersburg | 10a 10b 

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On 2/17/2016, 9:24:36, IHB1979 said:

I’m luck to live in a great microclimate on Florida’s east central coast. I’m live in Indian Harbour Beach which is one of the many beachside cities of Melbourne. Melbourne has a humid subtropical climate, Koppen climate classification of Cfa, Melbourne is in the broad transition zone from sub-tropical to tropical (all months have a mean temperature of 64.4 F or higher). We have two seasons, a hot and wet season and a warm and dry season. 

In the winter, we consistently have temps 5-10 degrees warmer than Melbourne. What makes this great microclimate? Several main factors are the proximity of the warm Gulf Stream, which is about 25-30 miles off the coast. Next is the Indian River Lagoon, which provides distance of 1 mile to the mainland. Next is the population density of the barrier island in the areas from Patrick Air Force Base to Melbourne Beach. All these factors allow us to grow many of the plants that are grown in areas further south. 

Here's a regional view of the area.

Screen%20Shot%202016-02-17%20at%208.19.2

 

Here's a closer view.

Screen%20Shot%202016-02-17%20at%208.19.4

 

This image shows the population density.

Screen%20Shot%202016-02-17%20at%209.21.2

 

Here are some coconut photos.

75315ACA-8E74-4DDF-8B37-76E7CED2613A_zps

ABDBF2A1-454B-4E45-B63D-D4ABEDE77586-618

2B885FE7-032A-4F13-8563-96E9AFF5CA16_zps

4CB40BB6-73C4-4E19-B43B-C36D9398DE33_zps

 

Hi there, neighbor :-)

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  • 9 months later...
On 2/17/2016, 1:12:33, RedRabbit said:

Thanks, I'm planning on planting a couple palms on the south side of my house... Now, gotta find some sort of canopy solution. <_<

I can attest to the protection provided by overhead canopy.  If oak is not a valid solution due to your wife's allergies, you'll still want a tree that provides a solid, spreading canopy.  In my case, my solution is live oak canopy.  It's not too dense in the winter, and it thickens over the summer. 

Perhaps a Magnolia Grandiflora in your case?  A fairly large Avocado tree?  Pine could work in some cases, as long as the plants don't mind acidic soil. 

I did this experiment in my yard with Dwarf Cavendish bananas:

1) I planted a patch of bananas on the south side of my house with no natural canopy.  4 batches were planted under a small overhang from my roof, 3 were planted 6 feet away from the house.

2) I planted 3 patches of bananas in front of the house with no protection (Western Exposure).

3) I planted 2 patches of bananas in back of the house under an overhang, as well as with oak canopy.

4) I planted a patch of less hardy Ice Cream bananas under an avocado tree.

Test: We had a cold snap during which the temperature on my patio reached 24F in the morning.  It warmed to 49F during the day.  The following day was a low near 40F with a high in the mid 60s.

Results: The front of the yard was covered with frost.  The backyard, to my surprise, had no frost.  The bananas in front of the house had ~80% leaf burn after 3 days.  The bananas on the side of the house ranged from 40-60% leaf burn, with the ones leaning closer to 40% being closer to the overhang.  The ones on the east side of the house that were completely covered by canopy experienced no leaf burn.  The Ice Cream banana under the avocado tree experienced no or negligible leaf burn.

Summary:  Get you some canopy. :)

  • Upvote 3

Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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Here is an example of my overhead canopy. I protected some tender palms and plants last night because where going to get into the mid-upper 20’s for a few nights. I woke this morning to a light dusting of snow and the low was only in the low 30’s and 35F at 9 am when I took these pictures. 

Overhead canopy has little to no snow. Notice in the right upper corner is all white, thats the snow in the garden without canopy. Underneath the blanket is my mule plam BxQ which has never had any serious damage. 

The second picture shows snow on top. 

DSC00020.JPG

DSC00017.JPG

Edited by Palm crazy
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On 12/14/2016, 5:10:00, kinzyjr said:

I can attest to the protection provided by overhead canopy.  If oak is not a valid solution due to your wife's allergies, you'll still want a tree that provides a solid, spreading canopy.  In my case, my solution is live oak canopy.  It's not too dense in the winter, and it thickens over the summer. 

Perhaps a Magnolia Grandiflora in your case?  A fairly large Avocado tree?  Pine could work in some cases, as long as the plants don't mind acidic soil. 

I did this experiment in my yard with Dwarf Cavendish bananas:

1) I planted a patch of bananas on the south side of my house with no natural canopy.  4 batches were planted under a small overhang from my roof, 3 were planted 6 feet away from the house.

2) I planted 3 patches of bananas in front of the house with no protection (Western Exposure).

3) I planted 2 patches of bananas in back of the house under an overhang, as well as with oak canopy.

4) I planted a patch of less hardy Ice Cream bananas under an avocado tree.

Test: We had a cold snap during which the temperature on my patio reached 24F in the morning.  It warmed to 49F during the day.  The following day was a low near 40F with a high in the mid 60s.

Results: The front of the yard was covered with frost.  The backyard, to my surprise, had no frost.  The bananas in front of the house had ~80% leaf burn after 3 days.  The bananas on the side of the house ranged from 40-60% leaf burn, with the ones leaning closer to 40% being closer to the overhang.  The ones on the east side of the house that were completely covered by canopy experienced no leaf burn.  The Ice Cream banana under the avocado tree experienced no or negligible leaf burn.

Summary:  Get you some canopy. :)

Very intersting experiment, thanks for sharing!

I like the avocado idea. I've got a small yard so I reserved all the space for palms... If this winds up being a bad winter and I lose some palms I might try to plant a hardyish ficus or an avocado. 

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Westchase | 9b 10a  ◆  Nokomis | 10a  ◆  St. Petersburg | 10a 10b 

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On 2/17/2016, 9:24:36, IHB1979 said:

I’m luck to live in a great microclimate on Florida’s east central coast. I’m live in Indian Harbour Beach which is one of the many beachside cities of Melbourne. Melbourne has a humid subtropical climate, Koppen climate classification of Cfa, Melbourne is in the broad transition zone from sub-tropical to tropical (all months have a mean temperature of 64.4 F or higher). We have two seasons, a hot and wet season and a warm and dry season. 

In the winter, we consistently have temps 5-10 degrees warmer than Melbourne. What makes this great microclimate? Several main factors are the proximity of the warm Gulf Stream, which is about 25-30 miles off the coast. Next is the Indian River Lagoon, which provides distance of 1 mile to the mainland. Next is the population density of the barrier island in the areas from Patrick Air Force Base to Melbourne Beach. All these factors allow us to grow many of the plants that are grown in areas further south. 

Here's a regional view of the area.

Screen%20Shot%202016-02-17%20at%208.19.2

 

Here's a closer view.

Screen%20Shot%202016-02-17%20at%208.19.4

 

This image shows the population density.

Screen%20Shot%202016-02-17%20at%209.21.2

 

Here are some coconut photos.

75315ACA-8E74-4DDF-8B37-76E7CED2613A_zps

ABDBF2A1-454B-4E45-B63D-D4ABEDE77586-618

2B885FE7-032A-4F13-8563-96E9AFF5CA16_zps

4CB40BB6-73C4-4E19-B43B-C36D9398DE33_zps

 

I think this is an excellent example and description of a true micro-climate (albeit on a slightly larger scale)....well done. 

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@RedRabbit

You're welcome!  I hope that it helps!  So far nothing below 40F this fall, so keep your eyes peeled. :)

 

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Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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