I have a Sabal minor that is too small to plant yet and was planning on planting it next year. I am wanting to leave it inside for this winter (leaving it outside on the coldest nights while in a small pot would kill it) but am wondering if that will effect the cold tolerance of it fo the next winter after this one since it would not be experiencing any true cold. Do you think it will be fine if I leave it inside this winter? 

Edited August 27, 20187 yr by PalmTreeDude

Honestly I think the cold hardiness or any hardiness of a plant is in its genes and the plant will either be hardy or succumb through the semi-"natural" culling. But then again thats just my best guess on the matter. I hope Im wrong as I left my sago "palms" outside for anything 20f or warmer and they seem to be flourishing now, but I hope they became more "hardy". But I full well expect a heap of mush come march...

Edited August 27, 20187 yr by mdsonofthesouth

With woody plants, aside from the thermometer reading, cold damage has something to do with the suddenness of the cold temperatures, the duration, wind, moisture and other factors. It's a process whereby the plant develops a resistance to cold by repeated exposure over a period of time. Is the same true with (some) palms?

Edited August 28, 20187 yr by Manalto
clarity

So a plant which is exposed to daily highs in the 60's and nightly lows in the 40's will have a better chance to tolerate a sudden upper 30's low than a plant which has been indoors in a continuously controlled 70's environment.  Makes sense.

In truly cold-hardy plants, there are inducible responses to cool temperature that are needed for the plant to enter a state in which it can tolerate really cold temperatures. This allows them to tolerate quite cold temperatures in winter even though they might be damaged by a light frost in summer. These responses can take days or weeks to be fully induced. But I don't know how strong an effect there would be from cold experienced during the previous winter. I am not sure this has been carefully studied, but I guess that any such effect would be small. However there can be a real benefit from growing the plant indoors. If you can give it good growing conditions indoors, then I would not hesitate to do it. If you give it enough light and warmth to keep it growing, then it will gain at least a season's worth of growth. The benefit you will gain by having a larger plant should give the plant a head start, and that should offset any possible problems from not being exposed to cold during the previous year.