How much wind can palms take? (Depending on species)

[tvold]

For example, how much wind can the average Sabal Palmetto take before it dies?

Also curious about Royals, Coconuts, Areca/Golden Canes, and Queens.

If anyone knows, i'd like to know!

[DAVEinMB]

  On 12/19/2021 at 11:09 PM, tvold said:

For example, how much wind can the average Sabal Palmetto take before it dies?

Also curious about Royals, Coconuts, Areca/Golden Canes, and Queens.

If anyone knows, i'd like to know!

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Some Sabals are native to hurricane areas so they're built for abuse. The actual number is going to vary from palm to palm but I'd say on average they can easily handle 100+ mph without issue. 

Experts chime in 

[tvold]

  On 12/19/2021 at 11:17 PM, DAVEinMB said:

Some Sabals are native to hurricane areas so they're built for abuse. The actual number is going to vary from palm to palm but I'd say on average they can easily handle 100+ mph without issue. 

Experts chime in 

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I think that at 100 MPH Royals, Cocos, Sabals, and Arecas can easily take that but a Queen Might Struggle.

[miamicuse]

what about "windmill palms"?  They must be able to take whatever given that name!

[tvold]

  On 12/19/2021 at 11:36 PM, miamicuse said:

what about "windmill palms"?  They must be able to take whatever given that name!

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I actually forgot what a windmill palm was because i always think of them as a Trachy or Trachycarpus Fortunei instead of their common name lol

[tvold]

  On 12/19/2021 at 11:36 PM, miamicuse said:

what about "windmill palms"?  They must be able to take whatever given that name!

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I assume they can handle some strong wind cuz they live in the mountains of china and such...

[Looking Glass]

There has been a lot of work done in Florida to study hurricane effects and plant damage in tropical force winds.  

Queens are considered to be one of the worst palms in windstorms, as is big Washingtonia Robustas.   In South Florida most sources recommend removing any Queens within falling distance of anything important, and not to plant new ones.      

 

The lowly Roebellini is the best of the best.   With most Phoenix species doing well.  

Sabals, Coconuts, and Royals do well, but if a Royal falls it creates catastrophic $$$ damage due to their size.   

https://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/documents/FR173.pdf

Here is a great resource for South Florida Palm wind tolerance, just scroll half way til you hit palms…

https://pamela-crawford.com/wind-tolerance-trees-palm-beach-landscape/

She list Areca palms as medium wind tolerance.  

You can kind of guess as a guideline, palms native to hurricane prone areas generally do better than rainforest palms.  But many collector palms we talk about on here are rare, so you almost have to go on anecdotal info for these.   

Edited December 20, 2021 by Looking Glass

[Steve in Florida]

Wind by itself can't kill a mature Sabal palmetto.  I've seen no mortalities from even Cat 5 hurricanes.  It's when they get uprooted and their root system gets completely dried out that they may perish.

[tvold]

  On 12/20/2021 at 12:58 AM, Steve in Florida said:

Wind by itself can't kill a mature Sabal palmetto.  I've seen no mortalities from even Cat 5 hurricanes.  It's when they get uprooted and their root system gets completely dried out that they may perish.

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Actually i have something very interesting to show you!

Ill have to take some screenshots but basically it's sabal palmettos in Naples, FL getting torn up and uprooted but living and growing.

The truck passed 7 Months after the hurricane, and you can see the damage.

[tvold]

  On 12/20/2021 at 12:58 AM, Steve in Florida said:

Wind by itself can't kill a mature Sabal palmetto.  I've seen no mortalities from even Cat 5 hurricanes.  It's when they get uprooted and their root system gets completely dried out that they may perish.

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May 2016

Apr 2018 - 7 Months after Irma

That Sabal Survived! - Nov 2021

Dont know if you can see it but it's on the far right and looks like a bush. Also these are some nice wild royals, although the left one died probably to disease.

Just realized that the sabal next to the one i was just talking about died.

Edited December 20, 2021 by tvold

[tvold]

  On 12/20/2021 at 12:58 AM, Steve in Florida said:

Wind by itself can't kill a mature Sabal palmetto.  I've seen no mortalities from even Cat 5 hurricanes.  It's when they get uprooted and their root system gets completely dried out that they may perish.

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Yeah, i have never seen one snap but in irma where i was at the time, we had many and got hit with the right front quadrant (strongest part, dirty side) of the storm and took 160 MPH gusts (the NHC advisory had gusts listed at that intensity when i was in the eye wall).

Our sabals, although beat hard and with all of their "pseudobark" sheared off, they survived, although they were droopy.

We had a ton of damage to the house and other trees, but the sabals were ok.

[Billeb]

What do you all think about Bismarckia’s? We had a massive wind event a couple weeks ago and I was out of town.  I inspected everything when I got back and all looked fine except I noticed my Bismarck appeared tilted a bit. Didn’t think much of it until another pretty nasty rain/wind storm came thru. This time I saw it live and it was moving way more than I thought. I quickly suited up, drove a stake into the ground and tied it up. 
Tree has only been in the ground for 9 months from a 25G pot but I’m a little worried about how much it tilted in the soil. A lot of rain and a lot of wind is no good for a fairly new planted tree. Up till now it’s thrown 5-6 leaves and grown a ton. Hope it’s good??!?! 
 (Picture taken a month or so ago) 

-dale