Chester B Posted December 22, 2021 Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 (edited) What's everyone's plans for protecting? I keep looking at the weather and one hour it looks ok, then boom it looks really bad. I guess my big Trachys are on their own. Small palms I'm planning on making frames and then cover in frost fabric with mini lights inside. Butias to get mini lights around the growing point and frost fabric as best I can around the crown. Citrus need to be protected as well. It looks like we'll be getting a lot rain, then wet snow, then the cold hits. - Terrible combo. This is easily the worst predicted stretch of weather I've seen here by a long shot. I normally don't even have one day stay below freezing and my winter ultimate low is usually around 25F. Plus putting up the protection will most likely occur while its raining. Edited December 22, 2021 by Chester B 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paradise Found Posted December 22, 2021 Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 (edited) I'm taking the easy way out and putting blankets on a few palms, aloes (plus an instant popup to keep dry), one cordyline and one yucca, one tree fern. Every thing else should be find. Abutilons, ch. radicals, agaves, are on there own. Bromelaids come inside the house. Thats the plan anyways. Very simple and fast. Its been a long time since I needed to protect anything. What's crazy is how long this is going to last, 7- 8 days in my neck of the woods? Good luck to All!!! Edited December 22, 2021 by Paradise Found 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadyDan Posted December 22, 2021 Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 It’s kinds of convenient it’s striking just after Xmas. I’m gonna move my C9 lights from decorative to protective on the 25th. I’m going to heat and wrap my B. odorata, mule palm, and my Mandarin. Everything else is on its own. My ultimate low is forecasted at -9C as of right now, but I’m less than 50m to the water to the north and south so I imagine I’ll be a bit warmer. I’m pretty confident that most of my plants (other than the aforementioned 3 plants) will be fine with the forecasted cold. The only plant I’m worried about is my 20ft tall acacia that’s too big to protect. Looks like it’s just about to bloom for the first time too, argh! 2 Quote Zone 8b, Csb (Warm-summer Mediterranean climate). 1,940 annual sunshine hours Annual lows-> 19/20: -5.0C, 20/21: -5.5C, 21/22: -8.3C, 22/23: -9.4C (so far!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trustandi Posted December 22, 2021 Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 I am using rope lights and fleece blankets on my butias, jubaeas, and braheas. I put some umbrellas on top of them for rain/snow cover. (sorry Trachies...) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse PNW Posted December 22, 2021 Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 Well thanks to Chester B for notifying me of the weather, I'd been so busy preparing for holiday travel I hadn't even looked at the weather. Threw a frost cloth over the Arengas and C microspadix. The Syagrus lives under overhead cover and has a 250 watt lamp pointed at it, on a thermocube. Stays about 10f warmer than ambient. Butiagrus is back in the same corner so will get a little heat but hopefully I'm back in time to do some more protecting before we see teens. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse PNW Posted December 22, 2021 Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 Oh also i tried something that someone on here recommended. I used some foam pipe insulation on some of the C microspadix. Since it's basically a 1/2" pipe with leaves poking out the top. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fallen Munk Posted December 22, 2021 Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 16 hours ago, Chester B said: This is easily the worst predicted stretch of weather I've seen here by a long shot. About 15 years ago we had two weeks in the teens and 20'sF. It killed three species of my bamboo because the ground was frozen about two feet deep. My 4' deep koi pond was frozen solid. This is exactly what I was worried about when I started getting interested in palms. That once every 25 year severe cold snap that reminds us why there are no big jubaea in my neighborhood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chester B Posted December 22, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 19 minutes ago, Fallen Munk said: About 15 years ago we had two weeks in the teens and 20'sF. It killed three species of my bamboo because the ground was frozen about two feet deep. My 4' deep koi pond was frozen solid. This is exactly what I was worried about when I started getting interested in palms. That once every 25 year severe cold snap that reminds us why there are no big jubaea in my neighborhood. I'm assuming this was the infamous winter of 2008? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paradise Found Posted December 22, 2021 Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 Don't forget to feed the hummingbirds during this cold spell, mine have been dive bombing me every time I go near the feeders. Keep them from freezing by bring inside every night. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jtee Posted December 22, 2021 Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 So the Northeast is getting record cold this winter and had record warmth this past summer. That’s pretty damn hot and cold for one years worth of weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadyDan Posted December 22, 2021 Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 13 minutes ago, Paradise Found said: Don't forget to feed the hummingbirds during this cold spell, mine have been dive bombing me every time I go near the feeders. Keep them from freezing by bring inside every night. My Grevellia is still blooming and the hummers are loving it. Hopefully it doesn’t get cooked by the cold. My big Acacia is just about to bloom too ugh! I imagine most hummers will go into torpor during the cold, but the will be hungry once it warms up! Quote Zone 8b, Csb (Warm-summer Mediterranean climate). 1,940 annual sunshine hours Annual lows-> 19/20: -5.0C, 20/21: -5.5C, 21/22: -8.3C, 22/23: -9.4C (so far!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paradise Found Posted December 22, 2021 Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 15 minutes ago, ShadyDan said: My Grevellia is still blooming and the hummers are loving it. Hopefully it doesn’t get cooked by the cold. My big Acacia is just about to bloom too ugh! I imagine most hummers will go into torpor during the cold, but the will be hungry once it warms up! Yes, Grevellia are still blooming and hummer will still eat during the cold days. which acacia do you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadyDan Posted December 22, 2021 Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 12 minutes ago, Paradise Found said: Yes, Grevellia are still blooming and hummer will still eat during the cold days. which acacia do you have? A. dealbata. Took -5C last winter with no issues, folks in the UK say it can take down to -6C - 8C… we will see I suppose. Quote Zone 8b, Csb (Warm-summer Mediterranean climate). 1,940 annual sunshine hours Annual lows-> 19/20: -5.0C, 20/21: -5.5C, 21/22: -8.3C, 22/23: -9.4C (so far!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paradise Found Posted December 22, 2021 Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 (edited) 10 minutes ago, ShadyDan said: A. dealbata. Took -5C last winter with no issues, folks in the UK say it can take down to -6C - 8C… we will see I suppose. A friend of mine has one for years and years, and It got so big he decided to take it out to create more sunlight. His was taller than a two story house. Mine old one was prassivism and it would bloomed in March with lovely sweet smell. 15F killed it to the ground. The trunk was as big as 15" wide. Edited December 22, 2021 by Paradise Found Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ Posted December 22, 2021 Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 1 hour ago, Jtee said: So the Northeast is getting record cold this winter and had record warmth this past summer. That’s pretty damn hot and cold for one years worth of weather. Northeast has record cold? Not sure where but at my camp in Maine the lake hasn’t even completely frozen yet. Jan 1 is opening day for ice fishing and the lake usually becomes a shanty town of fishing huts Jan 1. This includes plowing an ice road from one end of the lake to another. Not sure that will be possible this year on opening day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keys6505 Posted December 22, 2021 Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 18 hours ago, ShadyDan said: It’s kinds of convenient it’s striking just after Xmas. I’m gonna move my C9 lights from decorative to protective on the 25th. I’m going to heat and wrap my B. odorata, mule palm, and my Mandarin. Everything else is on its own. My ultimate low is forecasted at -9C as of right now, but I’m less than 50m to the water to the north and south so I imagine I’ll be a bit warmer Be careful with the C9's, they get really hot. I burnt a few palms I wrapped last winter. The lights melted right through the moving blankets and plastic. Allen warned me too. Also, one thing I decided after Palmageddon last Feb is if it ever got that cold again, like good chance of killing everything cold, I'd go ahead and trim the trees leaving only the spear before I protect. If it's that cold they'll defoliate anyway and you will be able to much better protect a pole than you will a tree with a full crown. Just my $.02 Good luck all! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paradise Found Posted December 22, 2021 Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Keys6505 said: Also, one thing I decided after Palmageddon last Feb is if it ever got that cold again, like good chance of killing everything cold, I'd go ahead and trim the trees leaving only the spear before I protect. If it's that cold they'll defoliate anyway and you will be able to much better protect a pole than you will a tree with a full crown. Just my $.02 Good luck all! When it get this cold in the teens I cut the tree fern leaves off, there only evergreen to 25F. So much easier to protect this way. All your advise is good. Edited December 22, 2021 by Paradise Found Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fallen Munk Posted December 22, 2021 Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 4 hours ago, Chester B said: I'm assuming this was the infamous winter of 2008? If I remember correctly.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Las Palmas Norte Posted December 22, 2021 Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 (edited) 5 minutes ago, Fallen Munk said: If I remember correctly.... Yes, mid/late Dec 2008 into early Jan 2009. Edited December 22, 2021 by Las Palmas Norte 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadyDan Posted December 23, 2021 Report Share Posted December 23, 2021 3 hours ago, Keys6505 said: Be careful with the C9's, they get really hot. I burnt a few palms I wrapped last winter. The lights melted right through the moving blankets and plastic. Allen warned me too. Also, one thing I decided after Palmageddon last Feb is if it ever got that cold again, like good chance of killing everything cold, I'd go ahead and trim the trees leaving only the spear before I protect. If it's that cold they'll defoliate anyway and you will be able to much better protect a pole than you will a tree with a full crown. Just my $.02 Good luck all! Yea that’s then plan. I’ve been heating my greenhouse for years with c9s. I’ll be putting the lights around the base and through the fronds and propping the blankets up with something. Fingers crossed! Quote Zone 8b, Csb (Warm-summer Mediterranean climate). 1,940 annual sunshine hours Annual lows-> 19/20: -5.0C, 20/21: -5.5C, 21/22: -8.3C, 22/23: -9.4C (so far!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jtee Posted December 23, 2021 Report Share Posted December 23, 2021 4 hours ago, RJ said: Northeast has record cold? Not sure where but at my camp in Maine the lake hasn’t even completely frozen yet. Jan 1 is opening day for ice fishing and the lake usually becomes a shanty town of fishing huts Jan 1. This includes plowing an ice road from one end of the lake to another. Not sure that will be possible this year on opening day. I meant northwest 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chester B Posted December 24, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2021 I’ve been busy still lots to do but here’s the start. Actually looks nice at night. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen Posted December 24, 2021 Report Share Posted December 24, 2021 1 minute ago, Chester B said: I’ve been busy still lots to do but here’s the start. Actually looks nice at night. looks great! 1 Quote YouTube (TN Tropics) 60+ In-ground 7A palms - (Sabal) minor(7 large + 27 seedling size), brazoria(1) , birmingham(4), louisiana(5), palmetto (1) (Trachycarpus) fortunei(7), wagnerianus(1), Rhapidophyllum hystrix(7), 15' Mule-Butia x Syagrus(1), Blue Butia capitata(1) +Tons of tropical plants. Recent Yearly Lows -1F, 12F, 11F, 18F, 16F, 3F, 3F, 6F, 3F, 1F, 16F, 17F, 6F, 8F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chester B Posted December 24, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2021 7 minutes ago, Allen said: looks great! Thanks. Hopefully it performs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paradise Found Posted December 24, 2021 Report Share Posted December 24, 2021 (edited) Well, here is my lame protection, LOL! Not pretty at all, but it seem to work most bad winters. One Butia out front is on it own, it has overhead protection form Trachy's. The six photo is the massive tree fern. cycad Aloes, dyckia, Horwothia. Pink cordyline 5' tall. Butia Mule palm Tree fern 9' tall. big cordyline mule palm Jbf2. Edited December 24, 2021 by Paradise Found 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trustandi Posted December 24, 2021 Report Share Posted December 24, 2021 Working progress... ! everything is tied up, except chamaerops. i ust need to put blankets on. I will hopefully finish mine tomorrow afternoon. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hutch Posted December 24, 2021 Report Share Posted December 24, 2021 Yep were all try in too get some type of protection....im not going to start till tomorrow afternoon...all send some pics...but I'm not as concerned as the models have things back in off a bit..still safer than sorry PNW... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chester B Posted December 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2021 1 hour ago, Hutch said: Yep were all try in too get some type of protection....im not going to start till tomorrow afternoon...all send some pics...but I'm not as concerned as the models have things back in off a bit..still safer than sorry PNW... It’s looking pretty good now. Just a few cool nights. Two days right around freezing for me. That’s it. Hope it holds. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trustandi Posted December 25, 2021 Report Share Posted December 25, 2021 @Chester B lucky you! we will get around 4 freezing days here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWpalms@206 Posted December 25, 2021 Report Share Posted December 25, 2021 (edited) Another load into the greenhouse. Thankfully this is my first winter as a palm collector and only thing in the ground is T.fortunei at the moment. All my hybrids are too small for this type of test. Maybe this is the once in a decade cold winter and I’ll have a good ten of growing before we see this again. Best of luck to everyone keeping they’re beauties safe! Edited December 25, 2021 by NWpalms@206 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Las Palmas Norte Posted December 25, 2021 Report Share Posted December 25, 2021 All I've done is tuck some bulap in the growth point on my Butia capitata. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paradise Found Posted December 25, 2021 Report Share Posted December 25, 2021 (edited) Well this experiment has mix results so far. This spot receives more rain than I thought. Planter is totally water logged. Not sure if I can get a good reading on whether this is a microclimate or not with all the rain inside. My experiment is drowning, LOL! Now to see if it a dry spot when it snows, how much will fall in this spot? We'll see! Edited December 25, 2021 by Paradise Found Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fallen Munk Posted December 25, 2021 Report Share Posted December 25, 2021 (edited) 19 hours ago, Chester B said: It’s looking pretty good now. Just a few cool nights. Two days right around freezing for me. That’s it. Hope it holds. Yep, should be fine with the updated forecast. I just moved all of my potted CIDP to the shed and put a few garbage cans over my smaller planted palms. Dodged a bullet with this one. We should get some snow this weekend but that's a good thing. It will insulate against the colder temperatures come mid week. Edited December 25, 2021 by Fallen Munk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paradise Found Posted December 25, 2021 Report Share Posted December 25, 2021 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Fallen Munk said: Yep, should be fine with the updated forecast. I just moved all of my potted CIDP to the shed and put a few garbage cans over my smaller planted palms. Dodged a bullet with this one. We should get some snow tonight but that's a good thing. It will insulate against the colder temperatures come mid week. I think it was good practice to protect incase we do see record low temps in the future. Edited December 25, 2021 by Paradise Found 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hutch Posted December 25, 2021 Report Share Posted December 25, 2021 I'm just gonna let things go as the forecast doesn't look to bad...im a bit pissed my Loquat tree is in full bloom ..but oh well 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trustandi Posted December 29, 2021 Report Share Posted December 29, 2021 I have never tied up my palm fronds for the winter protection for more than one day. Is it ok to leave them tied for the whole winter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chester B Posted December 29, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2021 7 minutes ago, Trustandi said: I have never tied up my palm fronds for the winter protection for more than one day. Is it ok to leave them tied for the whole winter? People in colder places do for months on end. Should be ok. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paradise Found Posted December 29, 2021 Report Share Posted December 29, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Chester B said: People in colder places do for months on end. Should be ok. You should be able to untie in the middle of February. There Shouldn't be any freezes, that will hard it by then. Edited December 29, 2021 by Paradise Found 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trustandi Posted December 29, 2021 Report Share Posted December 29, 2021 Thank you guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paradise Found Posted January 1, 2022 Report Share Posted January 1, 2022 Here is my review of the pop up greenhouse. It was very good for protecting from cold winds, you could feel it was warmer inside with out heat. Easy to put up only took 5 minutes. Comes with stakes for extra strength for the sides. Bad thing is the zipper got frozen on one night. Bad thing is the top is a hoop shape and that will not stand up to rain or snow. It would invert and become a funnel of water or snow. Will I use it again yes, but will have to put a stake inside to keep the top upright. I think a wooden one (home made) would be better for heavy snow for sure. last pic is the melting snow on top pushing it down. I had heat inside and that melted the snow. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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