Copernicia baileyana Freeze Tolerance

[ahosey01]

I am using this thread to draft my friend and legendary variegated palm grower @FishEyeAquaculture to share his experience with Copernicia baileyana in a central Florida freeze.  I, as a 9a palm grower with alkaline soil, am highly encouraged by his results.  Hopefully he obliges with details!

[sonoranfans]

a florida freeze is a longer event than an arizona one.  Radiative freeze is what you get out there, and its brief.  If you are a cold 9a it might be a problem.  IN florida they are generally rated to survival at 26F.  Out there probably 2-3 degrees less due to brevity.  But since you are in a radiative cold environment you can plant canopy and windblock and be assured a better microclimate.  Since you don't want the palms to just survive -you want it to look good- be more conservative with late day sun exposure.  I would plant it near masonry(ideally a nearby firepit) and a propane heater in the worst cold.  I think you have a shot but baileyana probably prefers early and mid day sun in AZ.  Late day sun out there is a killer of some palms, and since I would not want to "bunch" a bailey with other palms, I locate it for early and mid day sun with canopy or masonry nearby for a warmer microclimate.  Because baileyana takes so long to mature, you don't want to learn the hard way.  

[Steve in Florida]

My one gallon plants were toast after a durational 32F in the high tunnels.

[sonoranfans]

27 minutes ago, Steve in Florida said:

My one gallon plants were toast after a durational 32F in the high tunnels.

yeah at 1 gallon size these and all cuban copernicias are a little fragile.   Mine went through 6-7 hrs of the 30 degree advective event in 2018, no damage at all.  Many of my palms burned about 2/3rds of their crowns including caryota mitis , royals ,teddys, kentiopsis etc.  Bailey at 10' overall no damage, taller fallaensis no damage.  

[Merlyn]

It has only been 6 days since my last big freeze, but so far Copernicia Baileyana and Fallaensis went through the 24.4 to 25.5F freeze with no damage.  Both were exposed to frost with no real canopy, and had about 4 hours under 26F.  They are about 2 feet tall, so still definitely young.  A C. Macroglossa next to the Bamileyana is severely burned and might die, but it was a 1g size and planted in early fall.  I hope no latent damage shows up next week...

[MikeB]

On 2/4/2022 at 9:16 PM, Merlyn said:

It has only been 6 days since my last big freeze, but so far Copernicia Baileyana and Fallaensis went through the 24.4 to 25.5F freeze with no damage.  Both were exposed to frost with no real canopy, and had about 4 hours under 26F.  They are about 2 feet tall, so still definitely young.  A C. Macroglossa next to the Bamileyana is severely burned and might die, but it was a 1g size and planted in early fall.  I hope no latent damage shows up next week...

Hi Todd.  How are your Copernicias now that we are two weeks past the freeze? I have 2 C. baileyanas planted out that are only 18 inches tall.  I threw a towel over one and left one exposed.  Neither one shows any damage.  It was about 25 degrees where these plants are.

[Merlyn]

On 2/12/2022 at 12:32 PM, MikeB said:

Hi Todd.  How are your Copernicias now that we are two weeks past the freeze? I have 2 C. baileyanas planted out that are only 18 inches tall.  I threw a towel over one and left one exposed.  Neither one shows any damage.  It was about 25 degrees where these plants are.

I checked on them this morning, the Fallaensis looks basically undamaged.  There are a few brown tips on the older leaves, but I *think* that was from the heatwave/drought in October.  It saw about 25.5F and was 100% open to frost, but was in an area that saw sun by about 11AM.  So it warmed up into the 50s on Saturday and the 60s on Sunday (Orange line on the below graph).

The Baileyana was only about 1F colder at 24.4F bottom limit, and was partially protected from frost by a nearby 7' tall unidentified "fountain" type Cycas.  But the temp in that SE backyard area (yellow line) didn't go above 50F on Saturday and didn't break 60 on Sunday.  The Baileyana is also slightly smaller than the Fallaensis.   I'll take some pictures later.  The exposed frond (not protected by the Cycas) is burnt, and the other fronds are about 50% burnt, maybe a bit less.  It'll probably survive, but will take a bit of setback.  

The 1g Macroglossa next to the Baileyana is defoliated, and survival is uncertain.  The spear is green, but that might just be a matter of time before spear pull and death.  I'll dose it with H2O2, but I am not too hopeful on that one.  A bigger Macroglossa on the other side (near the Fallaensis) is a known hybrid from Naturegirl, and looked pretty good.  It's also the biggest Copernicia in the yard, so it may be more cold hardy just due to age.  I also have a similar 1g sized Macroglossa in the front yard, but I forgot to check on it.  It only saw 27F briefly (green line), and warmed up quicker during the day than the backyard.

[Merlyn]

I checked my front yard small Macroglossa, and it too is completely defoliated at 27.5F with frost.  The spear on that one looks brown too, so it is unlikely to survive.  Here's a photo of the back yard Bailey, Macroglossa to the left, and toasted Gaussia Princeps to the upper left.