How cold hardy are Sea Grapes?

[D Palm]

I purchased one for the pool area. Curious to what temp and/or conditions I should cover.

[kinzyjr]

They have some in Southeast GA from this old thread: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/61255-how-far-north-can-seagrapes-reliably-grow/

[D Palm]

So upper 20’s cover? I plan on keeping it near my other tenders and trimming it in March as needed. I know it will not get as large as in West Palm Beach. Definitely a staple of S. Florida I really want to enjoy in my N. Fl yard!

[Silas_Sancona]

20 minutes ago, D Palm said:

So upper 20’s cover? I plan on keeping it near my other tenders and trimming it in March as needed. I know it will not get as large as in West Palm Beach. Definitely a staple of S. Florida I really want to enjoy in my N. Fl yard!

Great plant, but be aware the leaves can make an absolute mess when they all fall after being stunned during cold snaps.. Experienced this first hand when i helped take care of a Yacht Club in Clearwater when i first lived in FL.  Took 2 days to clean up / haul all the leaves that dropped off all their Sea Grapes.

 

[Merlyn]

I have a couple of clumps of sea grapes, I just really love the giant round leaves.  But they are not at all hardy, mine defoliated 100% at about 27-29F, especially with frost.  This year will be a good test for them, since my backyard dropped down to 24-26F for about 4 hours at the end of January.  They haven't resprouted yet, but it's been a cool spring so far.  If I recall correctly they only showed minor damage around freezing, so there is a pretty narrow range for damage-to-defoliation.  I don't know at what temp they are burnt to the roots, or the temp at which the roots die.

[oasis371]

I love Sea Grape (Coccoloba ubifera), even in a pot.

 

[KDubU]

I agree with @Merlyn as those that have Sea Grapes here on Amelia Island got pretty toasted this winter. Only took one night but that was all that was needed. Temps here got to 27 although I think it dipped a bit lower in some areas on the island.

[Austinpalm]

23f on 2/15/21 took all but the most protected sea grapes here on SPi to the ground.  Most have regrown from the roots and are 3-4 feet tall now.

[Austinpalm]

I was really disappointed in the lack of cold hardiness shown by any of the sea grapes here.  There are only 2 plants that I am aware of that did not die to the ground.  Both were in alcoves in/under buildings and protected from the intensely cold breeze.  Neither plant was very big (maybe 4 inch diameter trunk).  Most plants had stems anywhere from 4-inches to nearly a foot in diameter.  Even the biggest were killed to the ground.  Sea grape is not native to SPI, so am guessing that all our sea grapes were descended from plants brought in for the various hotels, etc.. and maybe have rather limited genetic diversity (ie. no cold hardiness). 

[Walt]

I have several sea grapes. One is tree form, the others small, shrub size. The tree sized one saw 27 degrees with frost and was 90% defoliated this past winter. Only some leaves down low that were protected from above leaves and branches remained green.  The other two smaller sea grapes are planted in areas with overhead canopy, and they weren't defoliated. Also, they probably only saw 29 to 30 degrees due to the canopy.

The morning I had 27 degrees I drove up into town (Lake Placid, Florida) around 6:30 a.m.  The town is much higher in elevation than at my place, and the temperature in town was only 39 degrees. About a week or so later I drove back up into town to inspect for any kind of frost/cold damage. I saw nothing. What I did see is this nice sea grape tree shown below (photo taken 3-15-2022).

[D Palm]

The foliage is simply amazing, I am ok pruning it back to the ground on an annual basis. 

[Marj]

I’m wondering if leaves will sprout on old growth or should they be pruned hard?

[Silas_Sancona]

12 minutes ago, Marj said:

I’m wondering if leaves will sprout on old growth or should they be pruned hard?

If the older stems are green / not fried by a freeze, they'll sprout leaves once it warms more.. If frozen / brown, cut them back to green / healthy wood.

[CodyORB]

Every seagrape I saw along the First Coast (Jacksonville area beaches, A1A, St. Augustine, etc) got fried pretty bad. Even the ones in seemingly excellent microclimates (near the beach with the St. Johns River and the ICW on the other side) and along walls were mostly defoliated. It hit around 26-27F in that area (avg annual low around 29-31F), so I think they will still grow back from the roots or more mature branches. I protected the small one in my yard with a bucket and the leaves turned dark red (but not dead/brown); we'll see what happens over the next couple of months.

I don't see any at all in Tallahassee (average annual low around 20F). It would be interesting to see if someone could get one growing as a seasonal perennial here, like what some do with bananas etc.

Edited January 10, 2023 by CodyORB