Winterizing Queen Palm in Zone 8b

[MarcusH]

33 minutes ago, RJ said:

If you were a roofer, especially in Texas or anywhere in the SE you’ve got my respect 👍 

 

 

Lol actually I was a roofer in Germany.  I'm a German immigrant. 

[JohnAndSancho]

2 hours ago, MarcusH said:

Lol actually I was a roofer in Germany.  I'm a German immigrant. 

Welcome to Texas, brother.  Queens love our summers. Mine has been on my patio at my apartment and it's gone from a 2 foot tall strap leaf 1g plant to an 8 foot tall almost impossible to overwinter beast in ~2 years.  

[DTXpalms]

I’ve had this one planted in Dallas since 2017! Almost gave up protecting it during the feb21 freeze after losing power and snow got in the fuel line of my generator but was able to save it with artificial fire starter logs in a tamale pot 😂. That said, it’s do-able if you’re committed to protecting it.  A good starting point is wrapping it in a heating cable come December which I typically leave on until early March.

[DAVEinMB]

1 hour ago, DTXpalms said:

I’ve had this one planted in Dallas since 2017! Almost gave up protecting it during the feb21 freeze after losing power and snow got in the fuel line of my generator but was able to save it with artificial fire starter logs in a tamale pot 😂. That said, it’s do-able if you’re committed to protecting it.  A good starting point is wrapping it in a heating cable come December which I typically leave on until early March.

Great job, that queen looks really good

[MarcusH]

On 11/23/2022 at 11:12 PM, JohnAndSancho said:

Welcome to Texas, brother.  Queens love our summers. Mine has been on my patio at my apartment and it's gone from a 2 foot tall strap leaf 1g plant to an 8 foot tall almost impossible to overwinter beast in ~2 years.  

Thank you for welcoming me I appreciate it. I love the mild winters over here but don't get me started when it goes up to 100 outside again .  I'll give it a try growing a queen palm in the backyard.  I already have one in the front yard but will dig it out after winter and plant in the back so it's more protected from our cold snaps even if they're rare .  Love Queens since they're fast grower and also give you that tropical look.

[MarcusH]

17 hours ago, DTXpalms said:

I’ve had this one planted in Dallas since 2017! Almost gave up protecting it during the feb21 freeze after losing power and snow got in the fuel line of my generator but was able to save it with artificial fire starter logs in a tamale pot 😂. That said, it’s do-able if you’re committed to protecting it.  A good starting point is wrapping it in a heating cable come December which I typically leave on until early March.

What an accomplishment congratulations.  How cold was it over there in February 2021 also are you in 8a or 8b ? That queen looks so good .  I agree with you if you're willing to go the extra mile you can keep your palm tree alive .  

[MarcusH]

On 11/23/2022 at 4:08 PM, RJ said:

Honestly don’t know, just saw they weren’t on their website anymore. I’ll try giving them a call next week. 

You sir , opened a can of worms with your magical seeds lol 

[MarcusH]

On 11/23/2022 at 3:49 PM, Allen said:

You could protect one but a yard full is a problem,  You'd lose the fronds.  I just put lights on all my palms today.  For a big trunked palm a spotlight hoisted on a pole pointing at crown and either wrap trunk over mini lights or take 3 long poles like pool telescoping poles, wrap them in mini lights and secure to trunk then wrap frost cloth around trunk using pole as support.  I just put lights on a 15' mule no problem, maybe 15 minutes.

That's why I would only keep one queen palm maybe get another one I would plant next to it but that's it . All my other palms are cold hardy in my area.  The pool poles are a great idea thank you I'll look into it once the queen reached a certain height.  I can tell people have good ideas. 

[MarcusH]

17 hours ago, DTXpalms said:

I’ve had this one planted in Dallas since 2017! Almost gave up protecting it during the feb21 freeze after losing power and snow got in the fuel line of my generator but was able to save it with artificial fire starter logs in a tamale pot 😂. That said, it’s do-able if you’re committed to protecting it.  A good starting point is wrapping it in a heating cable come December which I typically leave on until early March.

Now I see you can't go wrong with a tamale pot lol

[MarcusH]

On 11/22/2022 at 1:45 PM, JLM said:

I have had my Queens in the ground since 2019 in NW FL zone 8b, but this is a very different climate than yours. My Queens are now trunking, both of them. Most winters, you wont need to protect them at all. Some winters may require protection though.

This is my protection method:
1) Tie up the fronds, not too tight but tight enough to hold them in place.
2) Wrap a sheet or 2 (or more if needed) around the palm. Make sure the entire palm is covered. Tie rope or string (something strong) around the sheets in various places to ensure that its secured in place. This is also required if you are doing crownshaft palms like Royals and Foxtails, as the lights will burn the crownshaft.
3) Wrap C9 mini christmas lights around the palm, use more strands of lights depending on how cold it will be. More lights = more heat. (NO LED LIGHTS!)
4) Repeat Step 2 (this is completely optional but it recommended for colder nights). 
5) Wrap plastic around the palm. If the palm is small, a large trash bag or a contractor bag will do just fine. You may need large tarps for big palms.

I use the sheets as a first layer to prevent burning of leaves or trunk. I use the lights as a heat source, and the second optional sheet layer is to hold in the heat more on the coldest nights. The plastic or tarps is to keep the wind off the palm, this is important because the wind will blow the heat away from the palm. This thought process is similar to how wind chill affects humans. And also, the plastic acts as a thicker layer to hold in more heat.
Here is graphic on my reference to wind chill affects:



Instead of thinking about the human body, replace the image of the person with the image of a wrapped up palm lol

Thank you for the information.  It's some work to protect those precious palms when it gets cold but so worth the effort IMO.  

[Will Simpson]

On 11/21/2022 at 12:54 PM, MarcusH said:

This year in May I've bought a queen palm from HD and planted it in our front yard.  Little know did I know about cold hardy palms back then .  My idea is to move it away from the front yard reason number one is this side is exposed to cold fronts moving in from the Northwest .  There's an area on the side of the house where it's protected.  So if I wrap the trunk with Xmas lights and blankets , put enough mulch around the base and deep water it before a severe cold snap (February 2021 )moves in ,is that enough to keep it alive ? To some it might not be worth it but to me it is and I see a lot of people here pushing the hardiness of their palms .  I know it gets more complicated once the tree reaches a height where special equipment is required to reach the crown . Does anybody had any success winterizing a queen in zone 8b ?

I would wrap with Xmas lights and do what you are doing but maybe hold off on the blankets so you can plug the Xmas lights on for festive looking purposes . You could add the blankets when you see something cold moving in . That's what I'm going to do with my Washy . I'll just have the lights on it until I see below 15F moving down . Then I can quickly wrap the trunk , since it's  more time consuming putting on the lights  . Putting on  blankets is easy compared to the lights .

Getting harder to protect ,  for sure !

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by Will Simpson

[DTXpalms]

On 11/25/2022 at 7:48 AM, MarcusH said:

What an accomplishment congratulations.  How cold was it over there in February 2021 also are you in 8a or 8b ? That queen looks so good .  I agree with you if you're willing to go the extra mile you can keep your palm tree alive .  

Thanks! I’m a mile south of dallas love field so technically 8b. Of course all bets were off during that freeze though - I recorded 4 degrees at the house and it got down to 26 in the enclosure when the generator died pre tamale pot. While there was burn on the leaves touching the outside of the enclosure, the great thing about queens is they love the Texas heat so with fertiziler in April (and throughout the summer) any cosmetic burns are quickly replaced with new growth.

[MarcusH]

On 11/27/2022 at 10:31 AM, Will Simpson said:

I would wrap with Xmas lights and do what you are doing but maybe hold off on the blankets so you can plug the Xmas lights on for festive looking purposes . You could add the blankets when you see something cold moving in . That's what I'm going to do with my Washy . I'll just have the lights on it until I see below 15F moving down . Then I can quickly wrap the trunk , since it's  more time consuming putting on the lights  . Putting on  blankets is easy compared to the lights .

Getting harder to protect ,  for sure !

 

Your washy looks great healthy overall.  Thank you for the information . I've noticed caring for palm trees gets very addictive.  

[MarcusH]

Good thing is Queens are cheap and fast growing.  Doesn't hurt to plant one in our climate. 

[Desert Badger]

Two questions. I have three very healthy Mule palms and live north of Houston.  Survived the 2020 winter storm. To protect them I am going to wrap them in Christmas lights to start (will mulch and water when a cold front is coming and/or wrap in blankets as I did during that freeze). 
What size Christmas lights are recommended for heating-C9 or mini lights…or doesn’t it matter? 
And, does a spray like Leaf Guardian work or is recommended?

Thank you ahead if time!

 

[MarcusH]

On 12/11/2022 at 11:16 AM, Desert Badger said:

Two questions. I have three very healthy Mule palms and live north of Houston.  Survived the 2020 winter storm. To protect them I am going to wrap them in Christmas lights to start (will mulch and water when a cold front is coming and/or wrap in blankets as I did during that freeze). 
What size Christmas lights are recommended for heating-C9 or mini lights…or doesn’t it matter? 
And, does a spray like Leaf Guardian work or is recommended?

Thank you ahead if time!

 

My palms are still young and this will be their first winter.  We should expect our first freeze next week just don't know how severe .  I'm also not an expert I think most people here know a lot more than i do . C9 lights is the way to go they produce enough heat . I haven't used Leaf Guardian yet but would be great if someone give us a review about it.  

[Allen]

On 12/11/2022 at 11:16 AM, Desert Badger said:

Two questions. I have three very healthy Mule palms and live north of Houston.  Survived the 2020 winter storm. To protect them I am going to wrap them in Christmas lights to start (will mulch and water when a cold front is coming and/or wrap in blankets as I did during that freeze). 
What size Christmas lights are recommended for heating-C9 or mini lights…or doesn’t it matter? 
And, does a spray like Leaf Guardian work or is recommended?

Thank you ahead if time!

 

You can go to my channel to see how I winterize palms in TN.  I use mini lights for a number of reasons.  Depends on how you use them as C9 touching fronds or without a thermocube can burn your palm