Frost protection for Canary Island Date Palms in containers

[PaulSingle]

I live in the south of England and this is the first winter here for my palms. 

We are having a cold snap and I've put my palms against the wall of my flat in a patio alcove. There is shelter from above and three sides. I've wrapped them with horticultural fleece. 

We had-2°C last night and are likely to get temperatures just a few degrees lower during the winter. 

The patio faces south and even in the middle of winter gets warmed by the sun. 

What are the chances of my palms surviving? 

Comments or advice will be much appreciated. 

Paul. 

[Hortulanus]

Looks like you did everything you can in your current location! But I would protect the pots as well. Just to protect the roots from freezing. I've had CIDP in pots surviving -5°C without any protection, but only during short term dips in the early morning. Directly in front of the wall and the window under the roof in this sheltered spot your palms have good chances to survive without any damage. But it all depends on how deep down the temperatures go right at the palm and if the frost stays so long that the pots completely freeze. Because that could be fatal. Good luck!

[Jesse PNW]

Can you pull them inside?

[PalmatierMeg]

24 minutes ago, Jesse PNW said:

Can you pull them inside?

Agree - when in doubt inside is best

[Foxpalms]

Those are canary island date palms they all all over the south they can easily take -6c without protection. In the ground they can take even lower if they are larger. Since you are in southern England unless you are in a really bad microclimate they should be fine without any protection. They are in a pot which will mean they are less hardy, however since they are right next to the house that will give them some additional warmth. You could bring them in if you wanted to but unless it drops below -3c they should be completely fine. I've seen hundreds of small ones when driving through the colder outskirts of London which don't get protected and are fine. It depends on where you live in the south but I would say they stand a very good chance of surviving.

Edited December 11, 2022 by Foxpalms

[Meangreen94z]

In containers obviously hardiness will be reduced, but in ground CIDP came back from -17.8°C in Texas and a more brief -23.8°C in New Mexico. It’s one of the hardiest palms there are.

[GoatLockerGuns]

On 12/8/2022 at 3:46 PM, PaulSingle said:

We had-2°C last night and are likely to get temperatures just a few degrees lower during the winter. 

My experience with CIDP (and I have lost some juveniles the size of yours and smaller, even in the ground) is that the ambient temperature is typically not the real problem (unless it is REALLY cold).  As stated by others above, they are extremely cold hardy.  All of the CIDP that I lost were unprotected in wet, freezing conditions.  My advice would be to keep it dry (particular the area immediately around the meristem).  If water gets deep down in the trunk from the crown area, and then it freezes, it could cause sever damage and eventual rot to the growing point after it warms back up a bit.

[PaulSingle]

On 12/9/2022 at 10:12 PM, Jesse PNW said:

Can you pull them inside?

No, unfortunately I don't have room for them indoors. 

[PaulSingle]

On 12/9/2022 at 9:32 PM, Hortulanus said:

Looks like you did everything you can in your current location! But I would protect the pots as well. Just to protect the roots from freezing. I've had CIDP in pots surviving -5°C without any protection, but only during short term dips in the early morning. Directly in front of the wall and the window under the roof in this sheltered spot your palms have good chances to survive without any damage. But it all depends on how deep down the temperatures go right at the palm and if the frost stays so long that the pots completely freeze. Because that could be fatal. Good luck!

Many thanks. I think that's a good point about keeping them dry during freezing conditions. 

[PaulSingle]

Many thanks. I think that's a good point about keeping them dry during freezing conditions. 

[PaulSingle]

On 12/11/2022 at 1:43 AM, Foxpalms said:

Those are canary island date palms they all all over the south they can easily take -6c without protection. In the ground they can take even lower if they are larger. Since you are in southern England unless you are in a really bad microclimate they should be fine without any protection. They are in a pot which will mean they are less hardy, however since they are right next to the house that will give them some additional warmth. You could bring them in if you wanted to but unless it drops below -3c they should be completely fine. I've seen hundreds of small ones when driving through the colder outskirts of London which don't get protected and are fine. It depends on where you live in the south but I would say they stand a very good chance of surviving.

We had - 3.5°C a couple of nights ago according to the min/max thermometer which I placed by the base of one of the plams. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. 

[PaulSingle]

We had - 3.5°C a couple of nights ago according to the min/max thermometer which I placed by the base of one of the plams. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. 

[Foxpalms]

1 hour ago, PaulSingle said:

We had - 3.5°C a couple of nights ago according to the min/max thermometer which I placed by the base of one of the plams. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. 

Especially considering all the protection you gave the palm I think it will be fine. Canary island dates palms are pretty hardy!

[dalmatiansoap]

They will be fine. If you can toss an old blanket to cover the pots to keep the roots above freezing and you can sleep on them until march