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Best palms to grow here in Chicago


ChicagoPalma

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CHICAGO=MINORS//TRACHY//NEEDLE 

Now repeat after me....minor,trachy, needle 

Alright once more.....boxed in of course 

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I enjoy a lively conversation but don't know that anyone should be reveling in a failed attempt on this site. I know I'm here to pick up tips on growing and pushing boundaries. As I mentioned previously, those willing to try growing and are able, should be given knowledge by members here. As seen previously and in video posted by Allen, large tropicals can be grown in Zone 5. They obviously need more protection and probably need to be placed close to the house. But it's certainly possible.

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1 minute ago, Quasarecho said:

I enjoy a lively conversation but don't know that anyone should be reveling in a failed attempt on this site. I know I'm here to pick up tips on growing and pushing boundaries. As I mentioned previously, those willing to try growing and are able, should be given knowledge by members here. As seen previously and in video posted by Allen, large tropicals can be grown in Zone 5. They obviously need more protection and probably need to be placed close to the house. But it's certainly possible.

Let's leave this topic to rot as it has some posts that meant to discourage me and its been very argument torn. Also the palm is still alive, with fronds having green petioles and minor cosmetic damage. The palm itself is struggling still after the c9 lights but once it warms up in april, it should be good.

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These things are beasts.  We are also already in spring with the bulbs coming out already, so temperatures will not go below 20, and our highs will be 30s through 60s.

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56 minutes ago, ChicagoPalma said:

These things are beasts.  We are also already in spring with the bulbs coming out already, so temperatures will not go below 20, and our highs will be 30s through 60s.

Spring?  Listen to people here who are much more seasoned than yourself, and please save yourself a LOT of wasted time, dead palms, and frustration because you will ultimately leave the hobby because of these mistakes.  Someone above me said what we have been saying... Plant only these three things, in order.. Sabal Minor, Rhapidophyllum hystrix and end it there.  Once you get some success with that, and I mean success not just for a month or two, longer... try a trachy but long-term you're going to have a very hard time unless you invest a LOT of money, time, and energy.  You are NOT in spring, and won't be until mid-april at the earliest.  Living in that area for 35+ years we always had a nice ice storm in April, always, and we even often times had to cover vegetables in the garden up until Memorial Day.

Please, do yourself a favor.. humble yourself, and listen to us.  We are only trying to help you.

Screenshot 2023-02-27 at 9.20.29 AM.png

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Subscribe to my YouTube here  to follow along my Sabal obsession....  Quite possibly one of the biggest Sabal plantings in the US.

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/sabalking.texas

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2 hours ago, ChicagoPalma said:

Either way, you guys are all in texas sitting in the hot sun or something. 

More like dense fog, but its been in the 80s so I cant complain, besides the fact this moisture is killing my stuff with fungal infections and stuff. 

Lucas

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Personally I think it's disgraceful how some of you are treating @ChicagoPalma who is young and learning

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YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@tntropics - 60+ In-ground 7A palms - (Sabal) minor(7 large + 27 seedling size, 3 dwarf),  brazoria(1) , birmingham(4), etonia (1) louisiana(5), palmetto (1), riverside (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

 

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1 hour ago, Quasarecho said:

I enjoy a lively conversation but don't know that anyone should be reveling in a failed attempt on this site. I know I'm here to pick up tips on growing and pushing boundaries. As I mentioned previously, those willing to try growing and are able, should be given knowledge by members here. As seen previously and in video posted by Allen, large tropicals can be grown in Zone 5. They need more protection and probably need to be placed close to the house. But it's certainly possible.

Very true, we are only advising the host of this thread, to start with the proven cold winner (manageable palms) before attempting stuff like mule and filifera.

There is a big step between boxing in a trachy vs a mule. Don't want to be mean but just swipe to page 3, and notice the result. 

I too thought I could beat mother nature....that's why my most tender palm is a trachy. I've spoken numerous times with Banana Joe, and his advice was to stick to dwarf palms. He was right. 

I too will be growing palmetto and filifera when I retire and move to S.C. I'll even try  a mule palm for fun and keep my fingers crossed. 

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17 minutes ago, Allen said:

Personally I think it's disgraceful how some of you are treating @ChicagoPalma who is young and learning

I totally agree Allen you are my references here and on YouTube. The thread name was... BEST PALM FOR CHICAGO. Members have been advising him to steer away from certain palms but seem he's in denial.20230227_110928.thumb.jpg.13e0e6e79322743e16be727d85db5a8d.jpg

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8 minutes ago, Alex Zone 5 said:

I totally agree Allen you are my references here and on YouTube. The thread name was... BEST PALM FOR CHICAGO. Members have been advising him to steer away from certain palms but seem he's in denial.20230227_110928.thumb.jpg.13e0e6e79322743e16be727d85db5a8d.jpg

With the windmill palm, I am sort of in denial. But I will try with a large more mature windmill palm. No mule palm this year sadly, but I am thinking of a butia or a washingtonia for the second palm. I have not given up and quit, I still have some determination in me, maybe I might not have a large tropical garden, but I will try my best and put some care into the soon to be made tropical garden and more palms.

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21 hours ago, ChicagoPalma said:

I’m very worried currently, I’m hoping it’s not a goner, and @Allendid say something or spear pull might happen.

Honestly, the likely hood of it surviving is 1%. I had a trachy that size I tried to plant on feb 28 2021. After success with the bigger palm I thought maybe they would be fine. We hit a cold snap early March that had strong northeast winds in the single digits. One storm, it pulled like yours did. It tried to push out a frond in august but by November it was clearly gone. You’re trying to get it through a winter and forgetting about the recovery time. I had my big trachy in a pot from 2014-2019 before I planted it. It was in an enclosed Lani with only a window to the inside as its heat for 5 years. A hardy palm takes time, a pot is the best way to do that and bring it in when weather doesn’t cooperate, in the ground you will have to start over. I’m sorry I know how it feels, I’ve lost many needle palms and a trachy because of moisture with our constant freeze/thaw thru winters. It’s best to keep most moisture and winds off, below was two weeks after I planted, we hit 5degrees. The big palm under cover has had minimal issues in single digits, Some leaf burn.1159F892-849C-4AD8-BEE7-EEDC5B8F7CD7.thumb.jpeg.3687fd58699eaa55b9109ff0c88906f8.jpegE9EBCBA2-1F45-4E56-95D9-E76BC126CF6E.thumb.jpeg.8e8bc06ebbdea1f9bf0fac21159b3d77.jpeg.march/2021

these are my current pots, I utilize this with two trachys and a pindo palm. I tried to plant the pindo as well but it got damaged and I had to put it back in the pot.6491DEF6-AB2D-4954-9523-A089F152E44F.thumb.jpeg.1c05cf49d37000446e46253015b76b99.jpeg

 

Edited by Brandon James
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It was not from the cold, it was my mistake of putting the c9 lights on the small palm, thats what caused the damage, and the palms always stay with temps during the winter around 35 to 45 farenehit

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Fine tune your protection methods and you will have the "tropical" garden you want. Spring's right around the corner and you should be doin' well.

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21 minutes ago, Allen said:

Personally I think it's disgraceful how some of you are treating @ChicagoPalma who is young and learning

Oh give it a rest pal. If he’s old enough to be on here growing his own palms and providing elaborate winter protection, then he must be old enough to take a bit of constructive criticism and feedback. Nobody is treating him poorly or being mean. A few of us were just being honest about his chances of growing exotics in Chicago and clearly the truth hurts for some people.
 

2 hours ago, ChicagoPalma said:

I know, I will grow mule and washingtonia with just a tad bit more protection.

@Allen It seems other comments have added to his delusion as he is now talking about growing a Mule in Chicago too. Sometimes you just have to be cruel to be kind, although so far we have been pretty kind and easy going on him frankly. Nothing that has been said is ‘mean’. The comments from him however are getting borderline ludicrous now, hence some of the replies. I suppose you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.

Also I never said his palms or exotics were ‘garbage’, did I. He said that about mine however, so there isn’t going to be a pity party from me on this. Facts don’t care about our feelings. He can plant whatever he wants to plant there, but most of us know what the outcome will be there in zone 5b, even with protection. Sorry if the truth hurts and some people can’t accept it. If he chooses to ignore certain advise in favour of the stuff he just wants to hear, that is his problem. He’ll get a big reality check next winter.

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Dry-summer Oceanic climate (9a)

Average annual precipitation - 18.7 inches : Average annual sunshine hours - 1725

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14 minutes ago, ChicagoPalma said:

It was not from the cold, it was my mistake of putting the c9 lights on the small palm, thats what caused the damage, and the palms always stay with temps during the winter around 35 to 45 farenehit

C9 lights don’t cause spear pulls. They may burn the palm in general (if placed on it) or burn the spear or whatever, but that spear pull you had on the Trachy is due to the extreme cold infiltrating your protection, or due to a lack of airflow/ventilation and lack of sunlight causing fungal issues. Most palms don’t like being wrapped for more than a week or two at most. It is likely a combination of all of those factors. Less so the lights themselves. This is why you would really struggle to keep a Mule alive there. In fact it would be an impossible task.

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Dry-summer Oceanic climate (9a)

Average annual precipitation - 18.7 inches : Average annual sunshine hours - 1725

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19 minutes ago, UK_Palms said:

Oh give it a rest pal. If he’s old enough to be on here growing his own palms and providing elaborate winter protection, then he must be old enough to take a bit of constructive criticism and feedback. Nobody is treating him poorly or being mean. A few of us were just being honest about his chances of growing exotics in Chicago and clearly the truth hurts for some people.

Seems like everyone is obsessed with telling him how he can't grow things instead of how he can.    And yes C9 lights on a small palm wrapped over the spear will burn the tissue and cause a spear pull or death.  It has happed to others on here as well.

Edited by Allen
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YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@tntropics - 60+ In-ground 7A palms - (Sabal) minor(7 large + 27 seedling size, 3 dwarf),  brazoria(1) , birmingham(4), etonia (1) louisiana(5), palmetto (1), riverside (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

 

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Relentlessly expressing your opinionated advise is a form of aggression. It's imperative to encourage with suggestions (guide) rather than be contentious. 

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33 minutes ago, UK_Palms said:

C9 lights don’t cause spear pulls. They may burn the palm in general (if placed on it) or burn the spear or whatever, but that spear pull you had on the Trachy is due to the extreme cold infiltrating your protection, or due to a lack of airflow/ventilation and lack of sunlight causing fungal issues. Most palms don’t like being wrapped for more than a week or two at most. It is likely a combination of all of those factors. Less so the lights themselves. This is why you would really struggle to keep a Mule alive there. In fact it would be an impossible task.

Thanks Allen and Las Palmas Norte for the support, and those factors may have been in place @UK_Palms, but the protection is translucent, so light gets in there.

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All I was saying was that a potted collection would be much easier, and he would have more opprotunity for diveristy, I offered him some sabal minor seeds, that should be pretty easy to protect, its when he was bringing up washingtonias and mules I was trying to cautiously warn him. At least in pots you can maintain sizes to an extent, its just silly imo to grow a palm just to cut it down when its to tall and have it look decent for 1 or 2 months, but after seeing him getting defensive and such, I just stopped, I cant change his mind ig

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Lucas

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3 hours ago, ChicagoPalma said:

I know, I will grow mule and washingtonia with just a tad bit more protection.

more like a crap ton more

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Lucas

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20 minutes ago, Allen said:

Seems like everyone is obsessed with telling him how he can't grow things instead of how he can.  And you sent me some crap saying my mule looked like garbage so really you are some piece of work.  

Okay, I apologise for saying that Mules and Washingtonia won’t grow in Chicago. How incredibly ignorant of me. I will fall in line now as I understand just how easily people are offended these days. Of course I want to see the OP have success (contrary to what you think) but we also don’t want him to have a load of bad losses either. I did also acknowledge in an earlier post that ‘where there is a will, there is a way’. However there is clearly also a limit to that sentiment.

Plus I never said your Mule looked like garbage. That is a lie. I was questioning whether an extreme cold event would take it out since you had -1F I think this winter and your record low is like -20F there. I also urged you to not get complacent on protection as I think you were saying the risk was minimal come February. Not once did I say it looked like garbage pal. I actually think your Mule looked really good before the freak freeze hit. No doubt it will look great again this summer.

You can keep one alive there with adequate protection during severe events as it doesn’t get quite as cold as Chicago and it warms up a lot more between freezes where you are. Not to mention spring arrives earlier and winter arrives later. All massive factors, which are relevant to state. Less snowfall where you are too I believe. It’s quite a bit different in Chicago however. Although i was still questioning whether a severe event would take your one out still. So far you have done a terrific job with it though.

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Dry-summer Oceanic climate (9a)

Average annual precipitation - 18.7 inches : Average annual sunshine hours - 1725

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Ok, im deciding not to grow a mule, I will take some advice and stick with the more cold hardy palms, needle, sabal, and trachy. I still want to try to grow butia, though I might as well just plant two large trachys this year maybe..

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3 hours ago, Little Tex said:

More like dense fog, but its been in the 80s so I cant complain, besides the fact this moisture is killing my stuff with fungal infections and stuff. 

Same thing on North Padre.  Heavy wet fog every morning.  It's caused a spear pull on a young mule and wreaking havoc on an older one.  They didn't show any damage after the Christmas freeze, although I am wondering if it contributed to the issues I am having now.  If there a limit on daily doses of copper fungicide?

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5 minutes ago, WisTex said:

Same thing on North Padre.  Heavy wet fog every morning.  It's caused a spear pull on a young mule and wreaking havoc on an older one.  They didn't show any damage after the Christmas freeze, although I am wondering if it contributed to the issues I am having now.  If there a limit on daily doses of copper fungicide?

Just use every 1-2 weeks on spear cavity until you see the spear growing.  It is 'sticky' 

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@tntropics - 60+ In-ground 7A palms - (Sabal) minor(7 large + 27 seedling size, 3 dwarf),  brazoria(1) , birmingham(4), etonia (1) louisiana(5), palmetto (1), riverside (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

 

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1 hour ago, Allen said:

Just use every 1-2 weeks on spear cavity until you see the spear growing.  It is 'sticky' 

Guessing I should do the same with my palm?

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Still not dark even after five, even the daffodils are coming out. We might be having an early spring, but spring really starts when the Magnolias and cherries around my neighborhood bloom. The blossoms are so beautiful to look at, they are like pink miniature lily pad flowers. We had a rainy day today almost reaching a windy 60. I wouldn’t fully officially consider it spring, as I’m waiting for the flowering trees to bloom right now.

30D65107-47A1-4490-9E2D-0A5260DCF7BD.jpeg

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I think starting with the hardiest and easiest palms is the right way. After that you can step it up a notch with the expierences you've made before. This also a bit of fun as you always have something to look up to and not a complete disappointment right away. This is something many do even in climates where they can grow some or even many palms. Because even there you might make some mistakes in care or choosing the right spot, soil etc. ... A couple of pages ago I shared my opinion on this and how I would build a greenhouse that can be removed in the warm season, just because then you could grow almost anything common. But that was just me imagining being in your climate. I also don't have lot of experience with professional winter protection to be honest. With that I mean building whole structures and adding artificial heat for weeks. I only know about wrapping and mulching mostly but I've seen people in German forums growing Mediterranean and subtropical palms in MUCH colder regions. I remember a guy who grew a CIDP? or Washy? next to the Polish border far in the east. Hitting lows of -26°C in the worst of winters. But it looked good. Of course he had experience and I have also seen people in much milder (but still cold) regions growing palms in boxes and failed despite of artificial heat in thermic occluded housings. It's always about the know-how and experience. That being said almost no one here in Europe has such a rough winter climate as yours. Maybe in the far east somewhere. You might be up for a challenge there. Good luck!

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Yes it's me Hortulanus 😂

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There is a guy in Poland who grows a bunch of fan palms, trachys, a lot of cold hardy plants. He’s also got a queen palm alive in Poland I think. He sells them all around Poland. His name is Marek Malec and he has a yt channel.

 

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Im growing actual ones in the ground with winter protection, in Chicago. Amazing, but these beauties in the botanic gardens are better.

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Aren't most of us zone pushers ? Even our British fellows now think they can grow all tropical palms searching the internet all day for any data to back up their own science until one polar vortex  takes out most existing palms in the UK and don't have the energy to recover because the UK is waaay up north and rather cool/mild than hot all year around but everyone of us zone pusher knows the time comes where we can't save our zone pushed palm anymore especially the 2020 winters lows seem to be more extreme in the northern hemisphere now. Let's enjoy our palms as long as we can and if we're willing to protect it in winter so be it.  Some will just wrap them with Christmas lights around some will build a whole structure around it.  Each to their own but I'd rather encourage a palm grower to go the extra mile to keep it alive . Some replant Queens in Canada every year lol but hey why not?  Whatever makes you happy.  You want to grow a Queen in the UK go for it , see what happens . Crossing my fingers for everyone that plants a palm outside of a palm's natural habitat. Where's the fun and the excitement if we follow all these rules? Aren't we all a little adventurous?  Life is too short I say grow your palms in Chicago and go from there.  Success is not a guarantee so isn't failure.  Enjoy ! 

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1 hour ago, MarcusH said:

Aren't most of us zone pushers ? Even our British fellows now think they can grow all tropical palms searching the internet all day for any data to back up their own science until one polar vortex  takes out most existing palms in the UK and don't have the energy to recover because the UK is waaay up north and rather cool/mild than hot all year around but everyone of us zone pusher knows the time comes where we can't save our zone pushed palm anymore especially the 2020 winters lows seem to be more extreme in the northern hemisphere now. Let's enjoy our palms as long as we can and if we're willing to protect it in winter so be it.  Some will just wrap them with Christmas lights around some will build a whole structure around it.  Each to their own but I'd rather encourage a palm grower to go the extra mile to keep it alive . Some replant Queens in Canada every year lol but hey why not?  Whatever makes you happy.  You want to grow a Queen in the UK go for it , see what happens . Crossing my fingers for everyone that plants a palm outside of a palm's natural habitat. Where's the fun and the excitement if we follow all these rules? Aren't we all a little adventurous?  Life is too short I say grow your palms in Chicago and go from there.  Success is not a guarantee so isn't failure.  Enjoy ! 

Very well said! Yes we are all zone pushers, when I lived in Florida I would live on the edge with palms that should not make it even in zone 10a, but it was fun. In the '80s I would use smudge pots to heat my palms but as I got older I just let them fend on their own. Now my health is not the greatest and live in Tennessee but I still enjoy growing palms. So yes enjoy life as much as you can as time really goes fast. Grow what you want and enjoy it while you can!

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Lived in Cape Coral, Miami, Orlando and St. Petersburg Florida.

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2 minutes ago, Palmaceae said:

Very well said! Yes we are all zone pushers, when I lived in Florida I would live on the edge with palms that should not make it even in zone 10a, but it was fun. In the '80s I would use smudge pots to heat my palms but as I got older I just let them fend on their own. Now my health is not the greatest and live in Tennessee but I still enjoy growing palms. So yes enjoy life as much as I can as time really goes fast. Grow what you want and enjoy it while you can!

It's okay if we fail but at least we tried it and didn't do nothing to keep it alive . With the right winter protection we can extend the life of a palm by X years . Sometimes we need to fail in order to make a different decision after .  I think we have a great hobby that gives a nice touch in our neighborhoods and some eye candy for ourselves.  Let's grow some palms !!!

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Im not sure if you guys are talking to each other or trying to motivate me, im already planning to plant two large trachys this summer, also im gonna not be lazy and pour the peroxide to kill off the rot.

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38 minutes ago, ChicagoPalma said:

Im not sure if you guys are talking to each other or trying to motivate me, im already planning to plant two large trachys this summer, also im gonna not be lazy and pour the peroxide to kill off the rot.

Just a word that I wanted to spread out you can see it as a motivation if you like.  I think a lot of people in this forum have years , if not decades experience of growing palms and know the do's and don'ts.  For us zone pusher there's a reason behind why that particular palm we want in our yards isn't planted all over the place . It's not their natural habitat and when we decide to grow a palm out of that comfort zone we need to know what can happen and not be angry about it if things don't turn out as we would like to.  I'm pretty positive with the right amount of money bags you can grow almost every palm in your yard for instance building a covered botanical garden . It's not others don't want you to grow palms they just give you some realistic advices. Even some palms in the southern states can struggle to survive sometimes. 

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On 2/27/2023 at 11:16 AM, UK_Palms said:

Oh give it a rest pal. If he’s old enough to be on here growing his own palms and providing elaborate winter protection, then he must be old enough to take a bit of constructive criticism and feedback. Nobody is treating him poorly or being mean. A few of us were just being honest about his chances of growing exotics in Chicago and clearly the truth hurts for some people.
 

@Allen It seems other comments have added to his delusion as he is now talking about growing a Mule in Chicago too. Sometimes you just have to be cruel to be kind, although so far we have been pretty kind and easy going on him frankly. Nothing that has been said is ‘mean’. The comments from him however are getting borderline ludicrous now, hence some of the replies. I suppose you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.

Also I never said his palms or exotics were ‘garbage’, did I. He said that about mine however, so there isn’t going to be a pity party from me on this. Facts don’t care about our feelings. He can plant whatever he wants to plant there, but most of us know what the outcome will be there in zone 5b, even with protection. Sorry if the truth hurts and some people can’t accept it. If he chooses to ignore certain advise in favour of the stuff he just wants to hear, that is his problem. He’ll get a big reality check next winter.

I'd like to add something to it.  With the right tools in your hand and will power you can keep a palm alive in colder climates, for how long we shall see , maybe longer than you live let mother nature decide . 

I'm crossing my fingers for him and I'm sure he will achieve to some point . There's this guy James Palmes on YT he grew some pretty impressive washies in his yard and he lives in Ontario Canada.  

You mentioned that word delusional.  Isn't it delusional to claim that you can successfully grow Queens or other tropical palms in the UK ? Any 30 to 100 year survivors or are you going to blame it on accessibility that I hear a lot?  Internet shopping exists since late 90s in Europe.  

Chicago guy will show us how it's done and if he fails at least he did everything possible I give him my respect for trying it. 

 

 

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2 hours ago, MarcusH said:

Aren't most of us zone pushers ? Even our British fellows now think they can grow all tropical palms searching the internet all day for any data to back up their own science until one polar vortex  takes out most existing palms in the UK and don't have the energy to recover because the UK is waaay up north and rather cool/mild than hot all year around but everyone of us zone pusher knows the time comes where we can't save our zone pushed palm anymore especially the 2020 winters lows seem to be more extreme in the northern hemisphere now. Let's enjoy our palms as long as we can and if we're willing to protect it in winter so be it.  Some will just wrap them with Christmas lights around some will build a whole structure around it.  Each to their own but I'd rather encourage a palm grower to go the extra mile to keep it alive . Some replant Queens in Canada every year lol but hey why not?  Whatever makes you happy.  You want to grow a Queen in the UK go for it , see what happens . Crossing my fingers for everyone that plants a palm outside of a palm's natural habitat. Where's the fun and the excitement if we follow all these rules? Aren't we all a little adventurous?  Life is too short I say grow your palms in Chicago and go from there.  Success is not a guarantee so isn't failure.  Enjoy ! 

 

Listen, you are talking utter nonsense as there are 130 year old Phoenix Canariensis in the Scilly Isles at 50N. No polar vortex is going to take them out. The official Met Office station there hasn't even registered a frost in over 5 years now. In fact they haven't even experienced a January frost there in 27 years now! The last time it went down to 0C / 32F in the Isles of Scilly was back in February 2018 during the infamous 'Beast from the East' and even then it was only like -1C / 30F. It is basically subtropical there, taking into account the severe lack of frost.

This has been a terrible winter here with two bad freezes in December and then again in January, which also saw record lows for the dates in question where I am. East London had its coldest temperatures in 31 years in December and west London experienced its coldest temperatures in 36 years during the January event. Some palms have been burnt, but nothing major. If you go into central London or to the south coast of England, the Phoenix Canariensis and Washingtonia are completely untouched and totally pristine still. I posted a photo of a Robusta/hybrid a few weeks back that is totally unscathed and that is quite a few miles inland from the coast. This is after the worst winter in 5 years at least, or 13 years potentially, since 2010.

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Many of the London and south coast ones survived the really bad 2010 freeze when they were still tiny back then. In fact December 2010 was the coldest December on record, yet the tiny palms pulled through in these protected areas. So how the hell are the big 30+ footers in say London going to get knocked out now? 1987 also had a really bad freeze, when the big Fulham CIDP would have been tiny back then, yet it survived still. That freeze was probably the turning point where people realised more exotic palms could survive here and people started planting them in the more protected areas. Prior to that nobody was planting Phoenix Canariensis or Washingtonia.

Regarding Queens, I acknowledge that is more wishful thinking than anything over here, although we know a guy in north London has been growing some decent ones, however he never updates on them. Foxpalms also has a decent sized Queen as well, although they aren't really worth growing here. Mine came through last winter absolutely fine with no protection. This winter just gone has been a different story and they have defoliated, but won't be dead. It didn't get cold enough. They will grow back, but I will never get them looking even half good in my location. If I built a shelter around them during bad events, I could get them through bad winters fine without any C9 lights or anything. I can't really be bothered to go to the effort of building shelters however. Of course if that is your only option to get any palms through winter, then so be it obviously.

Dry-summer Oceanic climate (9a)

Average annual precipitation - 18.7 inches : Average annual sunshine hours - 1725

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