Washingtonian Hardiness

[BigBilly]

I'm quite shocked to see my lil-Washingtonia got damaged already we barely hit 32 F, Pretty bad cold hardiness 

[EJPalm05]

Washingtonia does that when there is a light frost, when it warms up to color will come back

[Las Palmas Norte]

I've noticed that exposure and soil moisture plays a roll. We had a brief 33°F morning a few days ago. The following 2 photos show Washingtonia completely exposed to the elements, and the second pic under shelter (open one side).

 

Open to the elements with plenty of November rain.

 

Sheltered under cover 30' away from above planting.

 

One example of why extended rainy chilly winters with periodic freezing is a bad combination. These can easily perish well above text book hardiness under these conditions. 

 

[BigBilly]

6 hours ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

I've noticed that exposure and soil moisture plays a roll. We had a brief 33°F morning a few days ago. The following 2 photos show Washingtonia completely exposed to the elements, and the second pic under shelter (open one side).

 

Open to the elements with plenty of November rain.

 

Sheltered under cover 30' away from above planting.

 

One example of why extended rainy chilly winters with periodic freezing is a bad combination. These can easily perish well above text book hardiness under these conditions. 

 

That's so interesting that it does it, What temperature would they generally start to burn?

[Las Palmas Norte]

1 hour ago, BigBilly said:

That's so interesting that it does it, What temperature would they generally start to burn?

It's difficult to make a generalized statement regarding that. A lot depends on humidity, cold duration, soil moisture etc in your specific location. Keeping it dry with temperatures under freezing helps, especially for smaller palms. 

[BigBilly]

3 minutes ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

It's difficult to make a generalized statement regarding that. A lot depends on humidity, cold duration, soil moisture etc in your specific location. Keeping it dry with temperatures under freezing helps, especially for smaller palms. 

That makes sense I'm planning on possibly just throwing a plastic cover over my washy during rainy days and giving it a styrofoam cover during cold days to prevent it from dying.

[MarcusH]

12 minutes ago, BigBilly said:

That makes sense I'm planning on possibly just throwing a plastic cover over my washy during rainy days and giving it a styrofoam cover during cold days to prevent it from dying.

The good thing about Washies is that the fronds grow back quickly .  

[jwitt]

When did you last fertilize?

[BigBilly]

5 minutes ago, jwitt said:

When did you last fertilize?

I haven't fertilized it in all honesty any fertilizer that it had, Would've been from the nursery.

[jwitt]

I have seen them discolored like that but usually somewhat lower temperatures (low 20's and below).  The color may return as stated. 

 That said my climate has a definite cool down combined with dryness that probably induces a "slowdown"(not actively growing). 

Was it mild up til this frost and still in growth mode? Acidic conditions, can you grow gardenia, camellia?  Just asking out of curiosity for my own learning. 

They are usually pretty tough. Hopefully your palm gets tough!

 

 

[BigBilly]

6 hours ago, jwitt said:

I have seen them discolored like that but usually somewhat lower temperatures (low 20's and below).  The color may return as stated. 

 That said my climate has a definite cool down combined with dryness that probably induces a "slowdown"(not actively growing). 

Was it mild up til this frost and still in growth mode? Acidic conditions, can you grow gardenia, camellia?  Just asking out of curiosity for my own learning. 

They are usually pretty tough. Hopefully your palm gets tough!

 

 

I mean the days were making it to the 60s but the nights were all in the 40s and 30s , I think it was still growing however 

[ChrisA]

I’ve seen my filibusta in Albuquerque do this in the upper 20’s and wouldn’t be surprised if it did it at 30F.  
 

For any of you curious, and have a laser temperature gun, you’ll see that your palm fronds are colder than the ambient air temperature. I believe this is a result of transpiration of water from the plant tissues causing an additional evaporative cooling effect.

This damage you’re seeing is fairly temporary as noted by others, but its effects become cumulative the more it happens, which eventually causes parts or all of the frond to perish in time. Usually you will notice a paler green color until the temps start to warm again for spring and the frond turns completely yellow and is dead.

Not to worry though if the growing bud has not been affected, new fronds will replace those that died.

[jwitt]

∆∆∆THIS∆∆∆∆

What @ChrisA said.  I assumed it happened at lower temps. As the day warms the color does return as mentioned. 

My current temp is about 30f and yes I see it on mine.  Big and small. 

 

[CascadiaPalms]

Going from summer to fall is hard on robustas IMO.  It is a sudden shock going from temperate to cold.  At least by March, it has acclimated to colder temps by then.

[Las Palmas Norte]

1 hour ago, CascadiaPalms said:

... At least by March, it has acclimated to colder temps by then.

In the mean time we have January and February. 😁

[CascadiaPalms]

yup, which is like boot camp for the robustas!

[BigBilly]

What temperature will Washingtonia actually start taking damage ? 

[CascadiaPalms]

36 minutes ago, BigBilly said:

What temperature will Washingtonia actually start taking damage ? 

Dry cold, mid-teens.

Prolonged wet-cold, mid-20s

but then again everybody’s gonna give you a bunch of answers on here.

[NC_Palms]

2 minutes ago, CascadiaPalms said:

Dry cold, mid-teens.

Prolonged wet-cold, mid-20s

but then again everybody’s gonna give you a bunch of answers on here.

I agree with this. Which is why I prefer Washingtonia filifera over Robusta in NC. I’ve killed robusta when filifera just got minor damage, and I live in a climate with wet, chilly winters. 

[CascadiaPalms]

3 minutes ago, NC_Palms said:

I agree with this. Which is why I prefer Washingtonia filifera over Robusta in NC. I’ve killed robusta when filifera just got minor damage, and I live in a climate with wet, chilly winters. 

Yup. We are zone 9a urban and 8b outskirts… filifera and robusta struggle here.  On my vlog I am currently raising filibustas and will plant one in the ground and begin the test again!

[BigBilly]

6 minutes ago, CascadiaPalms said:

Yup. We are zone 9a urban and 8b outskirts… filifera and robusta struggle here.  On my vlog I am currently raising filibustas and will plant one in the ground and begin the test again!

I think my little palm will struggle here in Zone 7B, It is pretty wet and freezing, but if I can protect it and keep it dry, maybe I can get a good 5 years out of it. That one dude who can't remember his name inspired me to do this Since he does so well like 30-40 miles away. If it dies I'm thinking I'll replace it with a nice Minor or Trachy.