Pygmy Date Palms (Roebelenii) still worth it?

[New York Phoenix]

Hello everyone, I am fairly new to this whole Palm tree experience but I am learning more and more as I google and stumbled upon different discussions on this site. I have 2 separate Pygmy Dates in pots with 3 trunks on each. I live in NY and when Nov. came around, i wrapped them up with Burlap and a blanket. Kept it in a Gazebo with the walls down so no wind would disturb them. I would water them every other week or so when needed so it wouldn't dry up completely. I kept this going until recently about a week ago, when temperatures started to rise above 50. I took off the burlap and blanket off both and this was the result (as seen in images). I did some research and i was able to trim off some dead fronds from the bottom but not much. After my research, I came to the conclusion that it was more than likely cold damaged from the cold weather. I was able to start treatment to a possible crown rot with some hydrogen peroxide on both plants. The plant on the left was fairly quiet when i poured the HP in the crown of all 3 trunks. Slight fizz and all 3 spears still strong. Plant to the right, one spear pulled very easy and other 2 spears still in tact. No new fronds on both. I poured HP in the crown with no spear and it fizzed a lot. 2nd trunk with spear bubbled up after a few seconds. And trunk 3, fizz very lightly. At least i think i heard some thing on that one lol but yes, before this winter, both plants were thriving! (Ill try to put an example of how they looked before). Even as temperatures were dropping, it still was pushing out new fronds. Right now I'm just pouring Hydrogen Peroxide every other day and watering it until i see some thing happen. (Having faith & patience). Since I am a newbie to all of this, id like some one with the knowledge to look at it and see if theres any thing else I can do to it. Thank you all in advance

[PalmsInBaltimore]

if you only wrapped them and did not provide supplemental heat, there is almost zero chance they could have survived this last winter we had in the Mid Atlantic. I do not think they can recover from that, and if they do they will not look like they did in the original photo for years. It is probably better to replace them. Good thing these palms are pretty cheap, even for ones with nice trunks like yours. If you're close to any landscape wholesalers that also sell to retail customers, they have good deals 

[SeanK]

Gazebo? A detached structure?

I'd give them until July 4th. Start shopping.

[Adam_NY]

Sorry to say, there’s no way pygmies survived in an unheated gazebo in NY, even if covered. They do fine with months of cool weather but they can’t survive repeated deep freezes. I live in NY and my pygmy stays in a greenhouse heated above freezing. 

[New York Phoenix]

On 4/23/2025 at 8:49 AM, PalmsInBaltimore said:

if you only wrapped them and did not provide supplemental heat, there is almost zero chance they could have survived this last winter we had in the Mid Atlantic. I do not think they can recover from that, and if they do they will not look like they did in the original photo for years. It is probably better to replace them. Good thing these palms are pretty cheap, even for ones with nice trunks like yours. If you're close to any landscape wholesalers that also sell to retail customers, they have good deals 

Thank you! I am currently treating them with Hydrogen Peroxide every other day to see if that will help. Only because Id like to give it a chance if there is any hope. I could be delusional to keep trying but I think like the comment under yours said “id give it until July 4th” to see if any thing happens. And IF NOT, I did see some very beautiful Pygmy Dates in Home Depot for $39.99. Smaller than mine. Almost was ready to throw these out and start fresh haha

[New York Phoenix]

On 4/23/2025 at 9:02 AM, SeanK said:

Gazebo? A detached structure?

I'd give them until July 4th. Start shopping.

Me too! I think July 4th will be the cut off! Iv been treating them to see if maybe theres any hope in there for them. Especially because they are my first Palm trees iv ever gotten with bo experience or knowledge what so ever. But now, iv read and learned sooooo much im like damn, maybe i should start over with a new plant. Especially because they are good deals going on

[New York Phoenix]

On 4/26/2025 at 10:04 AM, Adam_NY said:

Sorry to say, there’s no way pygmies survived in an unheated gazebo in NY, even if covered. They do fine with months of cool weather but they can’t survive repeated deep freezes. I live in NY and my pygmy stays in a greenhouse heated above freezing. 

Not for nothing, after learning that I can move my Pygmys to a greenhouse, i was upset. I didnt know that was a thing. I tried to get them inside a house but that wasnt happening. I took my chances outside in the gazebo and closed the sides and wrapped them up in burlap and cloth sheet to stay warm. But yeah… these were my results. I appreciate you commenting. Especially from NY. Thank you!

[New York Phoenix]

On 4/26/2025 at 10:04 AM, Adam_NY said:

Sorry to say, there’s no way pygmies survived in an unheated gazebo in NY, even if covered. They do fine with months of cool weather but they can’t survive repeated deep freezes. I live in NY and my pygmy stays in a greenhouse heated above freezing. 

The one thing Im struggling with is knowing the difference between dormant or dead tree. I mean, I guess it looks dead but iv read so many stories of Pygmy Dates on this site that is mind blowing. Back from the dead type of stories. Even one with a guy thinking his were dead, so he put them in the basement. He said he had them in the back some where with no water for a while and it came back! Because of Palmtalk is the reason im giving it a slight chance