Have you enjoyed watching your remote thermometer as the lights kick in on cold nights?

It's the last thing I do at night, and the first thing in the morning...check the temps.
Then I can relax.

And hope there's no power outage.

Nothing beats a plywood structure in a windy area. :salute:

Your palms will get their freedom...mid-March?
Bet they're as good as the day they were locked up.

Barb

It has been fun watching the temps. I can't see in one box b/c of the plastic wrap, but the other I can just see in the window and it looks healthy so far. I'm thinking mid to late march I'll look to take the boxes down. Depending how I feel I may leave two sides up with the roofs just in case we get a freeze.... but I'm going to play it safe being my first rodeo.

and...tad da...drumroll..

a little birdie told me you're getting married this year 😀 😀

Ceremony on the bridge by the palms?
That'd be soooooo cool.

Barb

Actually it'll be at the Frederick Meijer Gardens, they have a huge conservatory (greenhouse) that has close to 15 different palms in it. I'm hoping we can get some tropical photos done there after it closes to the public at 5pm.

On a side note, I managed to score six more solid core doors out of dumpster tonight. I'm set up to cover three more palms that can withstand 60mph winds in the next few years.

tropical photos done there after it closes to the public at 5pm.

that'll make for wonderful wedding photos, Doug.

Good job of finding the extra doors...
look forward to seeing your 3 new palms on arrival. 😀

Barb

Well I opened everything up today since I saw the ten day forecast saying we weren't going to go below freezing. I am keeping up three sides of the walls just in case we get a cold spell but in a few weeks I'll pull everything down.

A few notes.
I had a lot of mold inside when I opened it up. The honeycomb cardboard panels were pretty bad, my guess is the humidity was high in there.
I ended up with one broken frond when I pulled them all up to bunch them together, it was haggered anyways so I wasn't too disappointed.
My spears that were coming up to the best of my knowledge have not moved an inch. They feel solid so I don't think they're going to pull, but a little disappointed that after three months away things have not moved since I got them in July.

a lot of mold inside

Take any photos?

I'll try to take some of the honeycomb cardboard before i burn it. The stuff on the wood doors seems to have dissipated once fresh air got to it.

Another note.... throwing a wad of cat fur in there didn't seem to deter the mice from building a huge next in one corner.

Here's some nice mold photos of what got on my cardboard insulation. I'm curious if those who use styrofoam get anything like that from moisture inside their boxes? I burned much of this crap tonight to just get it out of my garage, I don't need spores marking the rounds down there.

I think the carboard soaked up ground moisture like a sponge.
With no way for the moisture to dissipate -- maybe with a 1-inch hole somewhere near the top -- cardboard stayed soggy.

I broke a lower frond on mine too while tying it up, no big deal.

Wouldn't be disappointing to me if Trachy doesn't grow during winter, not at all.
I want to protect it enough that it survives, but not so much that it grows.
My goal is to eventually get it hardier for when it outgrows any protection you can build for it.

My big trachy hut has no mold on the styrofoam panels because the carpenter got mad last year trying to take the structure apart.
I had used spray foam to seal where walls and roof join.
He said that foam, as it expands, is like glue.
He took it apart with a crowbar, just about wrecked it.

Also no mold evident on the 4-inch batt insulation I used between 2 layers of plastic for the two Washies.
Removed it all last week, then replaced with just clear plastic for this current cold spell.

yours will take off this summer...big time, helped along by giving it air before fungus sets in.

wad of cat fur in there didn't seem to deter the mice from building a huge next in one corner.

Might have to use cat poop 😆

Barb

Broke down and took the frames down today. Boy it didn't take them long to spread out. I just got a new neighbor next door and he said he couldn't believe they were palm trees.... I think he thinks he moved next to the most interesting guy in the world. LOL

What a great entry way and view, which will only get better over the coming years. Nice job!

Unfortunately my grassy field view is going to disappear this season as they're in the process of harvesting the sod. It'll be back though in the fall when they replant. Comes with the territory.

Those Trachies look great, Doug.

Just not enough of 'em... 😆
Barb

Finally getting our heads above water after getting back from our honeymoon and did some landscaping last weekend. Consisted of a canna garden at the waterline retaining wall and got 4 yards of rock to cover underneath the deck and the run along the boardwalk. Still need to dig out the other side and fill that with rock.

The yard looks great.......are the Trachy's growing again?