I just keep mine in the garage in the winter. Hopefully Barb in Cananda has luck with hers in the ground she planted this year and can school us all on what she did, and how it fared.

I suggest growing it in a pot.

I planted mine in Manzanita and didn't protect. Then, it got exposed to record cold for the date (early December). Not dead, but might as well be. 🙁

yeah but eventually itll be to heavy to move from garage to yard wont it

I'd put up with a lot of heaviness just to move it.

Remember a guy on here that had 5/6? Queen palms in 25 gallon containers in Chicago and he over wintered his in the garage and had to use a furniture mover dolly, and two other buddies twice a year to move them...but he did. He had a pool that he put them around. They looked great...and in Chicago!

As it gets bigger I'm wondering how to deal with the huge fronds

when you transfer a palm to the garage can it be in complete darkness for five months?

Oh, no Windows in garage door and I had 12 can lights installed. Then I put daylight spectrum flood lights in but also have florescent lights that are 4ft long on timers that keep things well lit.

Are those growing lights?

I wouldn't call them grow lights and at $10 each not sure if they made much of a difference for the money.

Ok just wondering if they needed some kind of lighting if they get put in a dark place

I should clarify, the garage doors DO have windows in them, but not nearly enough light comes through and they face West so only late in the day.

Looking into having a solar tube light installed in the 3rd car garage when palms are over wintered. Roof angle slopes to the South, so would get a fair amount of natural light in through it while keeping lights off most of the day and saving money in the long run.

As long as your garage is in the 30-45 degree range, the palm will be near dormant and doesn't need light, or much water. If your garage is often over 50, the palm will be trying to grow and will need light. When it warms up a bit in march, try moving to the front of the garage, and leave the door open on warm sunny days prior to the full move outside in May.

Watch those needle sharp leaf bases!!!

My garage, even on coldest nights wont drop below freezing because of extra insulation I have. Also have a wall mounted propane garage heater I fired up last winter when it got super cold here just to keep it in the 40 range.

Also, before I move CIDP's inside or any palm for that matter that has spikes or thorns I tie a length of rope around the base and slide it up to gather up the fronds so it stands them up. Compacts the palm in general and can't help but thinks it adds to keeping it warmer as well.

Here are some pics of the CIDP's that I will be storing in garage. All of these I brought back with me from California this spring. The 3 CIDP's were bought at Lowes. Large one was a 11 gallon pot for $39.00 and the two smaller ones (one in blue pot) were $9.99 The other two date palms, one in the Black pot is a PHOENIX SYLVESTRIS that I bought for $30 from a hobbyist I found on Craigslist there, and the large Pygmy date palm overwintered nicely in garage last year....I don't have much luck with those but this one is a growing fiend! The CIDP's LOVE lots of water and could easily water them every 2/3 days while the Pygmy Date I almost never water.