Glad to see that all is well for you Tim. Looks like your experiments are paying off. I wonder how our trachy's are doing (the ones unheated)?? Are you going to switch to the larger bulbs for next year?? I bet that large Trachy will start to look a whole lot better once the warmer weather comes. Next week is kinda cool again but warming up to the 40s they say the following week. We all deserve an early Spring!

I've seen many people who "cooked" their trachys using the larger bulbs. I may just add more mini lights in lieu of larger bulbs as they grow bigger. Mini lights only get warm to the touch, so they are safe on plant material.

I have not looked at my unheated ones yet, but they most likely are dead. Their spears pulled on New Years Eve and we haven't had any warm periods since then. I think you do need to provide heat in Wisconsin -- even though the heat needed is very little.

I have the large c-9 bulbs and they are fine. No burn.. I only warp the trunk. The heat rises and fills the enclosure. They also don't run 24/7. They run for about 20 minutes then off for half an hour or so when the temps are around 20f outside. On a sunny day they don't run much at all.. I'll be interested to see what my unheated ones look like too. I'm probably in the same boat as you..

I'm new here and haven't yet planted my trachies outside yet. Been lurking in here and learning! Thanks everyone! Do you leave the lights on all winter or just when cold or at night?

I'm new here and haven't yet planted my trachies outside yet. Been lurking in here and learning! Thanks everyone! Do you leave the lights on all winter or just when cold or at night?

I have them on a thermocube which automatically turns on at 35F and off at 45F. Takes the guesswork out of things! 🙂

Congrats! and thanx - I don't know why I'm so nervous in zone 6 😮

The still pretty much require the same protection in zone 6 if you want them to do well and grow larger. There are some that don't heat in the niagara area, but I know that those palms are from BC where most of the ones we get here are from California or Florida which are not as hardy.. If you wrap in lights or heat you palm will look the same all year long. If you don't take those measures they will look near dead when you uncover them in the Spring and take a while before they start to look like a palms again..

CT,
welcome! You will find a lot of great advice on growing Trachycarpus in your climate on this forum .
Tim,
looking good. I think I'll copy some of your methods for next year with whatever survives the coming week. --Erik

CTPalm, welcome aboard. Nervous in zone 6? It's good to be nervous, usually assures a bit of extra work done.
We'll look forward to pics of what you're doing.

Tim nice photo update.
Your 3 year old Trachy is in excellent shape, and you'll have to move your sidewalk soon 😕

I still think the minis aren't enough the way you've got them above the crownshaft.
Easily half a "mini line" should be lying on the ground to keep the soil from freezing.
I'd get a longer row, or join two for next year, but that's just me.

Agree with you about the new planted 15 gal ... June didn't give it a lot of time to grow roots, and it has a lot of "plant area" to feed.
Unless you hacked away at the rootball when planting, can't see why it would have a lot of transplant shock.

The size/age factor is an enigma...too small, they're not hardy yet, too large and they're not settled in yet.

Good luck with the spear-pulls.

I'm still missing the P.sylvestris in your yard. 😐
Barb

Barb,

Many people have cooked their trachys feeder roots by placing mini lights on the soil, so I'm not doing that. A very credible poster on the hardy palm and subtropical board states that trachys don't mind frozen soil as long as they don't drop to lethal freeze temperatures (0-5F). In my state, soil several feet down remains 50F all year long, so under the boxes, I bet it's not froze more than an inch or two down at most. I have heat working from above (mini-lights) and heat from below (natural earth heat).

I'm sorry about the P. sylvestris. Just no chance of them being long-term here and I planted them just for the summer, lol. No room inside either as I have tons of bananas and other palms I'm overwintering. Only paid $7 a piece for them, so it's not that costly. I think my ensete maurelii are going to take their place this spring. They are getting bigger and bigger under the grow lights. 😯

trachys don't mind frozen soil as long as they don't drop to lethal freeze temperatures (0-5F). In my state, soil several feet down remains 50F all year long, so under the boxes, I bet it's not froze more than an inch or two down at most.

There's the crux of the problem...trachy roots have to get down there.
And it's the getting there that's critical.
So young palms are more susceptible because of that cold layer.

Re the 50F common temp, depends on where you are and whether you're sitting on rocks (best scenario), and relies more on an averaging of annual air temps.

The 50 degree constant ground temp is a common misconception. The ground temps vary by location and reflect the average annual temperature of the surface. For example the average air temp over the course of 1 year might be 65 F in the south and so the average ground temperature will be about 65. In a northern clime with an average air temp of 45 F the average ground temp will be 45F. Of course the actual ground temp throughout the year will vary depending on how deep you are measuring. Near the surface will vary more and deeper will vary less.

Even though this is on geothermal, interesting data discussion continues here:
http://www.greenbuildingtalk.com/Forums/tabid/53/aff/13/aft/31492/afv/topic/Default.aspx

Barb,
My entire campus is geothermal heated/cooled; very cool technology.
That was an interesting discussion but the folks were confusing different things, most of which were not relevant to our palm roots.

Tim,
I have a soil thermometer going down 4" by my Chammie. It is buried in snow right now and so not very useful.
My state meterological agency hase online soil thermometers all over the state, including in Bixby, to help farmers. I can get ive online soil temp. data at different depths from this website:
http://www.mesonet.org/index.php/weather/category/soil_temperature
Right now, for example, it is 38 oF 2" under the surface and 39 oF 12" under the surface. Those numbers have not changed much over the past week. The lowest I have seen this winter was 34oF at 2" under bare soil.
I am guessing that each state/province has something like this for their farmers.

I, to, am curious about the effects of freezing on palm roots. I have potted palms in my palm hut. I was counting on the thermocube and heater to keep temps above freezing but I am sure that roots froze in there last week and will again later this week. Given that, I sure am hoping JohnCo is correct!
--Erik

Erik,
Yes, the link was geothermal discussions, but there was reference to constant ground temps.
And the 3 listed attachments

Attachment: GroundTemps.pdf Attachment: groundtemps1.pdf Attachment: groundtemps2.pdf

from that site give examples of differences when discussing "constant" temps and well as ground temps for USA/Cdn cities.

Looking good so far Tim, where almost out of the woods too, before we know it will be pulling off the palm huts 😉

I like your mini light trials for this year. I also did some experiments exposing a 65 gal minor with no protection and a few different needle palm experiments with just roofs no heat. Time will tell for both of us, the snows melting fast here, hope it's doing the same there.

Nice job with your big palms 😀

Bill