Hope so.
Again, a great weather forecast for the coming week.
Now, off to get those chemicals....
--Erik

that is some consolation

Might be a good sign, too... 😀

I agree with Barb! 😉 🙂

I am going to try and keep my palms and cactus drier going into winter this year-

That is my plan too Jim, but when do you think is a good time to start before frost? (In terms of weeks). Does that mean drier in the crown or around the soil? I'm planning to cover my palms with an over-head clear fiberglass sheet, attached to 4 posts. As long as I can keep the moisture out of the crown, I can still water the soil before frost....does that make sense? (I've just heard the tree is supposed to be watered well before frost).

Thanks!
Heidi

Heidi,
thanks for your support.
The weather here is so perfect right now it is difficult to think of "winter." I sat outside drinking wine under the palms this evening until it got dark.
About the pindo palm, yesterday I did the peroxide treatment Dr. John prescribed. Don't know how long it will take to see any results. This same treatment (thanks, John!) saved W's large potted Washy. It took a few weeks to notice the results. So, I'd like to think that in a few weeks I'll see new spear growth and so know it is "saved."
If I don't, it will be hard (thanks, Jack--seriously) to justify making a heated palm hut for it. That is the "deadline" I am setting for this pindo. Protecting "just" the three Chamaedorea radicalis planted in that bed last April will be hard enough that I don't want to make W worry about nursing a sick Butia at the same time.
(Yes, you read between the lines correctly: I'll be sitting under Cocos nucifera while W keeps my palms alive during the coldest part of winter. Again. No idea why she hasn't shown me the door. Got to love her! )
--Erik

I am going to try and keep my palms and cactus drier going into winter this year-

That is my plan too Jim, but when do you think is a good time to start before frost? (In terms of weeks). Does that mean drier in the crown or around the soil? I'm planning to cover my palms with an over-head clear fiberglass sheet, attached to 4 posts. As long as I can keep the moisture out of the crown, I can still water the soil before frost....does that make sense? (I've just heard the tree is supposed to be watered well before frost).

Thanks!
Heidi

Heidi

I believe John,in Colorado-the pioneer in the whole keep them dry strategy-wrote that this begins after the first frost.

I don't know when it gets cold there but I use Oct 1st as my date for the Cactus-probably should be Sept 1
with how rainy the summer/fall has been here/or Aug 1 for that matter but I just can't bring myself to put the frame work up any earlier!

I use a rain shield that goes over the cactus(I just put the frame up and roll a plastic tarp over it)for the early part
of the fall/winter season-it gets completely covered when the temps are headed below 15F.

I have 20 other palms outside of the Cactus cover,I think I will try harder to cover them this year.

I will just use a plastic cover(only when it rains like what you said) for the Washys as they are the biggest-
until it's time to cover them for winter.

If I can do this early I would like to uncover the Trachys and Sabals earlier this coming spring
(late Feb/early March,weather permitting) as they are fully hardened off by Jan.

Cutting back on the water/early cold weather is what hardens off the palms growth so
it is more cold tolerant-a little problematic with 20 palms but hopefully I will be more motivated to do it this year
since I already have all my supplies on hand........for a change!

P.S.

Oops,yea the crown and the roots,when the tissue is still soft from fast growth the crowns are more tender so,
freezing water in there is no good 😯

Hope this helps-good luck Heidi 😀

The weather here is so perfect right now it is difficult to think of "winter." I sat outside drinking wine under the palms this evening until it got dark.

Erik- 8) Gotta love an extended summer, way to go! Can you send some our way?! Our summer seemed to fizzle pretty quick. Lately we've had below normal temps with drizzly rain - pretty miserable actually. 😡 Which brings me to the reason I think of protection so early, it's a sad reminder about our cool wet winters.

Regarding the Pindo palm, it will be interesting to see how the peroxide works. Hopefully you will see a nice new spear in a couple of weeks. Eager to hear about it!

laughing about W looking after the palms in coldest winter - I understand! I'm sure my H is passed the point of done hearing about my beloved palms, and now this year is forced to build them little shelters.... but still chooses to keep me around ! 😆 😉

Cutting back on the water/early cold weather is what hardens off the palms growth so
it is more cold tolerant-a little problematic with 20 palms but hopefully I will be more motivated to do it this year
since I already have all my supplies on hand........for a change!

P.S.

Oops,yea the crown and the roots,when the tissue is still soft from fast growth the crowns are more tender so,
freezing water in there is no good

Jim - I understand completely, I too have my supplies on hand for once! or should I say, the "right" method this time (I hope). The crown and roots freezing with water is what my biggest concern is, so I'll start keeping it dry mid October perhaps, as our first frost is usually first or second week of Nov.

Your advice is greatly appreciated, thanks again Jim, you're always very helpful!

Heidi

😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀

I have the evening free unexpectedly and so decided to update some of my old threads.

Butia: not good. Here is a photo from this evening:

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href=" http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/MB_RqwX_no--tMaobj-u2Q?feat=embedwebsit e"><img src=" " /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href=" http://picasaweb.google.com/terdalfarm/OutdoorPalms?feat=embedwebsit e">Outdoor palms</a></td></tr></table>

I have been doing the peroxide Rx from Dr. John. However, the roots are very deep, and we are getting enough rain to keep the ground wet. Soil temps are still warm (~75 oF). I am sure soil fungus are loving it.
The spear does not pull, and some of the upper fronds (esp. on the right) are still green, but the trend is downward. I am making winter plans that leave this one out. 😥
--Erik

Darn it, Erik!

Mine collapsed so quickly I initially thought it was wilting from lack of water.
The addition of water moved its demise along very quickly.

Yours is struggling, and it pains me to see that.
But with green frond(s), there remains some--albeit small--hope.

Nowhere I've looked on the internet discusses this problem with Butia, and I've easily read a hundred sites.

It probably wouldn't hurt at this point 😥 to double, or triple, the hydrogen peroxide.
Barb

This is a real shame to see Erik. That palms was really growing so nicely for you too.

What happened to digging it up, I thought that's what you where planning to do when it first happened? I haven't really been around to much to read any posts so maybe I missed you saying you where leaving it in. It might not be to late if you get to it soon. Dig down on one side of it and see if you see/smell anything unusual. If you still have the palmetto pot you could plant it in that with fresh soil after treating the roots once it's out. Cutting a lot of the fronds off will help with transplant shock to.

You could always just buy another one in the spring time, not the same I know but it might help a little.

Sorry man, I wish you didn't have to deal with this!

Bill

Awe Erik, so sorry to see this 😥 My first thought is to dig it up and transplant it too at this point. I hope SOMETHING helps Erik.... sad 🙁

Heidi

If you have the time,try and dig it up and clean the roots off,pot it up and see if you can save it.

I may be to late but if it lives you will have a nice palm again,maybe next fall,maybe the year after.

It will die where it is.

Thanks, everybody.
Dr. Bill, to make a medical analogy, medical intervention (lifestyle changes, then Rx) precedes surgical intervention as the risks of surgery are greater than the risks of medical intervention. Given that, I stopped water (of course, natural rain intervened) and applied Dr. John's peroxide therapy.
Transplanting a palm is so risky I thought of it as a last resort. When I realized I was making winter protection plans that excluded this Butia, I figured, well, I'm going to dig it up now or dig it up in April when I plant something else there" so might as well get it over with. They'll be enough digging come Spring as it is! 😀

I dig it up today. First I trimmed off all but the best two leaves. The soil was pretty good--a nice loam, a bit on the clay side but not too bad. Key thing: no foul odors at all. I wrestled it out of the hole and rinsed the soil off the roots. Weird: the roots looked and felt healthy. Here is a photo from part way through the rinsing process:

<a href=" http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/6QSLLOFcRg4QTMipV_I0fw?feat=embedwebsit e"><img src=" " /></a>

I trimmed the few roots that did feel soft, but that was a few and they were not "mushy". Again, no odors of root or decay.

I sprayed the root mass throughly with fungicide (chlorothalonil) from a mist sprayer. I found its old pot from April, 2009 back in a barn, which I washed and sprayed with the same fungicide. I put flat brick flakes over the many holes, then an inch of pea gravel. I had some Miracle grow cactus/palm potting soil handy so I used that. It is nearly pot-bound already. I watered with a gallon of water with properly diluted 5-15-5 with IBA (Barb: indole-3-butyric acid).
Here it is now, on my potting stand with wheels:

<a href=" http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/3pZNDvE4uULY_fR25qWSdQ?feat=embedwebsit e"><img src=" " /></a>

Bill,
by chance there is a firebush (Hamelia patens) and Mexican petunia in the background. Hope yours are doing well, too. --Erik

Are you sure the dark roots are alive?

Anyway,it's out,try using superthrive or some other
rooting hormones-it will help bigtime!

I wonder if one of your horses or something was using it as a toilet?

You've already got the hole-
I suggest building a deadfall there and see what you catch 😈