I am clapping my hands to you!! Everything looks great and I know the value of a little cheap protection goes a long way!! I am in the same boat. Again great job!

Thank You! Were you able to get that big enclosure? If you get a chance post some photos.

Steve

I found out after I payed for it that there is electric wires and phone cables about 10 ft off the ground . The enclosure would have been 5 ft taller and the cables wont stretch. I tried a bunch of different options so now I called the place that I ordered it from and they are thankfully down grading my order. Ill have pics when it gets here but its going to be about half the size. Its still in the 70's and 80's so It will be a few more weeks before I need it.

Macario ~ Looking forward to seeing how that works out for you!

We had our first freeze/frost last night, had just finished getting this one sealed up and the heater in place. ( the plastic has held up to 40 mph winds so far)

Very nice unit Steve.

Are paving stones better than wooden boards for placing plant pots on?

Saw the previous pics during construction.
Well done.
2 x 3 is such a clean nice job, compared to 2x4 construction.
Congratulations.
Hope you get an electric stapler for Christmas.
Barb

With regards to the initial topic of Washingtonia robusta wintering methods, I use a bungee cord to gather the fronds together prior to this enclosure method. Once the fronds are rounded up and secured, the palm needs less space and therefore a smaller enclosure. A cost and space saving method too. Those in cold climates will find heating or other winter methods to be more condensed.

Cheers, Barrie.

As hard as I try to get this through the Winter with the foliage intact, it just never seems to work out.....

We had an ice storm in December and lost power for a couple nights, then at the beginning of March, the heater was unplugged for a week ( oops.. 😀

This is what it ended up looking like,

here it is now, off and growing after it's second Winter in ground 8)
( sorry about the photo, after what happened last year I'm not taking the cover off until next week)

Steve

Great that it's come back gangbusters.
...a hard way to find out its cold tolerance.
It's a keeper!
Barb

Slender trunk = robusta
Randall

It is a washie if the frongs have the little thorns on It. I sure have had my arms scrached so many times i know one when i see it.

Just wondering how your Robusta is doing on its third winter in the ground?

jaydeebee, Yes, it has plenty of sharp thorns 😀

Randall, Thanks for the input, with all the trauma this one has gone through, it is noticeably smaller than the one in the GH. Will be interesting to see if it grows into a dwarf
(both were planted in ground & going on their 3rd winter)

wxman,
It seems to be doing okay, here it is this morning.

The fronds that are touching the sides are burning back, but it's also pushing a new spear 😀
You've had some colder temps than me, how is your stuff holding up?

Steve

I have two washingtonia robustas, one trachycarpus fortunei, one butia capitata, and one cycas revoluta in the ground here in SE WI. We have seen it get as cold as -2F, and today at noon its only 4F outside! Here they are before protecting:

Here is how they are protected:

They were holding up great so far this year. Yesterday we hit 46F outside which caused a ton of snow to melt, and then last night we quickly fell to 0F. When I went to bed, all was well and when I woke up this morning the backyard palms (butia capitata and washingtonia robusta) were reading 19.1F!!!! I went outside to find that the power was off, the melting snow tripped the GFI. Water must have gotten into a plug and froze or something. I quickly fixed it and they are now back in the 40s. Here is how it looked this morning.

I'm crossing my fingers there is no damage.

Looks like they are going to be o.k.maybe it was a brief exposure which is quite different then a prolonged event.
I planted my C.humilis in the larger g/house a few days ago and was planing on keeping the temp above 20F for a while,well,sunday the high was 59F and last night it got down to 5F(never seen a swing of 54F in one day! it was 2F this morning)the wind was gusting over 40mph,the temp was holding around 18-20F and I was watching closely most of the night when I noticed around midnight that it had suddenly dropped to 13F,I rushed outside to find the back of the greenhouse was pulled open by the wind,I managed to get it braced and everything looks good as of this morning(I added another heater)so I think the palms dodged their second close call of the winter.Glad to hear your washys,etc made it wx,my washys are snug and looking nice and green,long way to go but we will get there. 😮

wxman,
Everything looks well protected! I'm curious to see how your Sago does, are you using the same set up with it?

Steve