mnpalms,
thanks for the details. I look forward to the photos.
May I suggest that you start your own thread? I get confused easily and want to find your protection vs. Jims easily in the future. --Erik

Jim great protection!!!!

Ok, so are thermacubes the plugs that kick on what evers plugged in, when the temps go below a certain temp?? Arent yyou worried that those lights might catch fire? especialy if there are leaves in there???

Ive just been thinking on how similar mine and your climates are jim....... you may be statisticaly warmer then me ( i think its by 5 degrees if that), were ususaly share the same climate as far as cold goes. In light of that, im possitive ill find a way to get palms and more to grow here.

I know youve mentioned it, but what kind of tree ferns do you have? Most of the cold hardy one sive found are only hardy to zone 7. Can you show a pic of the protection you use for them???

mnpalms,
thanks for the details. I look forward to the photos.
May I suggest that you start your own thread? I get confused easily and want to find your protection vs. Jims easily in the future. --Erik

What could be easier than having it in the same thread? 😉

Sounds like you have plenty of insulation and heat source in there Kory.
I like the large bubble bubble wrap because it only cost me $37 delivered for 125'

I think a great plan that this guy in (I think)maybe NJ or Penn used is putting some permanent metal
sleeves into the ground and inserting removable poles,he used pvc pipe and built a cool structure over his
(if I remember correctly)Washy?

Anyway,Bill is doing something similar for (at least) his Washys,maybe he will post some pics.

It may cost a little more but once set up,it is easy and very strong.

Thanks Paul 😮

good description of your protection, mnpalms.
Does your roof hold a heavy/wet snow? or is there enough interior heat to melt accumulating snow on roof?

Sheesh, Jim your comment about metal sleeves in the ground reminded me of what I did years ago to protect small veggie garden from late spring frost.

4-foot lengths of galvanized round pipe (about 2" diameter) were sledge-hammered into the ground at the 10-foot wide garden bed perimeter, three per side.
One-inch lengths of PVC pipe were inserted into the round pipe, taped with duct tape to hold them inside, then other end was bent to slip into the opposite one, forming a dome similar to your desert garden protection.

Comical watching someone try to catch the upright PVC piece to bend it and slip it into the opposite pipe.
4ml plastic was stretched over the dome, edges held with bricks.

The idea could easily move to winter protection with heavier PVC to handle winter snowload...but PVC needs to be longer for taller palms.
PVC would need to be braced to prevent forward-or-backward "flop" from heavy winds.

Look forward to all the "promised" pics.
Barb

This guy used pretty think pvc,like 3-4" stuff,
it was also connected together in a frame,so it was
very strong!

I think I've seen a pic of that framed set-up somewhere on the net.
Had some interesting connectors too for both the wood and the pvc if I recall.

Looking really good Jim, just how I imagined it 😉 BTW, the green house is up, palms are in it, getting the furnace tomorrow, and building washy houses in between. Home stretch I can feel it!!! I'll post some pictures for you soon Barb, trust me no snoozing here 😆 😆 😆

Bill

Jesse-

The thermocube comes on at 35(F) and off at 45(F),there are no leaves in there
and IMO the lights don't get hot enough to catch fire,although I suppose anything electrical can.

As far as our climate being similar......I don't think so,Erik says the same thing but he is like 500-600 miles
south of me and it can be downright warm there when it's frigid here,they have native palms where he lives,
the last few years here even the Ceders got burned.

Example-as I write this it is 28(F)there and 52(F) here,I would say Bill and I's climate is more similar but
he was only like 5(F)last year at the lowest and here it was -12(F) the year before he was around 5(F) again and it was
-18(F)here but we get a lot more heat here in the summer then Bill does.
If you average out the temps over the year Bill and I's places look similar but it's the extremes and duration that define all
our zones-that said,I am sure you could grow palms where you are with the right set-up 😀
It is going to be cold here in a few days for the first time this fall!

Bill-

Looking forward to seeing those pics.

I'm looking forward to Bill's photos as well.
Jim may be right about climate differences. I am closer to the Gulf of Mexico. Not close enough for me, but it makes a difference. Morning low was a record high 68 oF today--we slept with the windows open. And the lows this week will probably be a mere 20 oF. Not good for Washy, but plenty of other palms can take that.

Nice job. They look like cocoons.

I never tied my fonds before this year and find it rather cumbersome. What kind of twine/rope do you use?

I just used the rope sold for clothes lines.

I know what you mean about it being cumbersome to tie them up,
Bill and I where laughing about that the other day-he said he had his clippers near by,
I thought about cutting the leaves off too!

Hopefully it will be worth it to save them and they will get a good jump in spring-
of course that just means more to protect next year! 😯

mnpalms,
thanks for the details. I look forward to the photos.
May I suggest that you start your own thread? I get confused easily and want to find your protection vs. Jims easily in the future. --Erik

What could be easier than having it in the same thread? 😉

I think a great plan that this guy in (I think)maybe NJ or Penn used is putting some permanent metal
sleeves into the ground and inserting removable poles,he used pvc pipe and built a cool structure over his
(if I remember correctly)Washy?

Anyway,Bill is doing something similar for (at least) his Washys,maybe he will post some pics.

It may cost a little more but once set up,it is easy and very strong.

Thanks Paul 😮

Lucky break,found the link to the guys protection I mentioned in this post.

http://home.ptd.net/~mishele/webpage/protection2.htm

Thanks, Jim. That is a great link.
On the technical side, I liked the explanation of why they use water jugs in the enclosures. That is a key part of my winter protection, and I know it is for Bill. Does everyone use water in containers for thermal buffering?
On the aesthetic side, those Washy enclosures actually look good. Mine look like :pukeright:
Maybe a goal for me for next year will be to design palm huts that actually look nice.
--Erik

The other nice quality about them is they are reasonably simple.

He also has milder winters than me as one layer of plastic would not protect a Washy
here without a ridiculous amount of heat!

😆 😆 😆

I am sure I used too much electricity last night. Must insulate more....

And of course I am convinced Washy die if I merely look at 'em funny. 😆

Still, I did like his basic design. Not too much work, not very expensive to make. --Erik