Thanks Barb..I'll drop Jay a PM this evening..I'm eager to post these pics!

Barrie..We hit 19F last evening and when I got out early this am my palm houses were at 53F (low heat and lights used)...

Your right...I'll save my electricity until when I really need it..

Palmettoman Z6-Ajax, On

PALMETTOMAN use http://www.imageshack.us/ . Just click "browse" and find the file on your pc, click host it & wait for it to upload. Copy the "direct link" at the bottom & post the url here.

Great job Allen that should be fool proof protectiom for you. Look forward to seeing their progress.

John

It made it. 8)

-19*C last night, with wind chills in the low -30*C's, and the shelter got to -2*C. The insulation on the shelter significantly reduces the wind chill effect. The only thing that I will have to worry about is periods below -20 with no sunshine which only happened 5 or 6 times last winter.

The Chamaerops and Butia should survive -10*C but I am not sure how cold the Cycas revoluta will stand. Every one of the plants is almost dry which should help.

Allen

The worst part for you of all of this, is not knowing how things have fared until well into spring. Winter damage effects are often slow to materialize. Equally slow to recover. 😐

Cheers, Barrie.

I know that It will take until mid summer next year to really tell how they did this winter. But I am going to try to be vigilant and make sure that the plants don't get much below -3*C.

I was surprised that -25*C and calm overnight resulted in a low of -3.1*C in the shelter. It is only 11:30 AM and the heat from the sun already has the shelter at 4*C. I may have to open the top later on today.

Allen

I finally opened the top of the shelter today when the temperature outside reached -3*C.

No evidence of damage to the Yucca elephantipes, Cycas revoluta or other plants from the -5.5*C low temperature in the shelter on the December 1/07 weekend. Everything is still a healthy green and the window appears to be big enough.

I added a 75 watt heat lamp that I can plug in from the outside in the event that we get temperatures -30*C or colder.

I'll post a couple of pics in a day or 2.

Allen

Excellent, Allen.
Hope you get this approaching mild spell too.
Well above zero C and rain.

Who would've thought we'd need avalanche protection (off the roof) for our palms ! 😉
Barb

Here are the pics.

If anything, the yucca look healthier than when I put them in the shelter. 😀

Now all I need for them to look like this in April.

Allen

All your work with the piping +auxilliary heat was worth it.
Well done.
Barb

Allen..

Looks like your yucca eleph. are holding up well..

Good stuff!

Palmettoman Z6-Ajax, On

The shelter held up well in temps as low as -36*C with windchills between -40 and -50. The inside temp got down to -4.9*C

It seems like the worst is over. I will probably be able to check the palms in a couple of weeks as the forecast shows that we are supposed to get to freezing about that time.

Allen

Excellent Allen.
Good design plus placing it in the right place.
Barb

😀 😀 The worst is over and I opened the shelter for the first time to let some of the sun generated heat out.

Most plants are fine. The Yucca e. that had some sickly leaves last fall has about half of them dead. The rest of the sickly leaves have recovered. Everything else looks a nice healthy green.

Except-- My Washingtonia filifera 3 yr seedlings. I didn't water them in time 😳 and I may lose some of them.

What I learned:
-Paint the south exterior a medium to dark color to get more heat from the sun.
-Line the inside of the west north and east walls with that aluminized cloth blanket to reflect the heat back in.
-Line the ceiling with the aluminized cloth blanket.
-Reduce the roof door from 2' x 10' to 2 doors 2' x 3' each with a 4' solid section in the centre.
-It is not necessary to let the plants dry out to reduce the risk of cold damage. Water them monthly.

I am proud of my creation. 8)

Allen

Allen,
Bummer about the Washys...maybe they'll throw a new spear.

Didn't you make the roof door that size so you climb in easier?
I can't remember why there wasn't a door on the side...probably snow piled up?

Nice summary.
Barb