Erik- Thanks for posting this. I assume the temps have rebounded (since your temp bar now reads 14C) so the damage should be showing up... Looks to me like there is some damage on everything. Have you treated the crowns with fungicide?

My gut feeling:

Hay was wayyyyyyy too loose, allowing cold to penetrate. Could be packed thicker, tighter, using a lot more hay.
Folks who use hay bales (Don) have good success but I know your hay is round bales...tougher to stack segments tightly.
"Swaddled" fiberglass insulation then likely too loose as well.

Plastic--even 6ml--not sufficient protection, garbage cans/plant pots likely producing the same results.
At a minimum, consider a second larger teepee over each teepee, providing at least an inch of air space between two plastic layers.

Where survival chances are good, heat and a more robust structure were provided.

Water bottles have virtually no benefit with such low temps unless supplementary heat is provided.

I really hope, for your sake Erik, that I have to eat crowwhen they all bounce back in spring. 😐
Barb

Erik, I'm wishing you the best of luck. It looks as though you all got hit with some really low weather for your area. Hopefully it's just the fronds and not much more.

Anything without heat/that wasn't completely insulated is ready for butter and jam 😯

By this time next week you should should have a handle
(if the handles haven't come off!) on the extent of damage-
warmer temps will speed up damages effects.

I would suggest moving any mulch and protection away from them as
soon as warmer temps make that possible-the faster the soil warms back up
and they are in the open the faster any recovery will be.

That's a tough pill to swallow when you have zone defining/busting cold
like that-pretty amazing how fast it came and went,I can remember weeks of temps
below 20(F) and many nights with below zero(F) temps.

I think we only went 3-4 nights below zero(F) this winter,with none being back to back.

The duration of the cold was another story.

Good luck Erik!

Jeez, don't real know what to say other then Sorry Man 😥

Bill

Everyone, thanks for looking.

Paul,
I sprayed fungicide. I used chlorothonil (sp?) (tradename fungi onil). I have the copper stuff around but did not use it after Bill and gpenny warned against it. Any more thoughts on copper fungicides? If anyone suggests it, I'll give it a shot.

Barb,
(somewhat defensively!) the hay was not as loose as pictured; I took the photos after pulling the hay away to let sun and warm dry air into palm tissue. But your broader point is well taken.
January was freaky warm, and it has been since 1996 that our winter low was in February. So, in late January I unwrapped palms. We set a record high high for the date on the last Saturday in January. We all napped in tank tops on the “beach” and celebrated the end of winter listening to Jimmy Buffet by the palms.
Sunday, I saw forecasts for one more week of winter with lows in the single digits and snow. So, I wrapped everything back up on this assumption: zone 7a conditions lasting a week. I used a bunch of water bottles to buffer temp swings, and plastic (4 mil) to shed snow--not as insulation.
That is what we got. But instead of a warm-up, the forecasts then called for another week of zone 7. I figured I was good, and did not want to unwrap palms and let cold air in. I devoted my time to animals, which needed a lot of care in the cold.
Even the night before the super cold, the local meteorologists did not know how bad it would get. Most were calling for zone 6b; the scariest called for zone 6a. But my time was spent on animals, and I had already hurt my lower back and my right hip in slips and falls hauling endless buckets of warm water from the house to 100 animals in the barns. Palms would just have to deal with zone 6a/6b as best as they could.

As for eating crow, don’t do that. I kept all of my chickens alive, albeit some with frostbite. Wouldn’t coq au vin be tastier? 😆

Dean,
thanks for the best wishes. The Mrs. and I are looking Texas. An experienced Tulsa palm grower advised me,”south of Austin”! What do you think?

Jim,
I agree. The unheated Trachy have little chance. I’ll try your trunk-cutting tricks, but honestly it is mostly so I learn the techniques for the future. When I get ready to do that I’ll PM you for a telephone number for detailed instructions.

I’ve moved mulch away to let warm dry air in. The snow is melting fast (but there is a lot left) so all is wet.

Again, thanks, everyone. Since joining “palmsnorth” Tulsa has had all of its recorded blizzards and all record snowfalls and cold. Is that how you welcome folks? 😈

Hey Erik, thinking of moving? South of Austin is okay I guess maybe down by the coast or south Texas.

local meteorologists did not know how bad it would get.

I remember reading how surprised several were at how cold it did get.
"lifetime cold event" was a phrase I saw a couple of times. :cwm21:

You made the right choice, Erik, in dealing with the animals.

Since joining “palmsnorth” Tulsa has had all of its recorded blizzards and all record snowfalls and cold. Is that how you welcome folks?

:laughing7:

Barb

hopefully some pull through for you!

Hey Erik,
I'm sure at some point I wrote to you that copper fungicide can be toxic to your plants as did Penny. I think the point we where trying to get across was not to Over Use it. Copper fungicide is a very appropriate product to use in a situation like yours now. Your palms could be in some serious trouble if pathogens start building with all of the heat down there.

If I remember back I think you where definitely overusing it at the time.

Bill

I agree with Bill.....

and would add that although peroxide works great as well...
copper is a very useful product when it comes to helping
keep the crown dry-when pouring liquid in there doesn't feel right.

I'm sorry Erik. Hopefully some of them make it and then you'll know you have really hardy palms. 🙂 Next year, please consider building poly enclosures with foam insulation on the outside. Throw a space heater in set at 40F and you'll be set. I do HVAC for a living, so I ran heat calcs on my enclosures and it would have to be -60F outside for the enclosure to fall below 32F with just a space heater.

If you need any help or advice, just let me know.

I honestly nver would have thought that you could get that cold there! I really hope your plants pull through. I would definatly listen to the vets around here with there suggestions...

Eric, I know it's so bad! Sorry, man! I read all these comments but would not able viewing the pictures. Something wrong with my picasaweb (or with the antivirus)... :angryfire: But it's nothing comparing what you feel... Hope my spring smile will help you overcome.