Winter protection for Zone 7 by novice

The ballroom has stayed at about 40 oF so I'm not worried about anything in there I care about. With a furnace vent open now, it should stay above freezing even at the end of this week when it gets to ~0 oF outside.
If I was home, I'd be outside adding protection, C9 lights and keeping the water jugs filled with hot tap water nights, but I can't ask for that as my wife works nights and has her hands full with the animals during the few hours each day she is awake.
I may be shopping for Sabal this Spring. I hope not--those Jelly palms looked stunning all Summer. It was fun to see some at the Belize Botanic Garden yesterday. They looked so happy here in January.

Does anyone else want to give odds?

Erik,
I can't remember if your none heated butia under the barrel was stuffed with hay or leaves if it was it will make it most likely, might not look the
best come spring but if it's alive you'll just have to baby it all summer and come up with a better protection method for next winter.

With the other covered butia, moisture is key. Since it's dry in there and the trunks heated I'm sure that one will be ok too. The fronds will most
likely be toasted. Don't cut them off until the temps warm up! The palm should still be able to pull carbs out of them if there still somewhat alive.

Trachy will most likely have spear pull unless you covered it since the last time I saw it. With some treatments in the spring it should rebound with
a full head by late summer/fall.

Don't worry to much it's a learning process, next year you won't have any problems unless the power goes out. That's another story all together.

Bill

Erik,

Despite worrying, I'm voting for Bill to be correct!

Barb

Bill, the non-heated Butia (my "avatar" image) has made it through the past couple of winters with nothing but a bucket for the coldest nights. It loses most of its foliage but bounces back. I was counting on another mild winter, but wanted to lose less foliage so I did pack it with loose hay, then put a gallon water jug and a liter water bottle on the SW side. The morning sun warms them, always to thawing before night. If I was home, I'd be re-filling them with hot water each evening but there is no way the wife can do that for me. She is working five 12 hours shifts in a row, taking an hour each way with the snow, and dealing with animals (and now a broken water pipe to the barn).
Last time I checked online, soil temps were still in the low 30s oF (0 oc). There is a good snow cover. So, I'm counting on the roots not freezing, although the coming few days may change that. As of yesterday, the pool had not frozen. It is a salt-water pool with the pump going 24/7. I assume it will freeze regardless in the next few days.
The large (but new--May) Butia in the shelter still has not gotten colder than 21 oF a foot out from the trunk, so I may be getting 10 oF of protection. The high winds coming tonight/tomorrow may lessen that, and with our lows into the low single digits coming up it may well get to 10 oF or so in there where the leaves are. I am counting on losing the leaves but hopeful the trunk/spear will be OK with the heat tape and several burlap layers.
The Trachy received layers of burlap on the spear and lower leaves before I left, plus an inverted bucket (suspended on stakes to block more wind and the snow. It was only planted in May but had a very deep root ball and I've mulched the heck out of it. That gives me hope, but I have killed Trachys before and may do it again this week.
The C. humilis was also packed in hay before getting the bucket and has heat tape, too. My wife did add a 3 gallon water bag which may help buffer the temp drop some, especially if the heat tape keeps the water from freezing. It is also mulched heavily.

With the prolonged cold, I'm pretty sure the Musa basjoo in their large hay enclosures will get cold to the core of the stems. Oh well. The roots will make it.

P.S. down here everyone is wearing sweaters and drinking hot tea. It hasn't gotten up to 70 oF in days! 🙂

Erik,
That being said you'll be fine! I'm glad you covered your Trachy too. I'm willing to bet with all that hay around your Basjoo's there trunks will be fine
as well. It would take more cold then your getting I think to reach them, time will tell. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Sweaters for 70f that's kind of funny, people in S. Florida are kinda wimpy like that too.

Bill

I just got home from two weeks in Belize a couple of hours ago. I had a great trip, tempered only by extreme guilt at my poor wife stuck in a near-freezing house with no water and ~100 animals to tend. And having to work extra shifts. And having car trouble. Needless to say I did not ask her for extra palm protection. She is the one who wants them all dug up and brought into the house each October.
So far since getting back from the airport I've been taking care of two goats born this morning. My does have a bad habit of delivering in the coldest weather. I lose some to hypothermia every winter. My wife found these in time and put them in the barn under a heat lamp with hay and water for the mom. If they survive the night they'll do fine as we are expecting a nice warm-up Wednesday.
I then spent time hauling water in buckets to animals for parts of the farm where the pipes are still frozen (most of it).
I won't really check the palms until tomorrow when the highs should be in the 50s oF. Right now it is 30 oF (-1 oC) and will be down to ~20 oF tonight. What I can see already: the Trachy will lose pretty much all foliage. As of now, the spear looks healthy.
The large Butia in the shelter looks fine when I peek in, even the fronds which are not wrapped up (I only used heat tape and burlap wrapping on the trunk and spear). The 5-gallon water jug in the hut was not frozen. I'll know more in a few weeks, but right now I'm optimistic about it.
I'll have details and photos in a day or two.

Eric, welcome home.

thanks for that update when you're so busy.
Wow, your wife did have her hands full the last two weeks!
Hope the new babies make it.

Glad that things look darn good!

Looking forward to seeing those photos!
Barb

Eric,

How are things looking in the light of day?

Barb

Barb,
I've been busy but I took a few minutes after checking on the baby goats to lift the 20g buckets off the small Butia (my avatar image) and the C. humilis, lift the similar bucket on stakes over the Trachy crown and open a flap on the large Butia (in the shelter). The air is warm now at 54 oF so I feel it is safe to keep them uncovered. In fact, the forecast for the next week calls for temps to stay above freezing (lows of 34 oF/1 oC).
One by one through my four outdoor palms:
Small Butia (no supplemental heat; wrapped in hay with bucket): looks good, what I can see of it. I didn't remove the hay to tug the spear, but the one frond I can see looks green. I am used to losing pretty much all foliage so I assume I'll lose this leaf.
Large Butia (with heat tape on trunk/spear, in plastic greenhouse): looks very good. Fronds, which were in air to the high single digits a few times, are still green. We'll see, but I'm confident in the trunk/spear.
Trachy (trunk wrap + large bucket inverted on stakes to keep the crown dry): the fronds all look severely damaged. I assume I'll lose them all. The spear is still green and is not loose when I tug it. I picked some ice out of the crown (from snow that blew in). I may spray some copper fungicide in there. Right now, I predict the trunk/spear will survive if I can keep it from rotting.
C. humilis (heat tape on trunk; wrapped in hay under bucket): I left the hay and burlap on so I can't see much. The little bit of leaf tissue I see looks green. It is a tough plant.
Our low in this system was ~3 oF (from a personal weather station <1 mile/1 km away). It stayed below 20 oF for a few days straight. The soil in our area stayed "warm" at about 34 oF/1 oC at a depth of 4"/10 cm per a State website maintained for farmers. That give me hope for recovery of the palms, plus the passionflower, bananas, elephant ears and Canna.
I'm still too busy to work with photos yet but will try to do that soon.
--Erik

Sounds much better than what was feared, Eric.

The soil in our area stayed "warm" at about 34 oF/1 oC at a depth of 4"/10 cm per a State website maintained for farmers

That is the most encouraging information.
The snow cover mitigated duration of cold.

Thank goodness.

Thanks for the update when you're so busy.

Hopefully there'll be a pic of baby goats too when you have time!

Barb

Here are a few snapshots of the backyard palms this week, after two weeks of very cold (for Oklahoma) weather, while I was absent in the tropics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/terdalfarm/PalmsInJanuary2010?feat=directlink

Eric
The big Butia looks excellent, almost pre-winter!
The little guy sure benefited from the straw cover.

And the Trachies took a bit of a beating but look good where it counts.

The soil temp data virtually guarantees that the low temps were secondary.
Because you had everything covered from the raw wind.

Good luck fixing the water lines.
...and welcome back.
Barb

I have had a couple of questions lately about how my outdoor palms look now, a month after the very cold (3oF; several days below 20oF) in early January. Here are some snapshots I just took.
http://picasaweb.google.com/terdalfarm/PalmsFebruary2010?feat=directlink
I think the Ch. humilis and the Butia with the heat tape wrapped around the trunk are doing much better than I have any right to expect. The Butia with no electric heat is hanging in there. The Trachy is in bad shape but I am still hopeful. The spear does not pull, but the spear feels "soft" for the first time. I sprayed copper fungicide on all four outdoor palms (+ the indian hawthorn enduring its first winter).
They are all enjoying some fresh air and a bit of sunshine today. I'll cover them back up before the cold air and snow coming tomorrow.
As always, I'd appreciate any suggestions on how to help them with the winter-to-spring transition they have coming up.
--Erik

I think you got it,everything looks good(including the chickens),has the Trachys spear remained firm?

No, the Trachy spear is no longer firm. It does not pull loose when tugged, but the tissue feels soft. I am usually an optimist, but I now expect it to "pull" soon. I sprayed copper fungicide on it (and everything else) today. Any other advice?