Day Three Out in the Open!

wxman · Post by **wxman** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:27 pm

Today is day three that my oldest trachy has been free from its enclosure. It has been CHILLY the last two nights here. The night after I uncovered it the temperature dropped to 21F and last night the temperature dropped to 19F. Daytime temperatures rebounded both days up to around 40F. I don't baby my trachys in the fall and spring and will let them see temperatures down to the upper teens as long as daytime temperatures recover above freezing. I think short doses of cold like this increases the hardiness.

Here are two pictures. First one is when I uncovered it and second one is tonight. As you can see the leaflets on the fronds have opened up nicely in response to being out of the box and back into the full sun. And NO damage from the chilly nights. This one is truly hardy and has the curved trunk base that John in CO talks about. (smile)

Sunday

Today

Lots of 50s and 60s the next seven days. Going to mark the spear tomorrow and see if I start getting any growth! (smile)

hilashes · Post by **hilashes** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 7:32 pm

That looks fantastic Tim!!

Heidi

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 7:38 pm

looks like its doing even better.

mnpalms · Post by **mnpalms** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 4:51 am

Great job wxman! Looks like you had similar snow cover as we do/did here in MN. I'm going to uncover my trachies this Sunday (3/20) which is about a week later than I wanted. As of yesterday morning we still had about as much snow cover as in your pictures. With 50's most of this week and overnight lows above freezing (46 was last night's low) it should all be gone by Sunday except for the dirty snow banks by the roads. Our 15-day Accuweather shows all 40's, 50's and even a few 60's highs. most nights at or above freeezing. I think it is safe to say it won't drop below 20 again and that's the sweet spot for me. I wanted the palms to hit the ground running this spring and not get too stressed by a freak late cold snap. I think that risk has now passed. I expose mine to nasty weather in the fall usually. Mine got a foot of wet snow on them in late November and saw upper teens and 20s before getting covered. I unplugged the extension cord running the Thermocube about a week ago and peeked in at the palms and they look great. My unprotected yuccas look good and my large y. thompsoniana (protected) looks perfect too. Lowest temp we had in the yard this winter was -12f. We are a solid Z5a in my neck of the woods, contrary to the zone maps. I've been tracking it for years now. I'll post pics on Sunday (I can't wait!)

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 8:03 am

There is a hint that there may be an Arctic high coming down end of next week
but the models are not in agreement on this-where it's going-worth watching though.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 11:45 am

It'll be good to see those pics, mn!

Charge those camera batteries up

Barb

mnpalms · Post by **mnpalms** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:04 pm

Thanks for the head's up Jim. Does it sound like it would be a damaging cold from what you heard? The worst our local guys are saying is a 37hi/27lo on next Wednesday. Accuweather now shows (always changes) upper 30s for a couple days next week then back to the mid 40s for a day then back to the 50s and 60s after the weekend.

Okanagan desert-palms · Thu Mar 17, 2011 2:17 pm

Tim always like to see your updates. Those Trachy`s are breathing fresh air again and looking great.

John

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 5:14 pm

Kory

Accuweather is a joke in regard to the 15 day!

Although I do look at it too!

You can NEVER have to much weather feedback growing palms
well out of there zones

One thing you need to watch is your snow cover where you live
and immediately north of you,if you guys get rid of your snow that will help.

They are always conservative on the low temps this time of year it seems.

Just keep an eye on it is the best we can do,hopefully like they are saying it is short lived.

Also looks like the brunt of this is heading to the northeast...sorry Bill.

We are a ways out though.

I saw upper 40s and 50s here for late next week but as mentioned,keep an eye on it.

I will need to cover my Banana plant I'm sure

wxman · Post by **wxman** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 5:38 pm

Jim --
mnpalms --

Next week they are dropping the hammer on VERY cold weather for the midwest. NWS is forecasting 31 for a high here Wednesday with a low of 19. That is a big no no for my trachys. The EURO model didnt have the cold but the GFS did. Now the EURO is on board too.

I think we're screwed next week. I really don't want to put all my boxes back on.

Sucks too because today was 65F!!!!

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 10:59 pm

It is a tough time of year to predict.
No complaints about today--low of 65, high of 82

That same system you're talking about is not forecast to get to freezing down here, just a cold rain, but we almost always have a late March snow storm so I too have to be ready.

mnpalms · Post by **mnpalms** » Fri Mar 18, 2011 4:06 am

Yup, Accuweather can be a joke when it comes to anything more than 5 days out. Still I use it in conjunction with all the local forecasts in trying to determine what to expect. As it stands now we are looking at 2 days next week, Wed and Thurs, with highs in the upper 30s and lows in the upper 20s. I don't think that is a problem for my larger and mature trachies but I think I'll make a final decision on whether or not to uncover on Sunday once I see all the updated forecasts on Sunday.

Jim- You already have a banana in the ground?!?!? Most of mine have just moved from the house into the 3-season porch by the southwest facing windows where I anticipate them residing until at least early May! I kept all of mine alive/growing this year instead of cutting them back and going dormant. The last winter I'll do that with big ones though, it is such a pain in the you-know-what to keep them free of spider mites. I have a bunch of medium sized bananas too and they seem much easier to control the mites than with the big plants. I will have a nice basjoo jungle this year by mid summer though!

Wxman- I wouldn't be worried about your trachies by the house, I'm sure they wouldn't be affected by this potential "cold front" coming. Maybe just keep a few plastic garbage cans handy for your smaller trachies out in the yard just in case? It would suck to have to put the boxes back on, that's for sure!

Barb- I will get some pictures posted here Sunday for sure! Even if I don't completely uncover the trachies. I may take off the sides of the enclosure and keep the roof intact for another week just in case. Will have to see...

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Fri Mar 18, 2011 8:29 am

Problem with the 19F and low 30s is if there is rain snow before-
that can cause problems in the crown/spear area.
I had spear-pull from such an event in Nov a few years back,
(half an inch of rain and 18F the following night)
you would think our palms are hardened off this time of year though.
Still,with those temps,some kind of cover would be wise......
at least from any moisture.

Nothing below freezing for lows here(in their forecast anyway),highs in the upper
40s to 50 for a few days,still,with those highs 25-28F is approachable if
the night sets up just right.

Not worrised about any of my palms though but the T.ferns and Washys will get covered
if it's much less than 30,so far I don't see anything below 36F here,we'll see about that.

Obviously the Banana will get a nice cozy Washy cover with X-mas lights!

mnpalms · Post by **mnpalms** » Fri Mar 18, 2011 9:05 am

Good point about the moisture with a freeze following it Jim. That's why I'm thinking I will make the determination on Sunday based on the updated forecasts. If it doesn't look too bad I think I'll remove the walls but keep the roof on to keep any rain or snow off the crowns. Then they can still get some sun and fresh air for a while until the following weekend when they would be completely uncovered no matter what.

My palms did experience a foot snowfall in late November and I was unable to cover them for a few days afterward. I'm amazed they didn't suffer any damage from that. It did get into the mid/upper 20s over night during that time even though it was in the low/mid 30s when the snow fell and during the days following. That was the snow storm in which I lost a lot of huge branches and even a couple larger trees in my yard. The palms were troopers though!

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Fri Mar 18, 2011 12:57 pm

Yea,I remember that,didn't you get like a foot??

Maybe your just melting that now!

I wish you and wxman(Tim) would put
your weather stickers on here,it would be
interesting to be able to keep an eye on that!

mnpalms · Post by **mnpalms** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 3:59 am

Yeah Jim, that was only one of three foot+ storms we got over this winter season. Actually the second two we got were 17 and 21 inches! We had countless snow events of under a foot also. Near record snow total here this year! It was almost all gone in mid Feb. after that week and a half of 40s and 50s with bright sun. Then we promptly got slapped with another 17 inches to replace it. Thank God that's finally almost all gone now too. Sadly they say the river flooding situation will again set records this year. Much of it will be finding its way south and I hope you guys in Iowa don't get too much damage.

How do you attach that weather thing to your posts? I'd do it if I knew how. Not sure how accurate it is compared with exactly where I am though, at least for overnight lows during winter. The highs are probably pretty close though.

And Wxman- Sorry to hijack your thread and drift off-topic! Please do keep us updated on how this cold front hits your area and what you end up doing with all your trachies.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 9:11 am

I think you guys could PM Jay and he'd help you out...
like he did the rest of us

wxman · Post by **wxman** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 10:35 am

mnpalms,

Just posted a thread on the cold. Be aware you might be in danger too. NWS is saying 9F here and weather models are showing both you and me WELL below zero.

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 11:46 am

your palm is looking good. The leaning trunk trait is from the nani tals.....right? I grew some T. takils from RPS seed (2000 or 2001) and they grew with leaning trunks. Come to find out they are now called nani tals not the true takil.