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Possible "Anti-Freeze" For Palms?

11 years ago

Well I just took this picture. It snowed here on Long Island Friday & Saturday but Sunday was in the 50's and the snow melted. This grass has remained bright green and actually grew all winter. I've been told that a Palm Tree has more in common with grass than trees so maybe I'm on to something here. This is the third winter that I have gotten these results. Unfortunately, I wont be able to test it out on palms until next winter.

This post was edited by Kokomo-JB on Mon, Mar 11, 13 at 12:45

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Comments (6)

tropicalzone7
11 years ago
What did you use to keep your grass green? Palms are a little more complex than grass, but they are both monocots. So far I have not heard of any sucessful anti freeze sprays for palms, but if there was enough of a demand, I bet that there would be enough money to get one made!
-Alex
Kokomo-JB
Original Author
11 years ago
Hey Alex!

This is the third winter testing on grass and the results have been consistent. Last year with the mild winter, the grass was a foot long by this time last year! I don't want to be responsible for killing anybody else's palms so I will keep the mixture quiet until a year from now. Over this coming winter, I will be testing this on a couple of different cold hardy species. Over the past 3 winters I've had 4 test sites. One control (nothing but natural conditions-grass died as it should)
One where the grass was treated once a week-above picture-grass is lush and not affected by cold
One where the grass was treated everyday/saturated ground-grass is lush and not affected by the cold
One where the grass was treated once a month-grass is lush and not affected by cold.

So the results came out great with grass-let's see how the palms react. I hope I get the same results!
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jimhardy
11 years ago
Good luck Kokomo
tropicalzone7
11 years ago
It sounds pretty interesting! Keep us updated onto the results! You will definitely have to do a few years of testing on several different species to really know the results, but it seems to work well on grass!
-Alex
davidrt28 (zone 7)
11 years ago
Interesting idea...but FWIW something like this is already marketed, maybe by Monterey or the people who make Wiltpruf. I have it somewhere out in the garage but am not going to go look for it. Also, though they are both monocots, there are obviously physiological differences between grasses and a palm.
In 20 years (if the world hasn't been nuked by North Korea LOL) gene splicing techniques will probably make it possible to develop somewhat hardier palms. You aren't going to have a Phoenix canariensis in Minnesota, but they might become reliably hardy in Virginia Beach.
Kokomo-JB
Original Author
11 years ago
Hey David!

I posted a reply but for some reason it's not on this thread. WiltPruf is a spray on desiccant(I'm sure you are well aware having used the product) what I have created is absorbed through the roots and (hopefully) affects the inside of the plants including cell structure. I think WiltPruf serves as a surface shield only. I totally agree with the future long term/low maintenance success to come via gene therapy and DNA alteration. It just makes the most sense if you are a forward thinker and it seems that you are.

This post was edited by Kokomo-JB on Mon, Mar 18, 13 at 9:51

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