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King Palms done in by freeze

17 years ago

I had 5 triple trunk king palms in our new backyard that appear to be dead from several nights of freezing weather. Strange for southern california. The trunks are turning black. I like the appearance of the king palms as opposed to the queen palms that appear ratty and feathery. Any suggestion for other types of palms that might fare better and have a similar look as the king palms? The original triple trunks were 50 gallon boxes. Do I need to get more mature single or double trees to be more hardy?

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Comments (2)

david_
17 years ago
maybe howea's would do better ?. If your looking for a palm with a crown shaft most are close to king palms in cold hardiness with a few exception of course.Butia capitata is a none crown shaft palm that is nice.But the only crown shaft palms that are cold hardy are maybe a Pseudophoenix but very slow.Maybe some dypsis are good for your area Im not sure about those.
topher2006
17 years ago
Our home depot had some absolutely beautiful !
1 had a trunk that was about 5 ft tall for $ 100
It got down to 37 degrees that night and when i went back the next morning it looked terrible ! Would have bought it that night if i had a place big enough inside to keep it..
In my experience they are very vulnerable trees they do
not take windy days to good without looking frizzled and spread out...
also they bend in the breeze relatively easy.. I think they
would probaly be suited for zones 10+.. with a sheltered area from the wind or , as a houseplant I have 1 in a pot with about 2 ft of trunk and the wind realy plays havoc with it.. but so far so good !
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You'll likely get alot more responses, faster if you include the actual photos in the post such as below. Its probably going to be a waiting game. The fronds that are brown are not going to come back, but it MAY send out new green fronds. I would leave it as is for now and see what happens. Are the newest fronds coming out of the top still firmly in place? If so that is a very good sign. General rule of thumb with P. Roebelenii is that if it is going below 32F for more than just a few hours, bring it in or protect it with heat. You definitely do not want the pot/ roots to freeze. Update us in March / April when its had a chance to warm up and try to recover. I have seen these recover from worse damage than this.
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Oooo, no chambeys for you, Alan, at least not until you get some canopy. You could probably grow a fantastic Bismarckia nobilis, though, they love heat and despise shade, and they are such a striking palm, especially the silver-blue. Also Dypsis decipiens and Dypsis decaryi (triangle), any of the Livistonas, and possibly Wodyetia bifurcata, or foxtails. Honestly, at 20F the foxtails and triangle won't make it; 26-28F they'd survive if established. You can also grow Jubea chilensis (Chilean wine palm), but it's notoriously slow. Phoenix rupicola is attractive and can sometimes be found in size at a reasonable price, will take down to 25F. Sorry about your kings, that's very painful.
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Comments (7)
Thanks for the seeds Malowe! you are very generous. I have already cleaned the seeds, soaked them overnight in warm water, and they are currently in a plastic bag between moist paper towels and with some heat to aid in germination. I will let you know when all of the kings start to sprout. I currently only have one left from the freeze we had in January of 2007. It will be nice to add a couple of more kings to the yard again. Thanks!
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Comments (14)
WATER AND MORE WATER! They should have been kept soaking wet from the day they were planted. It wouldn't stop some sunburn- but would have mitigated the damage. For the Howeas its going to be a slow recovery- years. The King palms are much faster..but the browned trunk worries me. That's a deep burn. I know it sounds like you watered often enough...but probably not enough or deep enough. A watering ring around those palms filled when watered and then re filled would help. You might as well cut off the dead fronds and start from there. Those are some of the best palms to grow..but the start can sometimes get off on the wrong foot in a hot summer. You might be happier to add more palms alongside now that temps will be going down so you have something nice to look at for now. It would be worth it instead of getting all frustrated waiting for those to recover. Best luck!
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