It's gonna get cold!!/ Question

lakers1982

16 years ago

Tomorrow night here where I am in Iowa the weatherman is calling for a low of 30. I can not remember the last time we had a frost this early here..I have a question as well. I have 2 Windmill's planted in 5 gallon containers,both are roughly 2 feet tall and have been growing like weeds lately. I am curious how long they can stay outside potted overnight in subfreezing temps ....how long are they good for at 30 degrees? at 20? I was planning on bringing them in when we get a day where it doesn't get above freezing, but don't want the pot soil to freeze throughout and hurt/kill the plant.

Thanks in advance

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Comments (11)

mike-jaramillo
16 years ago
I would just bring them in now. The palm can handle those temps but the roots are another story. If those roots freeze in a pot its all over.
xerophyte NYC
16 years ago
a low of 30 this time of year probably means that for an hour or 2 the temps might get that low, but it is still risky in a pot
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It is so simple. I wash them and lay them out on towels to dry. When they are dry, I pop them into a gallon-sized zip-lock freezer bag and toss them into the deep freeze. I usually end up with 8 to 10 gallons of frozen tomatoes at the very least. I don't always fill up a bag in one day, but what I do is just keep adding more tomatoes to the current unfilled bag until it is completely full. Later on, when I want to use them for cooking, I take the bag out of the freezer and put the entire tomato-filled bag in a bowl on the counter to thaw out. Once the tomatoes have thawed, you can pour them out of the bag and into the bowl. To remove the skin, just pick up a tomato and squeeze it gently and the skin slips right off. I use these once-frozen tomatoes all winter long to make soups, stews and even chili. We have a tomato-based soup every week in the tomato off-season. Another way to use them is to wash and dry them, then slice them. Lay the slices in a single layer on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper and put them into the freezer to freeze. Once your slices have frozen solid, remove them from the freezer. I like to stack them up in a plastic freezer container, with squares of waxed or parchment paper in between each slice so they don't stick together. To use them for BLTs in the winter months, remove the slices from the freezer and only let them thaw out halfway while you're cooking your bacon to make BLTs or, in my husband's case, BOLTs with sliced onions added. Once you get used to eating your sliced tomatoes half-frozen on a BLT, they're pretty enjoyable. Of course, they are not the same as a BLT made in-season with fresh home-grown tomatoes, but they aren't bad. At least they taste like tomatoes, which is more than I can say for those reddish-orange roundish-squareish, poorly flavored, mushy thingies that they sell in the store as "tomatoes" in the winter time. You also can take the frozen sliced tomatoes, bread them while still frozen, fry them and make fried green (or red )tomatoes in winter. Put them on a BLT for a different twist....a fried green (or red) tomato bacon-lettuce tomato sandwich. I also like to dry tomato slices in my dehydrator and store them for winter. We use them in recipes that call for sun-dried tomatoes, though ours are not actually sun-dried (and neither are most of the tomatoes sold as sun-dried tomatoes). Dawn
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lakers1982
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the replies. By the looks of it our lows after tonight will quickly get back up to the 50's. I work evenings and sleep days so i will bring them in before work and put them back out if the temp is back above freezing by the time i go to bed.
Thanks again for the reply.
oppalm
16 years ago
I agree its best to bring them in if the temps drop to 32F or below, However, if possible put them in an unheated garage or someplace similar overnight so you can take them out the next day and it wont be a temp shock. I have a covered patio and if the temps are 27F or above I cover them on the patio , take the covers off in the morning and I'm good to go. Just don't take many chances or you will get burned. (I have)
lakers1982
Original Author
16 years ago
A side question...These 2 are roughly 24 inches tall. At what trunk height/age would they be safe to put into the ground(spring time) and give them a heavily protected go for the next winter?I am in Iowa. I plan on getting my own house in the spring of '09 and wanted to know if i could give one of them a try then.
andyandy
16 years ago
If it is only going to fall to about 30 for one or two nights that willnot freeze the soil in the least. Having said that it can't hurt to move them in but I really don't think it is necessary.
User
16 years ago
I agree, 30 F. for a couple of hours will not hurt the palm. First of all, that's air temperature--not soil temp. Yes, it's true that containers don't offer nearly as much insolation as the ground, still, soil won't drop that low. I would suggest that you place a light blanket over them if you're worried. That, and being next to your house should mean a higher temp than 30 for them.
islandbreeze
16 years ago
I agree with the above, don't worry about them unless you start dropping into the 20s, then be concerned. Last spring, sometime in March, I left all of my potted trachys out overnight when we dropped to 30, on top of that we got some snow and freezing rain. My palms showed no ill effects even from snow and ice. That's not to say that they'll make it through 20 or even 25, but that's not a chance I'm willing to take.
mike-jaramillo
16 years ago
Wow today sucks, it actually got to 45 degrees last night. Todays its only supposed to be 67. How depressing!! Luckily I only have 2 tender palms and they are coming inside the house today.
dbrya1
16 years ago
56* here in wichita,ks,with a north brisk wind,trying to build a temporary tunnel house for some palms and bananas
Mike have you got you tunnel house up yet?
mike-jaramillo
16 years ago
No I dont not yet. The one I had last year this year is going over the banana area , I have a bigger one that I ordered that will be going over the palms this year, because it has to include a few new palms I have in the yard.

It's gonna get cold!!/ Question

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It's gonna get cold!!/ Question

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