Hello lovethosepalms

What was the lowest temperature since you start plant it?

The lowest temperature I have recorded was 8 degrees but that did not last long. I think keeping the crown dry is more of a concern than worrying about the temperature. One of my Windmills I just protected it with a over turned garbage can when it was going to get in the teenÂs or if they forecasted snow or freezing rain.

8 degrees is quite good temperature for palms. In my yard last winter was -22 F (J live in zone 6 too). It was very terrible winter. Fortunately J started plant palms this spring

lovethosepalms, greatgrowth rate! what is your winter protection method?

Also, I suspect that part of the success (If I'm seeing these pictures correctly) is the direct sunshine it seems to be getting. It's clear that especially during the day, the palm is getting warmed up enough to help it survive.

We've only got one place where a palm could get a bit of day-time sun and that's where we're taking a chance on a Takil.

Good idea about taking growth rate pictures.

I hear reports of a couple owners of Trachys in Wichita.
Thats just 100 miles from me, so if I can find a cheap one nearby, I may try it.

Bravo-
Great looking palm, I like the idea of an overturned garbage can. I planted mine last March. Big mistake I thought it was a gonner but it made a great comeback by late summer. I'll take a picture tomorrow so I can compare growth rates in a few years. Keep it up, it looks great.

I'd guess that planting even the most cold hardy palms , would be best done when the weather has warmed to the point where it's consistent, and then the plants can adjust "gradually " to those ever colder temperatures as you go into late fall and winter. When you think about it those plants purchased from web sites, or at local garden centers have most likely been growing in warm greenhouses and moving them into cool digs outdoors could be a shock even for the normally cold hardy ones perhaps? It does remind me that I did see some special 'covers" for palms in colder zones advertised somewhere, though I can't recall where, and also some special "heat blankets" supposedly desinged to warm the soil around the palms , though I just can't remember where ?

Since the weather is so mild I constructed my cover for my palm this should
protect it from the January / February weather. So far this season my
outdoor temperature has been down to 10 degree's. I still have to cut the vent in top
of the enclosure and make a small door so I can go in and water or just inspect
the palm. Once again I do believe that keeping the crown dry is more important
than the temperature unless it gets down in the teens for several days. Also,
note: that when using plastic of any kind as soon as the sun hits the plastic
enclosure even in the coldest temperature the inside temperature will increase
so you have to vent the enclosure first thing in the morning so the palm will
not overheat.

{{gwi:1174574}}

Great job !!

Nice looking Greenhouse.

What kind of fertilizer do you use on that palm? That growth rate is amazing.

I just use plain ole Miracle Grow for trees and shrubs water soluble and Superthieve. I start fertilizing around the first of April and stop in late October. Hope that helps.

lovethosepalms

Do you use the miracle grow in that bottle that
you hook the hose up to it and it mixes itself ?

That windmill's awesome !

Topher, I mixed myself, and I only water at the base of the palm. It is my understanding you should never use a fertilizer in the crown of the plant.

ah ok thanks...

Where did you buy your palm? I know there's small ones on ebay...You mentioned 3 or 5 gallon.

Jurassic,

I not 100 percent sure but I think this one came from a Ebay seller on E-bay.

Here is an Up-date on my Windmill Palm, it has been in the ground 3 years as
of May 2007.

{{gwi:1174576}}

beautiful!

Moonie,

Thank you, for your nice comment I enjoy it so much. :)

GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Andy thank you, for your comment, I really do enjoy this Palm and I must say I only used a 40 watt light on a thermostat on the coldest nights and we had a really cold winter this year. I think that solar energy kept this palm a live without any damage at all. My other two Windmills that were not cover received lots of burn damage but they are recovering also.

Andy I donÂt post a lot but I so enjoy your posts on your palms and I so disappointed when you Coconut Palm passed away.

In 3 years it looks to have grown by 4 feet. That really is amazing. You've done a great job. It gives me hope that I can have success with my Trachy. I'm zone 6A in southern IL.

Do you only protect it from late December to late February... or about 2 1/2 months? I'd think by early March it should be ok unprotected as we enter into much warmer weather by then.

What city are you near in Kentucky... if you don't mind my asking?

Southern IL Boy,

Generally I have only protected this Palm From Late December thru around March 15. On days when we were going to have a heavy frost and when it was younger I would toss a old sheet over it and remove it first thing in the morning. It does get some protection from the house it is planted fairly close to the back of the house. Also under the rocks there is black plastic so that helps also. The other two I have receive some burn from the cold but they are planted in the wide open. The one in the picture did not have any leaf burn at all.

To answer your location question I am located in Frankfort the Capital of Kentucky which is central Kentucky it is between Louisville and Lexington. On some zone maps it shows us as a 7 but most maps show us as a 6, and zone 6 is what I have alway heard we are. So you can grow them in a zone 6 if you protect them, however who really knows about long term. If I post a picture of this palm say three years from now then they may live long term here. But if it dies tomorrow I have enjoyed them and I guess that is all that matters in the long run.

I hope that answered your question and I wish you loads of luck with your palms.

Leave the cover off them. I live in zone seven. Mine have had Ice and snow on them and they do just fine. These trees are hard to kill. I planted mine when they were six inches tall and never covered them.

maxcat, people in zone six do not have that good fortune without protection.Many funerals have been had for trachys in zone 6 LOL!

love those palms

Good job !
It still looks awesome rock on !

Covering the ground in black plastic with rocks on top! There by keeping the roots warm and the soil dry in winter.

You may have come up with a solution for growing Trachys in zone 6. Do your other two trachys have the root area covered in black plastic with rocks on top? That sounds like an excellent way to absorb and hold heat on cold sunny days. It doesn't look like you're using any mulch at all. I've read that letting the palm go into a drought stressed mode in the fall will increase its cold tolerance too.

Lovethosepalms-
Thank you for the kind words. I was out of work over the winter and with natural gas being so expensive I kept my home about 5 degrees cooler than the prevoius winter. Having said that it seemed to be doing fine until April when it just croaked. I have a smaller green dwarf that took a nose dive also. I have it hidden in my garden between tomatos and summer squash. It is down to one frond and the emerging spear. The spear is coming up but at a slow pace. I'ts probably just a matter of time but maybe I can get two healthy fronds by the end of summer. Everyhing else is doing well. I had a trachy in the ground that died and two beautiful needles. My sabal minors recieved a lot of damage in an ice storm in Janurary. they at least are making a great come back. The rest of my potted palms are doing well.

Wow! Very Impressive. I noticed that you planted the palm with rocks surrounding it. My palm has been in the ground for 15 months and it's dying slowly. Can you tell me how deep a hole you dug and what else you did? I planted mine in a brand name organic compost that has fertilizer in it and recently some new growth turned absolutely stone white then died. I've purchased another plant but I need to know what I'm doing wrong before I plant this one. Thanks for any suggestions or web sites to check out for information.

Outstanding stuff... I have 4 windmill's that I put on the front of my home in Richmond, VA, hoping they do fine for the winter.

Question... the nursery that I bought them at told me to snip the outside fans in order to induce faster growth, I notice you haven't done that. Snipping the outsides, also gives more of a traditional palm look to it, wouldn't it.

Very impressive growth though, I hope I see the same from mine over the next few years!

I know windmills are not a houseplant but has anyone had success keeping them potted in northern climates? When bringing indoors for the winter do you keep it by a window with full sun?

Kept loads of seedlings and young palms indoors in my greenhouse. Just keep up the humidity and watch for mites.
I must add that my greenhouse is in the basement.

I brought my 5 gal fortunei inside in early january when it started to get single digits. It had a sunny window and did great all winter. I put it outside in February where it experienced some 20s and I lost the spear. Indoors is fine but I would not return a palm outdoors until spring. It's like they are used to summer and then get shocked.

That is very impressive for zone 6. I assume you have a fair amount of summer heat. Mine grows much slower in the UK, despite being zone 9a in terms of absolute lows, but we have very little summer heat. You can see the growth rate of my Trachycarpus fortunei over the past year on my webstie http://palm-trees.org. It seems to have hardly grown in that time.

Here is a link that might be useful: Palm Haven

My windmill palm was planted in mid April and quickly sprouted a new frond,since then it has 2 spears and one of them is just now starting to fan out a little,is this normal growth,I heard the heat slows down the growing process,it has been in the high 90's and somedays 100 degrees here for the past 2 weeks,I figure maybe its the heat and high elevation sun,but it does get morning shade.

neofolis,

The midwest U.S. (that would include Kentucky and my own state of Illinois) has very long hot summers. Temps in the 90's from June through September. Midsummer can be in the 100's for days at a time. Spring and fall are mild with temps in the 70's. Our winters (in the southern portion of the midwest) are relatively short compared with Minnesota or the Dakotas but not as mild as the southern states like Georgia or Texas. A friend of mine in Dallas, TX says their winters last about 3 weeks.

Of course I'm talking fahrenheit not celsius. I'm not very good at converting. See the link below for a conversion tool.

Here is a link that might be useful: Metric to English conversion assistant

Protempsfish-
Except at the point they may get too big Trachys make EXCELLENT potted palms. If fact if you give them direct sun while indoors it is an ideal situation for them. Sun and a constant 70ish if prefect for them.

I will try to answer your questions with what limited knowledge I have. Planting the Palm in the picture with the black plastic and rocks was not intentional on my part. I had put the plastic down and the rocks a few years before I even planted the palm. If I had taken the picture at a different angle you would see the pool that is close to the palm. I put the plastic and rocks around the pool to help keep the pool cleaner by not getting all that grass in the water. But I do think that it does help with keeping the palm a little warmer in the winter. The rocks would absorb heat from the sun and the plastic would help some to insulate the roots a little better. The other two windmills I have are mulched but the one in the picture never has been. The two other palms have not grown as fast as the one in the picture.

The question about how big the hole I dug to plant the palm in. The answer is I double the side of the root ball in depth and in length. I used plain old potting soil "without any fertilizer", with some peak moss and a little bit of sand. I did not give it any fertilizer I used Superthieve with every watering for the first three months then I used mild amount of Miracle Grow.

Question... the nursery that I bought them at told me to snip the outside fans in order to induce faster growth, I notice you haven't done that. Snipping the outsides, also gives more of a traditional palm look to it, wouldn't it.

I have never heard of this before, I canÂt image cutting off healthy growth to make the palm grow faster. If it was me and you just planted them they are stressed enough already I sure would not be cutting on them. Over time the bottom ones will die off anyway.

Protemp, I keep six Windmill in the house all winter they are pretty easy to care for just mist them keep them watered but not wet and place them where they will get some sun.

neofolis, I think someone else has already answered this but we do have a long hot summer. I saw an interview with the Princes the other day on NBC and I noticed a Windmill Palm in the back ground how cool.

I hope I have answered all your questions sorry it has taken me some time, I have not had the time for a reply.

Our outdoor cat has been climbing the windmill palm will this hurt the palm?

will hurt the cat if it gets stuck just right lol!

I bought 2 trachy fortunei back in April. They are both potted and doing fine. I'm reluctant to put them in the ground at least for a few years. I'm amazed at how fast they both have grown. The larger of the two has sprouted 2 full fans and one more fan is just opening. It also has 2 spears coming up so I may get 5 fans by the time it goes indoors around mid November. Its grown a foot taller from the base to the top of the fronds. The trunk may have grown some but its hard for me to tell at this point.

The other one has grown also. Has 2 new fronds and 2 spears. I expect 4 new fans by the end of fall. Both are planted in rich potting soil and are well drained. I water them every day when its really hot and every 2 or 3 days when its cooler or rains.

I also bought 5 trachy waggies a few weeks ago and am amazed at how fast they have grown. They each had a spear when I received them via UPS and now they both have a new fan. These are also potted and will stay that way for at least 5 years. I'm having a great time with my palms.

southern_il_boy,

I saw your Palms on other link they looks great keep up the good work.