Indeed it did come too soon. I was planning on building a box for my Trachy. This is what I did in haste.
I have a trachy planted in my patio area and I placed three 4' stakes around it Thanksgiving weekend then wrapped it in burlap (3 layers) followed by an old blanket wrapped in plastic with breathing holes on the bottom and top. After the weather report said temps would drop into the teens at night with 0 wind chills I wrapped it again in an old thick comforter covered in plastic except at the bottom to allow for breathing. What I Wanted to do was build a box with a slanted top made of plexi-glass with the interior walls covered with styrofoam panels I had left over from a furniture shipment and place 4 flourescent tubes (1 on each corner inside the box) to heat it a little. I've ran out of time though with this cold snap I had to run out and wrap it with materials. I'm worried about the crown and fungus/rot.

Just in time Greg....

next week will be even worse :-p

Yikes!

I also covered my plants. I had the lights on all night yesterday and today. Im bringing in the potted pindo palm soon. Looks like a warm up (to average temperatures) with the storm this weekend, but then BITTER cold. Looks like we will be colder than all of last winter by next week. It looks even colder the farther south you go!
Well I am looking at my forecast while I am writing this and now they suddenly dropped tomorrow nights temperature to 16F (from 23F). Looks like I will be bringing in the potted plants sooner than I thought. I hope that the 16F is just some type of mistype or something. Going into the mid teens at night for a day or 2 next week, but thats not as bad as southern cities such as Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia which will be in the LOW teens! Orlando, FL will be nearing an all time record low!
I definitely miss summer. There isnt one thing I like about winter except maybe the excitement of a good snowstorm. I think thunderstorms are more exciting though!
Good luck! I hope everyone has their tender plants covered up for this cold spell. It might be the coldest of the year!
-Alex

I wrapped mine up too. I decided to try just a tarp staked down this year. Time will tell if it was enough. Got 5 trachys all done like this. Last year I built an enclosure but it was a pain every time we had strong winds and storms. (which seemed like all the time when I was out there messing with them freezing my butt off) All my potted plams are in the garage for a while. Lousy teen temps this week and starting back Sunday night. Good luck everyone. I'm looking forward to seeing some spring survival pics!(hopefully mine included)

Our low for tonight is 20F. I'm not going to protect my Canary Island Date palm, if it gets burned then so be it, I'll just replace it with a Pindo. I just don't have time to worry about protecting them every year. I did spray it with Freezepruf a few days ago though, but that's about the most I can do.

Tnwindmill. A tarp should work as long as it keeps moisture out. if you add a few lights for extra heat on cold nights, it would really help it out, but even if you dont, it should be okay. Im also hoping to see all my palms survive, but Im a little concerned with my Livistonia and Sabal Domingensis with a low temperature of 16F still predicted for tomorrow night. I also have no thermometer to put in my protection this year, so I have no clue what temperatures they have or will have experienced. Im hoping for a mild January!
Alabamatreehugger, I think your date palm should be okay at 20F, especially if it warms up in the afternoon. And if it doesnt, pindos are definitely a great replacement!
Good luck everyone with this cold!
-Alex

Hi
I'm at the northern edge of zone 10 and seem to have lucked out again . The tough part is that all my plants are either in the house or wrapped up with lights while it's going to get into the upper 70's over the weekend followed by yet another.even colder front on Tuesday.!!! And I thought last winter was tough lol gary

Alex

Don't be surprised to see those numbers drop again,although...
I hope you miss out on this-it looks very cold here and if we get snow cover I don't
even want to think about how cold it will get but -10 looks possible,
hopefully we will miss the snow and see "only" near 0!

I agree it got way to cold to fast.We have been having lows around 18 to 25 degrees,with highs from 40 to 50 degrees at the most.Wed.we only made it up to 35 degrees,Mon.there showing lows around 16 degrees.What happened to global warming?Good luck everyone.

Hi guys! It is getting cold. Our minimum was -13,3 C. All my palms inside the styrofoam box. My bamboo is not covered yet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ukrainen palms forum

Got down to 35 2 nights in a row here this week. Highs have been only 50s and 60s most this week - in sunny Orlando. WTF?

Hi Alex,

I tried to reply to you but the site would not let me on. I read you left your pindo palm outside when we dropped to 23* two long bitter nights in a row. If its potted, remember what happened last year to your potted pindo and bring it inside. Next week is going to be far colder. Hope you don't mind the advise, but I wouldn't chance it and cover the planted pindo.

Let me know how it goes :)

Dont worry, I learned my lesson this year! I quickly took it in right before we went into the low 20sF and so far its perfectly fine. I have even been checking for spear pull and so far it all seems good! I still had my sago palm outside at the time and it is also still as green as can be (and indoors now). The lights are off in the protection for the palms for today and tomorrow and then back on when the cold returns next week.
Good luck! I looks like it is going to stay cold for at least the next 10 days!
- Alex

Our daytemp was -4 C today. I decided to open my styrofoam box. Here is what i saw.

This is my cordyline australis. It is suffered from combination of moisture and low temp

This is my palm which was planted as my first palm a three years ago.

This palm arrived from the Italy (Rome)from Massimo Cola.

This is little brahea armata. It is suffered from our wet and cold summer and autumn.

This are yucca rigida and jubaea chilensis. It is in perfect form.

This is my sabal minor. It grows too slow but i liked this palm.

This is little araucaria angustifolia.

All my plants stay without extra heat.

Alex,

OK I won't worry..lol :) Glad you saved her!!! I accidently left water on a fast drip in my potted pindo while watreing (my greenhouse plants)this weekend and found it water logged this morning. Hope I did not drowned her. I know that's bad to do.
Serg,
Excellent collection of rare palms. They are looking good. Do you use a heat source?

I only use the ground heat.

Greg, pindos are usually okay with a flooding of water as long as it isnt too cold, but Im sure it will be fine! Right now mine could probably use some water because its in a very dry room, but its happy so far!
Hopefully this winter will end quick and all the plants can go back out for the summer!
-Alex

If your pindo's dry give it a drink my friend.

Thanks for the kind words, she was soaked to the core in her pot. I plan on bringing her indoors to dry out and do not want to chance this big cold snap as she is stationed very close to the green house door. I just do not have much space for her. I'll figure it out:)

Are you ready for the artic dip!? I am tired of it. I want to live in south Florida. Where its cold maybe one night and then trends up again.

You and me both. Its still technically Autumn, but we have been having February like weather.

I was late this year, but I managed to get the sensitive palms all covered. The Needles and Sabal Minors only get mulch and thus far are showing the typical tip burn.

Time for the palms to hunker down in their shelters.

hey serj_ukraine where is that araucaria

I'd also love to live in South Florida! I would never miss the cold!
Good luck everyone! A cold week is ahead for most of the eastern US.
-Alex

As stated in the other thread about the cold:

Currently 18F, periods of light to moderate lake affect snow, 40mph winds. Wind chills around 0F or lower. Looks like a mini blizzard / dusty white hurricane at times. Yes, I said LAKE AFFECT snow. This arctic air mass is so strong, and the winds are so strong, that some of the thin, rope like bands of lake affect snow from the great lakes are making it this far south. This is even very cold for Jan/Feb, and its not even WINTER yet.

I just looked at the radar, and this band of Lake Affect snow that is hitting us, is in fact making it all the way down to the Atlantic Ocean. WOW.

Also hitting us over here! I cant say that we got a lake effect snow too often around here!

statenislandpalm7a, it is here. I forgot to share it :)

Here is my bamboo pic.

Nova,

I was studying those rope-like bands and they were much more south and its rare you see that much snow. How much snow are you getting? One reason is the lake is relatively warm compared to an early artic outbreak and the high upper level winds are steering the banding due south and not southwest.

OK Alex, Jacklord and others
When we move to Florida, lets have a palm club and stay in touch. My parent's house in S. FL is 39* and bright sunshine this morning. It will go to 55 today, 63 tomorrow and 72 Thursday. That's the beauty of South Florida, its unlikely to stay cold.

Serg,
I saw some strawberry's growing in your enclosure. Mine did the same thing. Are you growing figs there?

Brooklyn, Yeah I know why the lakes create Lake Affect snow. These bands were moving due south, to southeast. The first burst of snow we got about 1/2 inch but that was on the back side of the low pressure system that is now way up in Maine. This second burst of snow brought about 1/2 inch, but you would never know it because it was so dry and powdery, and we had 40mph winds so it was blowing around like a blizzard. It only really "accumulated" in certain areas. It was 18F when this snow happened so as soon as the snow hit something it just bounced off in the wind and blew elsewhere. Normally the snow will melt just enough to stick but this time it just blew away and only accumulated in cracks or edges of the road or grasses and protected areas.

These lake affect bands were traveling more south/southeast than southeast, and somehow were making it OVER the mountains. Normally the orthographic lift of the mountains to our west will wring out what moisture is left from these clouds / bands, but that did not happen this time. Not only did they make it over the mountains, but they regenerated once away from the mountains, then it looked like they were even further enhanced on the leeward (east) side of the Chesapeake bay.

Its already noon here and its only 23F. The high today is probably going to be 25F.

Brooklyn, It is a Duchesnea indica. It got it from the Italy. I don't grow figs yet but a'm going to do it. A have five ones as pot plants.

Serg,
Its good to grow some fruiting plants with our palms. With the cost of fresh produce in New York I save probably over a $1,000 a year in herbs and fruit I grow on a tiny spot of land here in the city. I am going to try to have my pindo palm fruit once its larger:)

Nova,
Thanks for the update, there was enough moisture up there and the mountians could not wring it all out and the cloud became heavy with some extra bursts. It must have been very squall-like and made the Christmas decorations look good.

Brooklyn, it was extremely squall-like. Heavy bursts, with light snow between. Blowing and drifting all over the place like someone was dumping baby powder everywhere with 40-50MPH wind gusts. It was so dry and powdery that it did not stick to anything really but cracks and edges of roads, sidewalks, grassy areas...etc. Everything else just kept blowing and drifting around.

Hey Brooklyn Greg.....I live in staten island, name is mike, here is my email, californiamike64@aol.com

live in staten island, NY, have several windmill palms in my yard as well as other tropical plants and trees that i grow in the summer

contact me , would love to chat

mike from staten island

Hi Mike,

Great to meet you! How long have you lived on SI? We have a few people here who live in the area. Let's talk here more because I do not always check my email so frequently.

Do you know about Pindo Palms?