Wetsuiter, The best thing I can tell you is keep all the moisture in any form out of the growing bud during extreme cold spells..Most people here just wrap them with a frost cloth when temps.go below 15f.I personally just throw a tarp over mine when it's going to rain and the temps.are going to drop below 15f that night,which it hardley ever gets that low here.That way I can easily take it off when temps.warm up.Long as the temps.stay above 15f at night I dont do anything.If it's going to rain for several days in a row now I will throw a tarp over them.They dont stop growing even in winter,they just slow down.They dont need that much rain in winter,because of there slowed growth.Here if the temps.go below freezing at night it usually gets above freezing the next day.I lost a B.capitata one winter because the temps.dropped below freezing and it dident get above freezing for 6 days.That's what I mean by a extreme cold spell.We broke 100yr old records that winter for most rain and the most time below freezing.I hope this helps you with your Pindo.If not you might want to ask someone up around your area.I dont really know what your winters are like.Thanks for giving me your zipcode,it will help me know more about your winters.It could be helpful in the future.I hope the best for your pindo palm.I know what it's like to lose a big beauitful palm.The one I had die on me,I had it for eight years.It's like loosing a good friend :( Greg, Hunter seems like a good boy who likes and grows cold hardy palms.I think its cool,I dident even know there was such a thing as a cold hardy palm when I was his age.There's nothing wrong about him being on this forum.I welcome him to the forum and will answer any questions he needs answered about plants and even comment on his pics. of his plants.I know why your weary about talking to a minor.It's because when kids go missing or get killed they look at the hard drive on there computer to see who they have been talking too.As long as you dont talk about sex or something of that nature you will be fine.Praise him for going outside the box and starting to grow cold hardy palms at his age.Heck people told me at my age,you cant grow palm trees in Douglasville.I proved them wrong,now they say I guess you can grow them here.I know they thought I had lost my mind when I first started planting Palms.Now they want to know all about them,there names,how cold hardy they are and how to plant them. Hunter, I did'nt fit in with the Jocks or the Preppies either or the so called cool kids.I only had a few friends in school.Till I got to High School,where I found more people who liked the same things I did.Dont worry about it.If there true friends they will stick with you through good times and bad times.Look at Bill Gates and Donald Trump.They were loaners and look at who and where they are now.I told you one time before in a post that I think your a inspiration to other teenagers to be growing what your growing at your age.Keep doing what your doing and one day you will see what im talking about.Your welcome to post on this forum anytime you want,in my eyes.I'm sure I dont speak just for myself on this matter.Keep up the good work on growing those Palms and Bananas and also the Plumerias,see you dident think I read your post or saw the pictures.You never know,you might be the next great palm guru someday :) Randy

Correct- You are basically finished for this year. New leaves will come from the tip and if none do, those on the plant will yellow and drop as the plant goes dormant. Next March it will come back with a full new growth as the leaves peel back and the tip grows upward. Your plant should be just fine. I would suggest removing the ivy or whatever the plants are in the soil as it is best to have no competing root systems in with your plumies as their root systems are small at first and sensitive. I keep my plumies isolated from other plants for their health and to regulate the soil moisture and temperature. Other plants may not cause a problem but sometimes they can as they often prevent evaporation and hold in moisture which is not good for succulants. I also do not use compost mulch or cocomulch for the same reason. I actually use rock to increase heat and evaportation but not next to the stem so it is not burned. Bill

Gosh Punk - always a sweetie...thank you for the 'shout out' and to all my Holiday friends...thanks for all your caring concerns. I left the house at 5 am to be ready for 6 am surgery...of course they didn't take me in until 7 so of course this added some 'high anxiety' . lol Before being sedated, they gave me a block to numb my leg for 20 hrs from the knee down. My leg is literaly 'dead' and I have to be careful not to bang it or put it down. Tomorow I can take pain meds. The surgeon told DH that all went well, but there was extensive damage due to the arthritis. I'll get the full report next Wed. They will then remove the stitches and put a hard cast on from my knee down. This will be my 'Best Buddy' for about 4-6 weeks. Sooo because I slept all day when I got home...and am not feeling 'Anything' in my leg as I speak...we'll see what tomorrow brings!! lol Thanks again for asking and caring. PM...I'm praying all goes well for you and that you're not experiencing any terrible pain. Hopefully your new surgeon has the 'magic bullet' to provide the proper care you need. jane

I fully intend to avail myself of all the energy saving options out there, but the journey must begin with a single step. As I mentioned, the pipe is exposed, and there's a section that needs replacing. There is no better time to replace it. Also, I neglected to mention there's a federal subsidy for drain water recovery units (must be >43% efficiency) of $130, that's a total of $210 in subsidies. The thing with demand hw is, I want to look at getting solar hw in, that doesn't preclude demand but I'm considering what to do with the existing hw tank which could serve as storage. It's probably 5 years old or so, so won't last forever. Demand would be a good fit with solar, as it will only run when the solar and any heat recovery system doesn't cover the shortfall. My existing gas storage system is not such a good fit, as it will want to heat the water as soon as it enters, unless I turn the gas to it off completely. We have to start out with an energy audit/assessment, which we get reimbursed for. After that, we have 18 months to do all the work we're going to do, to get all the subsidies (things like $500 back on additional ceiling insulation, (R-25 to R-50 attracts $410) so we will probably look at refinancing the house or some redraw- we are on a very good mortgage rate currently and we have a lot of equity thanks to good timing and a good price. The house is in good condition overall but was constructed in the '80's so needs some updating, like windows for example - most of them have been replaced, but 4 haven't yet, and two are in poor condition, I kept those windows covered and the doors closed a fair bit....again there's incentive but only $100 each if they're one energy star zone or better. The system is somewhat imperfect, I guess the audit is a good idea, but they impose quite a short timetable on you, on the one hand it's good to get the savings in place sooner, on the other, it'd be nice to be able to do some of those things immediately, without waiting for the audit which then puts you on a timetable. Using a storage tank to temper incoming water is an interesting idea, but wouldn't there be a great deal of condensation? If I was to go with a demand/solar/storage system, I'd essentially be in that position, however, that heat would have to come from somewhere (however difficult to measure that would be)