Long Island here....
This is my first winter year with palms. They were fully unprotected until about 3 weeks ago when we got the real cold.

They are now completely covered in a cage with plastic wrapped around them.
They took a beating with the recent cold but looks like they are holding up (they went through 8 degree weather plus was very windy with no protection for 3 days).
I plan on watering them once it warms up a bit, but may be awhile as we are expecting the 1st real snow storm this Tuesday.

Also, I'm just learning the winter protection methods. I wasn't planning on spraying anything on the trees unless I see something unusual.

-Chip

Chip,

I decided take off the shelter today to see how my trachy was holding up. It looked perfect  just like it did when I covered it in late November. No leaf burn, all the leaves are still a deep green. The shelter must have helped. It never went below 24 F in my unheated shelter. My trachy is on the south side of my house, in a corner with stonework and blacktop around, so it gets max heat on cold winter days. My low temp of 2 F was in the shade (all day) on the north side of my house. I guess microclimates and shelter do help.

I am also new at this as well. I read on this forum that many people in late fall before the real cold comes (mid November) spray a fungicide to help prevent crown rot. Also, many have said to try to keep the palm dry in the winter months, because the freeze thaw cycles is what causes damage. Who knows if it will help or hurt my palm? If you have covered yours - youÂll be OK - since about 60% of winter is already over. Also as IÂm sure that you must know  the Atlantic states have had another dry winter, so this may have helped palms in our area.

CanÂt wait till spring  it was a mild winter snow wise, we have only had about 1 inch so far, although the cold was extreme the last few weeks. The days are already getting longer - I hope that old Bermuda High builds in early and stays put for 6 months!

Nomad

nomadct,do you have your trachy in total darkness since november wit no ill effects? This is my first year also. My needle and trachy have been sprayed with fungicide and wilt pruf in dec. and jan.they are caged with leaves , but they get light. Just wondering which is the better way to go.

I am in Connecticut also- 17 miles north east of Hartford-Z6.
I have two trachycarpus- one the 'regular' Fortunei the other a Wagnerianus- The Waggie is the oldest with about a foot of trunk, the other is about a 3 gallon size.

Both have spent time in the last few years in pots well into December- and have been put outside as early as Late February- they have been acclimated to cold. The Waggie spent the entire winter in the ground-winter of 1997-98.

Both palms have been encased in Flowerhouse mini greenhouses since late November. They are both planted in a southern elevated location- very protected by my house in the north. Both plants are mulched and have of course been kept dry. towels wrapped around their trunks- when the weather turned sharply colder, I put blankets on top of the greenhouses for more protection.

I checked both plants a few days ago- no visible damage on the leaves- no spear leaf pull- they look good!

I am going to remove the blankets tomorrow- we have foul weather moving in tomorrow night. Snow will add more insulation.

nucci60

Its not it total darkness, I'd say about 75% darkness. So far, so good, as I mentioned, I took off the cover this Sunday just to check things out - and my Trachy looks pretty good. All green and firm. I gently pulled on the spear, and everything seemed good. So who knows.

I think the fungicide and wilt pruf you sprayed is a good bet. From what I've read, rot/infections kills them faster than cold. I think that they extra protection like dragontek said is time well spent. I hate to see the poor little things die.

Anyway, from what I can see of the next 14-days, the weather pattern across the USA is giong shift. This cold/snow event we are going to have in the East this week...maybe the final real winter/cold of the 2006 - 2007.
lets hope!

I hope your right.We have been stuck in this cold pattern too long.

Nomad,
Glad to hear yours is doing well. Mine hasn't seen water since it got real cold. It rained a couple of times in Dec. but it was temps in the 50s or so.
I haven't intentionally watered it at all.
Both of mine were a nice dark green until they got hit with the really cold weather without protection.
They turned a light green and the leaves wilted a bit and kind of looks like they shrunk a little.
After I covered them, they haven't changed at all. I checked them at time to time but haven't notice a difference.
I don't see any burn marks on the tips.
Time will tell. Crossing my fingers. Accuweather is forecasting up 40s to mid 50s within 2 weeks in my area. If this is so, I will take the tops off and let them breath. If it is this warm, I may put some luke warm water on the soil to water them.

-Chip

Just to let everyone know...chip is right. I checked NOAA's 10 day prog's...and it looks like the weather in the east/Mid-Atlantic will warm greatly in the next 6-10 days. Places from SE Mass to Virginia could see temps in the 50's and 60's...After that, we're in March. This weeks cold is likely the last real cold air you going to see until next December.

So get out the Jimmy Buffett records, put the potted palms on the patio, uncover the trachys, unwrap the basjoo's, get the sandles out,put the sun tan lotion in place, take the phone off the hook....and lay the in the lounge chair looking through the fronds at that burning sun for the next 6 months!

Bring on the burning sun! We only got above freezing 1 day in the last 3 weeks, and we only got up to 35. I'm waiting for the big thaw so I can put some more palms in the ground. I'm supposed to be getting a big needle palm as soon as the cold moves out.

I was so worried about my windmills that I forgot about the banana plants! lol
I got 3 Orinocos that are caged with a 2' trunk filled with leaves. No plastic on them.
And 1 basjoo cut to the ground covered in mulch. I'm curious to see what they do!
Today weather is horrible, snow just turned to rain and supposed to freeze over tonight.
I will have to put some skis on my tires on my truck for tomorrow morning! lol

-Chip

P.S. I have a Butia Yatay that will be coming to me at the end of March. I have a perfect location in the front of the house which is the South side and would be only like 3 feet off the house.
I would love to put it in the middle of the lawn, but I'm afraid to hear what all the neighbors will say. lol
If my Trachys don't make it, then it will be potted.
Forgot to mention that both my Trachys or on the North side which is my back yard, which doesn't help much!

Then If I could get my darn central AC to work properly, Ill be in good shape..... lol
And a new BBQ..... :-)

Chippy, from what I have been reading lately, a Butia should be fine in a zone 7, especially on the south side of a house. You may want a little cold frame for single digit nights, but I think you will be GREATLY surprised about the hardy of the Butia.

Thanks Florida,
Our zone 7s turn into 6s many times. This year has been like a zone 8 with the exception of the last 6 weeks or so.
We get temps to about 10-15 degrees (which is below average for here) but the wind is what does it.
Im currently also growing a potted Butia Capitata which may find a spot in the yard as well.
I went with a Yatay as I hear its slightly cold hardier. Time will tell. My wife is going to kill me on the $$$ and time I spent on these trees! :-)

-Chip

I want a Yatay REALLY BAD. I think they are a lot prettier than the Capit's. But I do love both of them.
Keep us updated.

Chippy
Butias can realy take the cold !
Mine has went through months of this cold weather 11+ with no damage I realy like this tree.. You can't hardly hurt them !

Hi Topher,
Where are you located? What zone? I'm currently planning on putting the capitata at the end of my back yard which is against my neighbors garage behind me. This will make it in a South location as his garage will block all the wind and gets about a full day of sun.
Now the Yatay I'm unsure. My front yard is the South side with blaring sun. The only time I don't have sun in the front is when its cloudy.
I would like to put it smack in the middle of the left lawn and make a flower bed around it with mulch...etc.
Doing it this way, I lose the "against the house protection" lol.
Or I can place it where that little tiny tree is in the flower bed against the house on the same side. It would be an awkward spot in my opinion if in fact it does live and grow big....
Any opinions?
Not a great shot, but in the middle of the left lawn:
{{gwi:10147}}

Or in the beds smack in the middle under the window:

This is the back and am thinking of putting the capitata where the Angel Trumpet (No longer alive)is in the background against the garage: (also seen are Orinocos, Magnolia in the far corner and a potted windmil on the right)

Chip

Hi i live in Camden Ar zone 8a .
How big a butia capitata are you buying ?
They are realy a great head turner when put in the front
where the people driving by can see .

Your flowerbeds are realy nice and in my opinion
I would not crowd them out ..
I think it would look great right there in the front
of your house.

That is a nice looking place you have there. I love the rock around the beds and the gray pavers in the drive. Nice and neat. Beautiful.

Thanks both, for your kind words.
I prefer putting the butia in the front lawn and not in the beds. The only issue I see with this is that I lose the micro climate.
There is no wind protection in the middle of the lawn and I would even imagine that its warmer against the house.
Will have to decide when I get the Yatay as this is the one will be going in the front.
Its supposedly 3-4 feet tall from the pot up, so its a nice size.
The capitata I have was a 7 gallon about 10 months ago and in the pot has grown at a really fast rate which surprised me!

Time will tell!

All,
At what temps can I give my outdoor windmill some water? I looked at it the other day and it looks like its starving for watering.
Appears real dry and barely any color left and weak looking.

Temps are supposed to be in the upper 40s in a couple of days but in the 20s at night.
Would it be wise to give it some luke warm water in the morning of a 40 degree day?
Would the ground freeze at night in the 20s? I have mulch all around the tree......

Thanks all

if it's protected, I'd say give it water now. Throughout the winter, I give our protected palms some water. BUT, ONLY on the soil itself. Avoid getting the crown wet.

Oh yeah, it might be ok to mix some copper-based antifungicide in the water, just to stop any rotting happening.

cheers.

Thanks for the input.
Snowed last night so im going to wait. Couple of days should be in the 40s.
Will water it then and hopefully it will revive somewhat!

Will post pictures when its fully uncovered!

Thanks!

Gave it some water today as the temps rose very nicely.
When I uncovered it, I felt a warmth of air come out. I'm going to leave the top off today to get some air.
I have some leaves at the bottom to help with heat as I heard when they decompose, they let off heat.
Anyway, I watered and misted the leaves with a bottle sprayer.
And here it what it looks like.... (Its ok to laugh at my last minute cage attempt..lol)
{{gwi:1120134}}

{{gwi:1120136}}

{{gwi:1120137}}

Any input on how it looks? Actually looks a little greener to me from the last time I looked!!

Looks like it should be just fine.

It has to be.. I mean, after all, you DID use lights that are Red, White and Blue! ):D

Chippy,

The Trachy is looking good. You have the right idea with the c9 lights. Just a suggestion, I have been growing the windmill palm in Reno, Nv for many years now, you should use what is called the 'Thermal Blanket' from a company called Dewitt. You do not need a cage and the cloth can touch the tree. It keeps the water out of the crown of the tree and keeps the wind chill off. I put the c9 lights under the cloth and turn them on everytime the temp drops below 15 degrees F. I apply fungicide every month from November through April. Your growth spear will rarely pull and this process takes very little work.

Awesome, thanks for the suggestion. I will look at the company when I have time.
I have uncovered this tree already and seems totally fine besides some slight windburn and actually it started pushing up a new spear.
Today has been horrible though, getting allot of rain and sleet with this storm and lows are supposed to be 28 tonight. Figures I uncovered it 4 days ago! 28 isn't bad though, it seen much worse. Just hope the rain and cold temps don't do damage.

Thanks for your input and will definitely look into it at least for the Butia I will be planting in the front yard!

-Chip

Man, this weather is horrible. Its like rain, ice, snow all mixed together.
I uncovered the palms about 4 days ago and it was 62 degrees yesterday and now this.....
It'll be ashame to have them survive this winter then have to go through this!!! Temps are around 28 with the wind chill and what ever seems to be falling from the sky, feels like 15.!!!

ARGgghhh..... Just wanted to vent! lol

Chippy,

Just wondering, how did you protect your Trachy? I accidentally burned my Sabal Minor leaves by using Christmas lights, so I may need to overprotect them this coming winter. Your set-up might just work for me since I'm still pretty much a newbie at this. :)

I just made a simple setup. 4 poles around the tree and leave enough room so the branches dont touch. Then I simply wrapped plastic around the poles and secured it with string.
On the top, I just draped a small tarp when it rained and got cold. The tree was not covered at all until early Jan.
I added some Christmas lights around the base of the tree and turned them on, on the colder nights.
The base of the tree has about 4" of mulch and there is about 6" of tree leaves floating around the trunk.
If your in zone 5/6, you may need more drastic measures!

I checked it this morning and will be real impressed if it made it through last night.
This morning I found the tree with ice on all the leaves and the center as well. Its not brutally cold, but just enough to ice things up.
I shook most of the ice off the tree, covered the plant again (best I could with what time I had this morning), covered the top and turned on the lights.
And praying for the best!

-Chip