Here are some thoughts on my 1st overwinter indoors in zone 7 experiment:

This past winter, after a full spring, summer and fall outdoors in pots, I overwintered indoors near tall SW windows the following species: P roebellini, R rivularis (Majesty Palm), D decaryi (Triangle Palm), A alexandrae (King Alexander) and R regia (Cuban Royal).

First off, all continued to put on healthy new growth well into Dec/ January. By Feb/ March they all definitively stalled. With higher light levels and daylengths in Mar/ April, new growth was initiated.

It is the new growth that is most troublesome. For the Majesty, the new fronds lack a healthy color, are small, and are starting to unfurl before the spear reaches full length. The triangle, Cuban Royal and King Alex' new growth looks healthy, just smaller than expected. P roebellini looks normal.

It is apparent that new leaf growth is dependent much more on the gathered energies from the previous leaf growth than on the current conditions. Indoor fall and early winter growth was healthy because it utilized energy from the summer outdoors. The winter doldrums resulted in poor early spring growth, despite the increased sun and warmth.

Some species obviously tolerate things differently, with the Majesty taking the worst hit, and Phoenix apparently not skipping a beat.

I noticed the same thing with Strelitzia, Heliconia and Travelers Palm.

Cycads, once again, are very easy, rewarding and predictable.

Now that all my palms in pots are outdoors again, they should be able to finish off the current weak growth, and follow it up with healthy spears through the rest of the summer.

This year I will add the Hyophorbe family (Bottle and Spindle) to the list of wintering indoors experiment.

I had a CIDP overwintering perfectly fine in the cool garage, but I forgot to water it and it dried out to a crisp. It was doing well, I will try again with a new specimen this year, and hopefully remember to keep it watered occasionally this time!

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