View Full Version : So. CA Arctic weather
AnnaJW
01-14-2007, 02:53 PM
Well, if these temps don't stop dipping into the 20's and 30's, I don't think I'll have any bananas left. I just uncovered the plants and wth the exception of a small Misi Luki, EVERY plant is damaged. The water in both of my bird baths was frozen solid. If this keeps up I'm going to have to look for a warmer climate to move to!
Westwood
01-14-2007, 03:34 PM
Anna i Brought all my plants in from the Cold (first Blast) 2 days in bed 10 -30 g pots got to my back.
right now i have tall Green Bananas that my birds are watching , cats trying to Pee in and Dogs Hiking on. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
OK so its not easy but i think with a mini electrical fence i can stop the cats and dogs SMILES Tammy
ITS COLD
momoese
01-14-2007, 08:25 PM
Well Anna, I'm in West Los Angeles about 7 miles to the beach and my plants are almost all toast, at least the leaves anyway. It looks like a fire went through my stands. Between the insane winds we had and now this cold snap it's not looking good for my plants. My cats water bowl, dogs water bowl and garden hose were all frozen solid this morning. I went out this afternoon and cut a bunch of Apples and a bunch of Reds that were not quite ready but the severe cold last night partially froze the skins leaving spots on them. I bagged the remaining bunches that I could get to hoping the the plants don't totally freeze and I can harvest them later. Crazy thing is that all my potted plants and a lot of the pups that had shelter under the canopy of the larger plants survived with little damage including my almost ready to flower SDC! I have it covered now so hopefully it will come through for me. Over all I'm pretty bummed but there's always spring time to re-plant and you can bet I will!
It's supposed to be colder tonight.....so I'm going to go out late and make a fire and leave a fan on. I'll post pictures of the damage when I get a chance.
STEELVIPER
01-14-2007, 08:37 PM
I lost 2 small ice creams,and 1 small praying hands. Just leaf damamge on the rest. All in all i got off good for it being 23F here lastnight. And yes i will re-plant also. Love Bananas to much to give up. Weather like this out here only happens once every 15 years or so.:coldbanana:
Westwood
01-14-2007, 08:40 PM
momoese, We had Snow on out Beach. 2 miles away Im totally shocked this is not Oregon or Cali weather .
Dont forget Cali Gold pup (WINKS) its doing pretty good in the house slow to grow though.
Inside i keep the house toasty at 80F Due to the birds and well I cant stand cold air and havent figured out the Fireplace insert..
Should i water and fertilize these guys i have A Ice Bream pup (momoese sent) thats 7 ft tall. 30 g pot but its also going limp Grins ok leaning to one side at an angle . Help Tammy
Ill help ya with some plants anna and momoese. This is insane weather
BobbyinNY
01-15-2007, 09:06 AM
I feel really bad for you guys out in SoCal.... I'm in Long Island, NY and we haven't gotten anywhere near those low temps yet this winter - but they're on their way now and coming here by tomorrow :( ... Not happy.. We're supposed to dip down to 20f by tuesday night... Most of my stuff is protected by plastic greenhouses with heaters, but it's still too cold...
nucci60
01-15-2007, 09:40 AM
sorry for you folks, I know you put a lot of time and effort into your plants. Who could imagine you would get temps that low?
momoese
01-15-2007, 12:59 PM
Here are some pics. In a few days all the leaves will turn totally brown with the exception of a few of the pups under what was a nice canopy! Keep in mind that I had allready removed about 30 or so huge leaves that the high winds snapped and also removed two large plants that broke in half before the freezes hit.
Apple and Reds
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=2005&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2005&ppuser=42)
Dwarf Cavendish with hanging fruit bagged.
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=2006&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2006&ppuser=42)
Left to right: Ice Cream, Namwah, Pisang Klotek.
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=2007&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2007&ppuser=42)
Just to give you an idea, this is what the Pisang Klotek looked like in October.
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=1603&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1603&ppuser=42)
My pink Cannas are not liking the cold.
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=2004&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2004&ppuser=42)
Here is the fruit that I felt had a chance of ripening. I'm not sure what will happen to the spots on the Apples that froze. Maybe they will rot instead of ripening?
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=2011&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2011&ppuser=42)
The Reds have a cool velvet like fur on the stalks!
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=2010&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2010&ppuser=42)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=2009&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2009&ppuser=42)
AnnaJW
01-15-2007, 01:11 PM
Tammy, I hope your back is better! My cats think the banana plants are snacks. I have to keep the ones inside up high. :)
Momoese, I never thought it would get that cold in your area! I hope your Apples are edible. The Reds are gorgeous!
Steelviper, it didn't seem as cold last night. What was your official reading?
Thanks Bobby and Nucci60. At least the bird baths aren't frozen this morning. But now the winds are picking up again. :(
AnnaJW
01-15-2007, 01:20 PM
Mitchel,
That's about what my plants look like, too. I've never had frost damage on my Orinoco's, but they are totally toasted. My CA Gold has one green leaf left. I've got four smaller citrus trees I'm concerned about. I blanketed them last night, but it's hard to keep them covered when this wind is gusting!
momoese
01-15-2007, 01:36 PM
Anna, I'm sure it's been colder where you are! The thing that really sucks is that all of my bunches, 6 total that are still hanging look like that with little spots. I guess time will tell their fate.
I have heard that this odd weather is not totally from global warming, but more from a weird El Nino we are experiencing. Any weather experts here?
nucci60
01-15-2007, 01:39 PM
mitchel, don't you have an ae ae? Did it get damaged?
STEELVIPER
01-15-2007, 02:09 PM
Anna- last night i woke up at 2am,and my weather station reading was 33F. Then i woke up again at 4am<must be from me worring about my nanas> and the wind was blowing with a temp reading of 44F. So the wind saved us from a nite of freezing again. Of course now its windy as HE$$ out there right now.
I have never seen the weather like this before. We do get hard freezes out here<Riverisde,CA> once every 15 years or so. The last bad freeze here was in 1990. I remember a low of 19F. It was a saturday morning. As i was about to step out and walk to the tennis courts near my house to play. One step outside,and i turned around and walked right back in the house.:0493: But what is killing me is the wind. Sure we do get the Santa Anna winds,but that is in October and november. Santa Anna winds are supposed to be warm. These winds the past 3 months have been COLD!! Are avg. high for this time of year is 66F. And are avg. low is 42F. But this year it has been more like 55F avg high. The avg low's are no better. The prob has been that there are to many high pressure systems moving in over the great basin.(utah, nevada) There to close together. One after another. Meaning that when two high pressure systems meet, they cause the pressure gradient to squeeze. Meaning lots of nasty wind. I think that we get maybe one or two days a week with no wind. And if there is no wind , then its raining or cloudy. I live near U.C Riverisde. About a mile away. It was 26F Saturday night there. They have a large citrus station . I drove by about 20 minutes ago, and looked over at some workes while i was stopped at a red light.The workers did not look to happy. The bright spot if any. Next week is supposed to be much better. Higher day and nite temps. And maybe a windless week?:nanawhopp:
momoese
01-15-2007, 02:12 PM
My Ae Ae did sustain some leaf damage but hopefully that's all! I did some blanket wrapping around the p-stem and covered it with black plastic the best I could, then I placed a garden light directly under it for a little warmth. I set the timer to stay on all night long. So far it looks like it's ok but it no longer has the canopy from the Apples for frost protection. Hopefully we won't have any more frosty nights! It was still growing new leaves before the frost hit.
island cassie
01-15-2007, 03:37 PM
To everybody hit by the freezing weather and winds, I hope the damage turns out to be less than feared initially. Just heartbreaking! Cassie
imdocrob
01-15-2007, 04:28 PM
I have a lot of brown leaves on my nanners, they have been inside my greenhouse all winter but with the temps down in the 20's I have noticed a lot of leaf damage. I can only get the temps in the mid 40's to low 50's overnight and only warming up to the 60's during the day right now. I can't wait till this cold spell snaps. Have moved as many as I can inside right now. I hope that all I have is leaf damage. Like Mitchell said only time will tell.
AnnaJW
01-15-2007, 08:16 PM
How are you guys fairing down south?
pitangadiego
01-15-2007, 11:06 PM
No matter how bad they look, trim off dead parts, and esp rotting (brown mushy) parts. You will be amazed at how resilient they can be and how fruit can often ripen when you think it is hopeless. Be patient and don't be to quick to write things off.
We bottomed at 38 Saturday night and 40 last night, but lower lying areas all around were as low as 22. That is as cold as we have ever gotten. Only down to 40 the last two or three years. Usually coldest two or three nights are in mid-December at 38 or 39.
So the cold wasn't too bad, but the winds the last three or four weeks have taken out Brazilian (fruit hanging, lost), Pisang Ceylon (fruit hanging, landed on Solo Papaya and is saveable), Monthan just beginning to flower, and lost), Mona Lisa (near flowering, lost), Dwarf Red Green (snapped off, time will tell). and Cuban Red (staus unknown). Saba, two bunches hanging, tallest of all, and no problem. Belle, one hanging one flowering, both fine. Mysore was leaning on the Sweetheart, or it woud be gone.
doubravsky
01-15-2007, 11:46 PM
All my ensetes and musas looked like they got blowtorched Sun. morning. We'll see what comes back in the spring. I probably lost 8-10 expensive palms too... and the bamboo is all defoliated, and the hibiscus, and the colocasias, and and and.....
This bites!
JoeReal
01-16-2007, 12:23 AM
just a sad reminder to us banana hobbyists that the California Citrus Industry is losing $750 Million dollars worth of fruits. Expect the prices of fresh lemons, mandarins, grapefruits and oranges to rise in the near future.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070116/ap_on_re_us/citrus_cold_snap
AnnaJW
01-16-2007, 12:32 AM
doubravsky,
Nice to hear from the other local! But, SORRY to hear about the damage! :(
My Hibiscus plants are almost gone now, too. One of my Plumeria totally; but I'm trying so hard to keep the one I got from my dad years ago...
Maybe, hopefully, we will all get some pleasant surprises here when we thaw out, and our plants will re-generate!
doubravsky
01-16-2007, 01:17 AM
It will be interesting to see what comes back and what doesn't. Hopefully some of it will be good news.
STEELVIPER
01-16-2007, 02:12 AM
I can deal with the cold. But its the wind that is driving me crazy. Wind everyday!! well almost. :0493:
Anna- here is a website i found. Just in case you may need to RE-SUPPLY this spring. LOL :2738:
http://hometown.aol.com/rosieolo/banana.html
:kiteflyingnanergif:
AnnaJW
01-16-2007, 02:49 AM
Thanks, Mark! Bookmarked!
Just came in from my last round of blanketing. At almost 11:45. The citrus trees this time. NOW - where is that wind when we need it? It was totally still out there. :(
Steve L
01-16-2007, 08:42 AM
In Lake Charles, LA, we had our Arctic blast the first week of December. One night of 24, then 25, then 26 but this happens one a year in the winter for us but not usually until January. Of course, everything is fried. I have over 60 gingers and everyone of them is down to the ground. I don't have that many bananas, most of which are ornamentals, and the leaves are toast but the pseudostems are green and firm and that includes an 8 foot Ae Ae with 3 pups. In fact, it started growing again as our temps moderated quite a bit until yesterday but the pups were pushing out new leaves. I have a few cold hardy heliconia in the ground against the south side of my house under an oak tree canopy and suprisingly, they are ok, still pushing out new leaves. Everything else is tucked safely in my greenhouse. We are now experiencing the cold front you folks in CA got a few days ago but our temps are predicted to stay above freezing. Predictions of sleet, and 20 to 30 mph north winds though. This will last a couple of more days.
Steve
STEELVIPER
01-16-2007, 11:19 AM
Sorry to hear about you gingers steve.They will pop back out in spring?So far my gingers and heliconias are doing fine. Of course they are container grown. Or they would be fried to dust by now. It was 30F last night. We should see some warmer temps,and maybe some rain soon.
Steve L
01-16-2007, 11:29 AM
Mark,
The gingers go down just about every winter so it's no big deal and my favorite heliconias are container grown in the greenhouse so I am ok. I've got heliconias Pedro Ortiz, Rostrata, and Eden Pink in the ground covered by a large portable greenhouse which are in great shape so far and another heliconia, Red Angusta, covered by yet another portable greenhouse that is coming into full bloom now. But we still have 6 to 8 weeks of the potential of damaging cold weather and it just seems to drag on and on.
Steve
imdocrob
01-16-2007, 04:03 PM
Yes, I do feel bad about all our banana losses but the big picture is that this is not our livelyhood. I feel really bad for the poor citrus farmers and insurance co. who will be hit the hardest by this freeze.
Valenciaguy
01-16-2007, 08:34 PM
Even though i don't live in Cal. up here we are having some bad weather alwell. freezing rain, hate the stuff my fruit trees and bushes should be fine since they are peaches, blueberry ect. and they aren't very large yet that is when freezing rain kills fruit trees. all my tropicals are inside nice and warm and toasty. Good luck to all of you with your bananas and tropicals i know i would just be freaking if i was you.
AnnaJW
01-16-2007, 08:56 PM
imdocrob,
Yes, the losses to the citrus farmers is just devastating. I wonder how many of the smaller farms will be able to even afford to keep going? :(
Valenciaguy,
Thanks for the kind words! Now my palms - especially the Phoenix palms - are fried. Totally heartbreakng!
JoeS475
01-16-2007, 10:13 PM
Reading 16 degrees in NJ right now, my basjoos are unprotected in the garage, hopefully they'll be fine. This time of year it's not uncommon for our temperature to be in the single digits, but I feel for you guys in CA, you're really not expecting what you got! Best of luck in the spring!
~Joe
Mitchell, your yard looks similiar to mine. Except I didn't get any ice here.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/adobeict/damage/damage-yard.jpg
momoese
01-17-2007, 10:36 AM
Where are you located eggo?
STEELVIPER
01-17-2007, 10:50 AM
Yup. may be a few years till the citrus crop is back to speed. My mexican lime took it on the chin.:0493: I hope it will recover. It was 27F last night.
Lilith
01-17-2007, 05:03 PM
Okay....
I don't live in California (anymore, but I did, in Culver City, for 7 years). I live in North FL where it is not uncommon to get exactly the type of weather you guys in So Cal just got, once or twice in a winter. We haven't had it yet this winter, but that's not to say we won't before Spring.
I can assure you, because I know that you are all very sad about the damage (and I would be too), that it really is not as bad as it looks. The same thing that has happened to your bananas happens to mine almost every year! And I have never lost a banana plant. I have a bunch of different types, ornamental and fruiting, and they always come back. We get lows between 20-32 usually 2-3 times a winter, not just once, so mine get multiple hits (even though they are spaced pretty widely apart) and still, I reiterate, I have never lost plants. They look like hell until they releaf in March/April. You may lose an isolated plant, but you should get replacements from the root system that was undamaged. Our ground never feeezes here, and yours didn't either in this latest weather event.
Don't cut all those damaged leaves off. Leave them there until your weather warms up. They will hang down and look bad, but they can actually protect your trunk a little by insulating if there is any further cold.
You just have to hang on and wait another month or so, then it will all be over and your banana groves will make a comeback. Trust me. Its heartbreaking, I know, but if you had to deal with it almost every year, like I do, it gets to be a kind of resignation you go through.
JoeS475
01-17-2007, 06:39 PM
OK went down to 15 last night here and froze the new spears (there were no leaves) on my basjoos solid. They are unprotected in my garage except for the soil they are in so I'm really hoping the corm is ok. Moved them indoors tonight since its going down to about 11 or 12 degrees... :coldbanana:
~Joe
jeffreyp
01-18-2007, 10:22 AM
I had always thought california had mild winters, boy was I wrong..reminds me of ventura highway by america..
http://knbc.nbcweatherplus.com/weathernews/10773559/detail.html
STEELVIPER
01-18-2007, 11:00 AM
I can't speak for the northern part of California,but the southern part of Ca has mild winters. Are avg high and low for this time of year is about 68F/43F. Winters like the one we are having now seem to happen once every 15years. The prob. has been the wind we have been getting. Out of 7 days a week, maybe 3 are windless. :kiteflyingnanergif:
51st state
01-18-2007, 06:06 PM
not that it's any consolation to you guys but we've got the opposite weather. We've had very few frosts so far this winter. The weather has just been driving in off the atlantic. lows of 47 F. (10 C).
I know its anecdotal but the global weather patterns really seem to be changing. What have we done to the planet.
All my plants are in a 5 foot high enclosure with a soil warming cable I set up within the greenhouse. apart from the little ones which are bathing in a really, really warm propagator and are growing like crazy.:0489:
Mitchell, Im in N Long Beach, somewhere in between 32 and 33 was about as cold as we got. I know others out there experience much colder temps, scary.
Westwood
01-19-2007, 05:05 PM
How is every one doing ?
I just thought of something Momoesa sent me 2 Apple banana plants They melted. i cut them way down and tld him i was going to try anyway 1 made it . Momoesa i have a couple of pups comming off some of my trees i would love to share with you. the Cali gold is doing well and looks like there maybe a pup on her too.
i know this is early but if thats a root its not where it should be lol.
Hopeing everything gets back to normal ASAP. for everyone no matter where they live.
Cali Orange crop ?
OMG no wonder why the Citrus went up in our Local fred Meyers.2.00 a pound.
Tammy
momoese
01-19-2007, 05:15 PM
Thanks for the offer Tammy! My Apples will survive but it will take some time to leaf out again. Hopefully that's it for the frosty nights around here. We had snow yesterday in Malibu and about a mile from my house in West LA too.
I will take you up your offer when that Cal Gold pup is ready!
Westwood
01-19-2007, 05:20 PM
Micheal, you better that was the Deal when you found it for me LOL .
i have everything inside and was wondering if i should fertilize it ?
i have to water 1 time a week since i keep the house toasty.
I really wish this cold would just Pass us all by and go back to the Glaciers it came from.
Tammy
Kylie2x
01-19-2007, 06:38 PM
OH MAN!!!!
Sorry ya'll...
Kylie
Shannon
01-20-2007, 04:17 PM
Hello... Hoping someone can offer us help. We live in Anaheim, Ca and have experienced the freezing temps lately. We are not necessarily gardners but we do have three 10 foot banana trees with fruit on them in our front yard. 1st the leaves were torn by the wind and now I think they have been killed by the cold. They look worse than the pictures on this site.
For the novice when it comes to trying to grow banana trees, does anyone know what we should do? Cut them back or cut back the entire plant? Please help, we love these tree's and were so proud of them....
doubravsky
01-22-2007, 02:41 PM
Shannon,
I'm in Riverside, and we get the bad winds every year. I cut off leaves as they get shredded through the winter.... and often by spring some stalks have no leaves left. They come back fine. This year, the freeze last weekend killed off any leaf that wasn't tattered.
They're pretty tough; you could just cut off all the leaves and leave the stem to regrow in the spring, or you could cut the whole thing down, and it would still regrow from the corm (root ball) in the ground. Either way you'll most likely be fine.
momoese
01-31-2007, 01:25 PM
Well I'm starting to see some new growth with this rain and warmer temps. How are your plants?
AnnaJW
01-31-2007, 01:41 PM
Well, a couple of mine are showing some growth. Sweetheart being the fastest. I had a pleasant surprise the other day and found a second SDC pup underneath the mom's tattered leaves.
I do wish we'd get some of that rain! We had a very light sprinkling is all.
island cassie
01-31-2007, 03:04 PM
I am so glad that something can be salvaged from the disaster that the weather caused. The resiliance of plants is amazing and to see pups emerging from the ruins of the mother plants is heartwarming. Good luck guys!!! (and gals!!!)
Westwood
01-31-2007, 11:37 PM
Isnt mother Nature Amazing ?
IM so happy for all of you i hope the plants all Survive .
I right now at 8 pm have Ice on my car already ? Tammy
This yr I will have naners for the First time .
UM I Q for the group im going to post in the correct spot though
STEELVIPER
02-01-2007, 01:23 AM
I got new leaves coming up. Might hit 80F this super bowl sunday.
AnnaJW
02-02-2007, 02:28 PM
80 would be great! Hopefully we are on our way to spring now!
:skateboardnana: :basketbalhooplnaner :2730 :volleyballnaner: :kiteflyingnanergif:
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