The Frost

[Abnshrek]

I woke up a half-hour ago its 32F and sleeting. now it's 28F. I thought I lived in the South? lol

[ewitte]

High on Friday now 33! Never trust weather unless there is an hour by hour though. It says 49/34 for today yet its 28 right now and isn't predicted to pass the "low" on the hour-by-hour until 9am. Never understand why a day is not a day in weather. If they have 28 on the hour-by hour it should be the low for the day. Its not like its unsuspected.

[sbl]

It was 23 when I woke up this morning, now they are predicting 19 for tonight! They have been predicting a warmer day for the next day for the last 3 days--then the next day comes and they change it to even colder.

TV weather man is predicting 15 for the weekend!

[djmb74]

Yah its gonna get cold tonight. I ran out of sheets for my plants that were in the ground, 2 dwarf cavs an ice cream and an apple banana plant now have freeze burned leaves. Got a lot of mulch around the base so I suppose they will recover when things warm up....

[BananaLee]

More snow is on the way! We got about 3 or 3 1/2 in. of snow last night and there's a lot more falling. It looks very pretty outside. Time for winter sports!! I wanna snowboard! It might get down to 9F tonight and 5F tomorrow! Another weather source says lows of 11F which sounds more reasonable. I hope it's true!

[harveyc]

Weird, but yesterday I was thinking when it was in the upper 40s with fog or overcast (haven't seen the sun in 3 days) that it felt colder than some of the times I've been in weather in the teens or 20s. I think the high humidity takes more heat from my body than dry air.

[Abnshrek]

I no longer have frost... I'm part of the frozen-chosen 23F & windchill of 13F

[enigma99a]

Weird, but yesterday I was thinking when it was in the upper 40s with fog or overcast (haven't seen the sun in 3 days) that it felt colder than some of the times I've been in weather in the teens or 20s. I think the high humidity takes more heat from my body than dry air.

Has it only been 3 days? it seems much longer and I'm going insane. FEELS SOOO COLD too. You are right. Although it is 48, it feels like 28..... Clouds are never going away

Good thing is it never gets below 43 anymore at night. I don't know what is better for the bananas. Constant temps in the 40s or days in 50s, nights in 30s

Now it is raining pretty good.. I thought it wasn't supposed to rain

[Abnshrek]

My ground actually got soft a "lil" bit (thanks to the sun not the Temp) before refreezing...

[Abnshrek]

Its so cold I think my cheeks are chapped :^)

[enigma99a]

Everyone except California is icing over lol. Arctic jet streams are a bitch, no?

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/5885/acttemp600x405.jpg

[sbl]

It is cold, but the real problem here is that this has been going on for a week now and it is not over yet. My plants have been covered everyday for the last week except Thursday when we had a short break during the day and got into the 60s. Today we will barely get above freezing--IN FLORIDA!

[Abnshrek]

It's a Beautiful 24F this fine morning :^)

[jwmahloch]

It got down to exactly zero degrees F the last 2 nights in a row in St Louis. The weather forcast shows that the extreme cold is over for now, highs in the 40s here this week.

[Abnshrek]

It got down to exactly zero degrees F the last 2 nights in a row in St Louis. The weather forcast shows that the extreme cold is over for now, highs in the 40s here this week.

All I know is its cold :^) 15F the last 2 nights & I'm glad my pindo's look good. Your right hopefully the worst is past.. ;^) with warm weather on the horizon..

[BananaLee]

It was cold a couple days ago. Went down to 5F!!! With a windchill of -6F and -8F!!! But that was only for a couple seconds, glad it's not standing temps. Since we barely had any snow December, we have nice, clean snow instead of the usual ugly January snow.

[jwmahloch]

First day above freezing since new years eve in St Loius. the snow is melting now, its like a spring day compared to last weeks weather. In the 40s most of the week here.

[Jack Daw]

I just noticed, that Washington (Alexandria...) etc has very similar climate than my own. Could you please tell me, what the lowest temperatures in your region usually are (annually), extreme lows etc...? I've read that many Washingtonia robustas and filiferas are grown in the D.C. yet I have doubts it would be very succesful in here. Could you please shed more light into your climate, maybe describe it a little more... Summer and winter temps. I would appreciate it.
Btw. I just noticed there's a city called California just south of you and a city called Warsaw even more to the south. Funny. :ha:

[jwmahloch]

I just noticed, that Washington (Alexandria...) etc has very similar climate than my own. Could you please tell me, what the lowest temperatures in your region usually are (annually), extreme lows etc...? I've read that many Washingtonia robustas and filiferas are grown in the D.C. yet I have doubts it would be very succesful in here. Could you please shed more light into your climate, maybe describe it a little more... Summer and winter temps. I would appreciate it.
Btw. I just noticed there's a city called California just south of you and a city called Warsaw even more to the south. Funny. :ha:
Hi, I live in St Louis MO (similar climate as DC). I tried growing a washingtonia filifera outside and it died in early december. I think it got too wet (we had record rain fall in Oct and Nov). Do you get a lot of rain where live in the fall and winter? If you do and attempt to grow a washingtonia palm I have read that you should cut of the leaves in the fall before the temps normally drop below 40 at night and cover it with a tarp for the winter to keep the truck dry. Washingtonias do not like to be cold and wet at the same time. I have had better sucess with Tach Fortunei (windmill palms). this is my second winter with them. Our average min temp each winter is normally between 0 and 5 F.

[Jack Daw]

Hi, I live in St Louis MO (similar climate as DC). I tried growing a washingtonia filifera outside and it died in early december. I think it got too wet (we had record rain fall in Oct and Nov). Do you get a lot of rain where live in the fall and winter? If you do and attempt to grow a washingtonia palm I have read that you should cut of the leaves in the fall before the temps normally drop below 40 at night and cover it with a tarp for the winter to keep the truck dry. Washingtonias do not like to be cold and wet at the same time. I have had better sucess with Tach Fortunei (windmill palms). this is my second winter with them. Our average min temp each winter is normally between 0 and 5 F.
Well, it rains and snows here a lot, there is practically no dry season in my neighbourhood, so I think that water might be a big problem. Yet I think we have slightly warmer winters than what you described. 5°F is very rare here, most of the winters are with minimums of 12°F or so...

[jwmahloch]

Well, it rains and snows here a lot, there is practically no dry season in my neighbourhood, so I think that water might be a big problem. Yet I think we have slightly warmer winters than what you described. 5°F is very rare here, most of the winters are with minimums of 12°F or so...
Do you have any Windmill Palms (Tacharpyus Fortunei). They handle the wet cold much better than washingtonia palms but they grow a lot slower. Needle palm would be another good palm to grow if you have warm summers.

I have another Washingtonia Filifera in my heated Greenhouse that I plan on planting outside in April. My plan is to buy a portable greenhouse/hot house to cover it in the fall and through the winter. I have my 4 windmill palms covered with umnrella greenhouses and I have heat cables and 45 watt halogen lights inside them, it will stay up to 25 degrees warmer in the umbrella greenhouses. I cover them with blankets when its really cold and that helps retain the heat at night.

[Jack Daw]

Do you have any Windmill Palms (Tacharpyus Fortunei). They handle the wet cold much better than washingtonia palms but they grow a lot slower. Needle palm would be another good palm to grow if you have warm summers.

I have another Washingtonia Filifera in my heated Greenhouse that I plan on planting outside in April. My plan is to buy a portable greenhouse/hot house to cover it in the fall and through the winter. I have my 4 windmill palms covered with umnrella greenhouses and I have heat cables and 45 watt halogen lights inside them, it will stay up to 25 degrees warmer in the umbrella greenhouses. I cover them with blankets when its really cold and that helps retain the heat at night.
Call me crazy, but all the palms I'm gonna plant in the soil will be unprotected. There just have to be strong palms, that will survive. No Trachys, not yet, I've got 7 small potted though. Like 1,1/4 of leaves. Growing soooo slowly, Washingtonias are 6x times faster. And I have around 50 spare plants, so I might end up losing my mind completely and plant them each year over and over again if they die. ;)

But I was kind hoping, that the limit of 15°F I read on the internet was too low, that it can take as much as Butia (which is pretty much a limit here).

Some palm might be able to adapt (from those that are 8a) and I intend to find and grow it. :)

[jwmahloch]

If it only gets down to 15F there you should be fine with Windmill palms and neddle palms with no protection (protection is important is you get temps below 10F otherwise you will have leaf damage. One thing that is very important is plant at a minumum a 7 gallon plant (the bigger the better) and plant in the spring so that it has time to get established before winter. Well drained soil is also very important. If you try a washingtonia palm I have heard that Robusta's are better under wet winter conditions than filifera's are even though filiferas are supposed to be more cold hardy. Good luck.

[BananaLee]

Jack, you try Sabal palms, those are really hardy. I'm gonna grow a lot of those this year.

[Jack Daw]

What do you guys grow/have tried already and with what succes? I'm just curious what might be worth a shot.

If it only gets down to 15F there you should be fine with Windmill palms and neddle palms with no protection (protection is important is you get temps below 10F otherwise you will have leaf damage. One thing that is very important is plant at a minumum a 7 gallon plant (the bigger the better) and plant in the spring so that it has time to get established before winter. Well drained soil is also very important. If you try a washingtonia palm I have heard that Robusta's are better under wet winter conditions than filifera's are even though filiferas are supposed to be more cold hardy. Good luck.
Thanks for your advices. I too heard that filiferas are more cold tolerant, but unfortunatelly I have only robustas. So one way or another, I'm gonna try it out. Maybe even convince someone else here to try it too.

Jack, you try Sabal palms, those are really hardy. I'm gonna grow a lot of those this year.
Yep, lots of them germinated for me. Also Nannorrhopses. But they need drier climate. Unfortunatelly I wasn't able to find any Sabal palmetto seeds. That's bad, because Sabal palmetto grows much higher and is aestethically more appealing than Sabal minor, wouldn't you agree?

[BananaLee]

Yep, lots of them germinated for me. Also Nannorrhopses. But they need drier climate. Unfortunatelly I wasn't able to find any Sabal palmetto seeds. That's bad, because Sabal palmetto grows much higher and is aestethically more appealing than Sabal minor, wouldn't you agree?

Defiantly, Sabal Palmettos are cooler than sabal minors in my opinion and pretty dang tall, up to 90ft or taller! I was going to buy a Nannorrhops but since they need dry arid climates, I decided not to. Jack, as for those robustas, GO FOR IT!!! I'm gonna grow some myself and see how good it goes!

[BananaLee]

I mulched more of my plants today since it was 40F today. Were having a warm week with lows in the high 20's or low 30's. I hope the worst is over but you can't be to prepared. So far the lowest temps were 5F with short, mild, windchill's down to -8F that only last for less than a sec. I was right on a mild winter...so far...

[jwmahloch]

Its been over 50 degrees in St Louis 2 days in a row now. most of our snow is melted except for some left in parking lots. Its crazy that a week ago it was only in the teens during the day and single didgets at night. We had one night that dropped to exactly zero but nothing sub zero like they got north and west of here. I washed my car today, it was like a spring day today.

[Abnshrek]

Another great day. One of these days the ground won't be frozen anywhere :^)

[BananaLee]

The coldest month of the year didn't leave without a fight, on the last few days of January, we were hit with the coldest temps so far, 3F!!! But it's warming up now. I have to admit that it's has been pretty mild. Hardly any snow on the ground. It just started to snow again today. We should have like 3ft of it. Though it's been mild...winter's not over yet...

[sbl]

The coldest month of the year didn't leave without a fight, on the last few days of January, we were hit with the coldest temps so far, 3F!!! But it's warming up now. I have to admit that it's has been pretty mild. Hardly any snow on the ground. It just started to snow again today. We should have like 3ft of it. Though it's been mild...winter's not over yet...

Has the world turned upside down? We got down to 19F and were below freezing every night for something like 14 days--and we are on the coast here in FL! My sister just 50 miles NW got down to 13 F. This was not the coldest in terms of single low temperatures (5F is the all time low), but I bet as far as averages it is one of the coldest months ever here. We have had a few highs in the 60s and 1 in the 70s--we normally have many days in the 70s in Jan.

[Patty in Wisc]

We just got less than 2 inches of snow today. It hasn't snowed in a long time - usually we are burried in it by now.

[enigma99a]

As this winter comes to a close, looks like it will be 5 straight nights below 32F for the season. It's been nearly 2 months since we've had frost. Problem is, it got sooo cold that just a couple of nights ruined everything. I think that is frustrating, when you think if somehow Dec 8th, 9th and 10th didn't happen, I would have a healthy green yard still.

[Caloosamusa]

Jan 2010 has been the coldest in our area since records were kept. Almost all of my musa plants were damaged, except one, Musa itinerans! It took 29 degrees with no damage!

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=29523&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=29523)
:2239:

[Bananaman88]

Is that the itinerans you got from me? Looks like it handled the cold with no problem.

[Caloosamusa]

Yes it is Brent! Thank You!!

It really likes this time of year here in South Florida!

It's growth slows as it gets hot, Avg > 84. :2239:

[enigma99a]

I wonder if I could use water misters this summer to keep the plants cool and encourage growth. When the temps get to the 100s, growth speed really takes a hit

[Jack Daw]

Caloosa, have the Coco palms in southern Florida survived? I heard that temp in certain southern areas was as low as 30°F, which is pretty much terminatory for most of the tropical palms and species. What about mangos, lychees... Do you have any information about that?

[Caloosamusa]

Good evening Enigma99a,

It might be worth the effort, but watch out for Black sigatoka under those conditions. Wet the base and not the leaves. :2239:

[Caloosamusa]

Good evening Jack Daw!

I have not gone out and made growth measurements as experience tells me in my area of South Florida they will survive.

They have been damaged much more than in preceeding years, no green growth left after freeze. In spite of the bad weather all of my Coconut trees but one, have survived and are extruding new green growth.

The coconut trees on my farm were not injured at all and helped provide some protection to my bananas there. :2239:

[Caloosamusa]

Good morning Jackdaw,

The coconut palms on my Farm were little effected by the cold, a few leaves had minor damage (almost none).

Although some small mango trees at my home were damaged, the ones on my farm were not. I'll have pictures of those later. Lychees are the most cold hardy of the group and I've not seen any that sustained damage.

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=29560&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=29560)

I hope this answers your questions. :2239:

[Jack Daw]

Good evening Jack Daw!

I have not gone out and made growth measurements as experience tells me in my area of South Florida they will survive.

They have been damaged much more than in preceeding years, no green growth left after freeze. In spite of the bad weather all of my Coconut trees but one, have survived and are extruding new green growth.

The coconut trees on my farm were not injured at all and helped provide some protection to my bananas there. :2239:
I saw people in tropical countries plant the coco palms into the banana and citrus fields, to make the field crop more resistant to wind and hail damage. Is this your goal too?

[Caloosamusa]

Good afternoon Jackdaw!

My objectives were to protect them from wind and cold. I've never seen hail where my farm is, as it so close to the Gulf.

I planted the Coconuts in the early 1990s, the bananas are more recent.:2239:

[enigma99a]

We had a little mini arctic blast/storm for a day, got below 40... down to 37 last night.

I had already planted some bromeliads, but everything seems fine.

[BananaLee]

Just starting this up again. I've seem to see that around the world there have been major cold temps, I thought it was just here, but I guess not. Some people still believe in global warming? HA!

[Nicolas Naranja]

Last week I got a little bit of frost/cold burn on the leaves of some of my younger plants. This morning it was blowing about 30mph and was 34 degrees. Tonight there is not so much wind so I don't know what I'll have left come tomorrow morning.