austinl01

Washingtonia robusta is not reliably hardy here but is a palm worth growing in Zones 7 and 8a. Each fall, I cut off all the fronds from the palm and cover it with a tarp for the winter. By summer, the palm has a full crown. The growth rate is unbelievable with close to 2 feet of trunk per year.

2005


2009

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Austin
Arkansas River Valley

Average January Low: 31°F, Average August High: 92°F
Extreme Winter Lows: 5-15°F, Extreme Summer Highs: 100-112°F, Annual Precipitation: 52 inches

Dalmatiansoap

Growing realy good.
I belive that W. filifera can do better in your climate becouse of thicker trunck.

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Bob

Looks great but now you have me thinking if Austin only covers his with a tarp in zone 8, I could get some bags of leaves , some hay and those christmas lights.....maybe a themostatically controlled heater cable for the root zone..............

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Abnshrek

That's exactly how I'm going to keep my banana's from freezing... 2-12ft'ers and 4-40 ft'ers lol The palms will be just fine.. even the pigmy dates

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I'm a Nannerhead :^)

Taylor

Fantastic, Austin! Can't wait until mine gets that big! Next year will be the third year starting at about the same size as your 2005 picture.

Bananaman88

Looking good!

BananaLee

Looks great! Can't wait to grow my own!

jwmahloch

Thats amazing growth in 4 years!!!!!!!!! I am growing 2 Washingtonia Filifera's and one Washingtonia Robusta. Since this is my first winter with Washigtonia palms I have one Filifera in my greenhouse and the Robusta in my basement under a grow light. The other Filifera I have planted in the ground on the south side of my house (its about 6 feet tall now, and it was only 3 feet when I bought it in March). I have the truck wraped with pipe heat cables and I also have some soil heat cables under ground. I am going to put some christmas lights on the truck as well. I am also thinking about covering with a tarp of blanket on nights that get below 20 degrees.

How do you protect your Robusta in the Winter? How cold does it normally get in Little Rock?

Jeremy
St Louis MO

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Jeremy

jwmahloch

Here is a picture of my Washingtonia Filifera in St Loius MO
Jeremy

Attached Images

PA230485.JPG (1.94 MB, 13 views)

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Jeremy

austinl01

Jeremy, I just cut off the fronds of the Robusta in early winter and then cover the entire palm with a tarp. Occasionally during the winter during warm periods, I loosen the tarp to allow any moisture to get out away from the palm. It normally gets 12*F to 15*F most winters. Good luck on your filifera. They are supposed to be a little more cold hardy than robustas.

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Austin
Arkansas River Valley

Average January Low: 31°F, Average August High: 92°F
Extreme Winter Lows: 5-15°F, Extreme Summer Highs: 100-112°F, Annual Precipitation: 52 inches

jwmahloch

Sounds great. I will cover my Filifera palm with a tarp after I cut back the leaves. As of today the leaves still look great. I understand that when the temp drops below about 23 the leaves will be damaged. I sprayed the leaves with freeze pruf which is supposed to add about 5 degrees of cold tolerance so maybe the leaves will last until it gets down to 18 degrees. I already have the truck wraped with pipe heat cables and I have landscape fabric covered with burlap. I am also going to try wraping some christmas lights around the truck, thats supposed to add a couple degrees as well.

Jeremy

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Jeremy

jwmahloch

My Washingtonia Filifera just died!!!!! I went home for lunch today and the truck was wilted (it must be crown rot, I guess). When I took off the heat cables the truck was warm but very wet. Now I know that I should have cut back the leaves earlier and covered it with a tarp to keep water out of the crown. Luckily I have another one just like it in my greenhouse so I will replace it in the spring.

the funny thing is that the leaves were still very green. Lesson learned, cut off the leaves earlier in the fall and cover with a tarp to keep dry.

I didnt take any pictures because it looked pretty bad and I just cut it up and put it in my yard waste dumpster.

From now on I will stick with my Windmill palms, they dont seem to mind the wet cold.

Has anyone else had this happen? The question is, at what temperature should I have cut back the leaves and covered it with a tarp?

Jeremy

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Jeremy

Abnshrek

Nothing likes being wet and sealed up.. I had to dry a couple of the banana's I prepped for winter since it rained that morning. Lucky for me I don't have to mess with the palms.

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jwmahloch

Next year I am going to buy a portable greenhouse (hot house) and put it over my other Filifera palm. I just saw one on ebay for $50, its 56"x56"X78". That way I could overwinter it and keep it dry and from getting too cold. That will only work until it gets about 6 feet of trunk, then I would have to cut of the leaves and cover it with a tarp like the guy in Little Rock is doing. The important thing is to cover washingtonia palms earler in the fall before it gets too cold and keep the truck DRY, my guess would be to cover it when temps drop below 40 degrees (late October here in St Louis). Mine died at 28 degrees and they are supposed to be hardy to about 20 degrees I thought.

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Jeremy

Kaye-ccf

Austin, your Washingtonia robusta is fabulous! I have one that is now in a 5-gallon container that is about 3' tall. I had the opportunity to hear a talk from a palm grower who is encouraging growers to push palms to their cold limits. He advised that the palms be winterized gradually over 2-3 years with final placement in the landscape when they reach the 3-4' 5 gallon stage. I had not left mine outside before, so I am exposing it to cold temps this winter. I will move it back into the cold frame when the temps get down into the 20's since it is in a pot.

I had 2 windmill palms that I planted outside 3 years ago. One survived and one died. I have never cut any of the fronds. The leaves on the surviving one have brown edges. I pile leaves over it up to about 1' during the winter. I have 3 or 4 other types of palms in the greenhouse that I am growing on hoping to acclimatize them for placement in the landscape. I am in Zone 7, but many years have zone 8 temps. Any advice you can give me about helping them survive would be greatly appreciated!

jwmahloch

My advise with the Washingtonia palms is to keep them dry (cover with a tarp early) when the temperatures start to get below about 40 degrees outside. They dont like the wet cold. The windmill palms dont mind the wet cold as much. I also have a robusta in my basement that I bouight a year ago as a 3 gal plant , I had it outside all spring, summer and brought it inside in October, its in a 15 gal pot now.

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Jeremy

palmtree

Filifera's are much less moisture tolerant than robustas, which is why you only see robustas in the south. They can easily survive 10 degrees if kept dry, but will not do too well during cold wet winters. I would keep them away from moisture starting ate september so they are completely dry by the time really cold weather comes.

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Location: New York City, zone 7b

jwmahloch

Thanks, that really helps. Next year I will cover Washingtonia palms earlier before it starts to get cold. I guess you live and learn.

Jeremy

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Jeremy

Kaye-ccf

If you have to cut off the fronds and cover it with a tarp every winter, I can see why Austin has his beside his deck. Unfortunately I don't have a raised deck like that. I got mine at a plant swap. Maybe I'll take it back to another one or trade it to someone who has a very tall ladder or a crane!
I'm glad I learned this before planting it. Thanks!