Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Wind chill effects on tropical plants?, 0 by bsewall

bsewall wrote:
Jeremy, I used your idea about Christmas lights during the freeze two weeks ago. I have a Roebelenii Palm bracketed by some Anthurium and White Birds of Paradise, which I wrapped together (they are at the top right hand side of the picture). I then threw in about three strands of Christmas lights under the cover. After the freeze, the Palm and the Bird of Paradise appear to be doing fine, but the Anthuriums have lost about half their leaves. In walking around the neighborhood it looks like most of the other Palms and Birds of Paradise did alright, even the ones that weren't covered, so it's not clear whether my covering those plants or using the lights made any difference. I had thought that by planting the Anthurium close to the house and using a cover along with lights, they would come through unscathed, but that was obviously a wrong assumption. So I'm not convinced the Christmas lights do work (at least in a freeze where the winds quickly dissipate any heat). On the other hand, when the temperatures get below 32 degrees I get desperate and I'll try anything. So I'll likely keep experimenting with them to see if they help.