Winter protection successful

Last Nov, I wrapped one queen, one CIDP, and two Sylvester date palms in frost cloth and large Xmas lights. I unwrapped them over a week ago, and they look great! The light nightly freezes this time of year don't harm them, but I did leave the lights and frost cloth gathered around the base of each palm just in case we dip into the teens again.

Several "iffy" plants of mine have also fared well. I think the rain has helped.
I did lose two queen palms last winter, but i think it was because I didn't protect them enough. Sounds like you did a great job.
Barb

Thanks, Barb. I was afraid I was wasting my time and money while I was wrapping the "iffy" palms. The Queen palm did have some burn damage on the outer fronds, but the dates survived unscathed. Maybe next year I'll wrap the queen palm a little earlier.

I too found wrapping plants with the frost cloth/blankets this winter is an amazing way to keep plants alive and safe. I tried it on a few of my less-than-hardy bananas for this zone and they are firm as ever - even doing better than the unprotected bananas that are supposed to thrive in this zone. I may have to try this on all my water-stemmed plants next year. I also found putting a heavier blanket around the base of the plant really helps protect the roots/bulb under ground.

This message was edited Mar 2, 2010 4:22 PM

I have a feeling a lot of us are going to learn quite a bit about what cold protection works and what doesn't this winter!

I packed lots of hay around the base of each palm, but I'm sure a blanket would be just as effective. My bananas sure are mushy, especially the red abyssinian. I think next fall I, too, will be protecting my marginal nanners. In January, I bought 10 more strings of the old fashioned fat Xmas lights at 75% off. (I'm afraid these Xmas lights will be replaced with the new fangled lights that don't get warm.)

Hay also worked well for me last year - just never got the chance to build the cages and do it this year unfortunately.

I've been thinking about the thin reflective insulation you can buy in rolls from Lowe's - it's about $50 and is 25' long. Probably could wrap each stem around twice and that'd provide good insulation from the cold. I may try that next year too.

Good idea. Next time I'm in Lowes I'll check it out. I hope it's something that can be reused for many years.

I think it would stand up to the elements pretty well. It comes in various sizes, I was gonna experiment with the 4' type since that's a pretty decent height to start with on a banana. I could prob still use frost blankets at the top, and put a nice layer of mulch at the bottom and it'd be nice and cozy on even the coldest nights.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_13358-56291-BP48025_0_?productId=3011906&Ntt=reflective%20insulation&Ntk=i_products&pl=1¤tURL=/pl__0__s?newSearch=true$Ntt=reflective%20insulation$y=0$x=0

On a side note, I wish I understood more about thermodynamics and why reflective items like this work at keeping things insulated.