Pygmy Date in zone 8b

[nitsua0895]

I live in zone 8b Montgomery, Alabama and I've planted a 3 foot Pygmy Date on the south side of my garage which blocks the cold wind and provides good, warm sun. I've also bought a greenhouse to go over it and a heater to provide warmth. On average it never goes below 20F here during the winter and when it does it's extremely brief. Should this work or are there more measures I should take to make sure it survives? 

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

Yes, it will work, as long as the heater is on below freezing. Pygmy dates defoliate in the highs 20's, or any long period below 32.   The other nemesis of Pygmy date is frost.  If they defoliate, it's important to prevent them from defoliating the following winter.  They are planted in Jacksonville, FL, where they are marginal and get defoliated fairly frequently.  I've personally seen them recover from a low near 20, but many, if not most, died at that temperature.  

[palmsOrl]

I agree with Keith.  Just manage to keep it above freezing, or 30F+ really in that makeshift greenhouse and it will do great for you.  While you have the greenhouse in place, might as well try some small zone 10 stuff in there as well, maybe a majesty, Chamaedorea, Thrinax, Cocothrinax, etc.  There are a lot of options.

Phoenix robellenii used to be marginal in the Orlando area as well and I saw specimens around here get completely defoliated regularly in the 90s and early 2000s.  Now they sail through almost every winter with barely a blemish.  Specimens attempted well outside of the city in rural areas still get annihilated though.

[Matthew92]

Back in the early-mid 2000's, it seemed like people were determined to grow the pygmy date as a fixture in the landscaping in Destin FL. From what I've found out, there were some really warm winters here for a few years as when I moved back to the area in 2007, there were pygmies, queens, and even bismarkia surviving and looked to have been there for a while. However, starting shortly after 2007, I watched pure carnage as every one fried everywhere, even right at the coast. Now, there are literally almost no pygmies outdoors in this area.

Although I will say, I think people did know of the pygmy's tenderness, and because of their small stature being easy to cover, people were willing to try it. I have seen them survive the 23-25 degree range with just some blankets on top. Anything below this though is where you will start needing a light or something more. There is a house in my town that had around 8 pygmy clumps around their driveway area under tree canopy. They would religiously cover them very well during each freeze with a good blanket and a bright light underneath. This worked for years, but in 2014 where there was a dip into the teens, a couple full days below freezing, slight coating of freezing rain, and repeated low-mid 20's, even this didn't work. It's really hard once you get below 20. Good luck in Montgomery!

[Ed in Houston]

The Pygmy Date is one of the most planted palms in Houston and are marginally hardy for this area. Back in 2010 and 2011 we had back to back winters in the low 20s over much of the city and many of the Pygmy dates died that were in exposed areas and not protected. Most of the older ones that had a 6 foot trunk or more survived even if not protected but were completely defoliated. Damage to the fronds occurs at about 26F depending on exposure and if the palm is hardened off for the winter.

The marginal hardiness of this palm has not inhibited people from planting many more of these palms since 2010-2011.

Ed in Houston

[Brad Mondel]

For some reason Home depot in the Myrtle beach area (8b) shipped in giant Pygmy date palms wrapped in burlap. Everyone started buying them and started planting them around the neighborhood. An expensive annual at $200-$300 each. The next spring I saw them all ripped out and returned to hd in the dumpster. I suppose no one did their research and found out the hard way. But! With protection this Palm should do just fine for you. 

 

[Matthew92]

  On 11/24/2015 at 5:35 PM, Brad Mondel said:

For some reason Home depot in the Myrtle beach area (8b) shipped in giant Pygmy date palms wrapped in burlap. Everyone started buying them and started planting them around the neighborhood. An expensive annual at $200-$300 each. The next spring I saw them all ripped out and returned to hd in the dumpster. I suppose no one did their research and found out the hard way. But! With protection this Palm should do just fine for you. 

 

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They do the exact same thing here: lots of them with 3 trunks or more.

Edited November 24, 2015 by Opal92

[Walt]

Your greenhouse has far more volume (cubic feet of interior space) than need be, so it will require more supplemental heating than need be -- although over the years your palm will grow into the size of your greenhouse, so nothing is lost here. But, in any event, with the proper amount of heat on nights forecasted to drop below 30 degrees your palm will be fine. For tents of that size I generally use a discarded electric cooking skillet (I have four of them my wife has thrown out over the years when the Teflon coating started going bad). Probably, a 1500 watt electric space heater (just set on low or medium) will be enough heat. You will just have to play things by ear and monitor the temperature until you know exactly how much heat you need at a given outside temperature to keep the greenhouse at or above 30 degrees F.