I burned my bottle palm

[NickJames]

I am basically beside myself lol

Do you think it’ll survive and I’ll just have two funky looking fronds?

im guessing it burned this time because the thermostat was outside vs inside the blanket wrap. 
 

it was very loose, I’m surprised it burned this much. 

[TomJ]

I think it'll make it, but let's see what Jan/Feb will bring.

A little peroxide wouldn't hurt.

[Joe NC]

3 hours ago, NickJames said:

im guessing it burned this time because the thermostat was outside vs inside the blanket wrap

Probably.  The thermostat goes inside the wrap for sure.

I was testing my lights and thermocubes this weekend, just to be ready if needed.   I wrapped my arm in a a strand of 150 lights that had been plugged in a while... it got hot! 

[Johnny Palmseed]

Those areas are damaged and will not recover. I would imagine that it will be a weak point that will bend when it pushes out towards the horizontal.

[NickJames]

Thanks all. I’m just surprised because I was able to hold the heating cable bare handed without burning myself. I must just have weathered hands ha ha. 

[Rickybobby]

Ouch. Hope it recovers 

[wimmie]

22 hours ago, NickJames said:

I am basically beside myself lol

Do you think it’ll survive and I’ll just have two funky looking fronds?

im guessing it burned this time because the thermostat was outside vs inside the blanket wrap. 
 

it was very loose, I’m surprised it burned this much. 

A new species: Mascarena cookery?

[PalmatierMeg]

Don't you hate when that happens? Seriously, I hope it does recover but replacement bottles are not that hard/expensive to find. Back in 1997 bottle palms were so rare I had to buy my first on a trip to the Keys - $25 for 1g. You might want to mark the spear to see if it still grows. Hydrogen peroxide is a good idea, too.

[NickJames]

1 hour ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Don't you hate when that happens? Seriously, I hope it does recover but replacement bottles are not that hard/expensive to find. Back in 1997 bottle palms were so rare I had to buy my first on a trip to the Keys - $25 for 1g. You might want to mark the spear to see if it still grows. Hydrogen peroxide is a good idea, too.

I know, but this one will be a pain to take out - it was a pain to put in haha. I guess if it does I could just cut it in half to make it easier to haul!?

I remember growing up when you couldn’t find queen palms in Jacksonville. My mom would drive to Daytona Beach (where I am now!) to get them from this Home Depot. 

[Merlyn]

My Bottles and Spindles have only seen leaf damage around 30ish, but I haven't had temperatures under 30 with them in the ground...yet!  If it's in the mid 30s you probably don't need to protect them, unless you plan on wrapping up all the fronds as well as the trunk.

[redant]

I warned ya about toasting them with the heating cables. They should never be placed against the palm, a blanket, cables, blanket would have worked. If further cold doesn't kill it this year it probably should pull through. The royal? behind it looks pretty toasty too.

Edited December 11, 2020 by redant

[sonoranfans]

Ive seen the light-burn before, seems like many that havent done it before do this until they learn. I would put lights on the trunk only with a blanket in between and on top, heat rises so catch it with a blanket and some foil around the bud area(blanket inside foil).  This way you dont burn tender parts.  Home depot sells bottles, but its not a palm that is going to make it in your area nick.  Spindle palms are about 2F more hardy, a neighbor a few houses has one tha survived 2010 and 28F plus frost.  Its hardly bigger than it was 5 years ago, not noticeable, but it looks decent at the end of summer.  There are many more palms to choose from that can make it through your climate.

[NickJames]

7 hours ago, redant said:

I warned ya about toasting them with the heating cables. They should never be placed against the palm, a blanket, cables, blanket would have worked. If further cold doesn't kill it this year it probably should pull through. The royal? behind it looks pretty toasty too.

I was just surprised because I was able to touch it and it was marginally warm. Certainly didn’t burn me. Oh well. 
 

I’m not sure what happened to that royal. Still recovering from being planted? Its sister looks much better. The new growth is green though. 

[sonoranfans]

16 hours ago, NickJames said:

I was just surprised because I was able to touch it and it was marginally warm. Certainly didn’t burn me. Oh well. 
 

I’m not sure what happened to that royal. Still recovering from being planted? Its sister looks much better. The new growth is green though. 

You could get a 3rd degree burn on your arm and it wouldn't feel hot to the touch either.  Living things dont hold heat like metal, the heat causes physical and chemical change which is what kills the cells.  when you touch a hot object you feel heat transfer, not temperature.  For example, a 180 degree sauna doesnt feel as hot as a 180 degree pot of water dumped on you. which will likely scald you.  The water transfers much more heat to your skin than the gas in a sauna.  It kind of complicated, as science can often be.

[NickJames]

[JLM]

7 minutes ago, NickJames said:

Not good, but it will recover!

[NickJames]

Do you think it is best to cut off that frond at the break/burn point, or leave it fallen over like that? I don’t want to open it up to pathogens by cutting living tissue?

[PalmatierMeg]

17 hours ago, NickJames said:

Do you think it is best to cut off that frond at the break/burn point, or leave it fallen over like that? I don’t want to open it up to pathogens by cutting living tissue?

I'd cut the spear where the "fold" is. Much of that damaged tissue is pretty much dead and already subjected to pathogens. Will the palm survive? Looks iffy to me right now. As long as the rest of the spear keeps moving it has a chance. If the lights burned the meristem it's all over but the final collapse. In 2010 I had a good sized Hydriastele beguinii during the record Jan. record cold. The palm just sat there for nearly 9 months doing - nothing. Spear didn't pull but didn't grow either. Then long about Sept. the whole palm keeled over one day. It had been dead all along. It was the final casualty of 30+ palms from that wretched winter.

[NickJames]

1 hour ago, PalmatierMeg said:

I'd cut the spear where the "fold" is. Much of that damaged tissue is pretty much dead and already subjected to pathogens. Will the palm survive? Looks iffy to me right now. As long as the rest of the spear keeps moving it has a chance. If the lights burned the meristem it's all over but the final collapse. In 2010 I had a good sized Hydriastele beguinii during the record Jan. record cold. The palm just sat there for nearly 9 months doing - nothing. Spear didn't pull but didn't grow either. Then long about Sept. the whole palm keeled over one day. It had been dead all along. It was the final casualty of 30+ palms from that wretched winter.

Thanks. Great points. I did mark them as you suggested. Of course now the one is fallen over!

Luckily, the newest spear seems to be damaged less than that other fallen spear that was probably about to open up. The damage in the newest one as you can see has not caused it to fall over. I will see if it continues to grow. 

[Darold Petty]

18 hours ago, NickJames said:

Do you think it is best to cut off that frond at the break/burn point, or leave it fallen over like that? I don’t want to open it up to pathogens by cutting living tissue?

I always use powdered sulfur to coat the cut surface area of living tissue.  I do this for every cut, summer or winter, and have never suffered an  opportunistic, secondary infection.

Yes, I would cut off this frond.  Good luck !  

[NickJames]

[Merlyn]

Over here in NW Orlando my Bottles and Spindles are still growing, one just opened a frond a couple of days ago.  With the repeated cold fronts I suspect they'll slow to a crawl, so you might not see much movement in your sharpie marks on the spear.  I'll have to put a couple of marks on some of mine just to see how they are doing.