Pygmy date palm

[South Carolina palms]

I recently planted my Pygmy date palm here in Charleston sc and was wondering how well it will fair in the winter. I have a 9 fit queen palm planted in my yard and seemed to do pretty well for its first winter 

[Little Tex]

Its going to look like it went through the KFC deep frier, and the rest of what's green is going to look like its covered in all 11 of the herbs and spices! I just planted mine in the ground, and I will have to protect it every single winter until it gets too big, then It should be fine, I think 8b is the absolute minimum at mature, you will have to protect it. 

[GregDFW]

1 hour ago, South Carolina palms said:

I recently planted my Pygmy date palm here in Charleston sc and was wondering how well it will fair in the winter. I have a 9 fit queen palm planted in my yard and seemed to do pretty well for its first winter 

How cold did it get and was the queen protected?

[South Carolina palms]

54 minutes ago, GregDFW said:

How cold did it get and was the queen protected?

The coldest it got here was 25 and yes the queen was protected 

[petiole10]

1 hour ago, South Carolina palms said:

The coldest it got here was 25 and yes the queen was protected 

It will not cope with that degree of cold. The Pygmy date palm originates from SE Asia and has a much lower tolerance of cold conditions than is often suggested. My own experience of this palm is that any value below freezing will defoliate them and beyond a one off frost, that they may recover from over a next season or two, they will struggle to come back at all.

Away from sub tropical areas or coastal Mediterranean zones where frosts are rare, these palms are much better kept in pots and protected as indoor palms in winter.    A Queen palm will have greater staying power and come back more easily than one of these much more tender than perceived sub tropical Phoenix species of palm.

Edited April 3, 2022 by petiole10

[D Palm]

Below 28 damage will start to set in, below 23 your risking death and recommend protecting. These will take damage before queens, I have multiples of both species.

[JLM]

Mine experienced damage at like 29F, but id say the temperature wasnt exactly 29F where the palm was located. It was basically up against the house.

After i saw the damage on it from that night, all the freezes we had beyond that point i protected it. I want it to put out a decent amount of growth this season without having to recover from damage.

As for protection, a sheet and some christmas lights should do enough for these. They are relatively small even a mature size, so they would be easier to protect. The problem will be when you are expecting a deep freeze that would require protection for the hardier stuff like the Mules and Washingtonia. I will say though, there is a decent size Pygmy Date in a nearby neighborhood that survived this winter with almost total burn on the fronds. Just with what bit of heat we have had in the past several weeks there is already new green growth appearing.

[ZPalms]

I bet one of those pop up greenhouses and a greenhouse heaters or just a space heater with a temperature switch could keep it looking decent through the cold months

Edited April 4, 2022 by ZPalms

[Sabal King]

Long term this is likely an awful idea, just being totally honest.  I had one on our pool deck last year, all year looked great but I forgot to bring it in when the winter started and it saw 27, then 22F and man, a week or two after the second cold snap, it turned into fried chicken like someone joked..  It's a goner.  Keep these inside.

[DAVEinMB]

@South Carolina palms I had spear pull on two I was trialing after 25F. They each had about a foot of trunk. 

There were a few clumps looking really good in barefoot landing after a couple of unprotected winters. I haven't gotten a chance to see what they look like after this winter but I can't imagine good.  Post here ==> 

Your chances of getting somewhat longterm survival out of one of these is better than mine but still not great. Good luck. 

[8BPalms]

At a brief 23F frost last year (kind of a cold winter- it can still get a few degrees colder here), after several warmer frosts, many of the 10 or so roeblinnis in 2 gallon pots under sporadic canopy got somewhat fried and about 40% spear pulled. A large roeblinni clump I started from a little 2 gallon a couple years ago also got scalded on the upper and mid level leaves, but their spears were fine. Of the 2 gallon roeblinnis that spear pulled, I estimate about 90% regrew their spears next spring with just some peroxide in the hole a couple times.. not way too much either. It kills microbes, also the beneficial ones in the roots. Peroxide is also good for root rot (just sayin). But how much the killing of root microbes will affect the overall plant's recovery and temporary health is up in the air- just avoid peroxide on the roots when they spear pull after a bad winter

[BeyondTheGarden]

You could try a reclinata.  I understand them to be a little hardier, and IMO more attractive anyway.  Unfortunately I don't know either of them well enough to say how much hardier.  

[ShiYi2022]

On 2022/4/6 at PM10点08分, Jesse PNW said:

你可以试试躺椅。我理解他们更坚强一点，无论如何，IMO 更具吸引力。不幸的是，我对他们中的任何一个都不够了解，无法说出有多难。  

Phoenix roebelenii O. Brien?You can speak a little Chinese？

[BeyondTheGarden]

I do a little, but I didn't type that in Chinese.  It might have been automatically translate based on location?  Which means this message probably appears in 漢字 also?  Maybe because I have the Chinese keyboard enabled on my computer. 

[JLM]

On 4/8/2022 at 9:06 AM, Jesse PNW said:

I do a little, but I didn't type that in Chinese.  It might have been automatically translate based on location?  Which means this message probably appears in 漢字 also?  Maybe because I have the Chinese keyboard enabled on my computer. 

Both of your messages have appeared as english to me except for the quote tweet.

[ZPalms]

I started thinking about this again and want to know what the overall effect of the cold is on palms or if it’s just defoliation, or what actually kills them. I have a pygmy palm and have been considering the logistics of planting it in the ground.

Is it the overall situation of the cold affecting the plant from the roots to the leaves? Would putting a pop-up greenhouse over the plant help at all? What about Christmas lights?

I’m still not completely sold on the idea, but if a pop-up greenhouse is enough to protect it and cold roots aren’t a problem, then I’d give myself the green light to go ahead and try.

just wondering!

[SeanK]

2 hours ago, ZPalms said:

I started thinking about this again and want to know what the overall effect of the cold is on palms or if it’s just defoliation, or what actually kills them. I have a pygmy palm and have been considering the logistics of planting it in the ground.

Is it the overall situation of the cold affecting the plant from the roots to the leaves? Would putting a pop-up greenhouse over the plant help at all? What about Christmas lights?

I’m still not completely sold on the idea, but if a pop-up greenhouse is enough to protect it and cold roots aren’t a problem, then I’d give myself the green light to go ahead and try.

just wondering!

The advantage of small palm species. Easier to protect than large ones.

[Allen]

7 hours ago, ZPalms said:

I started thinking about this again and want to know what the overall effect of the cold is on palms or if it’s just defoliation, or what actually kills them. I have a pygmy palm and have been considering the logistics of planting it in the ground.

Is it the overall situation of the cold affecting the plant from the roots to the leaves? Would putting a pop-up greenhouse over the plant help at all? What about Christmas lights?

I’m still not completely sold on the idea, but if a pop-up greenhouse is enough to protect it and cold roots aren’t a problem, then I’d give myself the green light to go ahead and try.

just wondering!

You would just need to protect them at temps under 32F or so to insure a good looking palm.  Roots are not a issue for you.  

[DAVEinMB]

On 4/4/2022 at 9:26 AM, DAVEinMB said:

@South Carolina palms I had spear pull on two I was trialing after 25F. They each had about a foot of trunk. 

There were a few clumps looking really good in barefoot landing after a couple of unprotected winters. I haven't gotten a chance to see what they look like after this winter but I can't imagine good.  Post here ==> 

Your chances of getting somewhat longterm survival out of one of these is better than mine but still not great. Good luck. 

Sad but predictable update... these have died. Mine and barefoot