Foam Board vs Twin wall polycarbonate for winter protection

[bgifford]

Hello everyone!

Last year I overwintered my two Washingtonia robustas here in zone 6b by using some type of Styrofoam board secured on a 2 x 4 frame and c9 Xmas lights connected to a thermo cube. It worked great until it got really warm here in February with temps close to 80F, where I had to open them up, which caused a whole lot of mess with the Styrofoam material. All in all it protected them really good and my Palms took on about 2 feet this year.

So now that I have to adjust and get more materials I was wondering what direction would be best.

Go with Foam board like this https://www.lowes.com/pd/GreenGuard-GreenGuard-LG-1-X-4-X-8-XPS-Insulation-Board/5001939653, which is a lot easier to cut and more rigid than the Styrofoam board I had used or go with a twinwall polycarbonate. 

Anyone have any Pros and cons for either one? 

As always, thanks for all the help.

 

Brian

[Allen]

10 minutes ago, bgifford said:

Hello everyone!

Last year I overwintered my two Washingtonia robustas here in zone 6b by using some type of Styrofoam board secured on a 2 x 4 frame and c9 Xmas lights connected to a thermo cube. It worked great until it got really warm here in February with temps close to 80F, where I had to open them up, which caused a whole lot of mess with the Styrofoam material. All in all it protected them really good and my Palms took on about 2 feet this year.

So now that I have to adjust and get more materials I was wondering what direction would be best.

Go with Foam board like this https://www.lowes.com/pd/GreenGuard-GreenGuard-LG-1-X-4-X-8-XPS-Insulation-Board/5001939653, which is a lot easier to cut and more rigid than the Styrofoam board I had used or go with a twinwall polycarbonate. 

Anyone have any Pros and cons for either one? 

As always, thanks for all the help.

 

Brian

The foam board

[bgifford]

Thank you Allen! 

I looked at the twinwall poly mainly because of what Green Dragan on Youtube did.

I guess the Sun intensity in KY can still be a bit too high where it could cook the palm if you use that material.

[Allen]

32 minutes ago, bgifford said:

Thank you Allen! 

I looked at the twinwall poly mainly because of what Green Dragan on Youtube did.

I guess the Sun intensity in KY can still be a bit too high where it could cook the palm if you use that material.

I wouldn't want the palm going extremes of hot/cold/hot/cold if it were me.  You could experiment with it on one side or like a window but monitor temps inside.  I'd rather keep the palms cool and not active than try to get them light personally.

[Las Palmas Norte]

The insulated panels I use have a reflective side. It will help with daylight entering thru the roof.

 

[bgifford]

@Las Palmas Norte What are these called? The ones I had last year were reflective on one side but as mentioned the material was not strong at all and made a mess if something nicked it or if you had to trim it.

That's an amazing structure. Do you have plans for that?

Lucky for you, you have not those extreme winters that we get here in Kentucky.

[Las Palmas Norte]

4 hours ago, bgifford said:

@Las Palmas Norte What are these called? The ones I had last year were reflective on one side but as mentioned the material was not strong at all and made a mess if something nicked it or if you had to trim it.

That's an amazing structure. Do you have plans for that?

Lucky for you, you have not those extreme winters that we get here in Kentucky.

These must be the same or similar to what you had. I've used it in the past with none of the issues you've mentioned. It cuts like a dream with a sharp box cutter knife. This is a much larger project so I'll see how it holds up.

The plans for this are as you see it in place and will protect the majesty palm. These take little to no frost so will need shelter from that eventuality.