Queen palms probably grow all year round, but their rate of growth slows the colder it gets. Same goes for most palms.

Palms basically are never dormant,if you want to know
how much it grows and can reach the spear.........
try marking it with a permanent marker on the spear and oldest leaf you can connect it with.

Cooler weather = slower growth, during warm spells(70s, 80s) they will grow faster. Fertilze and water if 3 consecutive warm days are coming up. Watering with warm water promotes growth fast.

Do not water on cool or cold days.

I'm kind of curious too. I have Mexican Fan Palms. Where I live it gets up over 100 deg for 2-3 months in summer. During winter we get below freezing overnight for about 2 months. I have two palms in my front yard that have grown tremendously this summer (up to 10 ft tall now). I fertilized them once in spring.

Should I stop watering all together this winter? Should I fertilize at all before it freezes? When should I prune, only when the leaves start to turn brown, or droop down?

Only dead material should be removed from palms so it doesn't matter when it's removed. It's fine to fertilize now but it's better to keep fertilizer at optimum levels though out the year. If the plants need water, water them.

But how do you know if the palm needs water? Just check to see if the soil is dry?

How often are you supposed to water the mexican palms? I'm a newb with palms...but I've watered about once a week and they seem to be doing okay. Continue that water schedule through the winter then?

JORDANZ, Where do u live in the mojave desert? i live in the high desert & it gets really cold in the winter as should you cuz am basically in the mojave desert to. i dont water at all durning winter and my mexican fan palms do very well & plus we get all are rain durning winter anyways. durning warm months 1 or 2 times a week does fine.

I am in the valley, which is very much like the desert. It is also very hot here! I hadn't looked too much on the growth of queens, washy's, date pams, CIDP, etc during winter. However, I am very sure I have seen them all grow a few fronds during winter. Here winter day time highs on average are in the 50f's and lows are in the 40f's.

You won't need to water at all during winter. In summer you will need to water queens often, unlike washy's and date palms.

Good luck!

I have a Chinese Fan Palm and a Saw Palmetto. Last couple of years I have been shocked that my palms have actually grown new fronds during our cold winters here in Michigan. I do mulch over the palms with fallen leaves, and then cover with a waterproof tarp. This is all we need to keep the alive and still growing, even in wintertime.

Very interesting, eh?

Albeit, my 4 year old Chinese Fan Palm is still only 3 feet tall.

I live by Edwards AFB...it gets up to 115 in the summer for about 2 weeks, and down below freezing for about 2 months total in the winter. Normal winters are 50's in the day and 30's at night.

So I probably won't water at all, since we do get a little precip from Dec-March.