Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
jrich_gw

foxtail and 1st freeze

jrich
17 years ago

I planted two foxtail palms, live in south louisiana and we just experienced our first freeze. about 30 degress. the leaves are brown. Will the trees survive?

Comments (9)

  • birdinthepalm
    17 years ago

    If the "meristem" or crown hasn't frozen , most likely , though they may take some time with many damaged fronds.

  • topher2006
    17 years ago

    POUR SOME PEROXIDE ON THE CROWN TO PREVENT ROT AND THEY SHOULD COME BACK IN WARM WEATHER : )

  • houstonpat
    17 years ago

    It is common practice to start fertilizing with epsom salts in the fall, the theroy is that it adds a couple degrees of cold hardiness.

  • bahia
    17 years ago

    I wouldn't bet on Wodyetia being a good longterm palm for your conditions, and I suggest that it is pointless to try and grow this as a landscape palm in southern Louisiana. Better to keep it in a pot, and move it indoors when conditions drop below freezing. I think this palm is only rated as hardy down to 27 or 28F at the lowest, and will almost always burn foliage starting at 31F.

  • aroideana
    17 years ago

    kiss them goodbye

  • houstonpat
    17 years ago

    Not so fast!
    My foxtail palm is doing fine with no active protection in Houston zone 9a. I have it planted on the SE side of the house in the flower bed. It is about 12-15 ft tall. This micro climate gets the first sun on frosty mornings and gets a little radiant warmth from the house about 32" away. starting in late summer I water all my frost sensitive plants with ag epsom salt. I conceed that this palm will eventually be killed by a very hard freeze. But in the meantime it makes good company for nearby papaya, plumeria, tree fern and other tropicals.

  • lchaim2000
    14 years ago

    I have a 15ft. foxtail in front of my house, which was damaged by the freeze here in Central Florida (what zone am I in?) during Jan. & Feb. The four tails on the tree are brown, but haven't fallen off...yet! The top layer of bark is about to peel off around the middle of the tree trunk. There is a long spear protruding out of the middle of the tree. I thought that trimming it might help the palm survive, but the community landscapers suggested I leave it alone. Please give me some advice on how to possibly save this tree. Thanks!

  • tropicalzone7
    14 years ago

    I would pull the spear up, not too hard, but a good tug. If its dead its going to fly out, and if its alive it will be firmly in place. I would cut off all the leaves that are completely brown and leave all the somewhat healthy leaves alone.
    As for your zone, its hard to determine because florida has so many microclimates so I will give you a breakdown on how central florida zones go. Orlando and tampa are both zone 10s and this freeze gave these towns zone 9b winter lows, but still very close to a zone 10 winter. Areas just outside of the city and suburbs of the city are probably zone 9b, but some areas may have had zone 9a winters because of the freeze. If you are by the ocean in central florida then you are probably a zone 10 if you are from tampa south or a zone 9b north of that point. If you go just a few miles from the coast you will be significantly colder during hard freezes, but if the wind isnt blowing and its very calm, the ocean might not do aw much to buffer temps as it could. Local lakes also keep small communities a little milder, maybe only a degree to 3 though its a big difference for plants.

    Im going to say you are probably somewhere around a zone 9b to 10a. Northern florida is a zone 9a and the panhandle is a 9a by the coast and an 8b away from the coast. South eastern florida is a zone 10b (even this past winter temps did not go below a 10b winter) and the everglades is a zone 10a as well as the west coast. The keys especially Key west and keys that far into the water, is a zone 11 which is techincally completely tropical.

    Good luck, hope that florida zone paragraph isnt confusing and I hope your foxtail lives. Also if the zone stuff I wrote is too confusing, you can find out you USDA zone by your zip code. Some websites arent as accurate and most do not take local microclimates into account but it will give you a general idea.