Re: Covering butia capitata/ jubea chilensis.
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:07 pm
karl, you often get small brown marks on the emerging spears in spring caused by frost and water but often you get worse damage from heavy protection. I remember trying to protect a Butia in the early years of my hobby and the wind and condensation wrecked the outer leaves, when it was left to its own devices it was just a few unsightly brown marks on the emerging spears in spring.
Most palms can take 40 or 50 frosts a year without too much problem, the key is knowing which frosts will do the damage.
Those are the severe ones , worst is when you have rain or melting snow in the day and at night its -8C or worse.
My advice is watch the weather forecasts , do nothing unless they forecast worse than -5C then get the protection out.
Most often you just need to throw fleece sheets over the top.
If they are talking about a severe arctic spell of sub zero day and night then you need to think about tieing up the leaves and putting more serious protection depending on duration and severity.
Most palms can take 40 or 50 frosts a year without too much problem, the key is knowing which frosts will do the damage.
Those are the severe ones , worst is when you have rain or melting snow in the day and at night its -8C or worse.
My advice is watch the weather forecasts , do nothing unless they forecast worse than -5C then get the protection out.
Most often you just need to throw fleece sheets over the top.
If they are talking about a severe arctic spell of sub zero day and night then you need to think about tieing up the leaves and putting more serious protection depending on duration and severity.