4.5 months in a straw cocoon, opening the Dicksonia antarctica. Spring 2014

cordyman

4.5 months in a straw cocoon, opening the Dicksonia antarctica. Spring 2014

Post by cordyman »

Its that time of year, the grand cracking of the Dicksonia antarctica cocoon :shock: icon_cheers

4.5 months with no water, light, or airflow. This winter has been interesting due to the lack of any real cold, loads of rain, and some decent sun on the black bin bag surrounding the straw cage. I've had a temp sensor in the cage and on some days its hit 26*c in there icon_sunny

Will I find a rotten crown? bone dry cooked crown?

Lets find out icon_cheers icon_cheers icon_cheers





















This grand opening was overseen by shedcat ©

Image

Image

Image


wheely bin bag with holes pierced throughout...

Image


Haxnix draw string fleece bag

Image


Extremely dry straw at the top

Image



On getting near the crown the straw becomes very wet, with the same result i've had every year so far, a moist crown with a furry head full of knuckles! icon_salut

Image





Trex un-cokebottled

Image



Washy had simply had a fleece bag on it all winter and stuck under the large Trachycarpus for shelter, removed the severely wind damaged leaves

Image



shed Musa made it through in the straw cage


Image



West border Musa fine too, some serious girth on this one now

Image

Image

Image



A couple of small unprotected musa pups I planted came through unprotected thanks to the way winter panned out, with new rollers on the way

Image

Image



Finished off by hoovering up :lol:

Image
Last edited by cordyman on Sat Mar 29, 2014 6:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Springy

Re: 4.5 months in a straw cocoon, opening the Dicksonia anta

Post by Springy »

I preferred the original 'shed cat' pic :lol:

Everything is looking great!
That jubaea looks a cracker too! icon_sunny
kevineden

Re: 4.5 months in a straw cocoon, opening the Dicksonia anta

Post by kevineden »

bring on the feel good factor cordy icon_cheers
Deedee

Re: 4.5 months in a straw cocoon, opening the Dicksonia anta

Post by Deedee »

FAB FAB FAB icon_cheers
kata

Re: 4.5 months in a straw cocoon, opening the Dicksonia anta

Post by kata »

Brilliant Cordy,

icon_cheers
fern Rob

Re: 4.5 months in a straw cocoon, opening the Dicksonia anta

Post by fern Rob »

Great to see new croziers.
GoggleboxUK

Re: 4.5 months in a straw cocoon, opening the Dicksonia anta

Post by GoggleboxUK »

Nice to see how much effort I saved myself by not protecting anything this year :lol:

Good luck wiith your hernia op Cordy ;)
kata

Re: 4.5 months in a straw cocoon, opening the Dicksonia anta

Post by kata »

Nice to see how much effort I saved myself by not protecting anything this year
:lol: :lol: :lol:
User avatar
karl66
Posts: 2646
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 6:39 pm
Location: halesowen. west midlands

Re: 4.5 months in a straw cocoon, opening the Dicksonia anta

Post by karl66 »

Nice pic's m8 but so overboard for this winter in Manchester!! :lol:
User avatar
Dave Brown
Site Admin
Posts: 19742
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
Contact:

Re: 4.5 months in a straw cocoon, opening the Dicksonia anta

Post by Dave Brown »

Dicksonia antarctica looks ok after all that time wrapped :) but rather than cut the fronds off I would have bent them down so that they could be retained. I certainly think removal is unnecessary. None of mine have been covered at all last winter, are all in pristine condition, and the knuckles are ready to go :wink:
Attachments
2014-03-29 12-12-46 DA Delboy knuckles.jpg
Best regards
Dave
icon_thumright
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Panama Pete

Re: 4.5 months in a straw cocoon, opening the Dicksonia anta

Post by Panama Pete »

Your right there Dave, I wish I kept mine mine on. Different tactics from next winter.
Kristen

Re: 4.5 months in a straw cocoon, opening the Dicksonia anta

Post by Kristen »

Dave Brown wrote:None of mine have been covered at all last winter, are all in pristine condition
Mine were too until the frosts of last week :(

They were covered in fleece - might they have dried out too much under the fleece in the last few weeks - after rain all winter very little in the last few weeks, and I hadn't started watering the Dicksonia antarctica's as yet (I did yesterday though).

Should I be watering them from now one? earlier in the year even?
User avatar
karl66
Posts: 2646
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 6:39 pm
Location: halesowen. west midlands

Re: 4.5 months in a straw cocoon, opening the Dicksonia anta

Post by karl66 »

All my antartica's only had fleece ball protection & look similar although not as advanced as your pic Dave!, although your's has had a good few years more to establish...... can't remember if your's are 2010 survivor's or new ones?.
User avatar
Arlon Tishmarsh
Posts: 6957
Joined: Sun Feb 01, 2009 10:53 am
Location: Horizontal

Re: 4.5 months in a straw cocoon, opening the Dicksonia anta

Post by Arlon Tishmarsh »

Dave Brown wrote: but rather than cut the fronds off I would have bent them down so that they could be retained.
I tend to leave them on regardless of condition, as my thinking is that the weight of the fronds helps keep that crown open. So often i've seen crowns with a small, rounded over opening at the top.
Mowgley

Re: 4.5 months in a straw cocoon, opening the Dicksonia anta

Post by Mowgley »

Looking good icon_cheers .
Hopefully my dicksonia pulls through (brought half price from homebase with no roots) in winter sale.
Post Reply