when to wrap my palms, yukka and tree ferns etc....

its getting noticeably colder at night here now, not below 7 at the moment, but frosts can happen anytime. is it worth wrapping my palms etc..... now?

the 2 tree ferns are still pushing up new knuckles!! i have fleece at the ready, and i'm popping to get some rolls of bubble wrap for my pots tonight.

i dont want to risk losing anything, so all advice welcome.

thanks guys and gals,

Al.

 

The less time they are wrapped the better. Leave it as late as possible. If you are shift working etc. then you may have to do it "when convenient", but if you have all the materials ready and could do it when frost is forecast then I think that would be better. I am watching the 5-day forecast and waiting for the time to come ...

 

you got more chance of killing them by wrapping the plant now , some of them can take cold very easy , but no dump.......what ever you do, try to do it when it`s dry and the less the bubble wrap is touching the plant , the better.......try to build frame around the plants with bamboo and if they are in pot, lots of bubble wrap around the pot.
but wait for few light frost , let the plant get dormant.

 

My banana and cannas are still in full growth and one still flowering so I will be waiting until the last possible moment before moving them. I have though cleaned the greenhouse and 'bubble-wrapped' it ready. I also have some more bubble wrap, fleece and hessian sacks ready to wrap around pots.

We almost had a frost last night with the temperature dropping down to 1.9 degrees, there was some ice on the roof of the car so we're getting close (we've had several nights below 5 degrees). The forecast for the next 5 days though is cool by day but still no frost at night.....hopefully

 

It really depends on what the palms are.

I dont like using bubble wrap unless its well away from the foliage.

I find fleece is OK for a short frost but hard winter frost needs something with a bit more insulation.
Pot insulation, I hope, is a good couple of months away yet

 

Hi

If planted in open ground use a good couple of inches of bark chips on top of the soil helps protects the roots from frost etc

I leave my tree ferns till early December (but I am in South Wales) before I wrap them all up I use a very heavy fleece 1st which looks more like a blanket, then bubble wrap then a normal fleece on the outside tied top middle and bottom , then pack the top out with leaves etc and use what I have cut off (fronds) over the top, looks a bit crazy but not taking any risks any more with what happened two years ago. They all came through last years winter so will do the same again.


Spruce

 

Its strange, what actually feels very cold in October, is really mild in January.

So be wary, but dont over react.

 

Cheers guys!

I've got lots of fleece jackets for the tree ferns and the yukka. Went out today and bought loads of bubbley wrap for my pots that the big tree fern, yukka, chammy and cyathea are in. The ensettes, bananas, cannas are still growing strong, so they'll be ok, (I hope) for now.

Everything that can be moved close to the house will be moved there, as the nanas and ensettes are going in the shed and garage.

 

I`ve been read a lot about overwintering dicksonia , I agree with Spruce , apparently is more easy to kill the DA from dehydration then cold , do not cut the front the plant will look messy but will help to protect the plant and start the new frond next year .
Cover the crown with fern frond and leaves , let the trunk get wet by using fleece.
tree fern are strange they need alway water and dump, even in winter .

 

I noticed in Amsterdam and a few other places that they wrap Palms in reeds (like those reed blinds you get cheap but are totally see through). They stop wind damage and create a microclimate within the plant that lets the air circulate but a degree or so higher than around. Certainly does them no harm.

 

even the japanese are using a similar way , look at the cycad in Japan.

 

I have seen this done in Egypt as well , when newly planted total opposite to protect from the sun and wind.

Spruce