Cold Weather

Phil Stager

Phil Stager

Esteemed Member
1,737
04/07/09
296
103
Sunny St. Pete, FL
Blichhh... 39F and windy this morning at the house; NWS reports 43F (reporting station is at Whitted Airport on waterfront); not too good for my narrow leaf varieties.
 
Should be a very short lived coldsnap.Got down to 58 here but down here the weather is forecast to get warmer starting today.
 
Phil Stager said:
Blichhh... 39F and windy this morning at the house; NWS reports 43F (reporting station is at Whitted Airport on waterfront); not too good for my narrow leaf varieties.
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Phil - 43F with no wind - you would have been fine. Just a few degrees less coupled with wind makes a world of difference. They kept dropping the forecast-ed lows for the last couple of days which had me concerned. Plus there were several models all over the place around with their forecasts. I never trust the temps from the forecasters with these arctic blasts. I use them as a guideline, then prepare for 5F lower to be safe.
 
Brrrrrrrr

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annafl said:
Very nice, Ron! Love the pinks. How cold has it gotten in your yard since you've lived there?
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Ana - May have hit the upper 30's F a few times over the last twenty years and once right around 32 F. Did not ever recall getting the dreaded frost. The garden temps have improved since the canopy developed. I do recall in the old pre-canopy days of amassing all my container plants up against the south wall several times and cranking up the fire place so the wall would radiate the heat. Plus I'd also park the truck with its warm engine and wind breaking capacity near young plants. Sometimes just a degree or two makes a huge difference. Wrapping palms in blankets and sheets was done once. The wind blew them off and the ensuing rain made a dirty mess. Pam forbid the use of our bed linens after that episode.

Since many plants are now large and mature, they are much more resistant to the cold. The density of plants in the yard also provides some additional cold protection. The crotons in the containers are my only worries. A containerized plant's soil can get much colder then one in the ground. Many people focus on leaf damage during the arctic fronts but forget about the roots because they don't see them. I've been extremely blessed with the weather here since 2010.

I got real cocky at one point planting 5 species of Seychelle palms and a Pigafetta. The 2010 winter cured my cockiness.
 
Been a real warm winter down this way,other than one night when we got down to 58.I have not been in the 50's for a month.In fact everything is flushing and the insects and scale think it is now spring (mosquitos everywhere)
 
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