Deep freeze in Deep South Texas

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marcat
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Joined: Sun Jan 14, 2007 10:11 pm
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Location: Seadrift, Texas

Re: Deep freeze in Deep South Texas

Post by marcat »

If it was showing it would have froze off. I am definately not use to this weather. Got the well recovered and have suplemental heat. Hope it works. Weather should break tomorrow.
MarCat
Thuja
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Location: Wisconsin, USA zone 4b;
1951: -37*F;
1996: -29*F;
2005: -10*F;
2006: -17*F;
2007: -17*F.

Re: Deep freeze in Deep South Texas

Post by Thuja »

Ya, that's gotta be hard when the big plants get damaged. Here's some love for Sugar Land!

Ironically, here we've so far had a pretty mild winter, with lots of snow. I actually may wind up with less winterkill than normal. Well, that is if I can get thru the rest of January and all of February without anything too nasty. :roll:
--Mike
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mantis
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Location: Houston, TX

Re: Deep freeze in Deep South Texas

Post by mantis »

All of my textilis (textilises?) are going to defoliate. Minor damage on Golden Goddess and Alphonse Karr. My emeiensis is crispy. Even the clone-x is looking ugly. The plant that has come through the best is D. minor 'Amoenus'. 8)
marcat
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Location: Seadrift, Texas

Re: Deep freeze in Deep South Texas

Post by marcat »

Mantis my Angle mist got burned about 50% in that first freeze but the surviving leaves went through this one fine. Weird.
MarCat
mantis
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Location: Houston, TX

Re: Deep freeze in Deep South Texas

Post by mantis »

According to the NOAA, as of Jan. 14th I have a 10% chance of staying above freezing for the rest of the winter. 50% date is Feb. 15th, and 90% is March 18th. Seeing how this winter has gone so far I better keep everything protected until mid-March.

http://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/climatenormals ... tes/TX.pdf

8)
marcat
Posts: 838
Joined: Sun Jan 14, 2007 10:11 pm
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Location: Seadrift, Texas

Re: Deep freeze in Deep South Texas

Post by marcat »

90% Mar 18 that must be when La Nina kicks back in...hot and dry again.
MarCat
mantis
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Location: Houston, TX

Re: Deep freeze in Deep South Texas

Post by mantis »

I just took a moon light stroll through the back yard. It is probably good there is nearly a new moon tonight, because from what I could make out it is ugly out there. Oldhamii 100% leaf drop. I have never heard of such a thing in Houston. It appears that my love of D. minor 'Amoenus' was premature, and it will also 100% defoliate.

I won't mince words: 18 degrees is an evil bitch for tropicals. 4 years of work getting wiped out in a day out-and-out sucks. I guess the bright spot is that this should be a 20 year event, and hopefully Mother Nature got it out of her system for another 2 decades. My #1 lesson? Never put any plant in the ground that you don't have in a pot in the greenhouse. There are a couple plants that I will buy again if they don't come back in the spring, but there are many more that I will won't try again.

To be continued...
AimlessRolling
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Re: Deep freeze in Deep South Texas

Post by AimlessRolling »

Looks like my D. Giganteus has severe leaf burn on about 15 plants around 2.5 years old located near Houston TX. I'll be really bummed if they die off......
AimlessRolling
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Re: Deep freeze in Deep South Texas

Post by AimlessRolling »

Here are some pics of the FREEZE damage to my D. Giganteus. What is the next step, should the brown/dry parts be mercifully pruned now or should I wait until I see new growth and prune dead material at that time? Looking at the plants there appears to be a definite "transition" from living to dead material.

The carnage of top kill:
Image

The green to brown transitions:
Image

More transitions:
Image

Anyone got experience and/or suggestions on what needs to be done and when to do it?

Thanks,
Aimless
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