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Freeze Warning February 2011

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GermanStar



Joined: 17 Jun 2010
Posts: 117
Location: Fountain Hills, AZ

PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 1:49 pm    Post subject: Thank goodness Reply with quote

Damage pics


Frost Damage 007.jpg
 Description:
Agave sisalana damage speaks for itself. It's a wicked fast grower and should recover nicely before too long, assuming it's still alive.
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Agave sisalana damage speaks for itself. It's a wicked fast grower and should recover nicely before too long, assuming it's still alive.



Frost Damage 003.jpg
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This Cleistocactus just looks wrong, the short branch in front looks fine, the rest is toast

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Frost Damage 002.jpg
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Baseball Bat Cactus, 4 out of 5 are perfect, the guy on the far right is toast

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GermanStar



Joined: 17 Jun 2010
Posts: 117
Location: Fountain Hills, AZ

PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 1:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

More damage

There's more, but photos don't do it justice. Another large Agave has substantial damage, just enough to turn a beautiful plant ugly...



Frost Damage 011.jpg
 Description:
Agave angustifolia is my biggest problem. It's still going downhill, so I'm not yet sure of the extent of the damage. It's a fairly large plant and a slow grower.
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Agave angustifolia is my biggest problem. It's still going downhill, so I'm not yet sure of the extent of the damage. It's a fairly large plant and a slow grower.



Frost Damage 008.jpg
 Description:
Agave attenuata is looking bleak and rocking in the ground. Still, I think it's alive and can re-establish. It is also a very fast grower. I'm just not certain it's still alive...

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phoenixtropicals
Site Admin


Joined: 06 May 2008
Posts: 1207
Location: Mesa Arizona

PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 2:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't see any plant in your photos that looks dead for sure. Of course, it depends on the plant. Some plants will look ragged and the leaves will look patchy green and be like that still doing photosynthesis for months. Other plants, if they are discolored at all that part of the plant is not going to recover. Of course if something is going to take years before it even looks decent it might not be worth the wait.

In general my plants look a little more beaten than last time, and I have some that were fine last time, like my orchid tree, that pretty much lost all their leaves this time. Last time in January it got to 29° and this time it got to 28°. That one degree is a big difference for a lot of tropical plants. Oh well, nothing got killed outright or killed to the ground like 2007 so that is the silver lining. I think I had a lot more branches survive this time as well.

All your photos of agaves made me wonder how hardy century plants are. I've had one in my front yard for years and its never gotten damaged. Its a large powder blue one.
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GermanStar



Joined: 17 Jun 2010
Posts: 117
Location: Fountain Hills, AZ

PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 6:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A. americana is reported good down to 15°.

I think everything is still alive. The Cleistocactus branches are all dead except the short one, the small Baseball Bat Cactus on the right side is toast, I'll just toss it. Of the three Agaves, the big one is a slow grower and it's still looking worse everyday, so the jury is still out. The other two should come back fast as long their cores are OK. Then there is the Euphorbia, which is probably not worth saving any longer, and the Furcraea that got damaged so badly a month ago. I dug that up last weekend.

It may be more than just that one degree; remember the wind, which wasn't such a factor first go round.
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GermanStar



Joined: 17 Jun 2010
Posts: 117
Location: Fountain Hills, AZ

PostPosted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 2:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dug up the Euphorbia today, dug one Sansevieria trifasciata up and tossed it, another dwarf Sansevieria trifasciata was completely unfazed by either cold snap. The deal with Sansevierias as I understand it is, that despite the literature, most are Zone 9b, some even 9a (literature says all are Zone 11), except the common 4' tall snake plant, which shows frost damage before there's a even a frost. Mine started showing damage at about 36°. So I replaced mine with a wicked cool Sansevieria cylindrica.



Every single leaf of my Agave sisalana is severely damaged, but the core is perfect. The plant now needs to re-establish and start growing, I'll give it a month to show me some active growth. If it pans out, it should look OK by June. This commercial cultivar is the fastest grower of all Agaves, having been engineered as a cash fiber crop. My A. attenuata, another very fast grower, has apparently begun to re-establish, as it isn't rocking in the ground nearly so much as it was just a few days ago. It should crank out a new leaf within two weeks if it's OK.
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mullenium



Joined: 01 Apr 2010
Posts: 192

PostPosted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 9:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I never really got into agave's.. are you growing them just as ornamental? or do you plan to harvest them and make tequila? =)
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GermanStar



Joined: 17 Jun 2010
Posts: 117
Location: Fountain Hills, AZ

PostPosted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 11:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ornamentals, I'm a xeric kinda guy. I have nearly 40 different kinds of Agaves, but I don't have A. tequilana -- it's big, cold sensitive and sun sensitive, not the best combination for these parts. Very pretty plant though...

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