RE: fleece and palms

Hi Edward,
to the best of my knowledge, the fleece we use only blocks a minimum of sunlight, perhaps 4%, (maybe a little more?), it is white and transparent like a veil. We don't use it thickly at all, only 1 layer  but for the most tender plants (Plumeria), that get two.
Light  requirement of palm trees are really variable and depend on their native habitat;  some grow in the understorey of tropical forests, and require half  or deep shade, some emerge above the canopy in that same environment and require a lot of light, the same goes for most of the  temperate palms, or the tropical ones that grow on the shores, not to mention the mangrove palms (full light) or the creeping ones ("rattan", Calamus: shade) etc....
:) I have been reading and researching a lot about palm trees recently, because we are building a new tropical palm house at the gardens La Mortella and we are in that lovely phase, when you dream about what to grow there.
As for Phoenix and Butia, both genuses require full light.  I think that the brown shade in the outer leaves of your plants is an effect of cold. I don't know how big they are, but consider that a mature Phoenix canariensis can get some cold, 0°c is not a problem. If this is the worst you get you could avoid the fleece and just close the outer leaves on the central shoot and tigh them with a rope., in other words protect the shoot (or cabbage,as we call it). Close them like a tulip bud.
Colder  and colder... last week's cold wave  was said to arrive from Siberia, we expect  another one tomorrow, from Groenland...one wonders, why don't they stay there? It snowed in Naples, the Vesuvius volcano was capped in white!
All the best,
Alessandra
 
 
 

Alessandra Vinciguerra
Superintendent of the Gardens
American Academy in Rome
Via Masina,5
00183 Roma Italy
Tel. 39-6-5846444

-----Original Message-----
From: Ekmarsf@aol.com [mailto:Ekmarsf@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2001 5:23 PM
To: A.Vinciguerra@aarome.org
Cc: medit-plants@ucdavis
Subject: fleece

Dear A,  On the matter of fleece, how thick do you wrap it? I think I may use it too thickly - 8 or 9 ply on palms like Canariensis or Butia Capitata. How important is light to palm leaves, I wonder? I notice that the new leaves in the centre of the plant are bright green as they should be in April when the fleece comes off and they presumably have been without light all winter. Outer leaves are often brown tinged, but this could just be cold affected.
Currently expecting minus 2 C tonight.
Edward Faridany
East Sussex, England
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