Wrapping a Treefern

Discussion in 'Tropical Gardening' started by WeeTam, Feb 2, 2019.

  1. WeeTam

    WeeTam Total Gardener

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    Time to properly wrap a treefern . This guy has been wrapped in numerous layers of fleece up til now with a ball of fleece in the crown.
    But last nights -5c was bound to have blackened the fronds and so it wss time to do the proper winter wrap before it gets any colder.
    Its time to roll out the straw. £3 a bale x2 to protect this 7 footer in a pot.

    IMG_20190131_152324385.jpg

    Wrap the trunk including the pot in chicken wire,green wire used here. IMG_20190131_152308305.jpg

    Start stuffing the straw in ,
    IMG_20190131_155333113_HDR.jpg

    The straw was upto c. 7 inchs deep in parts and the straw covering the crown was about a foot deep.
    Next a wrapping of thickish fleece was wrapped around the upper section followed by a bbq cover over the crown and a wrapping of ground sheet around the trunk to keep the worst ofvthe rain out.
    IMG_20190131_160625339_HDR.jpg
    I will be uncovering the crown in a few weeks to water it and remove any damp straw. I dont want the crown to become damaged due to rotting straw.
    This treefern will be fine now and safe from any sudden hard freeze. Touch wood.
     

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    • JWK

      JWK Gardener Staff Member

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      Good job @WeeTam - for this year I've set up a small soil warming cable wrapped around the top of the trunck and crown, then wrapped in fleece. It's set to come on at -1C I just hope it's having a positive effect. I've taken the fleece off a couple of times over winter when it rains, like you say getting too soggy is just as bad as freezing cold.
       
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        Last edited: Feb 2, 2019
      • WeeTam

        WeeTam Total Gardener

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        Cheers @JWK :blue thumb:

        I think i will try your soil warmers in the future . Was going to try it this year but it kind of went pear shaped. Ended up with the big guy left outside and the rest dragged inside into the garage.

        Ive got one of the 75w parasene cables and an inkbird to link it to. 75w on for 18 hours a day for a month is circa £6 so not a killer and worth it to save these now expensive beasties.:)
         
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        • Spruce

          Spruce Glad to be back .....

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          I use fleece all around the log good couple of layers then bubble wrap and then tie with string , I leave the top open and fill with old leaves and maybe bend the old fronds over if it gets colder ... been working well for me over the years and I take off each one in late March early April depending on the weather , and give the log a good water with seaweed feed ... Pack up all the wrap etc to reuse and its ready for early winter for next time

          Spruce
           
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          • JWK

            JWK Gardener Staff Member

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            This thread prompted me to put a max/min sensor in the crown of my tree fern.

            Last night was the coldest of the winter for me down to -7C. Within the crown (fitted with the heating cable) it varied between -2C to +7C. Looks like I need to set my Inkbird thermostat up a bit better as it doesn't need to be on when the temp gets above freezing.

            I agree with you @WeeTam , my cable is 35W and I think it only comes on for short periods so it wouldn't be 18 hours a day, maybe 1 or 2 at the most (in short bursts of 10 minutes a time). So your running cost figures could be significantly lower.

            Time will tell if this idea keeps my Tree Fern alive (I nearly lost it to the Beast from the East as I didn't have any fleece or protection on it last winter).
             
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            • WeeTam

              WeeTam Total Gardener

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              Im still getting Ptsd from loosing 6 5 footers in that 2010 winter. Gives me the shivers just thinking about it :gaah:

              Since then 6 x 3footers in the conservatory,4x 5 footers in the garage. The big fella is just too heavy and tall so still outdoors.

              Next year its the soil cable and straw and fleece for him. :fingers crossed:

              Still looking for any bargain treeferns to add to the group.
               
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