Freeze Damage

[Fairview]

How long does it take for freeze damage to show up on Nolina and Dasylirion to show up. Have had a couple 11F nights, one more tonight. Highs during the days barely making it out of the teens. Will have 80+/- hours of freezing temps before its over tomorrow.

[Gee.S]

Not sure I've ever seen it. The Nolinas and Dasys we have around here seem indestructible -- except when a wildfire blows through...

[Paul S]

In my conditions it usually manifests itself in spring when growth tries to resume - the centre-most leaves pushing up from the middle are yellow-brown and detatch. Sometimesw a new growth point forms next to the old one, sometimes not - depending upon how bad the damage is. If the damage is really bad the older leaves can turn a darker green and show spotting once they have thawed out and the crown just eventually falls apart.

Unlike the more succulent plants like aloes, agaves etc that take on that candied peel/boiled spinach look as soon as they initially defrost, followed shortly by collapse.

[Gee.S]

In my conditions it usually manifests itself in spring when growth tries to resume - the centre-most leaves pushing up from the middle are yellow-brown and detatch. Sometimesw a new growth point forms next to the old one, sometimes not - depending upon how bad the damage is. If the damage is really bad the older leaves can turn a darker green and show spotting once they have thawed out and the crown just eventually falls apart.

Unlike the more succulent plants like aloes, agaves etc that take on that candied peel/boiled spinach look as soon as they initially defrost, followed shortly by collapse.

I've seen that, three times on the same plant. In my case, it has been from severe heat.

[Paul S]

In my conditions it usually manifests itself in spring when growth tries to resume - the centre-most leaves pushing up from the middle are yellow-brown and detatch. Sometimesw a new growth point forms next to the old one, sometimes not - depending upon how bad the damage is. If the damage is really bad the older leaves can turn a darker green and show spotting once they have thawed out and the crown just eventually falls apart.

Unlike the more succulent plants like aloes, agaves etc that take on that candied peel/boiled spinach look as soon as they initially defrost, followed shortly by collapse.

I've seen that, three times on the same plant. In my case, it has been from severe heat.

Yikes. I can't imagine that. I don't suppose either cause is good news!

[Tom in Tucson]

How long does it take for freeze damage to show up on Nolina and Dasylirion to show up. Have had a couple 11F nights, one more tonight. Highs during the days barely making it out of the teens. Will have 80+/- hours of freezing temps before its over tomorrow.

Like the other replies, I've never had any trouble with those 2 genera from cold damage. The closely related genus Beaucarnea will exhibit leaf damage within a matter of hours (below 20° F), or days if just a few degrees below 32° F.

[Fairview]

This is my first year/first winter with my xeric landscaping efforts. Couldn't find anything searching the forum. My anxiety has been lessened a lot.

I did decide to keep my N. greenie and hibernica on a sunny windowsill for the winter.

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[Meangreen94z]

As mentioned they’ll usually take damage to their core. Either dead growth will get pushed up and out, indicating the plant is still alive. Or the center leaf growth will collapse/detach, and once you pull it out the spongy center will either have mold forming or insects harvesting the rotting center.