Thermocube versus Temperature Controller

[@JoseRamos-jn6ij]

Great info, so many techniques , with the thermal cube I use a temp sensor tranmits to receiver on my mantle so I can keep an eye on the temp inside the box , lets me know if the cube failed or not

[@newyorktropicalgarden9364]

When they work I love them. But when they don't you need to have a method to monitor. Your method definiely works.

[@vincenzecalzone8666]

Great video Tim. I'm obsessed with temps in my garden and allotment. My wife gets driven mad by me boring her to death with the current temperatures in the front amd back garden 😁. Allotment wise I have a Bluetooth link to my phone which records 10 min temps I upload when I'm up there so I can see what's going on whilst I'm away. I've also got a weather station up there checking 3 locations in the allotment grounds to work out the best microclimates to plant stuff. Can't help myself 😂

[@newyorktropicalgarden9364]

@@vincenzecalzone8666 we both should have been a meteorologist! I’m constantly checking the temperatures! 😀😀😀

[@vincenzecalzone8666]

@newyorktropicalgarden9364 🤣🤣

[@josephgranza6366]

Very informative! So, when it comes to windmills in a box, what is the risk or potential outcome of if the temperature gets above 55 degrees? Does this hurt the plant in the long run? Why is 55 the threshold? Or are windmills perfectly fine with warmer temperatures? Thanks!!

[@newyorktropicalgarden9364]

Great question. The only windmills (Trachycarpus) I use the box method on are small ones (under4 feet tall) and my one "mystery" Trachycarpus that I am not completely sure what variety it is. Trachycarpus can handle cold... you just want to have them protected when it starts getting below 20 F/ -6.7 C. For my all my big Trachycarpus Fortunei I use a Christmas Light, Frost Cloth PVC structure. I will be posting that soon, but there are pletny of videos on my channel from last year. In a box the goal is to keep it dormant. Palms basically go into dormancy below 55F/13 C. Once winter kicks in, this is not a problem... but with the new/weird weather patterns we have here in NY it can be really cold one day and warm the next. If you have one or two palms in a box, warm days are an excellent opportunity to open up one side or the top. When you have many palms this is not really an option, but I do it with my Chilean Wine Palm and my Mediterranean Fan palms constantly. I think your windmills will be fine on warm days not oppened up. But it is getting into the upper 70s/22 C and really sunny you might want to ventilate.

[@josephgranza6366]

@newyorktropicalgarden9364 ahh okay, understandable, so basically by letting the temperature in my boxes get above 55 at times it basically just means that they may not be dormant just yet, but it shouldn't "kill them" or hurt them really. I think I may need to unscrew more of those C9's that may be generating that heat. It's interesting that when my lights do turn on the temperature rises quickly and then when they go off the temperature falls quickly. I think I underestimated how warm it was actually going to get inside the boxes lol. Thanks Tim, and maybe next year (assuming my windmills make it through this winter) I'll look into the temperature controllers that you recommend. I'm gonna have to trust the thermocubes for now. I just bought a replacement one for one that is currently malfunctioning, so hopefully that works, but we are really running out of time. We are about to get some really wet weather here in NY this week and then we turn much colder by next week. Wishing you the best!

[@newyorktropicalgarden9364]

@@josephgranza6366 So one other good thing I learned from James Palms. You could run a string of lights separately that have just a few bulbs screwed in and on cool to cold days just keep it going so that it stays a more constant temp

[@josephgranza6366]

@@newyorktropicalgarden9364 hmm, yeah unfortunately similar to you, I hate NY winters, my grandparents are snowbirds, so I go to Florida and live/work down there until the weather is warm enough to come back here for the late Spring/Summer. And this is my first year having palms in the ground and then leaving. So currently I have until like 1st week of January to make sure everything runs smoothly while I'm gone and everything is basically automatic. I'm able to check temperature on my phone from anywhere so that shouldn't be an issue, and then the thermocube is hopefully going to do it's job all winter. Also thinking of installing a camera in my backyard just so I can see what's happening while I'm away and how much snow there is, etc. So yeah, I know that sounds very risky that I won't actually be here through winter, but I'm grateful I can leave during these depressing months lol. If they survive till next Spring I'll be very happy! But thanks so much for all the advice so far! This is definitely a learning experience more than anything, but definitely a rewarding one in the end hopefully depending on outcome lol. I'll keep ya updated!

[@newyorktropicalgarden9364]

@@josephgranza6366 I am jealous that you get to go to Florida!!!