Why is my Sabal mexicana dying?

[jfrye01@live.com]

Here's some pics of my Sabal mexicana...it's been on the front porch in its pot until I can find a place to plant it. Unfortunately, some of the fronds are drying up and dying. It has 4 fronds, 1 of which is completely brown now, and the other three are beginning to turn brown. It's well watered, but not too often. I'm confused. It hasn't been exposed to cold or anything...anyone know what's up?

[Jimbean]

man you kill all sorts of palms

[jfrye01@live.com]

True story:/ Only ones that are still healthy are my Trachies, Sabal minors, and one of my Washies...Which I guess is the majority;)

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Check the rootball, you may think it's getting water but you might have a dried up rootball.

[smithgn]

That's one thing I've never understood and I think I lost one of my windmill palms to... How can the root ball not be getting any water? Especially if its in a container like jfrye's. My windmill was in ground and had a little bit of run off; the water would want to slide towards the far side of my windmill rather than pool up and eventually soak in the soil. But being in a container and not getting water makes me scratch my head. Maybe it has to do with the soil?

Edited April 23, 2014 by smithgn

[palmislandRandy]

Some soils, especially peat based potting soil is very difficult to re-wet after drying out. It has a tendency to repel water when completely dry. Try sitting the whole pot in a bucket of water.

-Randy

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

What Randy says is spot on. I've had this happen with many potted plants, not just palms. The pot dries out too much, and then it's very difficult to re-wet. The water just runs down the side of the pot and/or through all the air gaps in the soil. Peat is often used in potting mixes because it's cheap, but it's the worst potting medium because once it dries, you literally have to soak the pot in a bucket for at least a couple of hours. It's the worst of both worlds, because not only does it dry out, but when it's wet, it's so wet that it can cause root rot.

[Xerarch]

I've seen this dry rootball even when you water trick before, it also happens with heavy clay soils, if the water finds a pathway down the side of the pot it will drain all the way out and never penetrate anywhere where it's needed. I killed a med palm like that once, watered it all the time and it died of thirst.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

I forgot to mention one more issue, and that is soil shrinkage. Peat shrinks considerably as it dries out, thereby increasing the gap between the side of the pot and the soil. So dry peat is double trouble. All soils except heavy sand/clay mixes tend to do this but peat is by far the worst offender.

What I've done to mitigate this issue is to use a heavier mix of sandy loam/clay at the bottom of pots and use the lighter mix on top. The bottom is less prone to drying out and also prevents rapid run off. If the pot ever dries out too much, the bottom keeps the water on top sitting there for a short while and it's easier to re-hydrate.

I only do this on 5 gallon sizes and up because the smaller sizes need lighter mixes to encourage root growth.

[Jubaea]

One thing to do is to spend the time and really soak the pot good (water it 2-3 or more times with several minutes in between to allow the water to soak in), then pick the plant up and get a feel for how much the well watered plant weighs. This will allow you to judge how wet the rootball is and not guess from just looking at it. Another contributing factor could be lack of sun or light if it has been kept in a protected area with low light for a long period of time. Does the palm get much sun or light?

[jfrye01@live.com]

Good ideas, thanks for the info everyone! It appears that is exactly what's happening, the water is running down and out the drainage holes of the pot without soaking the rootball...

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Good ideas, thanks for the info everyone! It appears that is exactly what's happening, the water is running down and out the drainage holes of the pot without soaking the rootball...

This is a perfect example why you're better off starting with less palms to accommodate your learning curve. Before you jump on the palm hoarding bandwagon like the rest of us, you need to build a skill set for keeping them alive, especially in Kansas.

[smithgn]

Very, very interesting guys. Looks like you all have saved a palm from certain death! jFrye, let us know how your sabal does, I'm interested to see its recovery.

[Jubaea]

I would also recommend slowly building your collection and learning from hardier palms and cheaper palms first before tying anything tender or finicky. Having to move all your plants into the house or garage several times a year only to forget to do it once and losing your plant can be frustrating. One gal plants are much easier to move than 15 gal plants.

[SueH_AZ]

I've run into the dried out peat issue as well. It's usually when I buy things from the big-box stores who order a lot of stuff from out of state. Most of the local nurseries seem to understand that peat-based soils are especially bad in Arizona. They dry out way too quickly.

[jfrye01@live.com]

Good ideas, thanks for the info everyone! It appears that is exactly what's happening, the water is running down and out the drainage holes of the pot without soaking the rootball...

This is a perfect example why you're better off starting with less palms to accommodate your learning curve. Before you jump on the palm hoarding bandwagon like the rest of us, you need to build a skill set for keeping them alive, especially in Kansas.

Haha yes;) I was going to stop with the Trachy, Sabal minors, and Butia, but I came across this Sabal at a nursery in Dallas, and it was half off, so I thought, why not? I'm done now though:) Oh wait, I forgot about my Washies, which are growing like weeds, despite being exposed to a night of 19F about a month ago!

Thanks for the help everyone!

Edited April 24, 2014 by jfrye01@live.com

[jfrye01@live.com]

Got it out of the pot, ready to plant, it is VERY rootbound, and some of the bottom roots are very slimy, probably rotten...

[jfrye01@live.com]

Wow, back when I was younger and naive...this palm has done nothing but thrive since then! Here's a picture of the same palm yesterday...three years in the ground and going strong! 

 

[Kris]

Very Glad to see that it made it...

Love,

Kris.

 

[jfrye01@live.com]

10 hours ago, Kris said:

Very Glad to see that it made it...

Love,

Kris.

 

Thank you! And thanks to everyone else who helped me save it!

[ChrisA]

Wow!  Nice job on the rescue.  I bet you're happy you put it in the ground.  Great palm for Texas. :)

[jfrye01@live.com]

14 minutes ago, ChrisA said:

Wow!  Nice job on the rescue.  I bet you're happy you put it in the ground.  Great palm for Texas. :)

I'm so glad it's thriving, especially after the awful cold we had in December. It has done great, even way up here in Kansas!