Dead Dypsis

[swayland]

I went away for a week and came back to find one of my favorite palms, a small dypsis mirabilis bent over in half about midway up the trunk. I've attached a couple of pictures.

Any ideas on what is the cause? The only unusual thing that happened recently is that it did fall over and the lawn service got a couple of the fronds with a weed eater.

Dead Candy Cane.pdf

Trunk.pdf

Trunk Bend.pdf

[DoomsDave]

SAM!

OUCH! Helluva thing to come home to!

I've found that group of Dypsis to be hard to grow and keep happy. I've had the same result.

I think they like warmer more humid places than I can give them. I suspect yours might have gotten too dry. I suggest a sheltered, faux rain forest.

PalmtTalker Pando has a similar species in his garden; he might be able to offer insight for success.

[palmsnbananas]

Maybe someone knocked it over and broke the trunk?

[Kim]

I had 8 of these in my garden, and maybe 3 years after planting, one just up and died.  The cause was a mystery to me.  Yours looks like something went very wrong, whether lack of water or a pathogen in the plant, I don't know.

[swayland]

Thanks all for the advice.

The trunk definitely didn't break. It's shriveled in the middle. It almost looks desiccated which doesn't make sense as it was sitting next to 5 licualas which seem to be doing fine.

I guess I'll have to wait for the annual Palm Society sales and start over. It's a shame. I was a really good looking palm (until a week ago).

[Tracy]

 

1 hour ago, swayland said:

Trunk.pdf

1 hour ago, swayland said:

The only unusual thing that happened recently is that it did fall over and the lawn service got a couple of the fronds with a weed eater.

The trunk in the attached photo labeled "trunk" did not look healthy obviously.  Did the trunk look like this photo with the brown section prior to it falling over and the fronds getting hit with the weed eater?  If not, I suspect that there was more trauma during that fall than your lawn service individual was willing to acknowledge.  I have one of three of these still living.  I forced too much sun on two of mine, and one came into contact with a falling Archontophoenix cunninghamiana frond... tramatic for such a fragile palm.  That one lived on a little while, but I noticed similar browning which was symptomatic of rot... shortly thereafter the new spike rotted and it died.

[Brad Mondel]

Looks like a fungal infection such as Thielaviopsis trunk rot. 

 

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/m/#publication?id=pp143

[Pando]

1 hour ago, swayland said:

Thanks all for the advice.

The trunk definitely didn't break. It's shriveled in the middle. It almost looks desiccated which doesn't make sense as it was sitting next to 5 licualas which seem to be doing fine.

I guess I'll have to wait for the annual Palm Society sales and start over. It's a shame. I was a really good looking palm (until a week ago).

I have one growing here in the ground, about 3-4 feet tall. Last year I noticed it was getting soft at the growing point; it was wobbling and I could bend it at a 20 degree angle in any direction. Eventually it would have bent and snapped just like in your picture. From what I could tell, it didn't get enough water and the soil dried up.

I attached a wooden stake to the trunk with some Velcro strips, and it recovered nicely. It has pushed two new healthy leaves since winter.

[swayland]

Trunk did not have the brown section prior. It very well could have sustained more trauma than just falling over and having a couple of fronds chopped up.

If it is indeed a fungal infection, could it be contagious?

[Josh-O]

10 hours ago, Pando said:

I have one growing here in the ground, about 3-4 feet tall. Last year I noticed it was getting soft at the growing point; it was wobbling and I could bend it at a 20 degree angle in any direction. Eventually it would have bent and snapped just like in your picture. From what I could tell, it didn't get enough water and the soil dried up.

I attached a wooden stake to the trunk with some Velcro strips, and it recovered nicely. It has pushed two new healthy leaves since winter.

I like the velcro technique.

I may have to steal that Idea before you put a TM on it....