Can Mule Palm get Fusarium like Syagrus?

[Sandy Loam]

As you know, Syagrus Romanzoffiana (queen palms) can fall into decline if they become infected with Fusarium Wilt. Yet, apparently, Butia Capitata (pindo palm) are resistant to Fusariium Wilt. When a Mule Palm hybrid is created from a Butia Capitata/Odorata and a Sygrus Romanzoffiana, does it retain the Fusarium resistance of the pindo palm or does it instead remain susceptible to Fusarium like a Syagrus Romanzoffiana? 

An expert opinion would be much appreciated, but I will welcome any speculative opinions as well.  I have had other palms on my property get Fusarium Wilt (phoenix canariensis), so this is a concern for me. 

Thank you. I will look forward to your responses.   

 

[PalmatierMeg]

I lost both my mule palms to wilt after losing all my queens to it. Last year I lost my Washy to wilt. I can't shake the feeling my other Syagrus are potentially doomed so I've  given up on the whole genus. Sorry to be the bearer of really bad news.

[Zeeth]

I, too, have seen mules die of Fusarium, even very old and established ones. 

[Eric in Orlando]

We recently lost a mature Syagrus botryphora to Fusarium wilt here at Leu Gardens.

[Sandy Loam]

Ok, thank you. I am glad to have the bad news now before I make another large tree purchase which would eventually be doomed.  Two of my CIDPs died of Fusarium Wilt and my neighbourhood has seen many dying palms over the past year.  All seem to be either Washingtonia or Canary Island Date Palms, but I have no doubt that a mule would not have been spared if the killer is indeed Fusarium.

 

Meg, your experience shows that the type of Fusarium which attacks Washingtonias is the same type which attacks Syagrus, presumably. I thought I had read somewhere that there was no crossover, but that is presumably incorrect.

[PalmatierMeg]

1 hour ago, Sandy Loam said:

Ok, thank you. I am glad to have the bad news now before I make another large tree purchase which would eventually be doomed.  Two of my CIDPs died of Fusarium Wilt and my neighbourhood has seen many dying palms over the past year.  All seem to be either Washingtonia or Canary Island Date Palms, but I have no doubt that a mule would not have been spared if the killer is indeed Fusarium.

 

Meg, your experience shows that the type of Fusarium which attacks Washingtonias is the same type which attacks Syagrus, presumably. I thought I had read somewhere that there was no crossover, but that is presumably incorrect.

More than a coincidence, I believe.

[ErikSJI]

Anyone have any information about a palm that has the wilt and after you remove it can you plant another palm in its place? Is it a wise decision? Do you need to treat the soil?

[PalmatierMeg]

2 hours ago, ErikSJI said:

Anyone have any information about a palm that has the wilt and after you remove it can you plant another palm in its place? Is it a wise decision? Do you need to treat the soil?

A couple years ago I planted a whole-leaf African oil palm, Elaeis guiniensis, next to the stump of one of my late queens. It is barreling along with no sign of wilt. I don't believe there is any safe, reliable way to treat the soil where wilt-affected queens grew.

[Sandy Loam]

Here is another piece of the puzzle that I have been trying to solve:  Whatever has been killing the palms in my neighbourhood is only attacking the Phoenix canariensis and the Washingtonia robusta.  All of the syagrus Romanzoffiana have been unharmed.  There are also other phoenix (robelleni) and they have been unharmed as well. Could it be Texas Phoenix Palm Decline (TPPD) instead? 

 

I know for sure that two of my Canary Island date palms had Fusarium Wilt because their fronds turned half green, half brown.  However, I suspect that they were already infected when they arrived from the nursery. I only had those inflected ones for a year before they started showing signs of Fusarium. Plus, the price was just too good to be true and I should have been suspicious when the nursery was suddenly having a fire sale on CIDP.

[PalmatierMeg]

14 hours ago, Sandy Loam said:

Here is another piece of the puzzle that I have been trying to solve:  Whatever has been killing the palms in my neighbourhood is only attacking the Phoenix canariensis and the Washingtonia robusta.  All of the syagrus Romanzoffiana have been unharmed.  There are also other phoenix (robelleni) and they have been unharmed as well. Could it be Texas Phoenix Palm Decline (TPPD) instead? 

 

I know for sure that two of my Canary Island date palms had Fusarium Wilt because their fronds turned half green, half brown.  However, I suspect that they were already infected when they arrived from the nursery. I only had those inflected ones for a year before they started showing signs of Fusarium. Plus, the price was just too good to be true and I should have been suspicious when the nursery was suddenly having a fire sale on CIDP.

I believe those are two separate wilts that may overlap in some species, i.e. Washington. I've also read that TPPD also attacks Sabal palmetto. I don't know if it goes after Syagrus spp.

[Sandy Loam]

But TPPD (Texas Phoenix Palm Decline) does attack both Washingtonia Robusta and Phoenix Canariensis, doesn't it?  I am wondering if that is the culprit in my neighbourhood. The Washingtonias are suffering the most, not just around me, but all over Florida.

[PalmatierMeg]

CIDPs in Cape Coral are dying also as are Washies (way overplanted in commercial landscapes). Likely both wilts are at work. As Washies seem to be susceptible to both they may be dying at a faster rate. If the wilt kills off enough queens and Washies landscapers may opt for more climatically suitable palms. CIDPs are terrible choices in my humid climate. They are desert palms and always look ratty. Phoenix is not a favored genus for me but if I had to choose one it would be P. sylvestris, which grows well and is so much more elegant than a CIDP.

[Sandy Loam]

Interesting. Thanks Meg.

Ganoderma is another palm killer in Florida too, but I can't remember which palms it attacks.  I believe Ganoderma has to be present in the soil within a particular area for it to affect palms.  Yet, I suspect that the "Wilt" which is killing the Washingtonias is something airborne because untrimmed trees are getting it.   It can't be ganoderma if it is airborne (unless ganoderma can travel quickly through soils, beneath city streets, under concrete parking lots, etc.)

I agree about Phoenix Sylvestris, although I have seen a few of them dead recently too --- not very many though.

I guess the key is to exercise diversity in your palm landscaping, and be educated on avoiding the palms which are susceptible to disease in Florida (phoenix, Washingtonia, syagrus)

[JMBreland]

While I am not an expert in palm diseases, I have been of the understanding that Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. palmarum primarily affects queen and washingtonia palms and F. oxysporum f. sp. canariensis primarily affects CIDPs and occasionally other Phoenix spp.

Fusarium Wilt of Queen Palm and Mexican Fan Palm
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pp278
Fusarium Wilt of Canary Island Date Palm
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pp139

So, Meg is right, both wilts are at work. Washingtonia palms are susceptible only to the one specific to the species, not both.

Moreover, there's petiole blight to consider as well. Its progression is much slower than Fusarium wilt but the symptoms are similar. Longitudal half of the frond turn yellow or brown then the entire frond dies. I've lost a queen palm to what I thought was Fusarium wilt but the progression wasn't fast like I would expect with Fusarium. So I submitted a sample to UF for testing. My gut was right, it wasn't Fusarium, it was petiole blight but this alone rarely kills affected palms. It was the secondary pathogen Thielaviopsis bud rot that delivered the knockout punch.

Petiole (Rachis) Blight
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pp145
Thielaviopsis Trunk (or Bud) Rot
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pp143

As for TPPD, it has been observed only on Phoenix palms and Sabal palmetto, according to UF: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pp163. No mention of Washingtonia palms here.

[Sandy Loam]

Thanks JM.  You have summed it all up beautifully. See you some day at the Jax Zoo.

[JMBreland]

I've left the zoo to start my own garden design firm.