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more on my sickly coconut palm - BUGS??


MattyNativeSeed

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Hey guys.  If any of you have read the other thread, you'll know I'm racking my brain over what ails my coconut palm.  I go back and forth on lethal yellowing, ganoderma, or simple nutrient deficiency... and being a novice at this isn't helping! haha

So I heard a coconut fall today.  It was premature - not ripe - and showing signs of brown near the stem, which is a hallmark of LY.  But there are reasons I'm still unconvinced.  

But the main purpose of this post is that I also noticed bugs in the stem of the coconut. (photo 1) Do you guys know what bugs they are?  I googled common coconut pests and didn't see any.  Are they damaging the tree?  Are they the cause of my symptoms?  A picture is attached below (photo 1), and here is a video of them scurrying around when I flake off a part of the stem: www.matttilghman.com/20170622_124204.mp4

Thoughts??

___________

Ok so again, the main purpose of this post is the bugs.  Regarding the other diseases and symptoms, I've done what I can and am now in 'wait and see' mode.  But in case you'd like to follow along and chime in your opinion, here's my attempt at deciphering whether it has LY or not:

FOR: coconut dropped premature, with brown on stem :( (photo 2)

AGAINST: It doesn't look anywhere near as 'water soaked' as the ones in the literature for LY.  Almost more like it just happened to ripen around the stem first.  Of the coconuts still on the tree, many don't show any brown near the stem (photo 3)

AGAINST: Also the literature says with LY, they prematurely drop "most or all" of the coconuts.  This is the first drop in months.

FOR: my drooping fronds are a DEAD RINGER for photographs of LY in a dwarf malayan or maypan variety, which I THINK this is (though not sure)

AGAINST:  I've found a couple photographs online of severe K deficiency that look like this too.

FOR: I've read one symptom is 'fronds wilt prematurely and form a skirt around the trunk, and stay there several weeks before falling'.  EXACTLY what I see.  But maybe that's a symptom of nutrient deficiency too?  I've seen something similar in pictures of K deficiency, but never seen it described so exactly like my symptom.

AGAINST: Supposedly the main hallmark of LY is the PROGRESSION of these symptoms.  First: premature coconuts falling.  Second: inflorescence necrosis and inability to bear fruit.  Third: frond death and ultimately bud death.  In my case it was:  First: frond death.  Second: ONE premature coconut fall.  Still no inflorescence necrosis - still producing new coconuts (photo 4) (though not as many as most healthy trees... which could mean nutrient deficiency?).

AGAINST: supposedly approximately 3-5 months from symptom appearance to death.  I noticed some nutrient deficiency in photos from 9 months ago.  There is a photo of one frond "falling prematurely and hanging for several weeks" from six months ago, already longer than the supposed LY expectancy.  And still it produces new fruit.  (8 hanging fronds in the skirt now  though :( )

AGAINST: another nearby palm with a more clear-cut case of nutrient deficiency, I think.

Bonus photo 5: the whole crown... almost looks pseudo-healthy from a far, when you're not looking at the skirt!

For more pics check out the other thread: http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/53846-coconut-palm-ganoderma-potassium-deficiency-ly-nothing/

bugs1.jpg

coco1.jpg

coconuts2.jpg

coconuts.jpg

crown1.jpg

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You probably want to keep all the posts about this palms health all in one thread, for continuity purposes.  

 

I'm not sure what is going on with your palm, though my guess would be some kind of nutrient deficiency.   As for the bugs, well, I don't know what exactly they are. Perhaps bag some up and send them in to your Copperative Extension office for ID to find out what they are.  While some bugs can be pests that kill palms, they can also be a symptom of a larger problem and just taking advantage of dead or dying tissue.   Whatever they are they seem very small.   Def would get a positive ID on them and that will help answer some questions.    Please keep us up to date!   Good luck! 

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Thanks Ken, for the tips and for reading it all!  Great idea about the bugs, I just went to bag up the coconut.  Hopefully theres still enough bugs on it, I had tossed it aside.

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I too suspect that the insects are just taking advantage of the situation and are not your problem.  Have you fertilized yet?

So many species,

so little time.

Coconut Creek, Florida

Zone 10b (Zone 11 except for once evey 10 or 20 years)

Last Freeze: 2011,50 Miles North of Fairchilds

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Hi Jerry!  Thanks for responding.  I gave it the recommended does of Vigoro palm food about 1.5 weeks ago (people recommended Palm Gain but it wasnt at home depot when I went), as well as the recommended dose of the Southern AG nutritional spray liquid.  We'll see what it does!

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