Washingtonia Robusta concerns

[nldl 8485]

I have four palms in my backyard (Houston, TX) and i have recently noticed that the two outer palms appear a bit distressed. What I did notice in particular is that the 2 outer palms do not have any “spears” coming out the top.  I bought this house in 2012, palms included.  Other than trimming fronds a couple of years ago nothing else has been done to these palms since 2012. Any opinion would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you. Anthony 

 

 

 

[topwater]

Hard to tell from the pics if there is a problem, those look like typical Houston robustas to me, ours is not their favorite environment due to the non-stop humidity, especially when it’s cold.  I can’t really see the spear on Washies when they get that tall.  Maybe take another pic of the canopies of the palms you’re concerned about?  Sorry for the lack of help, maybe someone else will take a look. 

[Kris]

Dear Anthony,

Palm no.2 and no.5 looks it has some problem,This year did you experience floods and cyclone in your area ? If yes that palm needs time to stabilize.And pruning of old fronds would help washy experts to Identify as to whether the palm is going through some problem.BTW those who come to trim the dried fronds would give your more info of your palm,because of their experience and also they can climb close to the cause of problem.

Every rainy season in our w.filifera palm,all its old fronds turn yellow and brown and dry up.And in early summer or spring we cut those dropping dried leaves.What is baffling even the hottest summers does not turn those leaves brown but rain water does.

Till the first week of january its winter(our rainy season).But it has stopped raining past one week. Here is the visual of that palm:

Btw. Your palm is a w.robusta it can handle coastal humidity and wet feet during severe rains but cannot handle cold.Did your city experience cold wave.Since your palm no.5 i.e tall one in far right its new leaves are showing signs of burn.

Is your palm situated near the pool and by any chance did anyone water these palms using that water ? or watered it while cleaning the pool.And more close up stills of the crown area will help..

Love,

Kris.

[Kris]

Here is some more information of washies...

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[nldl 8485]

Thank you all for replying to my post.  Here are pictures of the palm that I most concerned about.  This is the palm on the far right in my original post. 

https://1drv.ms/f/s!AjCWtaaRFgUSgz1fUd9qVRRokXW7

And once again, thank you for checking taking the time.

Anthony

 

[PalmatierMeg]

I'm having trouble telling what is going on from your photos but your first close up does concern me. I also know your went through Hurricane Harvey. Did your area sustain a lot of wind damage? Flooding?

I have more questions than answers. Has this decline come on quickly? Is it proceeding quickly? Are fronds dying from oldest to youngest faster than new ones are produced? Do fronds die, i.e., turn yellow then brown all at once? Or does one side die while the other stays green?

[nldl 8485]

Although there was a tremendous amount of rain with Harvey, my area did not sustain any significant winds and/or flooding.  As for the decline, I really did not notice anything until a couple of weeks ago.when I happened to look up (they are quite tall) and saw that the outer two trees looked a bit different from the inner two (see original post).  I then proceeded to take a look from the street and that is when i really noticed that the canopies of the outer two appeared flat, i.e., lacking the spears coming out of the top.  As for other observations, I suppose I will need to pay special attention to the fronds in the coming days/weeks/months.  However, I have this strong urge that I need to do some quickly as I really do not want to lose it.  

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

The far right one isnt looking good and it surely hasnt been cold enough to damage it so my next question would have been flood related,  which you already commented on. A few of the closeups on your microsoft 365 pics are lacking a spear and another has a very tiny deformed newest frond. Based on the last two months of warm weather this is very troubling. You need to get an extension ladder up there to see what is going on for sure, or hire someone to come look at it. 

[nldl 8485]

Just a quick update:  I went ahead and hired a certified arborist to come out and check out my trees.  Upon his initial observation from the street, he thought it could be fusarium wilt due to the appearance of the canopy.  Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the browning of the leaves appeared to be starting at the leave tips indicating either malnutrition and/or cold weather.  However, he did rule out cold weather since we have had any sustained cold temperatures as of late.  He did mention that fusarium wilt does have a pattern whereby the fan leaves turn brown on the bottom followed by moving over to the top, this which he did not see any evidence.  Having said all that, he will be applying a ground injection treatment (Arborjet) for palms on Friday morning.  Anyone familiar with this treatment?

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Nope. But good to hear he doesn't think it fusarium wilt.  

[PalmatierMeg]

Fusarium wilt was what I was aiming at with my questions but I didn't want to just shoot from the hip and scare you half to death. I lost all my queen palms and my 40' Washy to this disease several years ago. Once it starts it is relentlessly fatal. I'm not familiar with this Arborjet treatment except for what I read on the internet just now. However, it is a preventative treatment only. If any or all of your palms have contracted wilt they are goners. Is this treatment guaranteed to work? I don't know. I do know you will probably have to re-treat your palms at whatever interval your arborist recommends. One vaccination won't permanently protect them. You have to decide how much you are willing to invest in saving them. I can say that hiring professionals to cut down and remove diseased remains is not cheap. And you can't replant more Washies. Sorry.

[nldl 8485]

As additional context, I did have a person come out last Friday and he ruled out fusarium wilt as well.  So, I am 2 for 2 ruling out wilt.  As far as upcoming treatment goes, it was explained to me that it will consist of nutrients (fertilizer) and solution to control insect and disease.  Although there is no guarantee, the arborist was optimistic that things should improve.  I will provide updates.

[PalmatierMeg]

Glad to hear this news. I don't know if you fertilized your palms previously but you might consider giving them a dose of good time release palm fertilizer with micro nutrients once or twice a year.