"Scarred" Christmas Palm Crownshaft

[fernonvernon]

The Christmas Plam on the property I've been renting dropped/shed a pair of fronds in pretty quick succession (within a couple of weeks of each other).

The second dried-out quite rapidly, and dropped earlier today.

The new/underlying shaft's uniformly green except for this odd scar/tear down one section. 

At the risk of being a nuisance about this sort of thing (i.e. overreacting?)... I'd sincerely appreciate any feedback regarding what this could be/mean from someone whose had some experience w this palm variety. 

Thanks 

Edited February 17, 2018 by fernonvernon

[Jamesasb]

im no expert but it looks healthy to me

[Kim]

Is that discoloration or a crack? I can't tell from the photo...

[fernonvernon]

Figured I'd take another (better) pic sans flash.

Looks like the fabric/skin of the shaft's ripped/torn along that section. 

 

[Darold Petty]

This crack may have occurred due to a growing spadix  underneath, that will be revealed after more fronds have fallen.  Can you detect a bulge in the crownshaft elsewhere, perhaps on the opposite side from the photo perspective ? 

[fernonvernon]

 

There does seem to be a bit of "unevenness" (bulginess?) roundabout 90ish degrees from said crack. Not sure if this qualifies...

The palm'd been hinting at new growth (spear-wise) for a while, and up until a couple of days ago I was somewhat anxious re if/when the spear'd spread at all. Looks to be doing so now actually (not included in the above photo of course).

Am still a bit concerned seeing as how a third fronds beginning to brown now... wondering if anyone's seen this sort of thing before (3 fronds in roughly a month accompanied by new growth). I sort of realize the overall rattiness might have a lot to do with certain deffincies (have sought to remedy this by ordering some PalmGain) 

[Darold Petty]

Pardon me, but it seems that this palm has had a hard life, with insufficient water.  Compare the leafbase scars on the lower trunk (at the very bottom of the photo) to the ones near the crownshaft.  This reduced spacing is a sure sign of inadequate irrigation in a young palm.     Archontophoenix are thirsty palms.

  Palms will do this later in life regardless of water levels, I have a 32 year old Ceroxylon with now much-reduced intervals.

[Darold Petty]

My bad, is this palm an Adonidia merrilli ?  (not Archontophoenix)   Same advice, more water.

[fernonvernon]

I'd never really paid close attention to the spacing of scars (top-->bottom or bottom-->top).

Does seem to tell a/its tale.

The "state" of the house/garden when we began renting the place would suggest a side order or two of neglect. Not that it was bordering on abysmal, but it'd been unoccupied/under renovation for at least 4 months beforehand, and there's no telling how diligently things were being tended to in the garden.  

Thanks for pointing a couple of things out. Am somewhat hopeful I can salvage this palm, assuming the 100 degree summer I've been told to expect doesn't ransack the ragged thing (am rather amazed it's survived this long here) .

The guy at the nursery nearby did point out that this was a particularly old(ish) Xmas Palm, so I guess the intervals are to be sort of expected.

The more/closer I look at the scar-spacing the more I notice a semi-abrupt shift taking place somewhere along the way (assuming I'm not reading too much into the lines/in-between). Perhaps there's some intersection between the interval/shift and when it was brought here/transplanted.

Will definitely heed the advice re-watering. 

Edited February 26, 2018 by fernonvernon