Fragle0611

[Fragle0611]

Hi All, adopted this Palm but now going brown, not done anything different, tried to research the variety to find out issue but with little success to be certain.Any advise greatfuly accepted.

[Grasswing]

Hello Sarah, welcome to Palmtalk!

It can be various reasons. How often do you water it? Could be from overwatering.

Regards

Ondra

[Fragle0611]

Hi

we watered it roughly every month, not changed the routine, It started to brown Dec time and gradually got worse, It has been green, healthy the years previous and I've done nothing different.

[Grasswing]

It is really hard to tell what is wrong, but I would still say it is a root problem. Palms generally tend to get overwatered during winter time from my experience.

The pot seems too big for a palm this size which makes the moisture management difficult, and if the soil mix isn't draining well, there could be excess water without you noticing it.

I would suggest to carefully pick up the palm from the pot and take a look at the roots. If they appear to be brown and very soft, then it is a rot. If there would be any healthy roots left (usually white) then transplant the palm into better draining substrate and smaller pot, if the roots allow to do so. But I am afraid it is too late.

Let me know how the roots look like and post the photo here!

Good luck.

[Fragle0611]

Thank you very much and will Do, if there are roots to save should I clip off the dead leaves before re-potting? 

[Grasswing]

Yes you can, they are dead anyway. If you find some rotten roots, cut them off too. You can also try treating the roots with diluted hydrogen peroxide if there really is some rot present.

[Ben in Norcal]

Best advice on this one is to get a new palm, I am afraid.  I think this one is dead...spear looks toast.

[Fragle0611]

Thanks for the reply, I am going to check roots first then go from there, fear you're right though! 

[Fragle0611]

On 5/28/2018, 3:22:08, Grasswing said:

It is really hard to tell what is wrong, but I would still say it is a root problem. Palms generally tend to get overwatered during winter time from my experience.

The pot seems too big for a palm this size which makes the moisture management difficult, and if the soil mix isn't draining well, there could be excess water without you noticing it.

I would suggest to carefully pick up the palm from the pot and take a look at the roots. If they appear to be brown and very soft, then it is a rot. If there would be any healthy roots left (usually white) then transplant the palm into better draining substrate and smaller pot, if the roots allow to do so. But I am afraid it is too late.

Let me know how the roots look like and post the photo here!

Good luck.

Hi again! 

Photo of roots, it' fair to say the soil around them was like clay very water logged but the roots I snipped were still white inside, light brown exterior????? 

[Grasswing]

The roots don't look that bad as I thought, but I would definitely place it in much more airy and water permeable substrate. But as Ben says, it might be too late. But better to try something than to write it off!  

[Howeadypsis]

That pot does have drainage holes right?

[Fragle0611]

It does but they were obviously not plenty enough, this has been remedied. 

[Grasswing]

4 minutes ago, Fragle0611 said:

It does but they were obviously not plenty enough, this has been remedied. 

How does the palm look like now?

 

[Fragle0611]

Much the same but no worse! Happier maybe lol.

[Grasswing]

14 hours ago, Fragle0611 said:

Much the same but no worse! Happier maybe lol.

What substrate did you use?

[Fragle0611]

Lexington multi, mixed with some perlite. Layer of garden soil on the top just a little.

[Grasswing]

4 hours ago, Fragle0611 said:

Lexington multi, mixed with some perlite. Layer of garden soil on the top just a little.

I am afraid that it is still too heavy, the package shows that the mix contains up to 70% of peat, which sediments to a rock hard substance with really low oxygen access to roots after few waterings and adding just a bit of perlite wont help much from my experience. I suggest increasing the inorganic component to at least 50% if not more (doesn't have to be just perlite, use pumice, LECA etc). Phoenix likes really good drainage. Don't change the substrate now again though, it would do more harm to disturb the roots again. Just for the next time  Keep us updated if it recovered!

 

[Fragle0611]

Thank you for all the  advice really appreciated! Will keep updated of progress ( if any) fingers crossed! I am an amateur sorry!