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Might be a boron deficiency problem. Your Biz looks like its been in strong winds and low water conditions from the pic. If the spears that do have leaves ready to open are stunted in apparent leaf size, boron deficiency becomes more of suspect. Got an overall pic from further away? I do remember growing these in AZ, dang spears just seem to rise and wait for the monsoon season where humidity goes from 10-20% to 45-55% RH and they open in rapid succession a few weeks apart once the monsoon hits. If its been real dry and your water regimen short, it could also contribute to stunting of newest growth. The deformed petioles are a riddle, never saw those on any of my (4) bizzies in AZ, but mine never had a boron issue. I never saw a pest eat bismarckia leaves, the weevils go for the grow point first. I see hundreds of bizzies here in public landscaping along roads and highways, and sometimes they get bad boron deficiencies(1/50 palms). This year in our drought the crowns appear to be shrinking and in some cases bronzing. If the recent growth seems to have increasing ratio of petiole length to leaf length as a spear, I am suspecting micro nutrient uptake issues. DO you know soil pH or if the soil is highly calcareous. Soil pH significantly impacts boron (B) availability, with deficiencies most common in alkaline soils (pH > 7.5) and highly acidic, sandy soils. Boron becomes bound to iron/aluminum oxides or calcium in high pH soils, making it unavailable. Ideal pH for boron availability is generally 5.0–7.0 If your soil pH is over 7.5 I would add 10 lbs sulfur pellets and a few tablespoons of borax around the root zone. Bizzies are generally not susceptible to nutrient deficiencies, but boron is the one deficiency case I've seen over and over here in our sandy soils. I had alkaline soil(7.8-8pH) when I was in arizona, but I put down several hundred pounds of elemental sulfur pellets around palm root zones to deal with pH deficiencies of other palms. Sometimes you can have just a bad spot of high pH due to construction debris and the rest of the yard is not high pH so dont think because one spot is OK and another nearby Biz is affected that its not a pH/boron issue.

In Ventura California I have been seeing several Howea Foresteriana around the Industrial parks where my shop is . The Community Memorial Hospital has several mature Livistona Australis , large Howea Foresteriana , Chrysalidocarpus Lutescens, and beautiful Archontophoenix palms . Harry

Co incidentally nr 2 an expert inspected my declining Chamaedorea microspadix clamp and put me uproot a whole sucker, in order to check for nematodes, but it turned out finally Rhizoctonia.

Is the soil quite sandy Jonathan? It kind of looks a bit like nematode damage - it tends to cause very quick decline in all fronds leaving a bit of green in the spear. I quick way to check is to rip out the palm and check for nodules on the roots. Really just a bit of a wild stab in the dark and I’m not really experienced at all with soil pathogens. I would say though that I’d almost certainly rule out fertiliser burn. As Tyrone says, no way it’s going to do that much damage that quickly. Co incidentally my L fulva declined this summer. But much more slowly. I dug it out a couple of months ago and put it in a pot. I suspect in was in too deep shade and possibly drainage issue, but honestly the soil seemed ok when I dug it. Perhaps as a species they are a bit sensitive to various issues at this size (mine is a similar size to yours above).

🚀 Absolutely spot on for the speed of growth estimate! I was shocked when the nurseryman told me the 8 foot tall tree I had just bought was only 3 years old. "Stand back,and stay out of its way" 😄 Yikes! aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Chamaedoreas they never get dull and I don’t know what the clivia is doing flowering now, crazy warm weather!

You gotta try five in one it’s the go!

Iicualas are easy to grow, some climates they do better in containers then in the ground. There are so many licualas available in Australia. Bracteata, triphylla, ramsayi, spinosa, fordiana just a few tough ones for a cool climate. Oh I wish i could order from florabunda! Richard

Physokentia denisiimaurietiella aculeata A couple of good ones.

Physokentia denisiimaurietiella aculeata A couple of good ones.

Here we go again the last lot before winter, it’s just not worth the risk getting plants from a tropical climate, the plants just go into shock to much. So a couple of good ones this week. iguanura species broad leafgeonoma atrovirens gardenia resiniferaareca rabaulcalyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana and another Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana

We have several allelopathic trees in this area and kauri can form a nasty podzol layer which may be present in some parts of the garden as it was all forest not so long ago. Many palms thrive so it's a bit of a mystery.

No I don’t have that one, it’s surprisingly rare, either that or it doesn’t grow in the cool climate.

I just love gardening, even I get amazed at what I have created. Yep the good old eat sleep repeat work pattern, I get to drive tractor all day and do irrigation, it’s a fun job that I love to do, oh and yes the tractor has Bluetooth so it’s music all day for me. And then after work I get to come home to my garden and palms, and yes you guessed it plant more plants! Richard

It really is...I think I hugged the chunky monster for a photo opp, and maybe a couple more times when you weren't looking!

Yep, I suspect that's the case, weirdly it's not in a wet spot but on a pretty steep, well drained slope. Rooster Booster is my go-to fertiliser too...that's what the analysis table above is from. Good stuff!

I saw this a bit when I visited NZ on some Hedyscepe at Landsendt and up at Kerikeri. It also happened to the Hedyscepe at the botanic gardens here years ago but I put that down to too much sun and heat eventually wearing it down. Not sure that’s the issue for you. Howea are prone to leaning crown syndrome here but I can’t say I can remember seeing this kind of problem with them here.

Two very unique palm species. One the Calyptrogyne allenii @realarch (I know you like Calyptrogyne) that has been proven to be cool tolerant. And the other is a lovely little Geonoma and if they grow as beautiful as the atrovirens then iam sure they will take place in a prime spot in the garden. Iam looking forward to seeing both in the garden one day!

This is common in San Diego, where was this?

Im thinking of using arecas and the traveler palm combo. Its a bit risky given they’re firmly zone 10 and my zone was 9b until 2023. But I think it will look the best.

I have tried fertiliser with trace elements, Hydrogen Peroxide, topical fungicide and a heavy dose of Epsom salts (which is a good cure for similar problems in Parajubaea coccoides) but alas nothing works. The first photo is a plant that was in perfect condition six months ago but I knew it was just a matter of time before the misfiring spears would come. The second photo is where it is heading and likely remain between life and death for many years!

You can see the ones circled are just petioles!!

Yes it is pretty tall but from where I can see they don’t look eaten and the very highest one almost looks like the frond part is all fused together just have to wait to see what happens!!

That’s great news for you, nothing better than a retail outlet, I supply a local hardware store and a couple of local nurseries and it’s a great feeling seeing your plants in a retail outlet. Good luck and happy gardening!