King Palms- cutting fronds

[ryangraham]

Should I be cutting off dying fronds from my king palms? Or should I let them fall off naturally! They're still pretty young about 7 feet tall.

[ryangraham]

As you can see in my image below I also have bent fronds that won't open. I was covering these palms with a frost blanket and some of the fronds bent. Should I cut these off?

[redant]

As you can see in my image below I also have bent fronds that won't open. I was covering these palms with a frost blanket and some of the fronds bent. Should I cut these off?

No, just leave them alone, see what happens when warmer weather arrives

[Walter John]

I take off old leaves sometimes, as long as they come off very easily, I wouldn't snip the the tops of the spears. once they open entirley you won't notice much, keep as much growing green matter as you can, good luck.

[KennyRE317]

I would sometimes cut some of the older fronds if it's leaning up hard against a wall or is blocking a pathway, as they get older they won't be much of an issue. I would also cut some of the older fronds if they're really browned out and gone but I won't pull off the leave base, those i'll let fall off on their own

[ryangraham]

Thanks so much!

[Walt]

Should I be cutting off dying fronds from my king palms? Or should I let them fall off naturally! They're still pretty young about 7 feet tall.

If the fronds are dying but not 100% dead, then it's best to leave the frond on (or just cut off what's totally dead and leave the rest that still has green in it). But once the frond is totally brown and dead, then you can cut it off at the base of the petiole, but leave the old crownshaft boot on unless it pulls off easily and does not tear green tissue trying to remove it. It may take a week or so before the boot finally falls off on it's own or you may have to help it. The main thing is not to tear the boot off if it's still not detached. Some boots become totally detached but remain on the palm, as the encircled boot is spring griping the trunk below.

Sometimes when fronds are cut off prematurely, but the boot (crownshaft base) is left on (because it was too green to detach, lest you damage green tissue ripping it off), it takes longer for it to finally fall off on its own because the leverage factor is gone, due to the removal of the long frond that acts as a lever.