By
eevans
I have a large Mule that has been in the ground in its current location since 2016 (see https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/48668-moving-a-mule/).
It has been growing very quickly and robustly since then, with no indications of any problems that I have seen. Yesterday I noticed that the newest leaf spear emerging is completely dead and dry (see picture). The next-oldest leaf to its right appears OK as far as I can tell, though it has not fully emerged yet.
This is obviously not from cold damage, given that it is now October and we did not even have a real freeze last winter. Our early summer was slightly rainier than usual, but nothing extreme.
I'm a little depressed about this, since it has been doing so well for the past 4 years. I previously had a large Pindo in the same spot for almost 20 years. That one died after initially showing a similar symptom - the newest leaves all emerged dead. Eventually the whole palm died from the youngest to the oldest leaves, and the trunk decayed into a foul-smelling wet mess.
I'm completely stumped about what might have caused this, and whether there is anything I could or should do to save the palm at this point.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.