Sylvester Palm not recuperating

[Montengro]

Hi,

About 6 months ago I had a sylvester palm transplanted into my front yard.  The entire process was mis-handled from delivery to the planting.  The Sylvester looked like it was not going to make it but about 3 months ago new fronds appeared. Only problem is that no more new fronds have appeared and the new fronds are not growing in length.  Fronds are the same length today as they were 3months ago. 

Perhaps vitamin/ mineral/ soil deficiency? And will Sylvester Palm recuperate into a healthy palm?  Any suggestions are appreciated. Thank you. 

[Kris]

Dear John,

It looks more like a palm which is stressed up due to transplant shock.Since its inner crown area looks green,this palm should make through.Provided you are not heading towards wet cold winters.

If the climate now is hot and dry.you could water the palm gently every alternate days.And never clean the crown area using a water hose.It can makes matters worse.

Phoenix and washies are pretty tough palms actually,lets wait and watch.And that means do not use fertz 3 to 4 months.Because some of its roots could be in a bad shape at the moment.So go slow.

Love,

Kris.

 

[Insomniac411]

Cut off all those dead fronds. Tree is definitely stressed. I revived one that looked just like it by cutting off all the dead fronds and placing a hose close to the crown and bungee cord it in place when watering so that the water trickles down the tree. Worked wonders and tree was reborn.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

It looks like it has the "leaning crown" syndrome common from lack of water. 

[Phoenikakias]

15 hours ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

It looks like it has the "leaning crown" syndrome common from lack of water. 

???????? In my place critically underwatered palms (Phoenix specimens included)  first shrink their foliage.

[Phoenikakias]

Instead a by a couple of instances when this problem has been fixed, I had provided supplemental boron. Interestingly this problem appears here only during the rainy winter time. Not that I maintain that this is the real cause in present case, but IF it is a boron deficiency, additional water just makes things worse... 

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

9 hours ago, Phoenikakias said:

???????? In my place critically underwatered palms (Phoenix specimens included)  first shrink their foliage.

I agree, the palm has browned out almost all of its foliage and kept only the inner foliage green, which is now leaning. Trachy, butia, dates, med fans all act the same here under sever drought. I dont understand what we're disagreeing about here.  When the last few remaining leaves are pointed 20degrees off verticle that is a major problem and boron deficiency doesnt cause that, and certainly not this fast after transplant. 

[Phoenikakias]

12 hours ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

I agree, the palm has browned out almost all of its foliage and kept only the inner foliage green, which is now leaning. Trachy, butia, dates, med fans all act the same here under sever drought. I dont understand what we're disagreeing about here.  When the last few remaining leaves are pointed 20degrees off verticle that is a major problem and boron deficiency doesnt cause that, and certainly not this fast after transplant. 

Not sure that we disagree. I have expressed only my big question, why a plant suffering from underwateriing to the point of crown bend, does not show also shrunken leaflets.  I admit that I can not observe latter in the posted pictures. Maybe its leaflets are actually shrunken but it is not apparent in the pictures, at least to my eyes.  Maybe further, shrinking process depends on existing air moisture, which, in my area with xerothermic summer, is low, while in Texas and Florida air is moister. Just expressing thoughts, not disagreeing necessarily.

[Montengro]

Hi All,

Thank you all for your input, here is some additional info: 

1. Lately (1-2 months) It's been raining almost every other day.  I'm not sure if this is considered enough water  

2.  Yes the crown is at an angle. Actually the new fronds coming out of the crown have stopped growing since month #3 of being transplanted  

3.  It was transplanted 6 months ago. 

4. So "No" to any kind of fertilizer, minerals, etc? 

5. Do you guys/ gals want me to upload more photos of the crown and/ or Sylvester at different angles? 

[hockey75]

Montengro, did your palm end up surviving? I am in the same boat as you once were.  Everything is looking like boron deficiency on my 3 Sylvester palms.
 

[kinzyjr]

@hockey75

Montenegro hasn't been on in 9 months at this point, but hopefully he'll check back in sometime with some results from the expert advice he received above. 

A few questions:

• When were the palms planted?
• How often do they receive supplemental water?
• What is their feeding/fertilizer schedule?
• Which fertilizer is used?
• Do you happen to know if Lethal Bronzing is active in your area?

Welcome to the forums!

[hockey75]

They were field grown palms, planted slightly higher than the soil level. I just recently added some compost to try to help amend the sandy soil.  

I have them on drip emitters 16 GPH every couple of days. (Weather has been kind of dry)

I just fed them for the second time since I planted them late last August.  The first feeding I used Jobes palm fertilizer and now I have the UF recommended 8-2-12-4 fertilizer.

I don’t know if lethal bronzing is active here.

I also just recently added some Borox to each tree.  3oz per 5 gallons of water.

 

 

 

[kinzyjr]

Sounds like the right recipe for success to me.  Usually, Phoenix genus transplant well if you get a decent root ball.  Your January low according to Wunderground was 22F, not low enough that I'd think a Phoenix sylvestris would have fungal issues.  Have they ever been in active growth (new spears opening)?

I asked about Lethal Bronzing because the first photograph look like one that died here next to the Polk Parkway.  It doesn't look like the spears want to open.  It doesn't look like there are any reported cases in Okaloosa County as of 2018.

Here is a link to a PDF regarding Lethal Bronzing: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pp163

At least for now, I'd continue your maintenance schedule.  It's probably warm enough now that you could pour a small amount of peroxide in the crown and check for fizzing to rule out most fungal issues.  If the palm doesn't begin active growth and continues to brown up, it's possible it will die.  If that is what continues to happen, I'd have them removed - especially if you have any palms on the list in that document at the link above.

If others have differing opinions, please chime in.

[hockey75]

Yes, but none of the new growth has yet to open, they appear to be stunted.  On one of the palms there has been no new growth at all.  Thanks for your help!

 

 

[hockey75]

Here are some updated photos taken this morning.  Thanks again for any and all input.

[PalmatierMeg]

@kinzyjr, are sylvesters suseptible to TPPD or fusarium wilt? I hope and pray I'm mistaken but the condition of that palm makes me uneasy.

[kinzyjr]

10 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

@kinzyjr, are sylvesters suseptible to TPPD or fusarium wilt? I hope and pray I'm mistaken but the condition of that palm makes me uneasy.

TPPD/Lethal Bronzing - Yes.  The UF/IFAS lists it as a susceptible palm to Lethal Bronzing as of 2018. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pp163

Fusiarium Wilt: I didn't find any documents online regarding a confirmed case on Phoenix sylvestris, but I did find a bunch on Phoenix canariensis that mentioned observations of this disease in Phoenix dactylifera and Phoenix reclinata.  Usually, if it can affect Phoenix dactylifera it can go after Phoenix sylvestris as well, but I haven't seen a confirmed naturally case.

http://idtools.org/id/palms/symptoms/factsheet.php?name=Fusarium+Wilt+of+Canary+Island+Date+Palm

https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/full/10.1094/PDIS-09-14-0897-PDN

https://www.jacksonville.com/article/20090627/LIFESTYLE/801232307

I've seen Phoenix sylvestris locally that died with exactly the same look as the ones posted by @hockey75.  Given the die off in the area due to TPPD/Lethal Bronzing, I'd have to say that is likely what has been killing them.  If it is Lethal Bronzing, that's another county to turn red on the map.

[Fusca]

47 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

TPPD/Lethal Bronzing - Yes.  The UF/IFAS lists it as a susceptible palm to Lethal Bronzing as of 2018. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pp163

Interesting - thanks for this info which contradicts what I was told at the nursery where I bought mine in 2018!  I asked about TPPD specifically.  I guess they hadn't seen the publication yet.

[JLM]

Hopefully thats not the case @hockey75 thats too close for comfort!

[hockey75]

Here is the photo when after I installed them back in August, such beautiful trees. I’m hoping that they can make a full recovery.

[Merlyn]

My reading on Fusarium 2 months ago was that Canariensis, Sylvestris, Reclinata, Dactylifera are all susceptible to Fusarium Oxysporum sp. Canariensis.  Roebellini seems to be immune from their testing.  They mentioned that the Phoenix species do not show the classic "1 sided death" or the extremely rapid death that you see in Queens and Washies.  Here's the complete research track if you want to read all about it, I might have misread some of the results:

https://reeis.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpages/0207036-fungal-diseases-of-ornamental-palms-in-florida.html

[DA_palm]

Hello all. Had this Sylvester planted three weeks ago. About a week ago friends on the bottom started browning. I cut them off, now have a second and third layer of fronds dying. 
it has rained a lot and I’ve watered. Any suggestions? 

[LawncareNut73]

Hey guys thanks for the add. I had a farm grown Sylvester planted about 6 months ago.  Just wondering if this looks ok or if it's underwateed,overwatered, needs fert etc. The weird bending on leaves and brown tips concern me. Thanks for your help!!

[LawncareNut73]

I meant 6 weeks not 6 months,my apologies

[Merlyn]

5 hours ago, LawncareNut73 said:

Hey guys thanks for the add. I had a farm grown Sylvester planted about 6 weeks ago.  Just wondering if this looks ok or if it's underwateed,overwatered, needs fert etc. The weird bending on leaves and brown tips concern me. Thanks for your help!!

Generally Sylvesters take a couple of months to root in and start growing after a transplant.  During that time you'll see premature browning on the tips of fronds, yellowing of leaves, etc.  The reason is that the palm is "eating" old fronds for nutrition to power new root growth.  It is also killing off excess fronds that the current set of roots can't support yet.  So don't cut off any new fronds until they are basically all brown.  As long as the browning is restricted to the oldest fronds then it's part of the normal transplant process.  If the new spear is brown or not growing, then that's a sign of a problem.  If you want to check on the new spear, get up there with a stepladder and mark the spear and nearby fronds horizontally with a black sharpie.  If the spear is steadily growing then you are probably fine.

Yours looks in pretty good shape overall for a recent transplant.  I'd give it a few gallons of extra water every couple of days, because it's still pretty hot here and isn't raining as much as normal.  I'd wait on fertilizing for another 2-3 weeks, then give it a dose of Osmocote or a timed-release "Palm Special" type fertilizer.  A recommended dose is about 1.5lb of 8-2-12 fertilizer for every 100sqft of palm canopy.  So if your palm is 10' in outer diameter then that's about 78sqft...so a little over 1lb of 8-2-12 would be a reasonable dose. 

[LawncareNut73]

Thank you for the advice Sir, much appreciated!

[FabricioBrazil]

Good afternoon everyone, I'm Brazilian and I recently had problems with palm tree transplants.
We planted in June and they are only now recovering.
I was very persistent, watering in the morning and afternoon approximately 300 LITERS (80 galoon) per palm.

They took a long time to show, I fertilized after 2 months and they started to improve little by little.

Sorry for my english, hope it helps our friends.

 

https://ibb.co/h1xbZ8x

 

 

 

 

[FabricioBrazil]

 

 

 

Edited November 25, 2021 by FabricioBrazil

[LawncareNut73]

That's a lot of water. I had a quite larger Sylvester installed in August (first pic) and this is it now (second pic). Its quite larger than yours as you can see. I watered about 30-40 gallons once a day for first month ,then same every other day 2nd month and now twice a week. I added liquid root growth ,sea kelp and humic acid for and didn't fertilize until 6 weeks. Now I use palm nutritional spray every couple weeks and have a good palm feet down (Palm Gain is the brand).  How soon did u fertilize? U don't want to promote growth until roots establish. Do you have a moisture meter? Those help alot. U don't want wet feet on these. I'd say u either over watered or fertilized too soon or too close to roots. u do have some new growth so that's good. I would definitely cut back on water and use a meter. twice a day that much for such a small tree is alot. Looks like you might have clay soil which isn't ideal for these trees as they need good drainage the reddish color makes me think it's clay which means the water isnt draining and your tree is actually suffocating in water without ability to uptake any.  Good luck bro!