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How to avoid the winter yellowing?


Matt in OC

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Any tips on avoiding yellowing in winter? It’s been so cold and wet this winter that a lot of palms are getting that unattractive yellow hue. What do you do to mitigate this and when do you apply it?

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34 minutes ago, Matt in OC said:

Any tips on avoiding yellowing in winter? It’s been so cold and wet this winter that a lot of palms are getting that unattractive yellow hue. What do you do to mitigate this and when do you apply it?

For me some yellow more than others, some don’t yellow at all obviously (Brahea, Bismarckia etc). I fertilize in fall when temps are still warm to help but honestly I think it’s one of those things that just happen for me too. I then fertilize again when it warms up a bit back into the 70s/80s in spring and they green back up. 

Just my .02 cents. 

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I believe anywhere in winter palms start killing off older fronds due to a decrease in sunlight.  This causes yellowing especially in any older fronds.  This happens everywhere.   

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YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@tntropics - 60+ In-ground 7A palms - (Sabal) minor(7 large + 27 seedling size, 3 dwarf),  brazoria(1) , birmingham(4), etonia (1) louisiana(5), palmetto (1), riverside (1),  (Trachycarpus) fortunei(7), wagnerianus(1),  Rhapidophyllum hystrix(7),  15' Mule-Butia x Syagrus(1),  Blue Butia capitata(1) +Tons of tropical plants.  Recent Yearly Lows -1F, 12F, 11F, 18F, 16F, 3F, 3F, 6F, 3F, 1F, 16F, 17F, 6F, 8F

 

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2 hours ago, AZPalms said:

I fertilize in fall when temps are still warm to help but honestly I think it’s one of those things that just happen for me too. I then fertilize again when it warms up a bit back

Matt, I do the same as above.  One last late dose to keep things going in the autumn and then again right around the end of winter or beginning of spring.  Last year I jumped the gun a  little and fertilized with a time release after the late February warm spell which carried into early March.  Unfortunately I recall things cooled back down right after I did that.  Latest long term forecasts continue to call for this rain pattern in So Cal to continue along with the cooler than normal temps.  I suspect I'll end up waiting until mid to late March at least if this pattern continues.  I have seen a little more damage this winter than usual due to the persistent cool temps when the storms arrive followed by really cold (for here) early am temps when the clear skies return and offshore winds predominate.

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33.0782 North -117.305 West  at 72 feet elevation

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I’ve noticed this phenomenon on my palms as well. My Trachies and Butia will get a yellowish to dull tint on their leaves while my Rhapis and Sabals stay bright green. 

I’ve credited this to minimal sunlight and reduced photosynthesis during the winter season. 

Zone 8a/8b Greenville, NC 

Zone 9a/9b Bluffton, SC

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Coconuts tend to show this when ground temperatures get too cool for nutrient uptake.  Could warming up the soil help?

Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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4 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

Coconuts tend to show this when ground temperatures get too cool for nutrient uptake.  Could warming up the soil help?

I've noticed this on the Coconuts here since I moved here and wondered if it was due to lower temps, lower winter rainfall, reduced light, increased transpiration due to lower humidity, or a combination of two or more factors. The cocos start looking pretty haggard by this time of year. Lower fronds look burned on the windward side also.

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Just now, NOT A TA said:

I've noticed this on the Coconuts here since I moved here and wondered if it was due to lower temps, lower winter rainfall, reduced light, increased transpiration due to lower humidity, or a combination of two or more factors. The cocos start looking pretty haggard by this time of year. Lower fronds look burned on the windward side also.

I had an unintentional experiment that lead me to believe providing ground heat might help.  I have a lot of ferns growing under one of my coconut palms.  It seemed that is the coconut that looked the most haggard over the cool, but not cold, winter this year.  It hadn't pushed a spear all winter and some of the fronds were browning to the point where I was crossing my fingers that it didn't somehow contract an incurable disease.  I was out looking over my plants after seeing a thread with the deceased Newport Beach Coconut, and it occurred to me that the ground might not be getting hit with enough sun to warm it up for growth.  I marked the spear leaf with a permanent marker and cut the ferns away from the base.  After a week, the spear has pushed out an inch.  I'll have to nurse it back to optimal health at this point.

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Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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37 minutes ago, Matt in OC said:

Great comments so far. Would a water soluable chelates iron help? Paging @LJG!

Yep, it’s huge IMHO. Not cheap, but it really does help. I also use SulPoMag as I have DG and rains leach K and Mg pretty quick. 

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Len

Vista, CA (Zone 10a)

Shadowridge Area

"Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are."

-- Alfred Austin

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I feed heavily in mid to late October and even my marginal species are in full summer color despite long wet, chilly periods up here in Northern CA. Royals, Dypsis, Licuala, Pinanga, etc. have slowed/stopped growing but are otherwise very green. I use PalmGain.

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Jim in Los Altos, CA  SF Bay Area 37.34N- 122.13W- 190' above sea level

zone 10a/9b

sunset zone 16

300+ palms, 90+ species in the ground

Las Palmas Design

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Elegant Homes and Gardens

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Matt,

I am experiencing the same this year. My fertigation ended late October as usual but this cold wet weather pattern has taken it's toll on some plants this season.

When the warm weather pattern begins, I will start fertigation again, probably March.....at least I hope.

Here's to looking forward to warmer weather!

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Fed heavily in October and it has helped.  Will be feeding again in a month or so.  I know people who have started feeding already.  

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Huntington Beach, CA

USDA Zone 10a/10b

Sunset Zone 24

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I was just thinking about throwing out some Sul-po-mag just this weekend as I am seeing the lower leaves on my palms yellow or orange around the yard. I have a couple palms with yellow new leaves so a bit of the chleated iron will go to those as well.

Oakley, California

55 Miles E-NE of San Francisco, CA

Solid zone 9, I can expect at least one night in the mid to low twenties every year.

Hot, dry summers. Cold, wet winters.

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It seems like some palms yellow no matter what you do and any palm in the sun is more likely to yellow then the ones in the shade.  What I do is I only fertilize in winter.  I started this routine not because of some master genius plan, but because I only have drip irrigation and it became too much work to crawl around 1 acre on my hands and knees searching for every drip emitter to poke a hole and dump a handfull of fertilizer down - although that works really well if you have the time.  So, since my soil/mulch is bone dry for the entire warm growing season I just started throwing fertilizer down once we were in full swing of winter and I could expect some rain to wash it in.  I'm heavy on the ironite and the sul-po-mag, and occasionally I apply some palm fertilizer but my palms are big now so I really don't need them to grow fast, just to stay looking green.  I think it works pretty good.  Like I said, some palms you just can't help in winter no matter what you do.

48384596_10218963481776718_4176901591380525056_o.jpg

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Matt Bradford

"Manambe Lavaka"

Spring Valley, CA (8.5 miles inland from San Diego Bay)

10B on the hill (635 ft. elevation)

9B in the canyon (520 ft. elevation)

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1 hour ago, MattyB said:

It seems like some palms yellow no matter what you do and any palm in the sun is more likely to yellow then the ones in the shade.  What I do is I only fertilize in winter.  I started this routine not because of some master genius plan, but because I only have drip irrigation and it became too much work to crawl around 1 acre on my hands and knees searching for every drip emitter to poke a hole and dump a handfull of fertilizer down - although that works really well if you have the time.  So, since my soil/mulch is bone dry for the entire warm growing season I just started throwing fertilizer down once we were in full swing of winter and I could expect some rain to wash it in.  I'm heavy on the ironite and the sul-po-mag, and occasionally I apply some palm fertilizer but my palms are big now so I really don't need them to grow fast, just to stay looking green.  I think it works pretty good.  Like I said, some palms you just can't help in winter no matter what you do.

48384596_10218963481776718_4176901591380525056_o.jpg

Very nice! I also fertilize my palms during the winter. 

5 year high 42.2C/108F (07/06/2018)--5 year low 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)--Lowest recent/current winter: 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)

 

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I never fertilized my palms in the winter till this year. I figured using slow release and spreading over a larger area it would add nutrients everytime it rains. I was thinking about setting up fertigation eventually as well.

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It makes sense what MattyB is saying regarding winter fertiliser if you're on drip irrigation and winter is when it rains therefore dissolving the fert and making it plant soluble.

The yellowing is due to low soil temps preventing the roots from taking up necessary trace elements in winter. Most likely it's your most tropical stuff that yellows the most. My theory is pump the plants full of trace elements while the temps are up in spring summer and then they will only yellow marginally through the winter. A starved palm will always be the worst looking after winter.

I run mushroom style sprayers at ground level on my plants. I use a mix of pelletised  chicken manure, ionic trace elements, chemical fert, and grass clippings as mulch. The worms get into the grass clippings and chicken manure and my palms have never looked greener. I water my plants for 30min every 3 days through spring to autumn regardless of the weather and when needed during dry spells in winter. My base soil is a mainly peat with a bit of clay in places. I don't have any sand here.

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Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Take these images with a grain of salt. Lighting is slightly different, etc. Before images are from last week, after are from this morning. I fertilized about a week ago. I wouldn't draw anything conclusive, but there may be a slight greening up real quick. Thankfully weather should be warming up now!

Kentiopsis oliviformis

(Before)IMG_1335.thumb.jpg.b51b2a45dbe727469908d1f6eaa703e0.jpg

(After)IMG_1389.thumb.jpg.b3c471651afe64e5f16a56623850434b.jpg

 

Rhopalostylis

(Before) IMG_1311.thumb.jpg.de206b1783a62933d5683e67d9d06d7e.jpg

(After) IMG_1388.thumb.jpg.f9493429bb341b286b0d9eae7ee41fa8.jpg

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I bet after some warmer weather, you should see some definitive results.

As for me, my Palm Gain delivery is next week.

Hope we all get some green result by mid April.

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I put down more fertilizer last week to take advantage of the rain once again. I'm hoping it will help kick off the growing season and seeing warmer temperatures coming soon. I didn't use Palm Gain because I'm on a budget right now but I figure Vigero is better than nothing. I really want to set up fertigation one day since the results show. 

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On 2/16/2019 at 10:38 PM, Matt in OC said:

Great comments so far. Would a water soluable chelates iron help? Paging @LJG!

Do y’all mean this? Will this help get palms to a deep green?

802F9433-4FFE-46CD-B5DA-930EF6403554.png

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