Can Date Palms be damaged by power lines?

[Susie's Garden]

Only 2 date palms seem to be in decline, the only thing that is different about them is that they are under power lines.  Is it possible for them to be damaged by a power surge?  Any suggestions for treatment would be greatly appreciated.

[Mike Evans]

Negative.  The high voltage lines are the ones at the very top, away from your palms.  Looks like lethal bronzing.

http://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/palmbeachco/2018/01/20/lethal-bronzing-destructive-new-palm-disease/

[Johnny Palmseed]

You can probably thank the “landscapers” for that. They over trimmed them with the pencil point technique. That leaves the plant weakened and susceptible to insect damage. Also, they typically do not clean their equipment so any fungus that was on another plant is easily transferred.

[kinzyjr]

Agree with @Mike Evans that it looks like Lethal Bronzing.  If what has happened throughout central Florida is any indication, the others in the photo are probably marked for death as well. 

[dalmatiansoap]

Whatever it is, it's not caused by electricity. Power is "stupid" and leave the clear marks

[DoomsDave]

@Susie's Garden I concur with @dalmatiansoap, @kinzyjr and @Mike Evans, alas!

I have palms under the power lines, and, as long as they don't grow into them they're okay. If they do, the power company does a Sir Walter Raleigh on them (beheads them).

I'd replace them with something that won't croak. So sad to see!

[Jeff985]

@Susie's GardenLethal bronzing is a huge problem in our area. I live a little north of you along the bay. The bay area CIDPs have been hit especially hard. Almost all of them in Seabrook are dead or dying. It appears to have made it to the island recently. It spreads fast. There’s an arborist in Bacliff that will inoculate your other palms to prevent them from getting it. I think it’s $60/palm every three months. I’ve just started planting different types of palms that aren’t known to be susceptible to the disease. That does mean less cold hardy though. 

[necturus]

I lost a big one in Houston to this and have written about it on here before. Young CIDPs grow well here for many years, but when they reach that size they become more susceptible to this. And then they die. 

Be careful with the fronds! On two separate occasions I had thorns puncture shoes and lodge in my big toes. I never got one of the thorns out, and the other only came a week later, about 1 cm long. The pain was intense. 

[lzorrito]

Lethal bronzing is starting to appear here, on this side of the Atlantic, and attacking mainly W. robusta. A large scale x-pruning is taking place here. It seams that bugs that live and hide on W. robusta old leaves skirt are transmiting the fungus... The few  P. canariensis that survived Rhynchophorus ferrugineus atack in the last decade (+95% population decliene) seem safe...for now.

[DoomsDave]

@Susie's Garden if you want another big, bodacious palm to replace the CIDPs, you might want to consider a Butiagrus "Mule" which is a cross between a queen palm and a butea, "Jelly" palm.

They're big, grow fast and make a wide canopy. And, they're not thorny and they take the cold, and the wet. I'll bet some Palm Talkers have some in or near your 'hood.

 

[Jeff985]

11 minutes ago, DoomsDave said:

@Susie's Garden if you want another big, bodacious palm to replace the CIDPs, you might want to consider a Butiagrus "Mule" which is a cross between a queen palm and a butea, "Jelly" palm.

They're big, grow fast and make a wide canopy. And, they're not thorny and they take the cold, and the wet. I'll bet some Palm Talkers have some in or near your 'hood.

 

Since both queens and butias are being wiped out by LB I would think you’d have the same problem with a mule. I’d go with a royal. They’ve proven themselves in Galveston. A few died during our 30 year low a couple years ago but the majority survived it. A majesty would be another good choice but no place around here sells large ones and it’ll take forever for a 3 gallon to take the place of that CIDP. 

[-2 brian]

Not familiar with lethal bronzing but fusarium wilt on Phoenix canariensis is a big time killer of CIDP out here on the west coast. Has been for a long time. That along with cost Is one of the reasons they have fallen out of favor with developers out here.  Back when I was in the landscape construction industry if I remember correctly developers would figure they would lose 10 - 15% of the planted CIPD’s to it. I believe that dactyliferas are much less susceptible to fusarium besides being more cost effective; and where starting to be substituted for them more often. 

[lzorrito]

7 hours ago, -2 brian said:

I believe that dactyliferas are much less susceptible to fusarium besides being more cost effective; and where starting to be substituted for them more often. 

Exactly. Got some very old Phoenix dactylifera (+80 years old) nearby that never had any issue with lethal bronzing or fusarium. Note that all canariensis, even the ones just next to the dactyliferas are gone...due to LB, fusarium or R. ferrugineus...sad.

[necturus]

19 hours ago, Jeff985 said:

Since both queens and butias are being wiped out by LB I would think you’d have the same problem with a mule. I’d go with a royal. They’ve proven themselves in Galveston. A few died during our 30 year low a couple years ago but the majority survived it. A majesty would be another good choice but no place around here sells large ones and it’ll take forever for a 3 gallon to take the place of that CIDP. 

Have you seen any queens or butias dying from LB here? I can't say that I have. I keep hoping that this is a CIDP specific thing. I have seen some P. dactyliferas that look like they are suffering from the same disease, but it could be something else going on. I've read that fusarium wilt can be very species specific, so perhaps it's just a blight on CIDPs.

[Jeff985]

5 minutes ago, necturus said:

Have you seen any queens or butias dying from LB here? I can't say that I have. I keep hoping that this is a CIDP specific thing. I have seen some P. dactyliferas that look like they are suffering from the same disease, but it could be something else going on. I've read that fusarium wilt can be very species specific, so perhaps it's just a blight on CIDPs.

Yeah. Last summer queens in my area were dropping like flies. It really worried me since queens are pretty much the foundation of my landscape so I started planting more zone pushers that aren’t susceptible to it. I figured I could plant a royal that might freeze to death in 10 or 15 years or a queen that might die of LB in 3 months. I haven’t seen any queens showing symptoms in about 6 months or so, but now I’m seeing a lot of butias and Sabals showing symptoms and dying from it. By the fish market in Seabrook there’s a street lined with butias that are all dead from it. Along the water front in my neighborhood there are several Sabals showing symptoms. 

[Merlyn]

In areas of FL where LB has swept through and killed various Phoenix types, I haven't heard of it killing lots of Queens or Butia.  Have local Houston trees been tested and been proven to be killed by LB?  Fusarium kills Queens and Washies fast and the fronds typically die reddish.  The distinguishing feature is the one-sided frond death with Fusarium.  Having had a Queen suddenly die of Fusarium myself, I could see it being mistaken for LB.

[Jeff985]

31 minutes ago, Merlyn2220 said:

In areas of FL where LB has swept through and killed various Phoenix types, I haven't heard of it killing lots of Queens or Butia.  Have local Houston trees been tested and been proven to be killed by LB?  Fusarium kills Queens and Washies fast and the fronds typically die reddish.  The distinguishing feature is the one-sided frond death with Fusarium.  Having had a Queen suddenly die of Fusarium myself, I could see it being mistaken for LB.

Fusarium is a problem here too. I spoke with an arborist last year and he said both are a have been killing large numbers of palms in the area. SE Harris County is actually a quarantine zone for LB. Of the queens I’ve watched die they didn’t exhibit the one sided wilt associated with fusarium.