Sabal rosei Damage

[PlantDad]

I recently received a Sabal rosei. It has been acclimated to full sun and was doing great until I looked at it today. It appears to be spotting from cool wet exposure. I'm in Oregon zone 8b and last night we had the first significant rain since spring. The low last night was 57 degrees. I didn't expect spotting like this. Sabal rosei is not a sabal I'm very familiar. Does any one have any advice? Thanks

Edited September 20, 2021 by PlantDad

[D Palm]

Sabals do not like pots, the roots like to shoot down very fast.  Be very gentle with the roots also. I am not familiar with the species Rosei so I do not know if that is normal. 

[Chester B]

Where’d it come from?  If it were sent by mail it could be damage showing up from the stress of that. I’ve had it happen many times. 

[PlantDad]

3 minutes ago, Chester B said:

Where’d it come from?  If it were sent by mail it could be damage showing up from the stress of that. I’ve had it happen many times. 

It came from Florida. Looked great when I got. I remember. Maybe the stress of going from Florida to cool Oregon wet is causing a bit of damage. The damage on some of the fronds look just like the cool moisture spotting that Washingtonia filifera gets here in the winter. 

[PlantDad]

2 hours ago, D Palm said:

Sabals do not like pots, the roots like to shoot down very fast.  Be very gentle with the roots also. I am not familiar with the species Rosei so I do not know if that is normal. 

I know Sabals do better in the ground vs pots. I just keep mine in pots until I move into a permanent home

[tinman10101]

those look like older leaves therefore they were acclimated to weather from its original home. any deviation from weather from its original home will show damage.  i would be more worried if it was newer damaged leaves that have opened up since being in oregon.  

[PlantDad]

On 9/28/2021 at 1:36 PM, tinman10101 said:

those look like older leaves therefore they were acclimated to weather from its original home. any deviation from weather from its original home will show damage.  i would be more worried if it was newer damaged leaves that have opened up since being in oregon.  

Ok thank you. Yeah the new growth it is pushing is perfectly healthy 

[MarkbVet]

Banana Joe has one of these on Salt Spring Island in So. Canada, on the coast, lots of rain and some snow,  it's been in ground unprotected since the 1990's, and looks fine.  Grows really slowly for him, still not much taller than he is after all these years, due to inadequate heat where he's at-- but moisture ain't a problem!   This species tolerates drought well but supposedly can tolerate some flooding as well (at least for brief periods).   Cold tolerance might be a concern, but Banana Joe's history suggests the palm is hardy to 8a, which is good enough for western Oregon.    So your leaves changing so rapidly suggests that the older leaves weren't acclimated to our climate.   Hopefully new leaves correct that!   FYI you can find a TON of vids on youtube of banana Joe's S. rosei if you do a search on that species name.   :-)   This has been touted as one of the greenest Sabals, but Joe's definitely has a bluish tint, so there appears to be some color variation in this species. 

Edited April 4, 2022 by MarkbVet

[Sabal King]

I just planted a 3G Sabal Rosei in our South Side Sabal row this spring and thus far is growing nicely.  It's more compact than the others on Sabal Row so it's an interesting specimen.  We'll see how long term it fares here but it's rated zone 8a so I am hopeful.

Edited April 4, 2022 by tlow