What Is Causing This Browning Of Leaves ??

[billt]

I don't know the type of Palm this is, or if it even is a palm. Or what is causing the browning of the leave tips. This happens more so in the hot weather. But this time it seems to be continuing into the cooler months. Is it too much water, or too little? Or do you think it is lacking nutrients? I'm not sure what the best type of fertilizer is for this type of plant. I see other plants like this one in similar condition. So any advice from anyone who is familiar with this type of plant, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Fusca]

51 minutes ago, billt said:

I don't know the type of Palm this is, or if it even is a palm. Or what is causing the browning of the leave tips. This happens more so in the hot weather. But this time it seems to be continuing into the cooler months. Is it too much water, or too little? Or do you think it is lacking nutrients? I'm not sure what the best type of fertilizer is for this type of plant. I see other plants like this one in similar condition. So any advice from anyone who is familiar with this type of plant, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

Hi Bill.  Not a palm but a cycad - Cycas revoluta.  I believe it is a nutrient issue.  I have one about that size that had yellow spots on the leaves last year.  Many others in my neighborhood had similar symptoms.  I read in the "Tropical Looking Plants - Other Than Palms" forum that it was due to insufficient manganese and I gave it some Palmgain fertilizer which seems to have taken care of the issue.  It did not change the effected leaves but the new flush of leaves looked healthy.

Jon

[billt]

Thank you Jon! Is "Palmgain" a common fertilizer that I can get at places like Lowe's or Home Depot? Or should I head for a local nursery?

[Fusca]

5 minutes ago, billt said:

Thank you Jon! Is "Palmgain" a common fertilizer that I can get at places like Lowe's or Home Depot? Or should I head for a local nursery?

It's usually available at Home Depot - it's what I use on my palms.  

[billt]

I just picked up some and put it down. We'll see what happens.

[oasis371]

It's a cycad from southeast Asia that has monsoonal climate with 70-80  plus inches of rain a year..., mostly in the Summer, and coolish Winters and otherwise, HUMID conditions., but rarely over 95 F. in high Summer. There have got to be cycads more appropriate for Arizona, I know this is THE most common cycad available in the USA, but still.

Edited November 22, 2021 by oasis371

[billt]

21 minutes ago, oasis371 said:

It's a cycad from southeast Asia that has monsoonal climate with 70-80  plus inches of rain a year..., mostly in the Summer, and coolish Winters and otherwise, HUMID conditions., but rarely over 95 F. in high Summer. There have got to be cycads more appropriate for Arizona, I know this is THE most common cycad available in the USA, but still.

Well that's good to know. At least I know that I'm not over watering it. I hit it with some fertilizer today. And I'll keep pouring on the water.

[sonoranfans]

I think its heat and full AZ sun.  What is the watering regimen?  How often do you water?  How many drippers how many GPH?

[billt]

1 hour ago, sonoranfans said:

I think its heat and full AZ sun.  What is the watering regimen?  How often do you water?  How many drippers how many GPH?

I don't run drip. Out here there is too much calcium, and drippers just clog. I run bubblers to everything. This time of year they fire at 8:00 PM on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Usually for 6 minutes each station. Most are set wide open, and the ground is always moist the afternoon before the next firing.

In the dead of Summer I will increase the time to 10 minutes, and manually fire them on Saturday mornings as well. My big palm in front I also added an extra bubbler, and hand water daily, as it was not getting enough water. Now it's doing great.

[sonoranfans]

15 hours ago, billt said:

I don't run drip. Out here there is too much calcium, and drippers just clog. I run bubblers to everything. This time of year they fire at 8:00 PM on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Usually for 6 minutes each station. Most are set wide open, and the ground is always moist the afternoon before the next firing.

In the dead of Summer I will increase the time to 10 minutes, and manually fire them on Saturday mornings as well. My big palm in front I also added an extra bubbler, and hand water daily, as it was not getting enough water. Now it's doing great.

Sounds like you have very hard water, I ran 2 gal drippers in my house in gilbert AZ for 6 years, needed to replace maybe 20% of them during that time. Problem with bubblers in the heat is much more in evaporative losses.  That cycad doesn't need deep watering so I expect bubblers for 6 mins is ok.  But you should generate wet soil to about 18" depth.  I always tested that, wetting depth, with my irrigation setup in AZ.  As long are you are getting good wetting in the hottest time its working.  I used to run (3-4) 2gpr drippers for 5 hours for the big palms that I wanted deep roots on.  So 30-40 gallons for a big palm, though some can be close together and share drippers.  With all the calcium in your soil, I would put down sulfur as excessive calcium can limit Mg, K uptake.