Declining Triangle Palm

[Justin]

It used to hold 6 rows of fronds, but is now down to about 3. All of my other triangles are doing well. There is no evidence of gopher damage, and the water has been the same as always. This is very odd. Is there a chance this is some sort of fungus or bacteria. Is there something I can/should put on the crown?

[Palmhut1]

It used to hold 6 rows of fronds, but is now down to about 3. All of my other triangles are doing well. There is no evidence of gopher damage, and the water has been the same as always. This is very odd. Is there a chance this is some sort of fungus or bacteria. Is there something I can/should put on the crown?

Pictures?

[malcthomas]

It used to hold 6 rows of fronds, but is now down to about 3. All of my other triangles are doing well. There is no evidence of gopher damage, and the water has been the same as always. This is very odd. Is there a chance this is some sort of fungus or bacteria. Is there something I can/should put on the crown?

Justin,

My oldest one has done the same...As mentioned previously, I have a problem with Phytopthora.. When this is in the crown it affects the emerging leaf first, progressing from centre out, ie the oldest leaves are the last to die off. In the case of my triangle, it is working in the opposite way...older leaves first..sound like yours?

Malcolm

[calyptrocalyx&licuala freck]

Hi Justin,

A Picture would be good to see, Esp to see if it is in fact Phytophthora we may

even be able to tell you what one, a few close shots of trunk,Crown

(any Fungi) as well.

Cheers Mikey.

[Justin]

Older leaves first, slowly working their way up. The emerging fronds look fine - they are just coming out way slower than the others are browning.

I'll try to get photos in the next couple of days.

[epicure3]

How old is it? How much trunk does it have?

[Justin]

Here's what it looked like last summer, when it was still healthy:

http://www.socaltropics.com/Home_Residence...04/IMG_2999.JPG

It has now lost about 2 or 3 of these rows of fronds.

[Justin]

Update on this - the triangle is still declining, and I cannot figure out what is going on. The other triangles all look fine (well, except for the one that died a year ago). Two of them are completely full (6-7 rows of fronds). This is quite perplexing, and given how majestic this tree was a couple years ago (it was my healthiest), this is quite depressing as well.

Any ideas?

[galveston1602]

Hmm,

honestly it looks like its very dry

of course, I think they like it that way, sorry I cant help....

[Davidl]

Not sure where you live but I would guess you need to drench the bud with copper and check the soil for contamination. Make sure it stays wet when warm and fertilize with a palm fertilizer with minors every two months when its hot or use a slow release fertilizer with minors.

[MattyB]

I'd drench the crown and soil with Hydrogen Peroxide and proceed with irrigation only about once every three weeks.

[Donald Sanders]

It used to hold 6 rows of fronds, but is now down to about 3. All of my other triangles are doing well. There is no evidence of gopher damage, and the water has been the same as always. This is very odd. Is there a chance this is some sort of fungus or bacteria. Is there something I can/should put on the crown?

I have observed the exact same situation here on the Big Island of Hawaii. Many dypsis dacari have this problem here. On my way to the biennial in Costa Rica, I spent a week in S. Florida and I saw the same declining there. I lost one that was 15 years old. I wish I had some words of wisdom. Good luck! Aloha, Don Sanders

[Matt in SD]

Justin,

Could there be a gopher getting at it from the bottom? I think that when old leaves die suddenly, this is usually a sign of root loss or root trauma. Some fungicide or peroxide in the crown won't hurt and might prevent a secondary infection, but if the new leaves look good and the spear is solid, you've got a root issue most likely.

I think when decaryi are dead, they show it quickly. At our place in Hawaii, there were rows of these on both sides of the drive. They're not my favorite palm in the first place and they do better in San Diego than Hawaii so when the truck came with 26 yards of soil to dump and the triangles were in the way of where I wanted the soil to go, I said "don't worry about the palms". He ran straight over a ~5 foot tall one, but it popped back up when he left and I propped it up with a rock since it still had some good roots in the ground and actually looked perfectly fine. I was sort of curious whether these were capable of surviving the equivalent of a direct stomp from a brontosaurus. The spear pulled within 24 hours and it was total mush inside. This doesn't really have much to do with your palm other than I think if it were beyond hope, you'd know it. And it's late and seems sort of funny.

Seriously though, I would check for gophers.

Matt

[MattyB]

Loved the Brontosaurus reference Matt!

Just fyi, I've planted out 2 leaf seedlings in full blazing sun in the dry rocky hillside along the road here. I go carry a bucket of water to them once every 2 weeks and fill the tiny reservoir I built around them. They are dry loving palms! (that's the opposite of water loving)

[Justin]

Mine are at the top of a hill too, and I think they like that. They also like me keeping groundcover away (so that the top of the soil stays dry).

[MattyB]

Bob Weas (Palmgrover) had a monster of a triangle die on him too. I don't know if he ever figured out why but it may be worth PMing him.

[CromulentKevin]

I had a triangle palm die on me after being blown over by the wind before it was established. I have one right now and it is surrounded by plants that need somewhat frequent watering, so it often gets irrigated more than once per week and gets pretty blasted with water. I've been meaning to try to do my best to have water not hit it, but it's pretty impossible with my setup. I have regular broad coverage sprinklers, not drip lines, so I don't have precise control. And adding drip heads only in some locations doesn't make much sense because their waterflow is so much less than sprinklers and thus they require more time to be on. So unless I replaced an entire zone with drop lines, it pretty much is a no go. It isn't dead yet, but it doesn't look super healthy either. I pulled back the mulch from it in the hopes to help it dry out quicker, but I don't exactly have high hopes for this unless I reduce the irrigation somehow. But we'll see.

[DoomsDave]

Boy.

Whoo-ee.

I can understand your frustration.

In pots, decaryi simply ROCK. They tolerate nasty dry conditions. Pure sand soil, all of that, and still thrive.

In my clay, they DIE. Poof!

I've killed about 10 of them, but on the other hand, three on a slope are doing okay. And, Louis Hooper and one of my around-the-corner neighbors have nice ones, too. So they will grow here.

Hmm. Food for thought . . . .

[paulgila]

palmgrovers d.decaryi had a "twisting leaf" problem.

[Tala]

Hard to say without seeing it or knowing some history but the OP's problem sounds like root rot; dig around and try to find some roots, run your fingertips down them; if the outside of the root sloughs off thats it. Google fungicide brand names Subdue (my choice) or Alliette, both will resolve this for now. Chances are your growing conditions may be the instigator. Palms planted too deep and palms in soggy (cold) soils suffer this. The decaryi palms prefer to be on the dry side esp. during non growing months. Act fast or it is dead...

[Tampa Scott]

My Triangle palm also is in decline. All the leaves on the south side of palm folded down on the trunk. Now the east side has started folding down. The palm is pushing two new spears, but it has aborted its inflorescences.

[Mark Heath]

I had the same problem w/ mine as well, but w/ a happy ending! I drenched the soil w/ Subdue. It's a fungicide and it kicks butt!!! But, you have to catch it in time before it's too late. The palm in question is now thriving again, but it took two years for it to fully recover!

[Justin]

Drenched with Subdue Maxx this morning - here goes nothing.

[_Keith]

Good luck, and keep us posted on the progress one way or the other. I haven't commented before, but have been watching this thread with great interest.

Keith

[Tampa Scott]

My declining Triangle Palm update. Leaves continue to fold down, only newest opened leaf and spear remain upright. IF I take my thumb and press on trunk, the trunk pushes inward about 1/2 inch. This soft area of the trunk starts about 1' from the ground and on all sides of the trunk. It looks like I will be removing it this weekend.

[Mark Heath]

Sounds like Ganoderma to me, sorry to hear about your loss! Are there any "conchs" at the base of the palm?

[Tala]

agreed esp. w/ a soft trunk, prob. another gano victim; get it outta there quick before the conchs show up (thats how the disease spreads). Don't recycle the waste, just trash or burn it if possible. And you won't be able to plant anymore palms in that spot. Try a nice mango or papayas.

[Tampa Scott]

No conchs seen on trunk. As I was digging into the soft trunk yesterday, I did find maggots. The roots all look to have rotted. I really think the palm died do to the location. Location is rich black muck, shaded from sun. I will take extreme care in the disposal of the palm to be on the safe side.

[Tala]

in early stages of Gano no conchs are visible; they show up after the stem has pretty much rotted away. If it is Gano a 3 yr old child could push over a 10 ft plus palm. They're that soft.

[Tampa Scott]

I removed the Triangle Palm today. Here is a photo of it in its prime days.

[_Keith]

Sorry about the loss.