Roystonea regia transplant shock?

[Derekjp]

I work as a property manager in St Pete, Florida and we’re in the process of planting 18 20’ royal palms. Many of the palms were planted last Friday and they had mostly all green fronds. Today many of the fronds are now yellow. Actually, all of the trees have turned almost all yellow since Friday except for the center fronds that are newest.

So my question is …. Is this amount of shock normal during most large scale commercial transplanting operations or should the contractor have taken more care?

What can we do to minimize the loss of most of the fronds or is the damage too late?

We’ve also got around 31 foxtails going in to. I’ll try to take some pics later.

Thanks.

[Tad]

ken johnson may have some info on this subject, here in south Texas mine always crash back to the center spear.

[MattyB]

Great timing for this topic. Paul and I just transplanted a 15' tall Roystonia regia to my new place. It was a very small root ball because otherwise we wouldn't be able to carry it. We transported it in my SUV with the rootball up front, the crownshaft resting on the tailgate and the leaves out the back. It seems like it's developing a lean. Could we have put too much stress on the growing point? If so, I blame Paul.

[TikiRick]

I believe Roystonea is a genus that typically goes into shock when transplanted. That's from a personal experience and from what I see in mass plantings here in South Florida. Since the palm itself is usually so heavy, many will attempt to shave the rootball as small as possible to save the weight. This puts the palm into shock. In addition, many times the palm was growing in optimal conditions....Royals love their roots to be in damp, or even mucky soil. The palm is then planted in sandy, drier soils that don't hold moisture as well.

I would have cut the lower 'ring' of lower fronds off prior to installation. The second 'ring' of fronds I would have cut in half. This really increases the chances of a successful transplantation. Most royals this size should also be staked to ensure that they are secure and do not rock in a thunderstorm, for example.

Keeping the roots damp is the key in my opinion.

[fastfeat]

As an observer of many municipal plantings, I'd have to say that dieback of the majority of fronds is more common than not, especially of field-dug specimens. If they are kept moist following installation (and not too many roots were removed), they almost always recover.

[rozpalm]

Having transplanted several in my Yard, the Royals do go into some bad shock, however, I have found if you do what Tikirick is mentioning they seem to shock much less. I picked this up from watching a planting of 400 of them near where I live and not one of them shocked like I have seen them when you just plant them and remove the lower fronds. The only trade off is that you have a weird looking palm for about a year vs having one with one frond and a green spear. They put up and drop at least one frond a month once established, so it really does not take long for them to recover.

Also, they do love water. This is one palm you cannot over water. I have one that is growing half in my lake and half on land and it is one of the healthiest Royals I have. I read somewhere, that to make them fat you have to provide them lots of water. Don't know if that's true or not but based on my experience that seems to be the case.

[epicure3]

Since they are that large, I imagine that they were field grown vs container grown. I can't imagine any crownshafted palm not going into shock when transplanted from a field grown operation. Keep 'em wet and don't feed them until their roots get established. The foxtails should be interesting.

[Derekjp]

Since they are that large, I imagine that they were field grown vs container grown. I can't imagine any crownshafted palm not going into shock when transplanted from a field grown operation. Keep 'em wet and don't feed them until their roots get established. The foxtails should be interesting.

Don't use any fertilizer yet? How long should we wait? Yes they were field grown. The specs called for 16'OA height, but they are at least 2'-4' more. The thing that worries me is that the other royals and 30 foxtails have been dug 3-4 days ago and not planted yet.

[galveston1602]

tikirick: how do you cut a frond in half?

take 1/2 the fronds off or actually cut the fronds in half lengthwise. dont laugh, I saw a large planting of queens where someone had transplanted them and I swear they cut all of the fronds in half lengthwise, very wierd to say the least!

[TikiRick]

tikirick: how do you cut a frond in half?

take 1/2 the fronds off or actually cut the fronds in half lengthwise. dont laugh, I saw a large planting of queens where someone had transplanted them and I swear they cut all of the fronds in half lengthwise, very wierd to say the least!

No, just as you thought, cut about half of the frond off. I know it looks strange at first, but most of the palms that you handle this way will shock only minimally. You can't over water them!

[epicure3]

Since they are that large, I imagine that they were field grown vs container grown. I can't imagine any crownshafted palm not going into shock when transplanted from a field grown operation. Keep 'em wet and don't feed them until their roots get established. The foxtails should be interesting.

Don't use any fertilizer yet? How long should we wait? Yes they were field grown. The specs called for 16'OA height, but they are at least 2'-4' more. The thing that worries me is that the other royals and 30 foxtails have been dug 3-4 days ago and not planted yet.

I've always been told to wait a minimum of 3 months to fertilize. Maybe someone else can confirm this. The reason is that you don't want to burn the roots.

[MattyB]

So I know they love water but I always thought that too wet after transplanting is bad due to the broken and cut roots that can now rot. I always tried to keep transplants constantly moist but not wet. So just to confirm, I can go ahead and pour on the water on this one?...broken roots and all?

[Ken Johnson]

The problem with shock can be overcome with proper care before, during and after the move. When it is hot and dry guess what happens after a few days? Thats right, the palm dries out, and guess what? 90% of the water is cut because thats how much root is lost. Only logical right?

If your other palms have been dug and are sitting around without water you better look out. They can be dead before you plant them. If they show already browning leaves you might want to consider rejecting them.

If proper care is taken (root prunning) even the most sensitive palms can be transplanted. The not so sensitive ones like Royals need little special care so when they shock alot they have realy been pushed to their limits. We have moved Royals as big as 60 feet of trunk and not lost a leaf. Without the prune we can kill them in a few days.

[imapalmnut64]

tks so much for the posts, i had four royals installed there about 22ft, landscapers cut some of the fronds on each tree, they all went in to transplant shock, didnt lose all the fronds, when they put them in all were green, its almost hard to stomach to see the fronds turn brown , but i do have growth with the new spears, how long does it take to fully establish, its hard to look at when they are this way, they are field grown palms, tks jeff

[SouthFLA]

Transplanting mature royals is a breeze with the right equipment. The key is removing 60 to 70% of the fronds and keeping the root ball soaked for 6 months after the move. Root ball size is irrelevant and no root pruning required. You will get 95% transplant survival with this method.