Cracks in Trunk - Syagrus romanzoffiana

[Kathryn]

My sister has several Syagrus romanzoffiana palms in her yard and some have lots of vertical cracks in the trunk. I thought perhaps it was due to lack of water at some point in the past or perhaps cold damage when younger, but someone mentioned to her that it might be caused by a bug and therefore should be treated. A few of mine have some small cracks but I've never seen any as severe as these. The cracks seem to be getting bigger with time, but I haven't taken any comparison photos to be sure.

Three palms were planted a few years earlier than the ones with the cracks and, as can be seen in the background of the last picture, have much larger trunks without cracks. The first three pictures are of the same palm. Any ideas what caused this?

[aztropic]

It looks like the old boots were cut off instead of being allowed to fall off naturally, at the time of installation.If this was done in the middle of summer and the cracks are only on the sundrenched side,then it is sunburn for sure.

The only other explanation is that they were used to growing in a pot with alot less water and are growing faster now that they are in the ground with plenty of water.If they were frozen to the point of total defoliation,that might be another possibility.Bugs?No way!I don't think they are in any danger of dying but I would replace them anyway - probably with a nice tough Butia.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[Walter John]

water rush.

[yachtingone]

Kathryn,

I have three of them bought at the same time in 15 gallon containers from a box store in 2006. They are planted less than 10' apart in a triangle. Two of them look perfect and are fast growers. The third one is much smaller and cracked. All three get the same amount of water(lots!), and air temperature. The only difference in the three is the small one is shadowed by the larger ones. So my checked one wasn't caused by a lack of water cause I water most every day and lots of water too. I doubt it was caused from over watering or the leaves would be yellowed! It's not the weather either. All three had the same weather.

I can't help you with what caused the checking. I am curious too. Did the shade do it?

Randy

Boy that was alot of typing for my index finger!

[TimHopper]

I have seen this many times in lawns where irrigation sprinklers hit the trunk several times per week. They usually only crack where the water hits, for whatever reason.

[Dypsisdean]

I don't think I have ever mentioned this theory to anyone before - so here goes.

I know there are lots of different ideas on this, and like many things there may be more than one cause that generates similar symptoms. However, I made an observation several years ago that has held up when given the time to substantiate.

My theory takes many years to pan out, so these observations are based on the difficulty of remembering with any accuracy what happened many years previous to observing the cracks. So here is the connection I think I may have noticed.

I observed this cracking in palms where I had perviously noticed issues with "The Pink" - a condition that someone else can describe in more detail. I don't recall the scientific name. But it is the pink powder that develops in some palms and will many times kill them. I started noticing that the palms that lived through this condition were much more likely to develop cracks in the trunk many years later. This was much more prevalent in palms that got The Pink just prior to trunking.

Since I moved to Hawaii I no longer have issues with The Pink. But on the one and only Chambeyronia where I saw some Pink as a younger plant, this also turned out to be the one and only Chambeyronia that developed some cracks in the trunk years later. While this may be a "chicken and egg" observation, I thought I would throw it out there. Maybe some of you living in areas that experience more Pink can keep this in the back of their minds and see if they also can confirm any connection.

[Gileno Machado]

Interesting, Kate, I haven't noticed this around here with the local Syagrus...maybe Alberto has better information and observations since he lives around these palms` habitat.

Best, Gileno

[Darold Petty]

In California, I think the Pink would be Gliocladium.

http://palm_doctor.homestead.com/palm4.html

[Kathryn]

Thanks for all the responses.

Some additional info:

The first three palms were planted from either 1 or 3 gallon size and the next three palms were planted several years later from 1 to 3 gallon size - no developed trunk at planting time

There isn't any irrigation in the yard

The palms have never defoliated from cold weather (or from any other cause) - her house is closer to NOLA and the lake and often 5 degrees warmer than mine on cold nights

Several years back, the gardener removed all the "old" leaves and used a utility knife to remove some of the bases, at the time I thought it was excessive and might lead to damage but this was done to all the palms and only these three have cracks

These pictures are from the west side, but, if I recall correctly, the cracks are on all side, I'll check next time I'm there

I don't recall ever seeing any pink powder, but I'll ask Julia to make sure

[DavidLee]

Thanks for all the responses.

Some additional info:

The first three palms were planted from either 1 or 3 gallon size and the next three palms were planted several years later from 1 to 3 gallon size - no developed trunk at planting time

There isn't any irrigation in the yard

The palms have never defoliated from cold weather (or from any other cause) - her house is closer to NOLA and the lake and often 5 degrees warmer than mine on cold nights

Several years back, the gardener removed all the "old" leaves and used a utility knife to remove some of the bases, at the time I thought it was excessive and might lead to damage but this was done to all the palms and only these three have cracks

These pictures are from the west side, but, if I recall correctly, the cracks are on all side, I'll check next time I'm there

I don't recall ever seeing any pink powder, but I'll ask Julia to make sure

I had a washingtonia trunk crack do to I believe to much water intake. To much rain

[pindo]

Hi Kathryn

It is likely that these palms have been growing very fast (a very wet year for example) and secondary growth produced the rupture of the "crust"

Also the belly in the fat palm of the fourth photo is a product of times of plenty of water and good soil

Don't tear off the leaves, cut always with sharp tools

Cheers