Help with sick trachycarpus fortunei

[empireo22]

I noticed today on my trachycarpus that some of the older fronds have a fungus like thing on the tips. grey circles with a black ring around them. and one of the leaves has completely wilted and is starting to shrivel? any ideas on what it could be? How i can manage it?

i thought it could be just leaf spots but it seems to really be hurting it so im not sure...i can post some pics if needed.

THANKS

[PalmatierMeg]

Need photos

[empireo22]

I took these photos now it is in dark i can take more tomorrow since it is not very clear. thanks

[kahili]

emperio-where in NC are you? If not the mtns, then I doubt its cold damage with as warm a winter as we have had. Have you had an extreme amt of rain in the past few months? I am thinking it looks like it is a root problem ( desiccated leaf=not enough water from root damage from maybe poor drainage)-not a fungus issue. But its really hard to tell from the pictures, and if its just one leaf that is desiccated leaf-then I would not worry about it. The other question I would have is when did you last fertilize (thinking fert burn with the brown tips).

[empireo22]

Ok I took some pictures today. I live 30 miles east of charlotte and trachys grow perfectly fine here. also we have had some cold wet weather recently. by the way i bought these palms a month ago and some of the fronds already had the tip fungus (like in first pic) on them but i bought them anyway and clipped it off but now it has come back and also now it is spreading past the tips and the fronds are starting to shrivel (like in the third pic) any ideas on what it could be?

y the way i have fertilized them with some old 10-10-10 but not very much...

[kahili]

triple 10 is a quick release fertilizer. It is very easy to burn a plant with it if it rains enough right after you fertilizer, because it releases it all very fast. The palm looks like it has chemical burn (from the tips inward) and I am guessing that the roots are burned as well and thats why it looks like it's not taking up water. I just looked at two of my trachys and the ends of the leaves are yellow/brown, but just an inch or so-normal after a winter. Yours look like they have damage from fert. When you say "not too much", I am not sure what amt that is.

By the way-just to clarify, your leaves do not have a leaf fungus. Its damage of some sort. If its not damaged from too much fert, then its a drainage issue. Either way, I think the roots are damaged and its going to get worse. I hope I am wrong. It may be that because the weather is finally warming up , the soil will dry out faster and the palm may grow out of it. I would not fert it any time soon-not until you see improvement.

[Cindy Adair]

As usual, I'm not an expert on care of this (or any) palm. However, the Southeastern Palm Society (if you aren't already familiar with them) would be another good resource for you. They have a website and are on Facebook. There are so few hardy palms that it seems most of their nice publications talk about this genus. We do grow this palm easily in our Virginia Beach backyard to the point that volunteers are groundcovers except as we can give them away. We never fertilize or water or do anything to the flowering ones, although the ones we pot up to give away sometimes get some care. I certainly agree your palm should easily be able to handle any cold Charlotte can provide without a problem unless it was very sick already.

[Nigel]

The tip colour is normal for Trachycarpus.

You bought it a month ago, maybe a silly question but did it have roots ? It may have been field dug and plonked in the pot for sale. That would explain its condition.

Its definitely a root issue , it looks like the palm doesnt have any for whatever reason.

Edited April 28, 2012 by Nigel

[empireo22]

The tip colour is normal for Trachycarpus.

You bought it a month ago, maybe a silly question but did it have roots ? It may have been field dug and plonked in the pot for sale. That would explain its condition.

Its definitely a root issue , it looks like the palm doesnt have any for whatever reason.

Yes it had roots and was about root bound in the pot. it could be poor drainage? we have had alot of rain lately and this showed up after that...

[empireo22]

triple 10 is a quick release fertilizer. It is very easy to burn a plant with it if it rains enough right after you fertilizer, because it releases it all very fast. The palm looks like it has chemical burn (from the tips inward) and I am guessing that the roots are burned as well and thats why it looks like it's not taking up water. I just looked at two of my trachys and the ends of the leaves are yellow/brown, but just an inch or so-normal after a winter. Yours look like they have damage from fert. When you say "not too much", I am not sure what amt that is.

By the way-just to clarify, your leaves do not have a leaf fungus. Its damage of some sort. If its not damaged from too much fert, then its a drainage issue. Either way, I think the roots are damaged and its going to get worse. I hope I am wrong. It may be that because the weather is finally warming up , the soil will dry out faster and the palm may grow out of it. I would not fert it any time soon-not until you see improvement.

"not too much" as in a small handful from a bag that is about 5 years old. and it rained alot about a week or two after... also it could be that the roots are girdling and poor drainage if it is not a fungus?

[kahili]

The first picture in post #5 is normal tip browning. The third picture in same post is what I am looking at. That shows more of a chem burn, and also that the roots are damaged.

Empireo-is the area slow to drain after a hard rain? If it is, then its poor drainage that would have possibly affected the roots. Not many plants can handle sitting in water for days. Not sure if this one did, due to the rains.

I never use triple 10 because of its quick release. When the water hits it is when it releases-so you could have fertilized it one week, and a wk later when the rains came, is when it releases. Not sure that a handful would do it though. You are always better off using a high grade slow release fert. You also only have to fert once a season as opposed to the many times you would have to if you only use triple 10., and there is much less risk of overfertilizing.