Windmill Palm issue

[michigan steve]

Hi, I am new to this forum. I had a 5 foot windmill palm come through the mail a week ago. It looked very healthy and green when I unpackaged it. It looked fine till a day ago. I am not sure if it is from shock from the shipment cause the nursery cut roots and or if it is sun damage because I had it in full sun here in michigan. We had one day of 98 degrees and when I got home from work I noticed It wasnt looking very good. I think this changed happened in one day. I have attached pictures any help or info is very appreciated. I have never owned one of these before and the nursery never sent directions. I have done alot of research in the last day and none of it is consistant. Some say full sun is good some say partial sun is good and that it wont grow is fast in full sun. Does full sun actually hurt it? I really have no good place that doesnt at least get sun for 4 or 5 hours. I read that they cant take heat. I have no idea what is true.
thanks in advance

Edited February 28, 2013 by Kostas

[hanapalms]

Hi Steve,

Welcome to Palmtalk. It looks like your palm is adjusting to the transplant. Keep a close watch on the new leaf to be sure it continues to come up. If the palm was grown in a greenhouse, the change made to the direct sun light will have an affect on the leaves.

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Windmill palm - is usually Trachycarpus fortuneii these transplant easily .

Yours looks like a Chamearops humillis (med fan palm ) these have been known to croak sometimes when bare rooted .

Plenty of water and liquid kelp /superthrive .

[michigan steve]

Thanks for the responses, is this not a trachycarpus fortunei, it was supposed to be. If not i will be giving the nursery a phone call.

[Kailua_Krish]

Looks like a windmill to me! Probably a little shipping and transplant shock, I agree with what Will said.

-Krishna

[aztropic]

First - it's definitely a windmill.Second - The damage looks like lack of water.Probably with trimmed roots,it could not keep up with the water lost from all the green on a 98 degree day.Tree looks pretty big for the size of pot that it's in and could have dried out the soil in less than a day.If you used any uncoated or liquid fertilizer during the transplant,that could also have produced the same results.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[michigan steve]

Thanks for the reponses, when I got home after work that hot day the soil seemed still moist it had rained for a awhile in the morning that day, I was afraid to water it to much becaue of all the stuff I have read about root rot, I did use a well draining palm pot mix, in the pot I had about 2 inches room at the bottom and around the sides of the root ball I thought that would be good enough untill the roots started growing out and plan on planting in ground next spring. I am not sure how much triming was done to the roots because I have no idea how big of a root ball is supposed to be for a tree that size, it stands about 5 feet tall from base to top of frond.

I am pretty disappointed if it was anything I did because the color was great when I first got it although all the leaves on the fronds were kinda folded in like the pictures I posted from day 1 when I opened it.

I have also not been able to figure out light requirements everything on the internet is not consistant, some sites say does best in full sun and some say does best in partial sun/partial shade, where I have the tree it gets drect sun from about 11am to 4pm.

Should I cut off the dicoloring fronds because of the lack of roots due to the triming so water and nutrients are centered more towards the new growth?

Should I definitely get a bigger temporary pot?

Oh and it looks like the center frond has grown about an inch since I got it.

Thanks so much for everyones help

Edited July 20, 2012 by michigan steve

[JakeK]

Steve,

I grew a Trachycarpus fortunei for many years in a large whiskey barrel before selling it. Mine did just fine in full sun. Full sun is perfectly acceptable for this palm as long as it doesn't dry out. I think your problem is just transplant shock and possibly sun damage if it was grown in a greenhouse/shadehouse. Your palm is big enough to move it to its permanent container. I sold mine once it had 2 feet of clear trunk because it was getting too big for its whiskey barrel and I knew it had no chance of survival if planted in the ground. Go ahead and move it to a bigger container. Also, I wouldn't cut off any of the discolored fronds.

[aztropic]

Just to confuse things, I would cut off the damaged fronds,leaving 3 or 4 fronds plus the spear.These grow fast enough that you should get the current spear plus at least another opened before fall.Less green after the shock will help it establish quicker IMO.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[John Case]

Steve, I can understand why Troy thought it might be a Chaemerops. In your initial set of photos, there were no images of the trunk. As the leaflets narrowed due to lack of transpiration, they took on the look of the Med Palm, rather than the Windmill.......once you posted the photo of the entire tree, all doubt was removed, perhaps even by Troy !

Good luck with your palm as it should do well in pot culture in MI!

[Palm crazy]

It looks like a needle palm to me.......Just kidding.

Welcome,

Rule #1 don't buy from anyone that will cut roots off a palm tree. I'd be PO if that happen to me.

However, your Trachycarpus will recover but don't expect to much growth this year. By next summer it should be good as new.

[michigan steve]

Thanks everyone for the help I really appreciate it

Should I move it out of the mid sun for awhile or should it be fine unless we get another fluke 98 degree day, it is usually in the mid to upper 80s.

Being that it is probably in shock how much should it water it ? I keep the soil moist but I don't want to get root rot.

I checked the new frond this afternoon and almost looks like it grew an inch in the last 2 days ,

I love palm trees, I used to live in florida in merrit island. I missed them so I finally decided to get some. This is the first time I have every tried to grow anything. My other 3 trees (bismarck, ponytail, and thatch) I brought back from a recent vacation. I still can't believe I got all those in the car with our suitcases and other stuff . I just hope I can keep them all alive in the winter in the house.

[John Case]

We had a member in the past that lived in New York (upstate, I believe) that built a heated greenhouse for his tropicals and kept them not just alive but thriving throughout the winter!

Maybe you could atrtempt the same...all of us were on his side....haven't heard from him recently, though.....

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Sorry - yes it is a windmill now that i can see it better !

[Stevetoad]

I thought this was the "windmill palm issue"...

Bazinga

[kahili]

Steve-how do you know that the nursery cut the roots? Did they say that they were digging it out of the ground? I can't imagine why anyone would cut/prune the roots of a plant before shipping if they took it out of a container and shipped it bareroot? The leaves look to me like it dried out, and maybe also sunburn-which is possible if it was grown in a greenhouse-but why would anyone grow them in a greenhouse or a shadecloth? They grow so much faster in full sun. It may also be under stress from the shipping, esp if it were just dug out of the ground.

Either way, I would definitely cut off the injured leaves that show sunburn. You are going to lose them anyway and if you leave them on, the palm is going to expend unnecessary energy trying to save them. I would not cut off the newest leaf coming out. As others have said-do not let it dry out, but you don't have to water it if the soil is already moist-thats how you avoid rootrot. Also water in the am-not in the evening so that the roots have oxygen in the soil at night when they grow. If you plan on planting it in the ground next spring, then it probably has enough dirt around it in the pot to last until next spring. I would leave it in full sun now, and the newest leaf will adjust to that light as will the leaves that open in the future. Trachys do fine in full sun, and as I said before, they grow faster in full sun. Your heat is not going to bother it, its much hotter here where I live and they do great.

Trachys are tough palms and yours will recover and do fine in the future. I would give it some slow release fert with minors in another month, and when you bring it inside for the winter, make sure that it is by a sunny window. I would not bring it inside until the nights start going down to the 20's. By then, it should have recovered fine.

[michigan steve]

Thanks a lot ,

When I unwrapped the root ball the roots looked like it had a cut line, almost like someone held it up and just cut straight across except for one thicker root that hung way below like they missed it, when you looked at the roots they looked like they had been cut with scissors. Not sure , if it was dug up or in a container originally but the root ball sure looked pretty small for a tree that size to me.

Bepah- I would really like to try the heated green house thing, been doing some reseach and planning just don't think I could pull anything off in time this year before winter

Edited July 21, 2012 by michigan steve

[Cindy Adair]

Welcome to this forum. I've found the folks here to be pleasant, amusing and informative. Anyway, best of luck with your Trach. If you end up wanting more small ones, PM me. My husband reluctantly has to thin the volunteers from our Virginia back yard and he could probably give you some. Nothing like the instant gratification of a large palm, but I have pretty good success starting small and being patient. Good luck with yours.

[michigan steve]

Thank you,

I have joined a few palm forums already that were a waste of time, never got any help, just got sarcasm saying if I want to grow palms move to florida. Everyone here has been great and very helpful

[michigan steve]

Getting a little worried that my trachy has not grown at all in the last 2 weeks, I have been keeping track with a tape measure

Edited July 30, 2012 by michigan steve

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Hi steve

I am also a member of Growing on the edge forum for palms and exotics

http://www.growingontheedge.net/

Keep the windmill palm moist and get some liquid kelp if it's still green everything will be ok ,bare rooting is a big shock to most palms and takes a while to get going .

[Cindy Adair]

I hope the baby Trachs my husband sent survived the shock of transport. That way you can have replacements (if you're patient) in case your larger one doesn't make it. If the seedlings die, let us know and we can send more packed differently...

[Nigel]

Classic sunburn. That palms been growing in shade or partial shade and hasnt adapted well to sudden onslaught of full summer sun.

[michigan steve]

I hope the baby Trachs my husband sent survived the shock of transport. That way you can have replacements (if you're patient) in case your larger one doesn't make it. If the seedlings die, let us know and we can send more packed differently...

Yep they arived fine on Saturday, I put them all in pots the same day and they seem to be doing great. Thanks again for you genorosity

[michigan steve]

Hi steve

I am also a member of Growing on the edge forum for palms and exotics

http://www.growingontheedge.net/

Keep the windmill palm moist and get some liquid kelp if it's still green everything will be ok ,bare rooting is a big shock to most palms and takes a while to get going .

Thanks, I have been watering every other day unless rain is forecasted, as the temps start to drop in to high 70s low 80s I plan on watering twice a week. Is that to much?

[michigan steve]

Classic sunburn. That palms been growing in shade or partial shade and hasnt adapted well to sudden onslaught of full summer sun.

Thanks I just hope it recovers, it hasn't got any worse just stays the same and has been that way for almost 2 weeks